Articles 2020

The European Commission said Friday it intends to scrap new rules against greenwashing after they hit a roadblock in the final stretch from conservative lawmakers calling them too onerous for businesses.

The human fingerprint on global warming was likely evident in Earth’s atmosphere far earlier than previously thought—even before the invention of modern cars, a new study says. Using a combination of scientific theory, modern observations and multiple, sophisticated computer models, researchers found a clear signal of human-caused climate change was likely discernible with high confidence as early as 1885, just before the advent of gas-powered cars but after the dawn of the industrial revolution.

Les financements aux industries du pétrole et du gaz repartent de plus belle. Le rapport Banking on climate chaos, signé par huit ONG, estime à près de 900 milliards de dollars les financements octroyés en 2024 par 65 banques aux industriels du secteur, en augmentation de 23%. Le backlash contre la finance durable n’est pas étranger à ce nouvel appétit de la finance pour les hydrocarbures.

On 21 April 2019, I was on Waterloo Bridge in London with my younger siblings. Around us were planters full of flowers where there were once cars, and people singing. This was the spring iteration of Extinction Rebellion, when four bridges in London were held by protesters. My siblings, then 14, had been going out on school strike inspired by Greta Thunberg, and wanted to see her speak.

Plusieurs études montrent que la baisse d’intérêt pour le sujet climatique mesurée dans les sondages ne signifie pas forcément le rejet par les citoyens des politiques en faveur de l’environnement.

Earth’s albedo (reflectivity) declined over the 25 years of precise satellite data, with the decline so large that this change must be mainly reduced reflection of sunlight by clouds. Part of the cloud change is caused by reduction of human-made atmospheric aerosols, which act as condensation nuclei for cloud formation, but most of the cloud change is cloud feedback that occurs with global warming. The observed albedo change proves that clouds provide a large, amplifying, climate feedback. This large cloud feedback confirms high climate sensitivity, consistent with paleoclimate data and with the rate of global warming in the past century.

Eat-Lancet report recommended shift to more plant-based, climate-friendly diet but was extensively attacked online [...] The report recommended that if global red meat eating was cut by 50%, the “planetary health diet” would provide nutritious food to all while tackling the harms caused by animal agriculture, which accounts for over 14% of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. It suggested individuals – particularly in wealthy countries – should increase their consumption of nuts, pulses and other plant-based foods while cutting meat and sugar from their diets.

Developing countries urge biggest polluters to act as Trump’s return to the White House heightens geopolitical turmoil

Clouds play an important role in how much the Earth warms when greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide increase. However, scientists have struggled to determine whether low-level clouds in the tropics slow down or speed up global warming, creating uncertainty in climate predictions. A new study published in Nature adds to the growing evidence that cloud feedback is very likely to amplify warming in the climate system, rather than reduce it.

As the world’s largest gathering of Earth and space scientists swarmed a Washington venue last week, the packed halls have been permeated by an air of anxiety and even dread over a new Donald Trump presidency that might worsen what has been a bruising few years for science.

Le candidat républicain Donald Trump a dépassé la majorité absolue de 270 grands électeurs à la Chambre des représentants, devançant largement sa rivale démocrate, Kamala Harris. Un « désastre », dit une écologiste.

The net zero approach of the Paris agreement has become detached from reality as it increasingly relies on science fiction levels of speculative technology.

A town hit hard by two hurricanes, downpours and a deep freeze, all in the midst of a pandemic, offers crucial lessons for everyone’s disaster planning and recovery.

Op vrijdag 14 juni is het één jaar geleden dat meer dan 600 mensen om het leven kwamen in een van de grootste scheepsrampen ooit op de Middellandse Zee. Hoewel internationaal onderzoek de rol van Griekse autoriteiten scherp bekritiseerde, blijft de roep om verantwoording en een stopzetting van illegale pushbacks onbeantwoord. “Integendeel, mensenrechtenorganisaties die de schendingen documenteren worden steeds meer geïntimideerd en vervolgd,” benadrukt 11.11.11. “De EU moet optreden tegen deze uitholling van de rechtstaat en fundamentele mensenrechten.”

Huge patches of forest in Tasmania have rapidly turned brown over recent months, with many trees dying after a dry summer. As climate change causes hotter and drier weather, can we expect more tree deaths in the future? 

Comment dépasser les résistances des citoyens à l’égard des politiques climatiques ? À partir d’une analyse de l’acceptabilité de la transition écologique, des clivages territoriaux entre zones rurales et urbaines et des raisons du mécontentement des citoyens, Théodore Tallent, chercheur doctorant et enseignant en science politique à Sciences Po (Paris), et chercheur affilié au centre de recherches de l’Université de Cambridge, livre douze propositions pour parvenir à construire une transition désirable.

A UN meeting this week considered a motion on a suite of technologies known as ‘solar radiation modification’, but no consensus could be reached on the controversial topic.

Een schimmel of milieuramp kan een plantensoort plots op de rand van uitsterven brengen. Wetenschappers leggen diepgevroren back-upcollecties aan. Bij –196°C sturen ze de planten zelfs de eeuwigheid in.

Ahead of the UN’s SDG Summit (18-19 September), ground-breaking analyses shows how by enacting five ‘extraordinary turnarounds’ SDGs implementation can be accelerated.

Back on Track Belgium is een collectief van burgers die ijveren voor de terugkeer van nachttreinen. Zij stellen vast dat de liberalisering van de trein geen enkele belofte heeft ingevuld. Zij vragen federaal minister van Mobiliteit Gilkinet (Ecolo) om het komende Belgische EU-voorzitterschap te gebruiken als platform voor een echt Europees treinnetwerk, in het bijzonder voor nachttreinen als ecologisch, aangenaam en haalbaar alternatief.