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24 August 2023 — Dr. Yunho Hwang was awarded the 2023 Gustav Lorentzen Medal by the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) for outstanding and original achievements in academic or industrial research, innovation, and development of climate-friendly cooling technology.

Dr. Hwang, a longtime collaborator and partner of IGSD, is a Research Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEED) at the University of Maryland. He works to make super-efficient cooling equipment with low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants globally available at affordable cost.

IIR established the Gustav Lorentzen Prize in 1997 to honor the memory of Norwegian Professor Gustav Lorentzen (1915-1995), who revived interest in “natural refrigerants” such as carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrocarbons, and ammonia. Most notably Dr. Lorentzen rediscovered how CO2 could be an energy-efficient refrigerant in his modern thermodynamic transcritical cycle. This breakthrough inspired a new generation of engineers who work to make natural refrigerants, safe, energy-efficient, and sustainable.

Professor Hwang’s work with IGSD includes the development of Enhanced and Localize Life Cycle Climate Performance (EL-LCCP) metrics that take into account climate-forcing refrigerants and energy sources as well as energy emissions embodied in materials and inherent in manufacturing, transporting, installing, servicing, and removing form service and recycling. No other metric considers factors such as urban heat islands, stacking and clustering of outdoor units, and carbon intensity of electricity delivered to the point of air conditioner use.

Most recently Professor Hwang was a member of the IGSD team proving that inverter room air conditioners (RACs) using R-32 refrigerant can achieve 70% carbon savings compared to older RACs typically sold in Africa that are inefficient when purchased and improperly installed and serviced for energy efficiency.

14 June 2023 – China released a List of Recommended Alternatives to Ozone-Depleting Substances (hereinafter referred as “the List”) to guide and promote low-global warming potential alternatives to ozone-depleting substances (ODS). Although the List is not legally enforceable, it does play a major role in encouraging and supporting scientific research, technical development, and market deployment of ODS alternatives in China, consistent with China’s obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. It is noteworthy that all of the alternatives identified in the List have 100-year global warming potentials below 750. An annotation to the List mentions that relevant environmental protection and safety regulations and standards shall be applied when selecting and using the ODS alternatives.

This List recommends 23 alternatives to three HCFCs, including HCFC-22, HCFC-141b, and HCFC-142b, which account for 99% of the total production of HCFCs in China. The List includes 7 refrigerant alternatives, 7 alternatives for foam blowing agents, and 9 alternatives for cleaning solvents, involving the room air conditioner, residential heat pump water heater, industrial and commercial refrigeration-system, foam, cleaning, and other sectors. ODS alternatives for the mobile air conditioning sector had not yet been officially identified at the time of this writing.

The IGSD English translation of the List for reference purposes only is here.

IGSD resources (selected examples):

29 May 2023 — In May 2023, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment released its annual Ecological and Environmental Status Bulletin for 2022 (hereinafter referred as the “Environmental Bulletin”). The Environmental Bulletin provides a comprehensive overview of China’s ecological and environmental quality over the past year. It does so by presenting national and regional data updates and highlighting key policy developments. In February 2023, China’s Meteorological Administration National Climate Center also released its annual China Climate Bulletin for 2022. The Climate Bulletin compiles the latest monitoring data and evaluation information on China’s climate, to support national government climate policy-making and other research needs.

Both the Environmental Bulletin and the Climate Bulletin highlight the climate emergency we are facing. China’s national average temperature in 2022 was the second highest since 1951, while the national average precipitation in 2022 was the lowest since 2021–5% lower than the average precipitation during 1991-2020. Extreme weather events are also becoming more frequent and more severe. In 2022, China experienced the largest number of extreme heat events since 1961. Natural disasters, including droughts and flooding, caused 296 deaths and direct economic losses of over 30 billion USD in 2022. Extreme heat events and severe droughts in China during 2022 also resulted in negative impacts to human health and agricultural yield, and increased energy consumption.

