Veille 2.1

The fallout when the industry fails to act is still smaller than the rewards for pumping out more pollution

Joint committee on national security strategy criticises ‘severe dereliction of duty’ by ministers as threat grows

The federal effort could set the stage for more studies into the feasibility, benefits and risks of one of the more controversial means of combating climate change.

If our next federal government wants to save the reef, it must tackle the main reason it is in trouble by phasing out fossil fuel use and exports as quickly as possible. Otherwise it’s like putting bandaids on an arterial wound.

The most widely publicized threat to the Amazonian rainforest is deforestation. Less well understood is that public lands are being converted to private holdings in a land grab we’ve been studying for the past decade... Much of this land is cleared for cattle ranches and soybean farms, threatening biodiversity and the Earth’s climate.

As required by the Climate Change Act 2008, the government has today submitted the Third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) to Parliament. Professor Richard Betts MBE, who led this team, says that ""ne of the key conclusions from the University of Exeter's work was that current worldwide policies could result in up to 4°C warming by 2100."

The UK Government is forecasting that, without better plans to improve climate resilience, billions of pounds will be wiped off of national GDP in the coming decades, with the costs of inaction set to outweigh the cost of action by 2045.

Selon l’autorité de surveillance financière des États-Unis (GAO – Government Accountability Office), le département de l’Énergie a investi environ 1,1 milliard de dollars entre 2009 et 2015 dans neuf projets de capture et séquestration du carbone (CCS).

The Government needs to make immediate hard choices such as rationing fossil fuels, stopping forest and peat harvesting, cutting the national herd and restricting car traffic into cities if it wants to meet its own targets on emissions reductions, climate change experts have told an Oireachtas committee.

Largest scientific study of its kind finds climate anxiety affects the daily life and functioning of nearly half of children and young people surveyed globally.

Climate change has important implications for the health and futures of children and young people, yet they have little power to limit its harm, making them vulnerable to climate anxiety. This is the first large-scale investigation of climate anxiety in children and young people globally and its relationship with perceived government response.

World leaders must commit to boosting cycling levels to reduce carbon emissions and reach global climate goals quickly and effectively

As a leading climate scientist, Paola Arias doesn’t need to look far to see the world changing. Shifting rain patterns threaten water supplies in her home city of Medellín, Colombia, while rising sea levels endanger the country’s coastline. She isn’t confident that international leaders will slow global warming or that her own government can handle the expected fallout, such as mass migrations and civil unrest over rising inequality. With such an uncertain future, she thought hard several years ago about whether to have children.

Pledges to plant trees fall from politicians’ lips like leaves in the autumn, especially during elections and climate summits. Yet ambitious government planting targets are likely to be missed because there are not enough trees or people to plant them, leading forestry figures have warned.

"We have to move quickly. What we do, I believe, in the next three to four years will determine the future of humanity". Sir David King. Former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government.