More updates from 3 weeks ago.
Meteos Energy & Climate Change Update 17th February 2014
Meteos produces an informal bi-weekly briefing on global headlines relating to energy and climate change, including climate science, politics and policy, investment, supply and demand, technology and public opinion. Each briefing highlights policy, industry and civil society developments relevant to the sector, which we consider likely to be of interest to multiple stakeholders.
John Kerry to make clarion call for more action on climate change CNN US Secretary of State John Kerry called on all nations to respond to "the greatest challenge of our generation" and said that climate change ranks among the world's most serious problems along with disease outbreaks, poverty, and terrorism. Kerry acknowledged the role the United States plays in greenhouse gas emissions and referred to the President's Climate Action Plan, which calls for cutting emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels. A few days before, Obama toured a California farm hit by serious and prolonged drought. He warned that some damage to the climate had already been done and will continue unless countries "do more to combat the carbon pollution that causes climate change."
US may begin to get it and start to take a lead.
Climate change threatens to cause trillions in damage to world's coasts Global Climate Forum According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, global average storm surge damages could increase from about 10-40 billion USD per year today to up to 100,000 billion USD per year by the end of century, if no adaptation action is taken. The study lead by the Berlin-based think-tank Global Climate Forum (GCF) presents, for the first time, comprehensive global simulation results on future storm surge damages to buildings and infrastructure. Drastic increases in these damages are expected, on one hand, due to rising sea-levels and, on the other hand, due to population and economic growth. Asia and Africa may be particularly hard hit because of their rapidly growing coastal mega-cities, such as Shanghai, Manila or Lagos.
With protection measures, the projected damages could be reduced to below 80 billion USD per year during the 21st century. The researchers found that investments level of 10 to 70 billion USD per year could achieve such a reduction.
Now IQ. The cost to adaption is growing and for coasts appears to be less than the cost of doing nothing. Time to pony up spending on adaption.
No soup for you. Next.
UK Met Office speaks out on climate change and weather Met Office; Carbon Brief The British Government's main climate science adviser, the UK Met Office, says the present exceptionally wet and stormy winter "could be a manifestation of climate change." Its chief scientist, Dame Julia Slingo, says the variable UK climate means there is "no definitive answer" to what is producing this winter weather, with the "most exceptional period of rainfall in 248 years". But "all the evidence suggests there is a link to climate change". The Met Office, with the UK's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, concluded that, over the United Kingdom "What in the 1960s and 1970s might have been a 1 in 125 day event is now more likely to be a 1 in 85 day event." In contrast, only seven per cent of news articles on the topic mentioned the potential link to a changing climate, according to Carbon Brief’s analysis
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Climate change increasing the occurrence of extreme weather in the UK. (high economic cost)
Church of England vows to fight “great demon” of climate change Guardian The General Synod of the Church of England voted 274 to 1 to fight climate change with divestment from fossil fuel companies that "resist change" as a last resort. It was agreed that a working group on the environment would be created to monitor the church's action on climate change and other environmental issues. The church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group has so far resisted calls for the church to divest, insisting that engagement is the best way to effect change. However, the deputy chairman of the Group, Rev Canon Professor Richard Burridge noted that the church is open to different action and noted that the church had sold its £3.8m stake in the controversial mining company Vedanta four years ago following concerns about its human rights record.
God is on their side so they must be right.
HSBC Carbon and coal revisted report RenewEconomy A new report from leading investment bank HSBC says the market value of the coal assets owned by Australia’s biggest mining groups could be slashed by nearly half – or by more than $US20 billion. The report by HSBC, an update of a previous assessment conducted in 2012, suggests that BHP Billiton has the biggest exposure in nominal terms – nearly $8 billion. Other companies to be affected are Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Glencore Xstrata. The valuations are based around the potential impact of a carbon budget, a concept that HSBC says is gaining traction globally given the latest climate science, and because the pollution control policies in the two biggest economies, the US and China, are starting to bite.
Is this the reason you hate climate change policy as it threatens the value of digging up Australia and exporting it with no value add? (high economic cost)
http://www.meteos.co.uk/wp-content/uplo ... Feb-14.pdf
