Summary
In today’s edition, Japan joins other countries in publishing its target (- 26%) in emissions reduction, ahead of the COP21. The private sector has a huge role to play, too, and even more so now that three quarters of business leaders recognize that climate change threatens their bottom line, while asset managers say they need pressure from investors, small and large, to pull out of fossil fuels stocks.
Quote of the day
“Alongside a divestment campaign we need a boycott campaign, we all need to stop buying fossil fuels and it’s actually a lot easier than its ever been. We can all buy green electricity and gas now.”
Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, in the Guardian’s story We can’t divest from fossil fuels unless you tell us, says UK’s largest pension assets manager
Lead stories
Ban Ki-moon urges governments to invest in low carbon energy
By Damian Carrington – The Guardian
The world’s governments and businesses need to choose wisely and invest in low carbon energy, not the dirty fossil fuels of the past, according to the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.
http://jlne.ws/1Fsc0vt
Climate Deal Badly Needs a Big Stick
Rousseff’s Washington Visit Spurs Talks on Climate-Change Divide
By Vanessa Dezem – Bloomberg News
When Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff visits Washington this month, the climate-change schism between developing countries like hers and the U.S. will be front and center on the agenda.
http://jlne.ws/1FslMO7
Private sector must pay more into $100bn global climate fund, says report
By Fiona Harvey – The Guardian
The global target of directing $100bn to poor countries to help them cope with climate change is likely to be missed unless private sector finance is ramped up significantly, a new analysis has found.
http://jlne.ws/1IbvnNC
Japan commits to 26 per cent cut in carbon emissions
BusinessGreen
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced plans to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions 26 per cent by 2030 against 2013 levels, hailing the move as an “ambitious target” in line with those made by other industrialised economies.
http://jlne.ws/1Ifg7Sx
Three quarters of business leaders reckon climate impacts threaten bottom line
BusinessGreen
Board-level executives are broadly aware of the significant risks and opportunities climate change presents for their businesses, but are still struggling to translate this awareness into a coherent programme to manage the risks and seize the opportunities.
http://jlne.ws/1FSO0F4
How Would a Low-Carbon Economy Work?
By Eric Marx – ClimateWire
What would a green financial system that encourages net zero greenhouse gas emissions look like?
http://jlne.ws/1AMTS3z
Obama climate rule nearly complete
By Timothy Cama -The Hill
The Obama administration is conducting the final review of its controversial rule to limit carbon emissions from power plants.
http://jlne.ws/1JjVpkI
We can’t divest from fossil fuels unless you tell us, says UK’s largest pension assets manager
By Tom Levitt – The Guardian
The Guardian’s keep it in the ground campaign has been calling for individuals and major investors to pull out their money from fossil fuel companies.
http://jlne.ws/1GYFmXU
Voluntary Buyers Spend $4.5 Billion on Offsets to Combat Climate
Ecosystem Marketplace
The Forest Trends Ecosystem Marketplace report, Ahead of the Curve: State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2015, demonstrates that voluntary demand for carbon offsets – each representing a one-tonne reduction in greenhouse gases that compensates for emissions elsewhere – is impactful well beyond the markets’ relatively small size.
***LB: Sorry, no link to the report yet.
Events
Climate Strategies Forum
ACCO
Washington Marriott Hotel at Metro Center
Washington, DC
June 24-26, 2015
http://jlne.ws/1J3aeGO
EMA Annual Meeting
October 28-30, 2015
Omni Parker House Hotel
Boston, MA
http://bit.ly/192w3CR
Carbon
E.P.A. to Set New Limits on Airplane Emissions
By Coral Davenport and Jad Mouawad – The New York Times
The Obama administration is set to announce that it will require new rules to cut emissions from airplanes, expanding a quest to tackle climate change that has included a string of significant regulations on cars, trucks and power plants.
http://jlne.ws/1IffgkT
Court rejects challenge to EPA’s ozone powers
By Timothy Cama – The Hill
A federal court is siding with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), saying it has wide latitude when enforcing limits on ground-level ozone pollution.
http://jlne.ws/1MjUVJQ
Warnings over oil debt are getting louder
By Dan McCrum – Financial Times
Banks have been cutting exposure to the industry and conversations about borrowing will get tougher.
http://jlne.ws/1RIGGBl
Europe’s Green Policies Contributing To Large Scale Deforestation In USA
By Honey George – International Business Times
Large areas of Southern Forests are being cut to make wood pellets bound for Europe.
http://jlne.ws/1HJVVCV
Natural gas / coal
Lord Stern: India must tackle ‘worrying’ coal use
By Will Nichols – BusinessGreen
India’s use of coal is “worrying” and must be addressed if the world is to tackle climate change effectively, Lord Stern has said.
http://jlne.ws/1SV4MKA
Power
Obama budget chief criticizes Senate energy spending bill
By Devin Henry – The Hill
The head of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rebuked a Senate energy and water spending bill on Tuesday, saying it underfunds “important investments” in the energy sector proposed by President Obama.
http://jlne.ws/1M3O8TI
Water
Clean water could take a central role in the 2016 presidential debates
By Rose Hackman – The Guardian
Do Americans hold the core ideals of private property so high that they would be willing to give up on the idea of clean, drinkable water?
http://jlne.ws/1SV7FLn
Californians Are Encouraged by Sharp Drop in Water Use
By Adam Nagourney – The New York Times
Californians cut their water use in April by 13.5 percent over the same month two years ago, a big improvement from March and the first indication of how the state is reacting to mandatory water cutbacks imposed by Gov. Jerry Brown to deal with the region’s ongoing drought.
http://jlne.ws/1RIGbHe
California’s required statewide water cuts kick in
By Evan Sernoffsky and Kurtis Alexander – SFGate
California on Monday officially began its unprecedented push for water conservation in cities and towns, marching out orders for hundreds of communities across the state to make reductions of up to 36 percent.
http://jlne.ws/1BKm2HD
Miscellaneous
Great Barrier Reef coral four times safer in no-take fishing reserves, study shows
By Monica Tan – The Guardian
Research into the Great Barrier Reef has discovered coral disease levels are four times lower inside no-take marine reserves – where fishing is banned – than outside reserves.
http://jlne.ws/1QokPMX
Small atoll islands may grow, not sink, as sea levels rise
By Penny Sarchet – New Scientist
Rising seas are eating away at small islands and will eventually turn their inhabitants into climate refugees, right? Not so for some of the world’s most threatened islands, which have grown despite experiencing dramatic sea level rise.
http://jlne.ws/1GYDazp