b.c. climate news sept. 5 to sept. 11: new b.c. ghg emissions data out | un chief arrives in massively climate-induced hit pakistan | german court agrees to hear farmer's climate case against vw
here's your weekly roundup of climate change news for the week of sept. 5 to sept. 11, 2022.
10 minute read
this aerial photograph shows a flooded area on the outskirts of sukkur, sindh province. - nearly 1,400 people have died in flooding that covers a third of pakistan-- an area the size of the united kingdom -- wiping out crops and destroying homes, businesses, roads and bridges. (photo by aamir qureshi / afp)
aamir qureshi
/
afp via getty images
here’s your weekly update with what you need to know about the global and ecological crises and the steps b.c. is taking for the week of sept. 5 to sept. 11, 2022.
this week in climate news:
• b.c. government releases new emissions data
• as cost of climate change rises, un urges compensation
• german court to hear farmer’s climate case against vw
• as cost of climate change rises, un urges compensation
• german court to hear farmer’s climate case against vw
the un’s intergovernmental panel on climate change has warned for a decade that wildfires, drought, severe weather, such as b.c.’s deadly heat dome last june, and flooding would become more frequent and more intense because of the climate crisis.
last august, it issued a “code red” for humanity and earlier this year the panel, made up of hundreds of scientists from around the world, said the window to stop global warming from exceeding 1.5 c was closing.
last month, it released a report with solutions for how to drive down greenhouse gas emissions, mainly by transitioning away from fossil fuels.
there is a scientific consensus on climate change (nasa reports that 97 per cent of climate scientists agree that the climate is warming and that human activity is the cause.) multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that greenhouse gas emissions are the primary cause of global warming.
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check back here every saturday for a roundup of the latest climate and environmental stories. you can also get up to date b.c.-focussed news delivered to your inbox by 7 a.m. by subscribing to our newsletter here.
a glance at b.c.’s carbon numbers:
- b.c.’s gross greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions in 2020 (latest available data) were 64.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtco2e). this is a decrease of 0.9 mtco2e (one per cent) from 65.5 mtco2e in 2007, the baseline year for emissions reduction targets.
- b.c.’s net greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions in 2020 were 63.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtco2e.) this is a net decrease of 2.0 mtco2e, or three per cent, since 2007.
- b.c.’s net emissions in 2019: 67.2 mtco2e, an increase of 1.5 mtco2e, or two per cent, since 2007.
- b.c.’s 2030 target: 40 per cent reduction in net emissions below 2007 levels.
- b.c.’s 2040 target: 60 per cent reduction.
- b.c.’s 2050 target: 80 per cent reduction.
- canada’s 2030 emissions target: between 40 and 45 per cent reduction.
- canada’s 2050 emissions target: net-zero.
source:noaa
climate change quick facts:
- the earth is now about 1.1 c warmer than it was in the 1800s.
- globally, 2021 was the fifth warmest year on record.
- human activities have raised atmospheric concentrations of co2 by nearly 49 per cent above pre-industrial levels starting in 1850.
- the world is not on track to meet the paris agreement target to keep global temperature from exceeding 1.5 c above pre-industrial levels, the upper limit to avoid the worst fallout from climate change.
- 2015-2019 were the five warmest years on record while 2010-2019 was the warmest decade on record.
- on the current path of carbon dioxide emissions, the temperature could increase by as much as 4.4 c by the end of the century.
- in april, 2022 greenhouse gas concentrations reached record new highs and show no sign of slowing.
- emissions must drop 7.6 per cent per year from 2020 to 2030 to keep temperatures from exceeding 1.5 c and 2.7 per cent per year to stay below 2 c.
- 97% of climate scientists agree that the climate is warming and that human beings are the cause.
(source: united nations ipcc, world meteorological organization,unep, nasa, climatedata.ca)
source: nasa
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latest climate news
b.c. releases latest carbon emission figures
the provincial government this week released the greenhouse gas emissions numbers for 2020.
the provincial emissions inventory is produced every year by b.c.’s climate action secretariat and is based primarily on the federal government’s national inventory report on greenhouse gas emissions.
in 2020, net emissions in british columbia totalled 63.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtco2e) after considering 1.1 mtco2e of carbon offsets from forest-management projects, according to the government.
this represents a net decrease of three per cent (-2.0 mtco2e) from 2007 levels, the baseline year for b.c.’s official emissions targets, and a net drop of 4 per cent (-2.7 mtco2e) from 2019 levels, according to a news release from the b.c. government.
emissions data is published with as much as a two-year lag to allow time to assemble and analyze a wide range of information. the provincial inventory provides the official greenhouse gas emission numbers, which count toward b.c.’s legislated greenhouse gas emissions targets.
from drought to floods and sea level rise, the cost of damage caused by climate change will only get higher as the world warms, sparking concerns from both top officials and activists about how to pay for it.
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“loss and damage from the climate crisis is not a future event. it is happening now, all around us,” said united nations secretary-general antonio guterres on a visit to pakistan, which recently suffered from devastating floods that displaced hundreds of thousands of people and left over a thousand dead.
“developed countries must step up and provide pakistan and other countries on the frontlines with the financial and technical resources they need to survive extreme weather events like these deadly floods,” he said.
“i urge governments to address this issue at cop 27 with the seriousness it deserves,” guterres added, referring to the united nations climate summit in november which will be held in the egyptian seaside resort of sharm el sheikh.
pakistan, along with dozens of other developing countries around the world, are scrambling to adapt to the effects of climate change, with many of them calling on richer, high-emitting nations to help foot the bill.
