碳阻迹
2020-10 08
View 314
New Carbon Footprint Calculator to Support Climate Action

Date:2020-10

View:08

The 2030 calculator is an innovative climate footprint calculator that can help consumers, manufacturers and brands alike understand the climate impact of consumer goods. The development of this application was led by the Swedish Fin-Tech Doconomy as part of a wider partnership with UN Climate Change to increase awareness among stakeholders of the climate impact of their actions. The 2030 Calculator gathers data from a wide range of databases to provide users with the estimated climate footprint of their purchases. The tool can thereby help companies and brands take responsible decisions with regard to the sustainability of their products, including within their supply chains, and can increase consumer awareness of the consequences of their purchases, hopefully fostering behavioural changes. The calculator is also linked to the UN Carbon Offset Platform, enabling the application users to take immediate climate action by contributing to green projects that are vetted by the United Nations and that work towards achieving the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. “I warmly welcome the 2030 Calculator application. I am happy to see that climate considerations remain at the heart of innovation, and it gives me faith that the world can still win this fight,” said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, on the occasion of its launch in June of this year. The calculator was launched in its beta version, focusing initially on clothing and furniture retailers and manufacturers, but will soon be expanded to include other categories of products, such as electronics and food. This tool has the potential to rapidly increase familiarity with the climate footprint of goods, as it considers the emissions associated with all known elements of the supply chain (raw material, manufacturing processes, transport, etc) to estimate a cradle-to-customer Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) footprint, the results of which can be obtained within minutes, as opposed to several weeks with the current regular LCA. The 2030 Calculator is not a substitute for a complete LCA, but an excellent approximation for those that are getting started in the process or may not have the resources to perform a full LCA. The ambition of the partnership between Doconomy and the UN Climate Change secretariat is to have a set of robust, transparent calculators that can be used free of charge by all stakeholders globally to estimate the footprint of individuals, organizations, events and products that can foster climate action in support of the Paris Agreement’s goals. Source:UN Author:UN Date:October 8, 2020

2020-09 29
View 507
Fighting Food Waste Means Fighting Climate Change

Date:2020-09

View:29

UN Climate Change News, 29 September 2020 – Today marks the first ever observance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. The day’s theme “Stop food loss and waste. For the people. For the planet” recognizes not only the fundamental role that sustainable food production plays in promoting food security and nutrition in a world where the number of people affected by hunger has been slowly rising since 2014, but also how food waste contributes to climate change. Reducing food loss land waste requires the attention and actions of all, from food producers, to food supply chain stakeholders, to food industries, retailers and consumers. Action taken in observance of this new International Day can contribute to achieving no less than three Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 2 – zero hunger; Goal 12 - sustainable consumption and production – and Goal 13 – climate action. Today, an estimated one-third of all the food produced in the world ends up as rubbish before it even gets to the table, according to the United Nations. And when food goes to the landfill and rots, it produces methane—a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide. The latest report from the lntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) titled ‘Climate Change and Land’ estimates that loss and waste of food caused between 8 and 10% of the emissions of the gases responsible for global warming in the period 2010-2016. In turn, problems in the future resulting from climate change — such as lower yields, higher prices, a loss of nutritional value and supply chain disruptions — will increasingly affect food security. The effects will differ by country, but the consequences will be most dramatic in the low-income countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The urgent need to reduce food loss and waste was underlined by the findings of the latest UN report on The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, which states that nearly 690 million people are hungry, or 8.9% of the world population – up by 10 million people in one year and by nearly 60 million in five years. Consumers can play a major role in addressing food waste. Much of the food purchased by households is discarded because of a misunderstanding of date marking and improper storage of these household food items. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has come up with 15 tips to help you reduce food waste and make not wasting food a way of life. Source:UN Author:UN Date:September 29, 2020  

2020-09 22
View 299
Calls Increase to Use Carbon Pricing as an Effective Climate Action Tool