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8 May 2023 — In 2020, China announced the goals to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Subsequently, in 2021 and 2022, severe power shortage incidents heightened China’s concerns over energy security. China has since issued a number of policy documents aiming to address the balance between energy security and its carbon emissions and carbon neutrality goals. This briefing aims to assist IGSD partners and climate champions in understanding the dynamics of reaching China’s climate goals.

In February 2023, the National Energy Administration issued the Action Plan for Accelerating the Integrated Development of Oil and Gas Exploration with New Energy (2023-2025). This Action Plan includes the goal of cumulatively increasing, by 2025, fossil gas production by about 3 billion cubic meters and fossil crude oil production by over 2 million tonnes. At the same time, the Action Plan also calls upon oil and gas companies to use more renewable energy during extraction and accelerate their renewable energy generation to help achieve China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. Notably, the Action Plan does not specify whether methane intensity and emissions controls will be considered in the fossil oil and gas production.

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22 March 2023 — The Inter-American Court of Human Rights agreed to the request to issue an advisory opinion on Climate Emergency and Human Rights under Article 64(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights. The request for the advisory opinion, submitted to the Court on 9 January 2023 by the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Colombia, seeks to clarify the scope of State obligations to respond to the climate emergency within the framework of international human rights law.

Today the court accepted the request to issue an advisory opinion and accepted the series of questions brought forth by Chile and Colombia that will allow the Court to provide guidance on the obligations of States to address the climate emergency according to human rights law.

The President of the Court invited requests for the presentation of amicus curiae briefs and established August 18th, 2023 as the deadline to submit written observations to the Court. The brief with observations can be sent by e-mail to: tramite@corteidh.or.cr, or mailed to the street address of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Avenida 10, Calles 45 y 47 Los Yoses, San Pedro, San José, Costa Rica.

“Given the severity of the climate impacts we are already experiencing, we can no longer wait to implement urgent mitigation and adaptation measures. Framing climate solutions under the lens of human rights obligations can strengthen the obligations and responsibilities of different actors,” said Romina Picolotti, President and founder of the Center for Human Rights and Environment.

Picolotti added, “Climate justice can only be achieved if we slow the rate of warming this decade, focusing efforts on measures that can reduce the rate of warming now such as a reduction of methane and the protection of sinks. These measures will grant additional time for communities to build resilience and can also generate local jobs through their implementation. We commend the Inter-American Court for accepting the request to provide an expert opinion on this matter.”

For additional information, or if you are interested in presenting amicus curiae, please contact Amelia Murphy at amurphy@igsd.org.

See IGSD’s Contributions to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Advisory Opinion. Spanish: Aportes a la Opinión Consultiva de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos.

Additional Resources

  • Original Solicitud de Opinión Consultiva sobre Emergencia Climática y Derechos Humanos a la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos de la República de Colombia y la República de Chile is here.
  • Unofficial English translation, Request for an advisory opinion on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights by the Republic of Colombia and the Republic of Chile, is here.

21 February 2022, Delhi, India ⎯ At the official G20 prelude to the World Sustainable Development Summit 2023, co-hosted by The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI) and the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD), key ambassadors from G20 countries addressed the challenges and opportunities for collective action to accelerate and scale climate action and deploy climate finance in this decisive decade.

During the discussion How collective effort drives development and keeps 1.5 degree C target within reach, distinguished speakers highlighted that the earth is warming at record speed and could careen past the 1.5°C safe temperature limit as early as 2026. To prevent the worst consequences, global decision-makers must address the twin challenges of 1) long-term climate stabilization, and 2) urgently slowing the rate of near-term warming.

Keynote speaker, Ms. Richa Sharma, Additional Secretary Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), and distinguished panelists shared how each country is transforming the world, bending the emissions curve, and building resilience to address this global challenge. Her Excellency, Ms. Richa Sharma said,

“India’s climate policy is informed by its vision of inclusive growth, for all around social and economic development, eradication of poverty, and further adherence to the foundational principles of the UNFCCC, rational utilization of the fair share of the global carbon budget, and climate-friendly lifestyles within the backdrop of deep-rooted cultural tradition of reverence for nature.”

