• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
BREAKING: Federal Budget Pours Tens of Billions Into Clean Economy March 28, 2023
Somali Canadians Aid Drought-Stricken Homeland as 43,000 Reported Dead March 26, 2023
B.C.’s New Energy Framework a ‘Smokescreen,’ Critic Warns March 26, 2023
SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Defuse the Climate Time Bomb’ with Net-Zero by 2040, Guterres Urges G20 March 20, 2023
Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action March 20, 2023
Next
Prev

Pandemic Produces New Efforts, Wider Paralysis on International Climate Action

June 11, 2020
Reading time: 4 minutes
Primary Author: Compiled by The Energy Mix staff

Dawn Ellner/flickr

Dawn Ellner/flickr

21
SHARES
 

The economic and logistical paralysis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has produced a mixed picture for global action on the climate crisis, with countries, cities, businesses, and others scrambling to accelerate action under the Paris Agreement but some of the key commitments under the 2015 accord facing serious obstacles.

On World Environment Day June 5, the United Nations climate secretariat unveiled Race to Zero, a global campaign that brings together 120 countries, 449 cities, 21 regions, 992 businesses, 38 of the world’s biggest investors, and 505 post-secondary institutions in what the UNFCCC calls the “largest ever alliance committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest”. It said participants in the initiative account for nearly 25% of the world’s carbon pollution and more than 50% of its GDP.

  • Concise headlines. Original content. Timely news and views from a select group of opinion leaders. Special extras.
  • Everything you need, nothing you don’t.
  • The Weekender: The climate news you need.
Subscribe

The session was part of a 10-day series of virtual meetings, titled June Momentum for Climate Change, that the UN organized after its regular mid-year climate meeting in Bonn, Germany had to be cancelled.

As a minimum standard for membership, Race to Zero sets out four “starting line criteria”: a “head-of-organization level” pledge to hit zero or net-zero emissions by 2050, a plan in advance of COP 26 that emphasizes short- and mid-term action, immediate action consistent with interim targets, and a promise to publish results at least annually. The campaign also aims to promote greater “convergence” on the scope, timing, and approach to issues like offsetting, equity, and future uncertainties embodied in participating organizations’ plans.

The initiative adds to the commitments to date from a limited number of countries—Jamaica, Norway, Suriname, Marshall Islands, and Rwanda—to adopt more ambitious 2030 climate targets under the Paris deal, as all countries were supposed to do by the end of this year.

But while those efforts unfold, UK-based Climate Home News is picking up deep concern that the pandemic is undercutting efforts to boost climate resilience in the world’s most vulnerable countries and regions, and deepening the uncertainty around the development of international carbon markets.

On climate impacts and resilience, “the warning from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) negotiating bloc comes after Cyclone Amphan battered eastern India and Bangladesh and as Cyclone Nisarga threatens Mumbai on India’s western coast,” and with forecasters pointing to the likelihood of a heavier-than-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic region, Climate Home reports.

“Workshops and meetings to develop climate adaptation plans have been postponed amid travel restrictions,” the publication adds. So “the work continues at a slower pace online, hampered by patchy Internet access and a lack of resources for paid-for versions of virtual meeting platforms such as Zoom.”

“We are facing a truly unprecedented situation,” said LDC Chair Sonam Wangdi of Bhutan. “There has not been a moment in time when the world is faced with so many challenges. Each of these incidences pushes us back many times more times than the rest of the world. It is therefore imperative, more than ever, that we scale up our efforts to do what we can to protect ourselves from these shocks.”

Another big gap is in the effort to set the rules for international carbon trading markets under the hotly-contested Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Negotiations on the issue came to a grinding halt during the “disgraceful” 2019 UN climate conference, COP 25, in Madrid.

“It’s a burning issue for us,” said Sandeep Roy Choudhury, co-founder and director of VNV Advisory, a social enterprise in India that uses carbon markets to raise private finance for forest and mangrove protection, sustainable agriculture practices, rural energy access, and introduction of clean cooking facilities. The deadlock on Article 6—which now won’t be resolved until November 2021 at the earliest, due to the postponement of COP 26—means climate project developers in poor countries, particularly small developers, are left desperate for financing.

“If applied with robust rules, advocates say carbon markets are a cost-effective way to achieve emissions reductions and could help countries meet their climate goals under the Paris deal,” Climate Home writes. But “critics warn that carbon offsetting takes the pressure off big polluters to tackle their own emissions, while channeling money into projects of questionable value.”



in Asia, Cities & Communities, Community Climate Finance, COP Conferences, Ending Emissions, Energy / Carbon Pricing & Economics, Environmental Justice, Health & Safety, India, International Agencies & Studies, Severe Storms & Flooding

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

kelly8843496 / Pixabay
Finance & Investment

BREAKING: Federal Budget Pours Tens of Billions Into Clean Economy

March 29, 2023
618
icondigital/pixabay
Supply Chains & Consumption

New Federal Procurement Rule Requires Biggest Bidders to Report Net-Zero Plans

March 28, 2023
182
UNICEF Ethiopia/flickr
Drought, Famine & Wildfires

Somali Canadians Aid Drought-Stricken Homeland as 43,000 Reported Dead

March 29, 2023
36

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

kelly8843496 / Pixabay

BREAKING: Federal Budget Pours Tens of Billions Into Clean Economy

March 29, 2023
618
Faye Cornish/Unsplash

Abundance, Not Austerity: Reframe the Climate Narrative, Solnit Urges

March 26, 2023
148
TruckPR/flickr

Opinion: Hydrogen Hype Sabotages Potential to Decarbonize

March 28, 2023
372
Σ64/Wikimedia Commons

B.C.’s New Energy Framework a ‘Smokescreen,’ Critic Warns

March 28, 2023
59
icondigital/pixabay

New Federal Procurement Rule Requires Biggest Bidders to Report Net-Zero Plans

March 28, 2023
182
U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement/flickr

Willow Oil Project in Alaska Faces Legal Challenges, Economic Doubts

March 19, 2023
755

Recent Posts

UNICEF Ethiopia/flickr

Somali Canadians Aid Drought-Stricken Homeland as 43,000 Reported Dead

March 29, 2023
36
Prime Minister's Office/flickr

Biden’s Ottawa Visit Highlights EVs, Clean Grid, Critical Minerals

March 28, 2023
87
EUMETSAT/wikimedia commons

Cyclone Freddy Leaves Over 500 Dead on Africa’s Southeast Coast

March 23, 2023
63
Kern River Valley Fire Info/Facebook

SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Defuse the Climate Time Bomb’ with Net-Zero by 2040, Guterres Urges G20

March 20, 2023
339
IFRC Intl. Federation:Twitter

Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action

March 21, 2023
1k
U.S. National Park Service/rawpixel

Window for 1.5°C ‘Rapidly Closing’, IPCC Warns

March 20, 2023
97
Next Post
USFWS/Jerry Reid via Flickr

Study Suggests Relief for Some Small Island States as Coral Reefs Adapt to Rising Seas

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}