Date:2020-09

View:22

UN Climate Change News, 22 September 2020 – As countries prepare their updated national climate action plans, known as NDCs, which are essential to meet the temperature targets agreed under the Paris Climate Change Agreement, momentum is growing to put a price on carbon pollution as a means of bringing down emissions and driving investment into cleaner options. Economists, businesses, governments, NGOs and international bodies like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), are advocating carbon pricing as a key instrument in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also added his voice, saying “we need to see much more progress on carbon pricing.” A price on carbon sends a financial signal to investors that low-carbon investments are valuable today and will be even more valuable in the future and lets polluters decide for themselves whether to discontinue their polluting activity and reduce emissions or continue polluting and pay for it. By pricing carbon, governments capture the costs that the public pays for in other ways, such as health care costs from heatwaves and droughts, or damage to property from flooding and sea level rise. The two main types of carbon pricing are emissions trading systems (ETS) and carbon taxes. An ETS – sometimes referred to as a cap-and-trade system – caps the total level of greenhouse gas emissions for countries or companies and allows those with low emissions to sell their extra allowances to a larger emitter. A carbon tax directly sets a price on carbon by defining a tax rate on greenhouse gas emissions or – more commonly – on the carbon content of fossil fuels. Offsets and carbon reduction credits can be largely categorized into nature-based solutions such as afforestation or land management, and technological solutions where emissions in emerging markets are avoided through the adoption of low-carbon alternatives. The European Union emissions trading system (EU ETS) is the world's first major carbon market, and the biggest to date. The EU ETS is a cornerstone of the EU's policy to combat climate change and its key tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively. Korea also has a successful emissions trading scheme and many other countries are initiating and designing their own schemes. Some 40 countries and more than 20 cities, states and provinces already use carbon pricing mechanisms, with more planning to enact them in the future. UN Climate Change is supporting countries in implementing these and other measures as part of their national climate plans through the Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs) around the globe.  “It makes sense to recognize the price of carbon, otherwise we are not going to change our behavior,” says John Scott, Head of Sustainability Risk for Zurich and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Frontier Risks. “Until you get global transparency on carbon price and recognize the value of carbon in everything we buy as consumers and as companies, then we cannot make the rational economic decisions that will drive the right behaviours,” says Scott. Using carbon pricing to lower emissions has seen some success in Europe, where the rising cost of allowances and cheaper natural gas have helped reduce the role of coal in the power sector, leading to an 8.3% drop in emissions last year, while global carbon trading jumped to a record high of USD214 billion in 2019. The EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) made up about 80% of this volume, and the rollout of China’s national ETS is likely to increase this further. A report released this month and endorsed by energy titans including Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and BP Plc. and more than two dozen other global businesses, investors and nonprofit organizations stated that the U.S. should price greenhouse gas pollution to ensure that financial markets reduce risks “consistent with the Paris agreement.” Its authors stressed how unprepared financial markets are to deal with climate change, warning that without a carbon price “capital will continue to flow in the wrong direction, rather than toward accelerating the transition to a net-zero emissions economy.” According to the report, free trading of carbon offsets under a global scheme could cut costs of the Paris Agreement by up to 33% by 2030. Article 6 of the Paris Agreement stipulates that countries can cooperate in delivering their NDCs, but the rules for international transfers and for the mechanism have yet to be finalized by Parties. This important issue will be picked up at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021. Source:UN Author:UN Date:September 22, 2020

2020-09 21
View 311
United Nations Marks its 75th Anniversary at UN General Assembly