Key developments:

Mr. Andre Aranha Corrêia Do Lago, Ambassador of Brazil:

“President Lula committed to very ambitious changes in the environmental dimension of our efforts, as well as in the decoupling of growth and emissions… What I think we have to do within the G20 is share the experiences and show that things are possible.”

Mr. Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner, delineated a number of policy instruments and keys to addressing climate cooperatively, including funding, procurement, trade, and regional cooperation. He also emphasized that conflict can compound the climate problem, and further stressed the importance of internationalism.

Ms. Ina Hagniningtyas Krisnamurthi, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, emphasized the extreme vulnerability of some nations facing climate change and further underscored the role of regional and global cooperation to support the countries most impacted by the crisis.

“Developing countries should not do this alone, and we need the support of our developed partners to achieve those targets, especially 3 approaches: financing for climate action, investment for energy transition, the establishment of an effective and equitable carbon market.”

Mr. Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union:

“We all need to focus on action on mitigation in the coming months because if the current action continues, we are not going to achieve the Paris targets… [T]he G20 can help to focus the minds further and inject new momentum in this mission to leave a world for the next generation that is fit for habiting… The challenge is global and the response must be collective”

Mr. Atul Bagai, Head of the United Nations Environment Programme India Office:

“The Montreal Protocol is the most successful international agreement… and it gives us a very good model and an example of how we can use that model for climate change. That model is a model of reaching consensus… and we need to look at that from a perspective of addressing climate change.”

Background

In India, the World Bank predicts that by 2030, rising temperatures, heat stress, and extreme weather could jeopardize approximately $150-250 billion USD — that is 4.5% of the nation’s GDP at risk in this decade. Heat waves are increasing, and India is expected to soon become one the first place in the world to surpass the limit of “human survivability”. In other words, it will be too hot to sustain life. In food production, the lack of adequate cold chains results in approximately USD$1 trillion in economic losses each year globally and is responsible for 9% of lost production of perishable foods in developed countries and more than 17% in developing countries.

Reducing climate risks and staying within the agreed limits to effectively combat global warming is critical to survival. Doing so will allow countries and communities to build resilience, strengthen national policy to implement climate action, and buy critical time for longer-term action to decarbonize. Countries have long recognized the need for collective action to address the climate crisis. It is time for every very country, institution, financier, and major decision-maker to join forces to solve this crisis.

The event recording is available here.

For press inquiries contact Udayvir Ahuja, udayvir.ahuja_i@teri.res.in (TERI).

17 January 2023 — During its January 2023 press conference, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) highlighted progress on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas monitoring and evaluation pilot projects aimed at answering critical questions on “what to measure,” “where to measure,” and “how to measure.” This includes pilot projects exploring preliminary technical methodologies for methane leakage detection. In particular, MEE noted that the oil and gas industry pilots have established a methane leakage detection mechanism by implementing an integrated “satellite + unmanned aerial vehicle + cruise” monitoring system for tracking methane leakage in production processes. For the coal mining industry pilots, MEE observed that a collaborative methane emissions monitoring technology has been developed using existing coal mine safety monitoring systems. Last but not least, MEE commented that it has established a preliminary understanding of the concentrations and the spatial and temporal distributions of global methane emissions through analysis of satellite remote sensing data.

Generally speaking, the methane-emissions monitoring pilots are contributing to the development of China’s methane-emission monitoring methodologies for key industry sectors and improving access to up-to-date methane data. Such data and monitoring methodologies are essential for the Chinese government to establish and evaluate quantitative methane mitigation targets. They are also necessary to ensure the effective implementation of methane mitigation policies and actions, including those contemplated in the U.S.-China Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s (10 November 2022). These included China’s intention “to develop a comprehensive and ambitious National Action Plan on methane, aiming to achieve a significant effect on methane emissions control and reductions in the 2020s.” At the Global Methane Pledge Ministerial convened on 17 November 2022 at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, Xie Zhenhua, China’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, described key focus areas for China’s methane mitigation and the fact that the National Action Plan on methane was undergoing approvals within the Chinese government.

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