The Nordic country becomes the first to significantly upgrade its ambition in light of the international climate deal adopted in Paris in 2015. It was previously targeting carbon neutrality by 2050.Coming two weeks after US president Donald Trump announced his intention to pull out of the Paris Agreement, the act underlines a growing transatlantic rift when it comes to climate change.
While current anti-climate developments in the US administration caused anxiety among climate advocates, its immediate effects might be more positive than initially expected. Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement has awaken a sense of urgency within the international community for dealing with climate issues, as well as filling the power vacuum that this withdrawal creates in collective climate leadership.
France likes to be seen as a leader on climate action, but when it comes to the role of forests, the country’s priorities lie elsewhere.
Emmanuel Macron promised to promote international cooperation on climate change in his victory speech on Sunday, after being elected president of France.
G7 energy ministers have failed to agree on a statement supporting the Paris climate accord after the US delegation said it was reviewing its position.
Vigya Sharma travelled to the state of Odisha, on India’s east, to get some insights on the linkages between energy access, rural poverty and climate change adaptation. In this post, she summarises her findings. How does Odisha’s government currently identify and establish links between natural disasters and rural poverty? And what role, if at all, may the current policy environment consider of energy poverty in further accentuating these linkages?
The German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel opened the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogues 2017 at the Federal Foreign Office, where close to 1,000 participants from 90 countries gathered to exchange on finding affordable alternatives to coal and gas. In his keynote, Foreign Minister Gabriel stressed the conflict dimension of climate change and energy security, and urged the international community to join forces in shaping the global Energiewende.
EcoPeace Middle East is an organization that seeks to create lasting peace though environmental cooperation and protection of shared natural resources. The Jordanian project coordinator, Mohammad Bundokji, explains the innovative approach to peacebuilding that consists in generating positive mutual dependencies for water and energy.
In the Middle East, the consequences of climate change are already a reality of life. The region is one of the most water-stressed areas in the world, the average temperature is rising faster than elsewhere, and a massive reduction in rainfall is also expected for the coming years. Adding to the conflicts and quarrels – ranging from the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to Syria and Iraq as well as to rivalries between Iran and the Gulf states – access to and use of natural resources act as yet another crisis amplifier in the region: water is as important here as land ownership and as precious as access to oil.