Date:2020-09

View:21

UN Climate Change News, 21 September 2020 – The United Nations is marking its 75th anniversary with a one-day high-level event at the General Assembly (UNGA 75), under the theme: ‘The Future we Want, the UN we Need: Reaffirming our Collective Commitment to Multilateralism'. This year’s General Assembly has a strong focus on the topics of sustainability and climate change. Today also sees the start of New York Climate Week, which will focus on pursuing a net-zero future through a just transition to low-carbon economies. A highlight is the COP26 & the Zero Carbon Growth Agenda event featuring COP26 President Alok Sharma, COP25 President Carolina Schmidt, Michael R. Bloomberg of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change (follow live at 18:00 ET - New York time - and see the relevant press release). Today’s mainly virtual official commemoration includes a declaration on the UN’s 75th anniversary. The declaration recalls the UN’s successes and failures over more than seven decades and vows to build a post-pandemic world that is more equal, works together and protects the planet, in a spirit of inclusive multilateralism. “The urgency for all countries to come together, to fulfill the promise of the nations united, has rarely been greater,” it says, while praising the United Nations as the only global organization that “gives hope to so many people for a better world and can deliver the future we want,” the statement reads. To mark its 75th anniversary, the United Nations launched “a global conversation” in January using surveys and polls to find out what all kinds of people were thinking about the future. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the results “striking:” “People are thinking big — about transforming the global economy, accelerating the transition to zero carbon, ensuring universal health coverage, ending racial injustice and ensure that decision-making is more open and inclusive,” he said. “And people are also expressing an intense yearning for international cooperation and global solidarity.” Ahead of this year’s General Assembly, Mr. Guterres highlighted how societies can build back better in the wake of COVID-19 by transitioning to low-carbon economies and has set out six actions for a climate-positive recovery: Deliver new jobs and businesses through a green and just transition while accelerating the decarbonization of all aspects of the economy. Use taxpayers’ money to create green jobs and inclusive growth when rescuing businesses. Shift economies from grey to green, with using public financing that makes societies more resilient. Invest public funds in the future, to projects that help the environment and climate. Consider risks and opportunities for your own economy, as the global financial system works to shape policy and infrastructure.  Work together as an international community to combat COVID-19 and climate change. On 24 September, a special 90-minute online event will showcase high-impact activities undertaken in the framework of the UN Secretary-General’s six climate positive actions. A day before, on 23 September, a Climate Action Event at SDG Action Zone (22-24 September) organized by UN Climate Change will highlight stories of people creating change – and explain how everyone can become part of the solution. Gonzalo Muñoz, High-Level Climate Champion for COP25, will speak at the event. UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa will participate in several events on the margins of the UN General-Assembly, including the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC’s) inaugural webinar in the series titled ‘One Voice – Towards a Brighter Future’. Highlights of New York Climate Week Among the more than 350 events that will take place across New York City and around the world are: Best Practice for Natural Solutions in the Race to Zero The ‘Race to Zero’ campaign of the High-Level Climate Champions aims to create a race to the top on climate action. UK High Level Climate Action Champion Nigel Topping will be among the speakers at an opening day event titled ‘Best Practice for Natural Solutions in the Race to Zero’ which will explore the opportunity and limitations of natural climate solutions to deliver net zero targets and limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius or even 2 degrees Celsius. Exponential Climate Action Summit - Race to Zero through digitalization This event on 24 September will explore how digitalization can foster action in businesses and governments. Speakers will include founding Partner at Global Optimism and former UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres, and UK High Level Climate Action Champion Nigel Topping. This event is arranged by We Don’t Have Time together with the Exponential Roadmap, Climate Week NYC 2020, Race To Zero, the International Chamber of Commerce and Sting. Source:UN Author:UN Date:September 21, 2020

2020-09 09
View 328
Transformational Action Needed for Paris Agreement Targets - United in Science Report

