Climate Treaties Archives - Inside Climate News

Q&A: The Sort of ‘Breakthrough’ Moment Came in Dubai When the Nations of the World Agreed to Transition Away From Fossil Fuels

Interview by Steve Curwood, "Living on Earth" — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 09:30:00 +0000

But, says climate advocate Alden Meyer, “the atmosphere only cares about one thing: emissions. It's a matter of physics. It doesn't care what ministers or leaders say in declarations or treaties or pledges or action announcements … So the acid test for this is going to come in the next couple of years.”

Interview by Steve Curwood, "Living on Earth"

From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by host Steve Curwood with Alden Meyer, a climate advocate and senior consultant at E3G, an independent climate change think tank. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Nature Got a More Prominent Place at the Table at COP28

By Bob Berwyn — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 18:55:10 +0000

Animals’ roles in the carbon cycle have long been overlooked. At the climate conference in Dubai, scientists showed how rewilding ecosystems can have big climate benefits.

By Bob Berwyn

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates— As COP28 ended with just a faint glimmer of hope that the world will take seriously the need to decarbonize by 2050, leading scientists at the conference said it’s time to “put the protection and restoration of wild ecosystems at the heart of global climate policy” as a viable option for cutting carbon dioxide pollution.

The U.S. May Not Have Won Over Critics in Dubai, But the Biden Administration Helped Keep the Process Alive

By Marianne Lavelle — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 01:30:00 +0000

Special Climate Envoy Kerry clearly believed the final deal was better than no deal at all, especially after direct pre-COP diplomacy with China became a springboard for action led by the world's top carbon, and methane, emitters.

By Marianne Lavelle

When it looked like climate negotiations in Dubai were about to fall apart early this week over the summit’s failure to make any commitment to transition away from fossil fuels, U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry sharpened his tone to align with the most ardent climate activists—many of whom had been targeting him for criticism.

COP28 Does Not Deliver Clear Path to Fossil Fuel Phase Out

By Bob Berwyn — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 18:30:00 +0000

Small island states that arrived after the document was approved, don’t accept the outcome as a consensus decision.

By Bob Berwyn

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Going into overtime under the cover of a dark winter night in Dubai, climate negotiators at COP28 cooked up a weak sauce of climate half-measures that fail to adequately address the existential risk of global warming to millions of people around the globe, according to leading climate experts at the conference.

US Climate Activists at COP28 Slam Their Home Country for Hypocrisy

By Bob Berwyn — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000

They say Biden’s policies, including record-level oil and gas development, will lead to continued degradation of Indigenous lands and water and keep other countries hooked on fossil fuels.

By Bob Berwyn

Claims by some U.S. lawmakers at COP28 that President Biden’s policies provide global leadership on climate rang hollow with leading American climate activists at the annual conference who faulted the administration for supporting unbridled oil and gas development and for pushing carbon capture as an illusory solution for reducing emissions.

US Lawmakers Confer With World Leaders at COP28

By Bob Berwyn — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 18:34:41 +0000

Some House lawmakers go on record as supporting a fossil fuel phaseout, while others seem to lean toward supporting unproven carbon capture and storage technology.

By Bob Berwyn

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Domestic U.S. climate politics played out on an international stage this weekend at COP28, as a bipartisan congressional delegation mingled with world leaders and touted President Biden’s climate record.

Scientists to COP28: ‘We’re Clearly in The Danger Zone’

By Bob Berwyn — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 21:00:00 +0000

As this year’s climate talks head into their final days, a new report also highlights positive social tipping points that can drive “the odds in our favor.”

By Bob Berwyn

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—As negotiators at COP28 debate which verbs in the final documents would indicate the correct level of urgency, scientists at the global talks delivered a simple, dire message: Act now, or trigger climate tipping points with serious risks to the lives and livelihoods of billions of people.

Q&A: How a Fossil Fuel Treaty Could Support the Paris Agreement and Wind Down Production

By Nicholas Kusnetz — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000

A global campaign is gaining steam at COP28, calling for a treaty that would manage the transition away from fossil fuels.

By Nicholas Kusnetz

One of the most important questions surrounding the COP28 climate summit is whether nations will finally agree to phase out fossil fuels, which are responsible for the vast majority of climate-warming pollution. Such an agreement would require a global consensus and support from the world’s largest producers of coal, oil and gas, a hurdle that has proven too high in previous rounds of negotiation.

An Inevitable Showdown With the Fossil Fuel Industry Is Brewing at COP28

By Bob Berwyn — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 16:53:00 +0000

Oil, gas and coal companies sent a record number of lobbyists to the talks in Dubai, and their alignment with extreme right-wing leaders could scuttle global consensus on climate.

By Bob Berwyn

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—The growing momentum at COP28 for a fossil fuel phaseout has not gone unnoticed by the fossil fuel industry, which has sent a record number of representatives and lobbyists to this year’s climate summit.

Government, Corporate and Philanthropic Interests Coalesce On Curbing Methane Emissions as Calls at COP28 for Binding Global Methane Agreement Intensify

By Phil McKenna — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New U.S. and EU regulations on methane emissions strengthen calls for a binding international agreement to curb the climate pollution.

By Phil McKenna

The Environmental Protection Agency announced new regulations at the COP28 global climate summit in Dubai on Saturday that will reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by nearly 80 percent. The move followed new rules from the European Union that will limit methane emissions on natural gas imports starting in 2030.