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Carbon emissions

‘Landmark’ Global Shipping Agreement Reached After Years Of Talks

April 15, 2025 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. , , ,
After nearly a decade of negotiations, nations have come to a “landmark” global shipping agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The new International Maritime Organization (IMO) Framework introduced a carbon pricing mechanism that will require ships with high emissions to pay for the excess pollution they release, reported UN News. It also sets mandatory fuel standards for the shipping industry. “Ships must reduce, over time, their annual greenhouse gas fuel intensity (GFI) – that is, how much GHG is emitted for each unit of energy used,” a press release from IMO said. “Ships emitting above GFI thresholds will have to acquire remedial units to balance its deficit emissions, while those using zero or near-zero GHG technologies will be eligible for financial rewards.”

A St. Paul CDFI Is Now Offering Net Zero Banking

March 25, 2025 Hibah Ansari, Next City. , , , ,
Once an outdoor educator, Laura Wildenborg spent 10 years taking kids on field trips to go rock climbing or cross-country skiing across the region, all to inspire children to love and care for the environment. After receiving her MBA in 2020, she made a drastic career pivot — to banking. But she brought her care for the environment along with her. “That love of the outdoors, that was such an important aspect of what I was doing, and I wanted to carry that through into my next role,” says Wildenborg, vice president of strategic lending for Sunrise Banks, a community development financial institution based in St. Paul, Minnesota.

36 Companies Drove Half The World’s Climate-Altering Emissions In 2023

March 9, 2025 Sharon Kelly, DeSmog. , , , ,
Half of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions in 2023 came from just three dozen companies, according to a new report released today by the Carbon Majors project, with the list dominated by coal, cement, and oil producers. Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Aramco, the year’s worst offender, drove 4.4 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide pollution alone in 2023, the report found. Five publicly-traded oil companies — ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP — combined to produce an additional 4.9 percent of the year’s global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, the report adds.

Plants Are Losing Their Ability To Absorb Carbon Dioxide

March 4, 2025 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. , , ,
Our planet’s plants and soils reached the peak of their ability to absorb carbon dioxide in 2008, and their sequestration rate has been falling ever since, according to a new analysis by a father-and-son team in the United Kingdom. At first, the added carbon led to warmer temperatures, vegetation growth and a longer growing season. Once a tipping point was reached, however, the combination of heat stress, wildfires, drought, flooding, storms and the spread of new diseases and pests led to a reduction in the amount of carbon plants can soak up. “The rate of natural sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere by the terrestrial biosphere peaked in 2008.

2°C Climate Warming Target Is ‘Dead’

February 6, 2025 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. , , ,
In a new analysis, acclaimed climate scientist Professor James Hansen and colleagues said that scientists had greatly underestimated the rate of global heating, and that the international target of two degrees Celsius is “dead.” The analysis concluded that the combination of recent reductions in shipping pollution — which have the effect of blocking the sun — and increasing emissions from fossil fuels have been greater than previously thought, reported The Guardian. “A shocking rise of warming has been exposed by, ironically, a reduction of pollutants, but we now have a new baseline and trajectory for where we are,” said Professor Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, as The Guardian reported.

Escalating Climate Impacts Threaten Health Worldwide

October 31, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. , , , ,
Human-driven climate change is causing temperatures to rise to dangerous new heights, while worsening drought and impeding food security, according to the ninth Lancet Countdown report. The report by health experts and doctors warned that people all over the world are facing unparalleled health threats because of the climate crisis. “This year’s stocktake of the imminent health threats of climate inaction reveals the most concerning findings yet,” said Dr. Marina Romanello, executive director of the University College London-led Lancet Countdown, as The Guardian reported.

Study: The Economic Case For A Public Rail System

September 24, 2024 Kira McDonald, Public Rail Now. , , , , , , , ,
Public Rail Now is excited to announce their second research report in their campaign for public rail ownership. “From Margins to Growth: The Economic Case for a Public Rail System,” lays bare the economic facts for the current state of the US rail system is in a downward spiral, facts working railroaders have been espousing for decades. Public rail ownership has the potential to save up to $140 billion annually for US consumers, provide an estimated 180,000 new rail road jobs, avert $190 Billion in public health, environmental and fiscal cost, while helping to meet climate goals by avoiding 180 metric tonnes of carbon emissions.

