Fund managers who haven’t cared about biodiversity may soon find they have to. “The accord will encourage the finance industry to assign a price to natural resources that bankers and investors had previously treated as cost-free.”
Note: We know that getting to net zero GHG emissions by 2050 requires transitioning the grid to 100% clean energy and then electrifying everything else: EVs for transport; heat pumps for building HVAC; etc. Hard-to-abate sectors (like air travel!!) will still create GHGs. Trees, oceans and other “carbon sinks” will remove some CO2 naturally. Can tech remove more? Here’s a state-of-the-art summary.
CCLapplauds the inclusion of the Growing Climate Solutions Act in the omnibus spending bill expected to be passed this week. The legislation would help all farmers and foresters to access verified carbon credit markets and get paid for using climate-friendly practices that sequester carbon.
Roughly 190 countries approved a sweeping UN agreement to protect 30% of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030 and to take other measures to arrest biodiversity loss. The agreement comes as biodiversity is declining worldwide at rates never seen before in human history.
A NY Times “God’s eye view” of what IPCC estimates will happen by 2100 if we follow various policies. Our work in urgently needed … we need to treat it like an emergency, and a marathon.
While the clean energy transition appears unstoppable, the speed with which it occurs is uncertain. Fully implementing the IRA is key to transitioning fast enough. But fully realizing the IRA’s benefits takes too long. And sometimes, it’s impossible. That is, unless we overcome local permitting barriers.
The 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, which killed hundreds of people in the U.S. and Canada, was a harbinger of a new generation of climate disasters to come, a new study in Nature Climate Change shows.
In the United States, enough renewable energy projects are backlogged right now to achieve a largely clean electric grid by 2030. But without urgent action, most are unlikely to get built.
China plans to build 450 GW of solar and wind power generation capacity on the Gobi and other desert regions. The goal is to boost renewable power use and meet climate change goals. (Largest solar project in history.)
At the semi-annual national conference on Dec.3-4, CCL presented the results of its year-long strategic review, a roadmap for the next several years of our work.
This may be the most important material you read/view this year!
Here is a two-fer: process fast-growing hemp into a building material with great thermal insulating qualities. 1) The hemp is a carbon sink, and 2) the insulation cuts down energy needed to heat/cool the building. The remaining question: cost? And can it come down to compete with alternatives like concrete? (Can “green premium” –> zero or negative?)
This is a long article, but very well-researched and sobering.
A once-unfathomable scenario — Lake Powell dropping to historic lows and shutting down power generators that serve millions — could start as soon as July.
