Local Govt Forum

Joydeep Gupta Charlotte Middlehurst Yao Zhe Wang Yamin 21.11.2016 中文版本     0 comments Despite progress on several fronts at COP22 there was a deadlock over finances for developing countries, writes  chinadialogue  (Image by  UN  Photo ) The November 7-18 UN climate summit concluded in the early hours of November 19 with a tight timetable on how to implement the  Paris Climate Change Agreement  but without a deal on how much money rich nations will pay for the purpose and by when. Governments set a deadline of 2018 to complete the rule book to operationalize the Paris Agreement. The Marrakech summit of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) saw a slew of initiatives to move towards a greener economy and to boost water and food security in a world made more vulnerable to droughts, floods, storms, sea level rise and other impacts of climate change. Most of the initiatives were through bilateral or...

Zhang Chun 18.11.2016 No immediate emissions reduction is expected when it opens next year, but its huge scale provides hope for reductions from 2020 onwards China's nationwide carbon market will be the largest in the world when it begins trading next year  (Image by  SD-Pictures ) In the wake of Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the US presidential election, and his refusal to recognise climate change, China’s new carbon market is attracting particular attention. China’s move is not just one of the most important outcomes of the  US-China bilateral climate talks  – it may be the most watched national climate change move since the Paris Agreement came into force. In the short-term, experts are not expecting China’s national carbon market to be perfect. They say it will take several years of growth before it delivers emissions reductions, and that the most urgent task is to put the market mechanism in place quickly so that its operation can be studi...

What will President Trump do?

Charlotte Middlehurst 15.11.2016 Greenland’s ice melt is speeding up with coastal areas in developing countries more at risk than ever Ice loss is adding to the plight of polar bears living in a marginalised Arctic zone, which can end up stranded on ice bergs. (Image by  sheilapic76 ) Arctic sea ice remains at dangerously low levels while melting of Greenland’s continental ice continues to climb. This is causing ocean levels to rise, with coastal regions in developing countries most in danger. Greenhouse gas emissions reached their highest levels on record in 2016, contributing to significant damage to ice levels on both sea and land, according to a provisional statement on the global climate in 2016 from the World Meteorological Organisation. The statement, which was launched at the UN climate conference in Marrakech on Monday 14, confirmed predictions that 2016 is likely to be the hottest year on record, with global temperatures averaging 1.2C above pre-industri...

Charlotte Middlehurst 14.11.2016 As this year’s UN climate talks get underway, we ask a panel of experts what action they hope to emerge from the two-week negotiation   (Image by  UNclimatechange ) Zou Ji, deputy director general, China’s National Centre for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation China's climate strategy and policy is in accordance with China's national interest and is not dependent on the US presidency. The fundamental incentive is China’s need to drive growth by escalating the economic transition, improving air quality, boosting the growth rate through efficiency improvements, and strengthening energy security.  Under President Trump, climate cooperation between the US and China will need a new strategy with new priorities and highlights. There are still many opportunities for cooperation on topics such as energy and environmental protection, especially in investment and trade in new energy and ener...

Sam Geall Shen Wei 01.11.2016 By installing solar home systems in the poorest villages, write  Sam Geall  and  Shen   Wei , China hopes to boost the incomes of 200 million households China's National Energy Administration plans to install rooftop or micro solar energy systems across the country's poorest villages (Image by  Liang  Qiang / World Bank ) China is fast becoming a green energy superpower, leading the world in investment and installation of low-carbon technology. The most widely discussed drivers of this renewables surge include the desire to cut greenhouse gas emissions, boost energy security and catch up with, or overtake, industrialised countries in technological innovation. But a recent policy initiative has highlighted another, often overlooked, motivation: tackling poverty. China still has more than 70 million people living below the poverty line, according to official statistics, mainly in remote rural areas with limited...

Robert Soutar 25.10.2016 中文版本     0 China-Latin America expert  Margaret Myers  talks about her new book on how China is changing its approach across the continent Author and China-Latin America expert Margaret Myers speaks at the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley (image:  Megan King ). Venezuela is a country on the brink of collapse. Its reserves of crude oil, the largest in the world, underwrote some  US$65 billion  (440 billion yuna) in debt to China issued since the turn of the millennium. But with the recent crash in international oil prices came fears over how the debt would be repaid as the country sank into profound economic and political crises. The China-Venezuela partnership is often cited as a prime example of the former’s early approach to Latin America. This largely involved providing loans to commodity-exporting countries in order to guarantee supplies of products such as...

Zhang Chun 09.11.2016 中文版本     0 A scheme has been agreed but stabilising emissions without reducing passenger growth will be a challenge, writes  Zhang Chun European lawmakers criticise the new ICAO scheme as lacking ambition because it will not lead to a reduction in emissions on 2020 levels (Image by  gustavmelin0 ) Carbon emissions from aviation are growing faster than any other sector. In an effort to address the problem, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) approved the world’s first global emissions reduction scheme last month. The  Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) is a market-based mechanism in which carbon emissions are offset through the purchase of credits, leaving aviation emissions to remain – at least on paper – at 2020 levels. Aviation currently accounts for just 2% of total carbon dioxide emissions globally, about half of which is from  international avi...