Framing climate change as a human rights issue is currently gaining momentum. Former Irish President Mary Robinson recently spoke about climate justice, pointing out that not only are more affluent nations better able to protect themselves, they are also responsible for the majority of the carbon emissions that are currently affecting their less developed neighbours in life changing ways.
The Global Apollo Program is a 10 year project to make renewable energy cheaper than fossil fuels through internationally coordinated and publicly funded research into renewable energy technology. It has attracted celebrity endorsements from the likes of Sir David Attenborough, and has a community of investors and backers as diverse as fossil fuel executives, economists and energy ministers. The program focuses on securing more public funding for research and development.
What would I do without the CBC! They just announced that Canada has invested 11 B in renewable energy resources in 2014. Ontario led the way, followed by Quebec and British Columbia. Canadian renewable electricity generation capacity grew to 89 GigaWatts, making Canada fourth in the world in generation of clean electricity. Canadian utilities have shut down about 4,600 MegaWatts of coal capacity in the last five years, but about 9,700 megawatts still remain.
US President Obama challenges world leaders to act now on climate change, we are the only generation that mitigate human induced impacts before it is too late, we are the last generation to be able to act.
Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health
The 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change has been formed to map out the impacts of climate change, and the necessary policy responses, in order to ensure the highest attainable standards of health for populations worldwide. This Commission is multidisciplinary and international in nature, with strong collaboration between academic centres in Europe and China.
By Alastair Moore, Doctoral Candidate, University of Manchester, Doctoral student, MC3 2.0: Meeting the Climate Change Challenge
The Pope’s release tomorrow of his encyclical calling for changes in lifestyles and energy consumption to avert the “unprecedented destruction of the ecosystem” before the end of this century is another new tipping point in climate action.
Wind energy just got even more exciting, thanks to David Yanez, co-founder of a company called Vortex Bladeless. He’s begun a revolution within a revolution with an amazing new approach to harnessing the power of the wind. By capturing the power in vortices of air through oscillation, these blade-less generators are capable of producing wind energy without the concern about excessive noise and/or danger to wildlife. Not only that, they are exceedingly more cost effective to produce and maintain.
When it comes to discussing the optimal price of carbon, it can be notoriously difficult to determine how best to measure it. Nevertheless, putting a price on carbon is considered a critical first step in achieving meaningful climate change mitigation and adaptation. In Canada, one province has introduced a revenue neutral carbon tax, while two others have introduced a cap and trade system, as discussed in the Climate Imperative e-Dialogues.
French president Francois Hollande, has called for a “miracle” to happen later this year at the climate change conference in Paris, saying this would be needed for a world compromise to be reached on limiting greenhouse gases. Given the latest scientific evidence, it is now time for unprecedented government and business leadership to ensure global progress.