Date:2020-09

View:09

WMO Press release - New York/Geneva, 9 September 2020 - Climate change has not stopped for COVID19. Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are at record levels and continue to increase. Emissions are heading in the direction of pre-pandemic levels following a temporary decline caused by the lockdown and economic slowdown. The world is set to see its warmest five years on record – in a trend which is likely to continue - and is not on track to meet agreed targets to keep global temperature increase well below 2 °C or at 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. This is according to a new multi-agency report from leading science organizations, United in Science 2020. It highlights the increasing and irreversible impacts of climate change, which affects glaciers, oceans, nature, economies and human living conditions and is often felt through water-related hazards like drought or flooding. It also documents how COVID-19 has impeded our ability to monitor these changes through the global observing system. “This has been an unprecedented year for people and planet. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives worldwide. At the same time, the heating of our planet and climate disruption has continued apace,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a foreword. “Never before has it been so clear that we need long-term, inclusive, clean transitions to tackle the climate crisis and achieve sustainable development. We must turn the recovery from the pandemic into a real opportunity to build a better future,” said Mr Guterres, who will present the report on 9 September. “We need science, solidarity and solutions.” The United in Science 2020 report, the second in a series, is coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with input from the Global Carbon Project, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, the UN Environment Programme and the UK Met Office. It presents the very latest scientific data and findings related to climate change to inform global policy and action. “Greenhouse gas concentrations - which are already at their highest levels in 3 million years - have continued to rise. Meanwhile, large swathes of Siberia have seen a prolonged and remarkable heatwave during the first half of 2020, which would have been very unlikely without anthropogenic climate change. And now 2016–2020 is set to be the warmest five-year period on record. This report shows that whilst many aspects of our lives have been disrupted in 2020, climate change has continued unabated,” said WMO Secretary-General, Professor Petteri Taalas. KEY FINDINGS Greenhouse Gas Concentrations in the Atmosphere (World Meteorological Organization) Atmospheric CO2 concentrations showed no signs of peaking and have continued to increase to new records. Benchmark stations in the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) network reported CO2 concentrations above 410 parts per million (ppm) during the first half of 2020, with Mauna Loa (Hawaii) and Cape Grim (Tasmania) at 414.38 ppm and 410.04 ppm, respectively, in July 2020, up from 411.74 ppm and 407.83 ppm in July 2019. Reductions in emissions of CO2 in 2020 will only slightly impact the rate of increase in the atmospheric concentrations, which are the result of past and current emissions, as well as the very long lifetime of CO2. Sustained reductions in emissions to net zero are necessary to stabilize climate change. Global Fossil CO2 emissions (Global Carbon Project) CO2 emissions in 2020 will fall by an estimated 4% to 7% in 2020 due to COVID-19 confinement policies. The exact decline will depend on the continued trajectory of the pandemic and government responses to address it. During peak lockdown in early April 2020, the daily global fossil CO2 emissions dropped by an unprecedented 17% compared to 2019. Even so, emissions were still equivalent to 2006 levels, highlighting both the steep growth over the past 15 years and the continued dependence on fossil sources for energy. By early June 2020, global daily fossil CO2 emissions had mostly returned to within 5% (1%–8% range) below 2019 levels, which reached a new record of 36.7 Gigatonnes (Gt) last year, 62% higher than at the start of climate change negotiations in 1990. Global methane emissions from human activities have continued to increase over the past decade. Current emissions of both CO2 and methane are not compatible with emissions pathways consistent with the targets of the Paris Agreement. Emissions Gap (UN Environment Programme) Transformational action can no longer be postponed if the Paris Agreement targets are to be met. The Emissions Gap Report 2019 showed that the cuts in global emissions required per year from 2020 to 2030 are close to 3% for a 2 °C target and more than 7% per year on average for the 1.5 °C goal of the Paris Agreement. The Emissions Gap in 2030 is estimated at 12-15 Gigatonnes (Gt) CO2e to limit global warming to below 2 °C. For the 1.5 ° C goal, the gap is estimated at 29-32 Gt CO2e, roughly equivalent to the combined emissions of the six largest emitters. It is still possible to bridge the emissions gap, but this will require urgent and concerted action by all countries and across all sectors. A substantial part of the short-term potential can be realized through scaling up existing, well-proven policies, for instance on renewables and energy efficiency, low carbon transportation means and a phase out of coal. Looking beyond the 2030 timeframe, new technological solutions and gradual change in consumption patterns are needed at all levels. Both technically and economically feasible solutions already exist. State of Global Climate (WMO and UK’s Met Office) The average global temperature for 2016–2020 is expected to be the warmest on record, about 1.1 °C above 1850-1900, a reference period for temperature change since pre-industrial times and 0.24°C warmer than the global average temperature for 2011-2015. In the five-year period 2020–2024, the chance of at least one year exceeding 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels is 24%, with a very small chance (3%) of the five-year mean exceeding this level. It is likely (~70% chance) that one or more months during the next five years will be at least 1.5 °C warmer than pre-industrial levels. In every year between 2016 and 2020, Arctic sea ice extent has been below average. 