The UN’s 1.5°C special climate report at a glance

[Guest Post by Emil Jeyaratnam, Madeleine De Gabriele, and Michael Hopkin, originally published in The Conversation]

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a special report today on the impacts of global warming of 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels.

The report outlines the considerable challenges of meeting the Paris Agreement’s more ambitious goal of limiting warming to 1.5℃, the global effort needed to achieve the target, and the consequences of not.

The highlights of the report are presented below:


infographic Graph: TITLE Global warming projections for 2100 | Emissions and expected warming based in pledges and current policies | Y-Axis Global greenhouse gas emmissions GtCO2e/year | 150 - Warming projected by 2100 | 100 - Baseline 4.1 - 4.8°C | 50 - Current policies 3.1 - 3.7°C | - Pledges 2.6 - 3.2°C | 0 - 2°C consistent 1.5 - 1.7°C | -50 - 1.5°C consistent 1.3 - 1.5°C -50 | X-Axis 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100 | source: Climate Action Tracker | Text: The world will need ti be carbon-neutral by 2047 to give us a 66% chance of hitting the 1.5°C target, or by 2058 for a 50% chance. If the world was carbon neutral by: • 2047: we have a 66% chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C •2058: we have a 50% chance of limiting waeming to 1.5°C This will mean • sourcing 70 - 86% of electricity from renewables by 2050 • putting a price on greenhouse emissions • using technology to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. GRAPH: Renewable energy targets | Proportion of global renewable energy consumption in 2015* = 18% | Global Target by 2050: 70 - 85% of electricity supplied by renewables | Australia: Australia's target for 2020: 23% | Labor's Target for 2030: 50% | souce: The World Bank | Text: The world has had about 1°C of warming so far. at 1.5°C we will see: • more heatwaves, floods and droughts • up to 90% of reef corals lost • damage to crops and fisheries • threats to economic growth | images: forest fire, flooded settlement, dead coral, dustbowl farmer's field | Text: But by avoiding 2°C of global warming, we will: • protect 10.4m people from sea level rise • halve the number of people without fresh water • reduce death and disease from heatwaves. • make it easier to deliver many of the UN's Sustainable Development GoalsCC BY-ND


Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the Australian Labor Party had a goal of reaching 50% renewable energy by 2050. But the ALP hope to achieve the 50% target via an emissions intensity scheme by 2030.

Emil Jeyaratnam, Multimedia Editor, The Conversation;
Madeleine De Gabriele, Deputy Editor: Energy + Environment, The Conversation, and
Michael Hopkin, Section Editor: Energy + Environment, The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives 4.0 License. Read the original article.

Find the ipcc (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report Global Warming of 1.5 °C ~ an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty

“Global Greenhouse Gas Emmission Trajectories” graphic by Laurel L. Russwurm based on “The UN’s 1.5°C special climate report at a glance” released under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives 4.0 License

Iceland’s Capital Votes To Boycott All Israeli Products

by Whitney Webb

Reykjavik’s city council voted last week to ban Israeli goods in a symbolic gesture to protest Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

Reykjavik

The city council of Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, has voted to ban all Israeli-made goods in protest of the continuing “occupation of Palestinian territories” and Israel’s “policy of apartheid” against Palestinians. Concerns regarding Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians were renewed following Israel’s announcement in July that it would build Israeli homes in the contested West Bank, inciting violent protests.

Most countries consider these new settlements, as well as previous ones, illegal, and even the US State Department has expressed its concerns over Israeli settlement expansion. In the past, Reykjavik’s city council has been critical of Israel and has previously adopted resolutions that acknowledge Palestinian rights to independence and a sovereign nation. According to Iceland’s foreign ministry, the small island nation purchased $6 million of Israeli imports, most of which in the form of fruits and vegetables, equipment, and machinery.

Iceland’s national government said that the boycott would only be limited to the country’s capital and has tried to distance itself from the action of Reykjavik’s city council. Yet, as Iceland’s largest city and home to half its population, Reykjavik’s decision to boycott Israel will likely cause some economic impact though it is hard to say whether or not it will be significant. Israeli exports totaled $53.7 billion in 2014, meaning its exports to Iceland represent a meager 1.1% of its total annual exports.

palestinian-loss-of-land-1946-2010

Overall, it appears that Israel is much more concerned with the symbolic impact of the boycott as opposed to its economic effects as they have been actively fighting against several recent international boycotts in response to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people, most notably the BDS movement (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions).

Concerns about the growth of boycott movements have led Israel to pass legislation allowing for the deportation of foreign activists, to threaten the lives of BDS supporters, and to lobby for legislation in other countries to prevent future boycotts. They have even teamed up with Facebook to try and prevent criticism of Israel on social media.

Israel’s government responded to news of Reykjavik’s boycott with harsh criticism. Emmanuel Nahshon, Israel’s foreign minister, responded by saying:

A volcano of hatred is erupting out of the city council building in Reykjavik. Without any reason or justification, other than pure hatred, we hear calls to boycott Israel. We hope someone in Iceland comes to their senses and stops the blindness and the one-sidedness that is directed at Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.

Some Icelanders were also critical of the boycott, including a local attorney who said the ban on Israeli goods violates the Icelandic constitution. It remains to be seen if Israel will take action against Iceland as a result of the new boycott.



There has been an uproar in Canada since our government passed a motion condemning the BDS movement, claiming that bringing such economic and political pressure to bear is anti-semitic.

Israel’s foreign minister, Emmanuel Nahshon’s claim that calls to boycott Israel are “Without any reason or justification, other than pure hatred” is patently absurd.    BDS political and economic pressure aims to convince Israel to conform to International Law.  

If Nations can blithely choose which parts of International Law they will deign to follow without any repercussion (as Israel does in flouting of International Law by encroaching on the what little Palestinian territory remains with new settlements), International Law is meaningless.

In light of the other attacks our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has been hit with of late, this blatant suppression of the Canadian right to dissent has upset a great many Canadians, myself included.

This summer the Green Party of Canada recently passed a motion to support the BDS and the right of Canadians to dissent, earning the distinction of being the first national Canadian political party to do so. 

When Israel ceases breaking international law, calls for BDS would dissipate, but it seems its current government won’t even consider accepting this simple solution.

Human rights matter.

—Laurel Russwurm



Credits

Iceland’s Capital Votes To Boycott All Israeli Products
by Whitney Webb originally published in TrueActivist.com has been released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

The only sunny day in Reykjavík. This year.” by Marcus Hansson published on Flickr has been released under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) License

Palestinian Loss of Land (1946-2010)” by Noorrovers published in Wikimedia Commons is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Earth Overshoot Day 2016

Guest Post by Environment Hamilton


Earth Overshoot DayToday is Earth Overshoot day, which means that today humanity has used up the amount of resources that the planet can reliably provide us renewably for the entire year. It moves several days earlier each year; in 2015 it happened on August 13th. The official website makes a number of suggestions for ways that you can make a difference.

The idea that we can continue to demand ever more each year from a planet that isn’t getting any bigger is more than a little nuts, so maybe it’s time to stop taking the word of economists about it.

Follow @EnvHamilton on Twitter and Facebook