Summary
Today’s main take away from the COP21: Things are moving but a big divide between rich and poor and developing countries remains. The U.S. announced a plan that would prod nations that have the capacity — namely China — to provide money for climate-related projects to the most vulnerable nations. So far, only fully industrialized countries have been asked to contribute funds – amounts that have been inflated by the OECD, India maintained. One step forward however: Climate negotiators say they favor a five-year review period on greenhouse gas cuts. Finally, Europe announced a raft of new waste targets and recycling initiatives.
Quote of the day
“The Republicans might get some political talking points by saying this, but realistically, there’s no way they are going to repeal these rules if the courts uphold them.”
Brian Potts, a Foley & Lardner LLP attorney specializing in Clean Air Act cases, in the Bloomberg News’ story Obama’s Paris Climate Push Likely to Survive Republican Foes
Lead stories
U.S. Inflames Debate on Climate Finance With Plan for UN Talks
By Reed Landberg – Bloomberg News
The U.S. fired the opening salvo in the debate about financing the fight against climate change, suggesting the United Nations ask more countries to contribute.
http://jlne.ws/1Q1nxwj
***LB: Also in this story “The U.S. plan would prod nations that have the capacity — namely China — to provide money for climate-related projects to the most vulnerable nations. That would break down the old division where funds flowed from industrialized nations to developing ones.”
Paris climate talks: Indian officials accuse OECD of exaggerating climate aid
By John Vidal – The Guardian
A row has broken out at the Paris climate talks as Indian officials accused one of the world’s leading think tanks of exaggerating the amount of money given to poor countries to help them cope with global warming.
http://jlne.ws/1PwYOju
World’s richest tenth produce half carbon emissions, poorest half one tenth: Oxfam
Thomson Reuters Foundation
The richest tenth of the world’s people produce half of all carbon emissions, while the poorest half – most threatened by droughts and super storms linked to climate change – produce only one tenth, Oxfam said on Wednesday.
http://jlne.ws/1MX6hEH
Australia acting as a ‘broker’ between blocs at Paris climate talks – Greg Hunt
By Lenore Taylor – The Guardian
Greg Hunt says Australia is acting as a “broker” between competing country blocs on one of the most contentious issues in the Paris climate talks but has also clarified remarks that had the potential to damage the delicate negotiations.
http://jlne.ws/1HGQ7k5
First small sign of climate accord on five-year review of carbon cuts
Reuters
Climate negotiators in Paris are drawing close to resolving one of the sticking points for a breakthrough emissions pact by favoring a five-year review period on promised greenhouse gas cuts, a top official said on Wednesday.
http://jlne.ws/1LPac2v
Climate talks in Paris commit to boosting carbon in soils to limit global warming
By Sabrina Locke – ABC
Australia has signed up to a global commitment to boost soil health and reduce carbon emissions.
http://jlne.ws/1Nr9HRB
***LB: Also in this story “The French Agriculture Minister launched the program called “4 per 1000″ during climate talks in Paris this week.”
EU puts recycling on the agenda at Paris climate talks
By Arthur Neslen – The Guardian
Europe has put recycling on the agenda of the Paris climate talks with a raft of new waste targets to cut emissions, with its environment commissioner calling on other countries to follow the EU’s lead.
http://jlne.ws/1SxGSmE
Obama Says Parts of Climate Deal Must Be Legally Binding
By Karl Ritter – Associated Press
President Barack Obama said Tuesday that parts of the global warming deal being negotiated in Paris should be legally binding on the countries that sign on, setting up a potential fight with Republicans at home.
http://jlne.ws/21wenf5
Obama ends Paris climate visit with spotlight on legacy
By Dan Berman and Kevin Liptak – CNN
President Barack Obama has long made clear he wants action on climate change to be part of his legacy, and Tuesday in Paris he raised the stakes.
http://jlne.ws/1RnJHID
Climate envoy: GOP votes aren’t hurting Paris talks
By Timothy Cama – The Hill
The Obama administration’s top negotiator for the Paris climate talks said congressional votes against the White House’s environmental agenda aren’t hurting the United States’ position.
http://jlne.ws/1TlBpPW
Obama’s Paris Climate Push Likely to Survive Republican Foes
By Jennifer A Dlouhy – Bloomberg News
President Barack Obama hadn’t even made it home from climate talks in Paris when Republicans in Congress voted to kill the regulations backing his carbon-cutting pledge.
http://jlne.ws/1lYeBeA
***LB: Also in this story “Obama’s foes want to undercut any climate accord from the United Nations summit in Paris, along with his credibility on the issue. But just as with the Republicans’ failed attempts to kill Obamacare, the efforts are likely to run aground over constitutional and legal constraints.”
Events
EUEC 2016 Conference & Expo
Feb 3 – Feb 5, 2016
San Diego Convention Center, CA
http://www.euec.com/
Carbon
Elon Musk calls for carbon price to halve the transition time to clean energy
By Lenore Taylor – The Guardian
One of the world’s greatest innovators, Elon Musk, says the key to tackling climate change and driving clean energy innovation is a carbon price very similar to the one Australia abolished.
http://jlne.ws/1HGQaMA
Tax Me, Says Exxon Mobil, in Declaring Support for Climate Talks
By Alex Nussbaum – Bloomberg News
Exxon Mobil Corp., a favorite target of global warming activists, said Wednesday that it’s hopeful for a deal out of the climate-change talks in Paris and still thinks the best solution is a tax on carbon pollution.
http://jlne.ws/1TwzyZe
Exxon case revives the debate over corporate climate disclosures
By Kate Reilly – Reuters
Public corporations are supposed to warn investors about the risk to their businesses from climate change, but the tone and wording of those disclosures vary widely among big U.S. manufacturing, automotive and energy companies, according to company documents, and legal and corporate governance experts.
http://jlne.ws/1N4k3TU
Natural gas / coal
Natgas overtakes coal as top U.S. power source in September
Reuters
Natural gas surpassed coal in September as the leading U.S. power source for the fourth time in history, according to federal energy data – with all four milestones being hit this year.
http://jlne.ws/1jziOUp
Power
RWE’s U-Turn on Splitting Forced by Merkel’s Love of Green Power
By Tino Andresen – Bloomberg News
It took RWE AG a whole year and a 63 percent decline in its share price to come to its senses.
http://jlne.ws/1XI1LNl
China says to cut power sector emissions by 60 percent by 2020
Reuters
China will reduce emissions of major pollutants in the power sector by 60 percent by 2020, the cabinet announced on Wednesday, after world leaders met in Paris to address climate change.
http://jlne.ws/1lYgNmx
Desperately seeking strategy, utilities lost in low-carbon world
By Geert de Clercq – Reuters
European utilities executives meeting at the Paris Climate Conference know they are part of the problem. What they have not yet figured out is how to make money by being part of the solution to climate change.
http://jlne.ws/1RnM5yV
Water
At Paris Climate Talks, Water Is on the Rise
By Brett Walton – Circle of Blue
For years, water advocates have argued that a global climate agreement must recognize that a warming planet will dramatically alter familiar cycles of precipitation and evaporation. Droughts, floods, and rising seas will overwhelm communities that are not prepared.
http://jlne.ws/1lYdiwa
El Niño Meets the Rain Forest
By Sam Knight – The New Yorker
On a recent Saturday afternoon, George Weiblen, a forty-six-year-old professor at the University of Minnesota, got behind the wheel of a beige Toyota Land Cruiser in Madang, a town on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. P.N.G., as it is known, occupies the eastern half of the huge Pacific island of New Guinea.
http://jlne.ws/1QUPlCF