Addressing the social, economic and environmental challenges – that go hand in hand with transitioning from carbon intensive systems – requires a set of strategies that ensure those most affected are treated fairly. The European Commission’s Just Transition Platform seeks to put those very people and communities at the center of the transformation.
The origins, future and feasibility of net zero. “Net-zero is a powerful idea but it has to be understood as a systemic concept, related to the fact that temperatures will stop increasing once global CO2 emissions reach zero,” says Massimo Tavoni, director of the CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment.
The importance of a Just Transition is being recognised by governments worldwide, increasingly featuring in short and long-term climate plans. How are climate and social sciences tackling the issue?
The impacts of climate change on the ocean are driving more frequent and intense extreme events at our coasts. International initiatives such as the United Nations Early Warning For All and the Global Ocean Observing System’s CoastPredict aim to revolutionize access to improved early warnings.
Risk landscape has significantly changed in recent years, and further changes are expected in the near future. DRR have to evolve consequently.
Climate change is altering the way in which insurers offer their services. Higher premiums and lack of affordable coverage in disaster prone areas are highlighting the need for novel ways of insuring against climate change related risks.
Climate change constitutes imminent and lasting threats to food security. Smart farming helps agricultural processes in terms of resource optimization, controlling climate effects, and improving crop yields. An overview of the future of agriculture through climate sciences.
Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change and variability, a situation which is further aggravated by its low adaptive capacity and the interaction of factors such as poverty, energy demand and rapid urbanisation.
Africa stands at the forefront of the disproportionate impacts of climate change despite having contributed minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions historically. In September, the first Africa Climate Summit aimed at finding common finance solutions to foster a green and sustainable growth for the continent. The results are summarized in the Nairobi declaration, highlighting the urgency of a strong climate finance strategy, throughout the continent and at an international cooperation level.
The African continent contributes less than 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and its growing population suffers from some of the lowest access rates to electricity in the world. Yet, it is also home to some of the fastest growing economies and incredible renewable energy potential. Linking future growth to renewables is key to both the continent’s successful development and achieving global climate goals.
Decoupling emissions from economic growth is seen as a key requisite for meeting climate targets. How do we achieve this? “Energy efficiency resources are infinitely expendable resources of ideas, depleting only stupidity, a very abundant resource,” says Amory Lovins.
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest report sets a roadmap for net zero emissions by 2050. From progress and positive signals, to bottlenecks and rising challenges we look at how researchers, media and NGOs have reacted to the report. “Governments need to separate climate from geopolitics, given the scale of the challenge at hand,” says IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