Violations Discovered At Nation’s First Carbon Capture And Storage Project

September 14, 2024 Sharon Kelly, DeSmog. , , ,
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found multiple Safe Drinking Water Act violations at the nation’s first carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) storage project, PoliticoPro’s E&E News reported today. The Decatur, IL, project, run by Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), violated rules meant to protect against leaks of captured carbon, the EPA wrote in a notice of violation issued on August 14th. The EPA said it had inspected three ADM wells in mid-June — one used for storing captured carbon dioxide and two used to monitor for leaks and other problems. ADM told E&E News that the violations relate to corrosion in one of the two monitoring wells — a problem that ADM said it had discovered back in March.

US Militarism Is A Leading Cause Of The Climate Catastrophe

September 12, 2024 Marjorie Cohn, Truthout. , , , ,
This week marks 23 years since George W. Bush declared a U.S.-led “war on terror” and the people of Afghanistan and Iraq are still suffering its consequences. After the U.S. invaded Iraq, an estimated half a million Iraqis were killed and at least 9.2 million were displaced. From 2003-2011, more than 4.7 million Iraqis suffered from moderate to severe food insecurity. Over 243,000 people have been killed in the Afghanistan/Pakistan war zone since 2001, more than 70,000 of them civilians. Between 4.5 and 4.6 million people have died in the post-9/11 wars. The U.S.’s “war on terror” also escalated the climate catastrophe, resulting in local water shortages and extreme weather crises that are only getting worse.

Record Rise In Global Methane Levels Threatens ‘Habitable Climate’

September 12, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. , , ,
While 155 countries have committed to reducing methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030 under the Global Methane Pledge, new research reveals that the world’s methane emissions have been rising at a record pace over the last five years. At least two-thirds of methane emissions produced each year come from human activities like agriculture, fossil fuels, landfills and other waste, the Stanford Report said. In a new perspective article published in Environmental Research Letters, the researchers warn this dire pattern “cannot continue if we are to maintain a habitable climate.” The article was published with corresponding figures in Earth System Science Data.

Two Years And $300 Billion Into Biden’s Climate Plan, Emissions Are Higher

August 26, 2024 Peter Gelderloos, In These Times. , , , , , ,
August 16 marked the two-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), legislation that has funneled hundreds of billions of dollars into green energy and electric vehicles. While the Act made unprecedented investments in renewable energy, it also faced criticism for being too little, too late and for compromising on fossil fuel extraction. In response, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan acknowledged the bill’s shortcomings but explained the administration’s approach: ​“We’re using every tool in our toolbox to drive down climate pollution as much as possible, as quickly as possible.”

Methane Emissions Worldwide Rising At Fastest Pace In Decades

July 31, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. , , ,
According to a new study, global methane emissions are “rising rapidly” — at the fastest pace in decades — with immediate action needed to help curtail a dangerous intensification of the climate crisis. The study outlines three “imperatives” for reducing methane emissions, as well as a new tool to assist nations with optimizing cost-effective methods to reduce their methane emissions, an explainer from Frontiers said. The actions called for by the study’s authors include reversing methane emissions growth, aligning carbon dioxide and methane mitigation and optimizing policies and technologies for the abatement of methane at the global, national and sector levels.

China’s Lightning-Fast Renewable Triumphs

July 27, 2024 Robert Hunziker, Counter Punch. , , ,
A few years ago, China’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry shook hands on a pledge to triple renewable energy by 2030. China took the challenge seriously, very seriously, it will meet its end-of-2030 emissions target this year (2014), six years early. In the blink of an eye, China is constructing wind and solar farms that are equivalent to building five large nuclear power stations per week! Yes, per week. They understand the multitude of risks of climate change, especially since it is happening in real time right in everybody’s face, and they’re doing something about it faster than the rest of the world combined.

South Africa Passes Its First Climate Change Act

July 24, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. , , ,
South Africa has passed its first Climate Change Act, a sweeping law that will set limits for big greenhouse gas emitters and require that every town and city publish an adaptation plan with the objective of meeting the country’s carbon emissions reduction commitments in accordance with the Paris Agreement. South Africa is a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 190-plus members of which are parties to the 2016 Paris Agreement. President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Climate Change Bill into law. The new law establishes a national response to climate change, including actions for mitigation and adaptation, which constitute South Africa’s “fair contribution to the global climate change response,” a press release from the South African government said.

How US Cities Outsource Their Carbon Emissions To Rural Areas

June 27, 2024 Claire Carlson, In These Times. , , , , ,
A new report shows that at least 36% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from rural America, but they’re mostly used to produce energy and food for urban and suburban America. And while rural communities — particularly low-income and rural communities of color — are exposed to a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions, they’re not receiving the federal investments to decrease these emissions. “If we really want to meaningfully reduce emissions, [we need to invest] in efforts that are rural to reduce the emissions that are connected to that consumption,” said Maria Doerr, lead author of the report and program officer for the Rural Climate Partnership.
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