—the associated press
in villages dotted across the african continent, locals living in once-heavily forested regions are starting to find their land in high demand.
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in kenya’s gazi bay, arguably the continent’s most famous mangrove restoration project, thousands of trees have been planted thanks to nearly a decade of concerted efforts to offset carbon dioxide released by faraway governments and companies seeking to improve their climate credentials. the initiative was one of africa’s first steps into the carbon market, where credits to emit greenhouse gases can be bought or sold.
since then, dozens of similar schemes have sprouted across the continent, with african governments now looking to capitalize on this exploding global industry. the continent is home to huge swaths of carbon-absorbing lands, with forest covering roughly 674 million hectares, or 22.7 per cent, of africa, according to the u.n. food and agriculture organization. the cuvette-centrale peatlands deep in the congo basin are alone capable of locking in up to 30 billion tons of carbon, or three years worth of the world’s emissions.
waterside mangrove forests, which are more effective at sucking carbon out of the air than their land counterparts, have swelled in places like gazi. community-led voluntary initiatives in kenya, mozambique and ivory coast that restore thousands of hectares of forest are supported by large international carbon credit organizations such as blue forest and the world resources institute.
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—the associated press
u.n. secretary-general antonio guterres arrived before dawn friday on a two-day visit aimed at expressing his solidarity with tpakistan’s government and people over climate-induced floods that have killed 1,391 people since mid-june.
upon his arrival at an airport near islamabad, guterres was received by senior officials.
during the visit, the u.n. chief will travel to flood-hit areas, and he will meet with prime minister shahbaz sharif and other government and military officials.
guterres’ trip comes less than two weeks after he issued an appeal for $160 million in emergency funding to help millions affected by record-breaking floods that have caused at least $10 billion in damages.
last week, the u.n. chief issued a stern warning about the effects of climate change.
“let’s stop sleepwalking toward the destruction of our planet by climate change,” he said in a video message to a ceremony in islamabad at the time. “today, it’s pakistan. tomorrow, it could be your country.”
—the associated press
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environmentalists claimed a small legal victory friday after a court in germany said it would continue hearing a case brought by a farmer seeking to force automaker volkswagen to end the sale of combustion engine vehicles.
ulf allhoff-cramer says drier soil and heavier rains due to climate change are harming his fields, cattle and commercial forests. he argues that volkswagen is partly to blame for this, as the mass production of vehicles running on gasoline contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.
during a first hearing in may, a regional court in the western german town of detmold appeared to cast doubt on those claims, with judges asking the plaintiff to provide further details to back up their legal arguments.
on friday, the court again asked for further details and set a new hearing for feb. 3.
“to me, this is a first success because we weren’t dismissed here and don’t have to go to appeals,” said roda verheyen, the plaintiff’s lawyer.
environmental group greenpeace, which supports the case, said it’s the first time that a court will consider whether a car manufacturer can be forced to change its business practices to prevent climate-related harm to a plaintiff’s health and property.
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—the associated press
with soaring heat, rising seas, droughts and floods, climate change fallout is disproportionately affecting africa, the world meteorological organization (wmo) said on thursday, calling for more financing to help countries adapt.
africa accounts for just 2-3 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, but overall the continent is warming faster than the global average and last year was one of the top four hottest on record, the wmo said in its report ‘state of the climate in africa 2021.’
it comes as africa demands richer, polluting nations stump up more money for adaptation projects on the continent and compensation for climate change-linked losses — topics that are expected to be in focus at cop27, the november u.n. climate summit in egypt dubbed ‘the african cop.’
the wmo said the need for more investment in climate adaptation was crucial, estimating that climate impacts could cost african nations $50 billion per year by 2030, with droughts and floods the top concern.
—reuters
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even if the world somehow manages to limit future warming to the strictest international temperature goal, four earth-changing climate “tipping points” are still likely to be triggered with a lot more looming as the planet heats more after that, a new study said.
an international team of scientists looked at 16 climate tipping points — when a warming side effect is irreversible, self-perpetuating and major — and calculated rough temperature thresholds at which they are triggered. none of them are considered likely at current temperatures, though a few are possible.
but with only a few more tenths of a degree of warming from now, at 1.5 degrees celsius (2.7 degrees fahrenheit) warming since pre-industrial times, four move into the likely range, according to a study in thursday’s journal science.
the study said slow but irreversible collapse of the greenland and west antarctic ice sheets, more immediate loss of tropical coral reefs around the globe and thawing of high northern permafrost that releases massive amounts of greenhouse gases trapped in now frozen land are four significant tipping points that could be triggered at 1.5 degrees celsius of warming, which is three-tenths of a degree (half a degree fahrenheit) warmer than now. current policies and actions put earth on a trajectory for about 2.7 degrees celsius (4.9 degrees fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial times, according to some projections.
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—the associated press
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guides and links
b.c. flood: read all our coverage on the fraser valley and beyond
frequently asked questions about climate change: nasa
climate change made b.c. heat wave 150 times more likely, study concludes
b.c.’s heat wave: intense weather event is linked to climate crisis, say scientists
expert: climate change expected to bring longer wildfire seasons and more area burned
vancouver outlines its climate emergency action plan
do you have a story idea about local efforts being made to address the climate and ecological emergencies? please email tips to ticrawford@postmedia.com
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