2015
New York Times: As U.S. and Europe Pass the Hat at Climate Talks, China Clings to Developing-Nation Status
December 9, 2015
A crucial issue at the climate negotiations now taking place in Le Bourget, a northeast suburb of Paris, lies in who will foot the bill for $100 billion a year in long-promised assistance for developing countries, starting in 2020. read more
COP21 Update: Climate and Clean Air Coalition Launches 5-Year Plan to Avoid 0.6C Warming by 2050
December 8, 2015
Ministers of the 50 Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) member countries launched a 5-year action plan today to cut short-lived climate pollutants, an effort that can avoid 0.6°C warming globally by 2050. Fast action to reduce short-lived climate pollutants “is an urgent, effective and pragmatic complement to aggressive mitigation of carbon dioxide and other long-lived greenhouse gases,” read the Paris Communique released at the Paris, COP21 meeting today. read more
COP21 Update: Military’s Role in Post-Paris Pivot to Fast Action
December 7, 2015
The Global Military Advisory Council on Climate Change (GMACCC) underscored the need for fast action on climate change, emphasizing the relation to global security and calling for militaries to act as key contributors to climate change preparedness at the the Paris climate conference today. read more
At Paris climate talks, experts cite looming risk from industrial coolants, methane
December 5, 2015
As world leaders grapple with how to cut global emissions of carbon dioxide, diplomats in Paris are recording progress in combating other pollutants that scientists believe are contributing powerfully to rising temperatures. A coalition of governments and private businesses has agreed to take up a series of initiatives to limit so-called “short-lived climate pollutants,” read more
COP21 Update: Focus on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants
December 4, 2015
National delegations and private sectors committed to new and increased actions to reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPS) at the COP21 climate conference today. Among the fast action initiatives announced under the Lima Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) were sector commitments to reduce hydrofluorocarbons read more
Countries Agree to Use Montreal Protocol to Phase Down HFCs
November 6, 2015
The countries of the world agreed today to work together in 2016 to use the Montreal Protocol to eliminate the global warming contribution from one of the six main greenhouse gases by phasing down refrigerants called hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. A long list of details are scheduled to be negotiated during a series of meetings next year during, both at an extraordinary Working Group… read more
Parties Agree to Negotiate Phase Down of Powerful Greenhouse Gas
October 30, 2015
Tonight Parties to the Montreal Protocol agreed to launch formal negotiations to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) under the Montreal Protocol. After two days of discussions, Parties agreed on the path forward for the formal negotiations to phase down these super greenhouse gases, now growing at a rate to 10 to 15 percent per year. read more
University of California Commits to Campus Carbon Neutrality in 10 Years
October 27, 2015
California Governor Jerry Brown, University of California (UC) President Janet Napolitano, along with many other legislators, business leaders, and top energy and climate experts committed to UC carbon neutrality in ten years as a beacon for California and the rest of the world to stay below the 2°C guardrail, at the Carbon Neutrality Summit today. read more
Montreal Protocol Best Way to Reduce Super Pollutant HFCs, Says New Climate Economy
October 22, 2015
A new paper from the New Climate Economy recommends that Parties to the Montreal Protocol approve an amendment to phase down Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a fast mitigation action that could avoid the equivalent of up to 200 billion tones of carbon dioxide by 2050, and up to 0.5C of warming by the end of the century. By 2030, the HFC amendment could avoid 1.7 Gt CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions per year, more than the current annual emissions of Japan. read more
Administration Accelerates End Game for HFCs
October 15, 2015
Today the White House, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DOD), and dozens of private companies launched the end game for hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) greenhouse gases both domestically through the federal procurement and the Clean Air Act, and globally, through the Montreal Protocol. The HFC cuts were announced at a White House roundtable read more
