Watch out. \u00a0COP21 is coming.<\/p>\n
Reuters<\/a>\u00a0has reported comments by Laurence Tubiana<\/a>, the French envoy\u00a0to COP21, quoting her as saying that delegates remain divided over fundamental issues, one of which is the framework for measuring carbon emissions \u2013 with oil-producing nations arguing that the focus should not only be on fossil fuels but also on emissions from agriculture and other sectors. \u00a0Tubiana also said current negotiations pointed to a deal that would put the planet on a path to exceeding the 2 degree C\u00a0threshold \u2013 but we knew that. \u00a0There have been\u00a0some advances, she said, \"although they are difficult to spot\". \u00a0It seems that some 154 out of the 195 participating countries have submitted their national programmes to reduce emissions. \u00a0That already counts as \"a success\", Tubiana says, even if it's not enough to put the planet on the path to limit warming.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Telegraph's<\/a>\u00a0AEP,\u00a0under the heading: \"Paris climate deal to ignite a $90 trillion energy revolution\", is reporting that submissions to COP21 from governments amount to the death knell for the fossil fuel companies (and trouble for those economies utterly dependent on the business). \u00a0Here's a taste:<\/p>\n \"Taken together, they commit the world to a reduction in fossil fuel demand by 30 \u2013 40% over the next 20 years, and this is just the start of a revolutionary shift to net zero emissions by 2080 or thereabouts. \u00a0\u201cIt is unstoppable. \u00a0No amount of lobbying at this point is going to change the direction,\u201d said Christiana Figueres, the UN\u2019s top climate official.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Yet the energy industry is still banking on ever-rising demand for its products as if nothing has changed. \u00a0BP is projecting a 43% increase in fossil fuel use by 2035, Exxon expects 35% by 2040, Shell 43% and Opec is clinging valiantly to 55%. These are pure fiction. \"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Of course, submissions are one thing \u2013 promises is all they are \u2013 following through is quite another. \u00a0And these are promises from outfits that are not good at doing what they say. \u00a0However, Climate Action<\/a>\u00a0features a report by\u00a0FTI<\/a>\u00a0Consulting which\u00a0predicts that 59GW\u00a0of wind energy capacity will have been installed by the end of 2015, and that between 2015 and 2019, installations are expected to reach 264GW, with total wind installations for the 2015-2024 period now expected to reach 592GW globally. \u00a0All this adds substance to AEP's confidence, and chimes well with another bright spot that I noted last week:\u00a0PWC<\/a>\u00a0suggestion that there's evidence that GDP has become decoupled from carbon emissions.<\/p>\n ................................................................<\/p>\n Will you be at Paris? \u00a0I shall not, though I know those who will be joining the carnival of NGOs clustering round the COP fringes, talking to each other, dining well, and generally getting in the way. \u00a0Personally, I think I might go down to\u00a0the coast for a sobering walk in the wind.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Watch out. \u00a0COP21 is coming. Reuters\u00a0has reported comments by Laurence Tubiana, the French envoy\u00a0to COP21, quoting her as saying that delegates remain divided over fundamental issues, one of which is the framework for measuring carbon emissions \u2013 with oil-producing nations...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment","category-news-and-updates"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}