Daniel Quiggin

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Climate activists from Fridays for Future Germany protest with a banner that reads: 'Don't Fail Us, Phase Out Fossil Fuels!' at COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 12 December 2023. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

As COP28 nears its conclusion, a great deal of optimism and controversy is centred around the phasing ‘out’ or ‘down’ of fossil fuels. Neither term has ever been included in the negotiating text of previous COPs, hence the optimism.

But the revelation that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sent private letters to its 13 members – including COP28 host the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – urging them to ‘proactively reject any text or formula that targets energy, ie fossil fuels, rather than emissions’ caused controversy. OPEC members own 80 per cent of global oil reserves.

However, this optimism and controversy appears to be missing the more important question: after we apply any such target to ‘unabated’ fossil fuels, what about ‘abated’ fossil fuels?…  Seguir leyendo »

'1.5 Degrees' is projected on the Eiffel Tower on 11 December 2015 in Paris, France. Photo by Getty Images.

The target of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels has been a totemic threshold ever since the 2015 Paris Agreement, indicating whether climate change is within manageable limits, whatever the political rhetoric.

In June 2023, the global temperature temporarily passed the threshold, with heatwaves, wildfires and flooding affecting every part of the world.

With COP28 approaching, scientists, journalists, and politicians are proclaiming either ‘keep 1.5 alive’, ‘1.5 is dead’, or ’every fraction of a degree matters’.

However, both the ‘keep 1.5 alive’ and ‘1.5 is dead’ narratives may be missing the point.

1.5°C matters – it represents a level of heating beyond which critical ‘tipping points’ may be breached.…  Seguir leyendo »

Climate change demonstration at Oxford Circus, London calls for governments around the world to show leadership on the issues. Photo by Robin Pope/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

As 2020 ends, optimism is beginning to percolate through climate campaigning and diplomacy spheres as key countries commit to ambitious targets. China has just announced its 2030 target of lowering its emissions per unit of GDP by more than 65 per cent – relative to 2005 – and has pledged carbon neutrality by 2060.

Joe Biden says the US will re-join the Paris Agreement and achieve net-zero by 2050, while both the EU and UK are targeting significant reductions in emissions – of 55 and 68 per cent respectively – by the end of the decade.

This acceleration of climate change mitigation targets led the independent Climate Action Tracker to announce that ‘if all national governments meet their 2050 net-zero emissions targets, warming could be as low as 2.1˚C by 2100, putting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5˚C limit within striking distance’.…  Seguir leyendo »

Six Aspects of Daily Life Rapidly Changed by COVID-19

When the pandemic struck, many countries were quick to close their borders, turning inward in the scramble to protect lives and livelihoods. Sadly, the crisis has done little to bond nations against this shared, invisible foe – in some cases, blame for the outbreak and rows over responses actually exacerbating geopolitical tensions.

However, some effects of COVID-19 may yet unite us, in the profound ways the disease has impacted almost every part of life across the planet, giving us a rare opportunity to pause and consider how we live. News of an effective vaccine makes the prospect of a ‘return to normality’ more hopeful but have these dramatic accelerations in existing trends already changed how we travel, work, and consume, and the face of our cities for good?…  Seguir leyendo »

Demonstrators with placards during a protest in New York City to support the Green New Deal. Photo by Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.

As of the beginning of May, 33 million Americans had lost their jobs in the preceding seven-week lockdown - equivalent to a 14.7% unemployment rate, and quadrupling the 2019 rate of 3.5%. In China, although officially unemployment is just 5.9%, independent estimates are more than three times greater, at 20.5%, principally due to a lack of accounting for job losses amongst migrant workers.

With India’s unemployment rate standing at 23.5%, three times greater than pre-pandemic levels, and Brazil - the new epicentre of COVID-19 – seeing unemployment double compared to 2019 to 25.6%, it is not just the world’s two largest economies who are suffering.…  Seguir leyendo »