2016–2019 recorded a greater glacier mass loss than all other past five-year periods since 1950. The rate of global mean sea-level rise increased between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020. Major impacts have been caused by extreme weather and climate events. A clear fingerprint of human-induced climate change has been identified on many of these extreme events. The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Human-induced climate change is affecting life-sustaining systems, from the top of the mountains to the depths of the oceans, leading to accelerating sea-level rise, with cascading effects for ecosystems and human security. This increasingly challenges adaptation and integrated risk management responses. Ice sheets and glaciers worldwide have lost mass. Between 1979 and 2018, Arctic sea-ice extent has decreased for all months of the year. Increasing wildfire and abrupt permafrost thaw, as well as changes in Arctic and mountain hydrology, have altered the frequency and intensity of ecosystem disturbances. The global ocean has warmed unabated since 1970 and has taken up more than 90% of the excess heat in the climate system. Since 1993 the rate of ocean warming, and thus heat uptake has more than doubled. Marine heatwaves have doubled in frequency and have become longer-lasting, more intense and more extensive, resulting in large-scale coral bleaching events. The ocean has absorbed between 20% to 30% of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions since the 1980s causing further ocean acidification. Since about 1950 many marine species have undergone shifts in geographical range and seasonal activities in response to ocean warming, sea-ice change and oxygen loss. Global mean sea-level is rising, with acceleration in recent decades due to increasing rates of ice loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, as well as continued glacier mass loss and ocean thermal expansion. The rate of global mean sea-level rise for 2006–2015 of 3.6 ±0.5 mm/yr is unprecedented over the last century Climate and Water Resources (WMO) Climate change impacts are most felt through changing hydrological conditions including changes in snow and ice dynamics. By 2050, the number of people at risk of floods will increase from its current level of 1.2 billion to 1.6 billion. In the early to mid-2010s, 1.9 billion people, or 27% of the global population, lived in potential severely water-scarce areas. In 2050, this number will increase to 2.7 to 3.2 billion people. As of 2019, 12% of the world population drinks water from unimproved and unsafe sources. More than 30% of the world population, or 2.4 billion people, live without any form of sanitation. Climate change is projected to increase the number of water-stressed regions and exacerbate shortages in already water-stressed regions. The cryosphere is an important source of freshwater in mountains and their downstream regions. There is high confidence that annual runoff from glaciers will reach peak globally at the latest by the end of the 21st century. After that, glacier runoff is projected to decline globally with implications for water storage. It is estimated that Central Europe and Caucasus have reached peak water now, and that the Tibetan Plateau region will reach peak water between 2030 and 2050. As runoff from snow cover, permafrost and glaciers in this region provides up to 45% of the total river flow, the flow decrease would affect water availability for 1.7 billion people. Earth System Observations during COVID-19 (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and WMO) The COVID-19 pandemic has produced significant impacts on the global observing systems, which in turn have affected the quality of forecasts and other weather, climate and ocean-related services. The reduction of aircraft-based observations by an average of 75% to 80% in March and April degraded the forecast skills of weather models. Since June, there has been only a slight recovery. Observations at manually operated weather stations, especially in Africa and South America, have also been badly disrupted. For hydrological observations like river discharge, the situation is similar to that of atmospheric in situ measurements. Automated systems continue to deliver data whereas gauging stations that depend on manual reading are affected. In March 2020, nearly all oceanographic research vessels were recalled to home ports. Commercial ships have been unable to contribute vital ocean and weather observations, and ocean buoys and other systems could not be maintained. Four full-depth ocean surveys of variables such as carbon, temperature, salinity, and water alkalinity, completed only once per decade, have been cancelled. Surface carbon measurements from ships, which tell us about the evolution of greenhouse gases, also effectively ceased. The impacts on climate change monitoring are long-term. They are likely to prevent or restrict measurement campaigns for the mass balance of glaciers or the thickness of permafrost, usually conducted at the end of the thawing period. The overall disruption of observations will introduce gaps in the historical time series of Essential Climate Variables needed to monitor climate variability and change and associated impacts. Source:UN Author:UN Date:September 9, 2020