2016
North American Leaders’ Double-Barreled Climate Strategy
June 29, 2016
Today President Obama, Prime Minister Trudeau, and President Pena Nieto agreed to an aggressive double-barreled climate strategy, committing to cut both carbon dioxide, by moving to 50% clean energy sources by 2025, and the short-lived super pollutants. read more
Modi Joins Obama for Fast Implementation of Paris Agreement
June 7, 2016
Today Prime Minister Modi and President Obama took another big step forward as partners in the battle to slow climate change making a down payment by cutting HFCs under Montreal Protocol. read more
The Washington Post: The world is about to install 700 million air conditioners. Here’s what that means for the climate
May 31, 2016
As countries boom in wealth and population, and extend electricity to more people even as the climate warms, the projections are clear: They are going to install mind-boggling amounts of air conditioning, not just for comfort but as a health necessity. read more
G7 Commits to Cut Near-term Warming by Reducing Super Pollutants
May 30, 2016
The May 27th G7 leaders’ declaration committed for the first time to cutting near-term warming by phasing down short-lived super pollutants black carbon, methane, and HFCs. The leaders also committed to amending the Montreal Protocol in 2016 to phase down HFCs. read more
Carbon Brief: How to better align climate goals with sustainable development
May 12, 2016
The use of CO2 equivalent is a significant barrier to reaching the goal of the Paris Agreement of keeping warming “well below 2C”. read more
Post-Paris Pivot to Fast Near-term Climate Mitigation
April 10, 2016
In the first test of post-Paris climate mitigation, Parties to the Montreal Protocol made significant progress last week to eliminate warming from super greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, used primarily as refrigerants in air conditioners and other equipment. HFCs are one of the six main greenhouse gases. read more
Press Alert: Countries Planning HFC Phase Down at Geneva Montreal Protocol Meetings Next Week
April 1, 2016
Representatives of the 197 countries arrive in Geneva next Monday for the first major initiative to protect the world’s climate since the historic Paris agreement last December. The Parties to the Montreal Protocol ozone treaty are meeting to finalize plans for a global phase down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the highly potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air conditioning. read more
Dr. Mostafa Tolba, Father of Montreal Protocol, Dies at 93
March 29, 2016
Dr. Tolba was a brilliant Egyptian scientist and forceful diplomat who led the United Nations Environment Program for 17 years starting in 1975. “He knew when to push and when to pull and when to lock negotiators in a room until they found a solution to the planet’s early environmental problems,” said Durwood Zaelke read more
UNFCCC News Room: Fast-Tracking Climate Action
March 24, 2016
The need for urgent, concerted action cannot be emphasized enough. Any delay will cause negative consequences to continue to accumulate. This will not only cause tremendous suffering, especially to the world’s most vulnerable people; it will reverberate for decades to come, making the key goal of keeping the increase in global temperature below 2º Celsius (relative to pre-industrial levels) increasingly costly. read more
Sea-Level Rise Accelerating from Human-Caused Warming
February 25, 2016
Sea-levels are rising faster than any time in nearly 3,000 years, according to an analysis published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and are expected to rise even faster in the future due to continued climate warming. A related analysis by Climate Central this week calculated that 67% of coastal floods since 1950 were driven by climate change. read more
