Glasgow 2021

Obama Touts ‘Partial’ Progress At Glasgow, Presses For More On Climate

Former President Barack Obama, attending his first international climate summit in Glasgow since he helped forge the Paris Agreement in 2015, touted “hard-won commitments” at this year’s event but acknowledged such progress is “partial” and that many countries must raise their ambition to reduce climate-warming emissions. “Most nations have failed to be as ambitious as they need to be,” he said during a Nov. 8 speech at the Glasgow meeting. “The escalation, the ratcheting up of ambition that we anticipated...

Gore urges monitoring of countries’ climate pledges

Former Vice President Al Gore is praising the efforts of the United Nations to monitor countries’ progress to meet the greenhouse gas reductions outlined in their pledges submitted under the Paris Agreement, while warning that climate-related damages are already being felt across the globe. Moreover, Gore told a Nov. 5 event at the ongoing Glasgow climate talks that his Climate TRACE group will be using satellite imagery and artificial intelligence technology to monitor and pinpoint sources responsible for GHGs as...

Negotiators Target Key Flashpoints At Midpoint Of Glasgow Climate Talks

U.S. officials and other negotiators at the Glasgow climate talks have zeroed in on several flashpoints ahead of the scheduled Nov. 12 close of the summit, including rules governing international carbon trading, a push for countries to strengthen their near-term greenhouse gas targets and the linked issue of financial aid for poorer countries’ climate efforts. Officials are planning to work over the weekend on these and other issues, including during a planned Nov. 6 “stock take” at which countries can...

IEA says revised pledges would slow warming to 1.8 degrees Celsius

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is releasing revised estimates that countries’ greenhouse gas pledges submitted at the ongoing Glasgow climate talks would put the world on track to limiting global warming to 1.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. “This is a landmark moment: it is the first time that governments have come forward with targets of sufficient ambition to hold global warming to below 2 °C,” writes IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol in a Nov. 4 commentary...

Industry coalition pledges to double ‘green’ hydrogen production

The industry-backed Green Hydrogen Catapult coalition is increasing its goal of producing zero-emission, “green” hydrogen over the next five years, pledging to secure financing for 45 gigawatts (GW) of electrolyzers using renewable power, up from an initial goal of 25 GW. The group’s announcement was issued during a Nov. 4 panel discussion at the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland. The coalition claims the move is the largest private sector commitment to developing “green” hydrogen, which advocates say is...

U.S. Pledges To Stop Coal Financing But Declines To Back Phaseout Plan

The United States is joining 20 other countries at the ongoing Glasgow climate summit in pledging to halt public financing for “unabated” coal power projects by the end of 2022, though the Biden administration, as well as Chinese officials, declined to join a separate group of nearly two dozen countries promising to phase out domestic use of coal power. The twin announcements, organized by the United Kingdom hosts of the summit, are intended to signal a renewed commitment to limiting...

Pressure Mounts For Major Emitters To Toughen GHG Goals Ahead Of 2023

Biden administration officials, environmentalists and others at the ongoing Glasgow climate summit are raising pressure on some major economies to commit to offering tougher near-term greenhouse gas targets potentially before an official “stock take” of collective progress toward achieving the Paris Agreement’s goals slated for 2023. “Major emitters with insufficient 2030 climate plans should agree to come back to the table with stronger ones by 2023,” Ani Dasgupta, president of the World Resources Institute (WRI), said in a Nov. 2...

Kerry Announces Inter-Agency Group To Boost Sub-National Climate Efforts

The Biden administration is creating a new federal inter-agency group to bolster efforts by state and local governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change, part of the administration’s broader push to emphasize non-federal action as central to reaching climate targets. “I’m proud to announce today our Sub-National Leadership Initiative for Climate, which will be a U.S. government inter-agency initiative to catalyze ambitious climate action by cities, states, and regions around the world,” White House climate envoy...

Louisiana’s Gov. Cites Benefits Of Clean Energy Shift At Glasgow Summit

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D), who leads a major oil-producing state, is stressing the benefits of transitioning to a clean energy economy through renewables and technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and green hydrogen even in a state as historically reliant on the fossil fuel industry as his. During a Nov. 2 panel discussion on the sidelines of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Edwards emphasized that he is working with industry leaders to convince them...

California Officials Tout Climate Accomplishments As Global Models

California officials are using the climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, to tout the state’s climate change policies and regulations as models for other states and countries, while emphasizing the importance of environmental justice during the transition to a clean energy economy. “I would suggest that . . . California has been the tail that has wagged the dog on environmental protection and that we are continuing to play that role,” said California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis (D) during a Nov...

Biden Slams China, Russia Decision To Skip Glasgow Climate Summit

President Joe Biden, who has sought to re-establish U.S. credibility on climate, is blasting the decisions by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to skip the ongoing international climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, arguing those are mistakes that will cost them credibility on the world stage. “I think it's been a big mistake quite frankly for China . . . not showing up,” Biden said at a Nov. 2 press conference, after two days of meetings at...

Launch Of Global Pledge Spurs Biden’s Multi-Agency Methane Strategy

The formal launch of an international target to cut methane emissions by 30 percent over the next decade is providing additional motivation for the Biden administration to implement its new multi-agency plan to slash emissions of the potent greenhouse gas. During a Nov. 2 event at the ongoing Glasgow climate summit, President Joe Biden, other heads of state and top officials touted the Global Methane Pledge , which U.S. and European Union officials first floated six weeks ago. As of...

EPA To Unveil Oil & Gas Methane Rules As Biden Floats Broad Action Plan

EPA is announcing long-awaited proposed rules to strengthen methane limits for new and existing oil and gas equipment, with Biden administration officials unveiling the measures as part of a broader, multi-agency methane “action plan” during the ongoing international climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. “EPA is going further” than Obama-era regulations that only cover new sources in the sector, a senior administration official said on a Nov. 1 preview call. The rules would both strengthen those standards and impose first-time requirements...

India’s revised Paris climate pledge draws praise

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pledging to increase the country’s non-fossil fuel energy capacity to 500 gigawatts and cut nearly in half economywide carbon intensity by 2030, prompting initial praise from environmentalists who called for further analysis on the details of Modi’s plan. “Firstly, India will increase its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030,” Modi said in a Nov. 1 speech at the opening session of the two-week United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland. “Secondly, India...

Biden’s GHG Strategy Sees Heavy Lift But Stresses Power Sector Cuts

The Biden administration’s just-released “long-term strategy” to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 concludes that doing so will require a heavy lift in multiple economic sectors, even though emissions reductions in the electricity sector are particularly critical. Even so, officials argue that achieving the ambitious goal would result in extensive economic benefits extending throughout this century. Issued Nov. 1 during the formal kickoff of international climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, the strategy also frames action by 2030 as critical...

Biofuels Sector Faces Long Odds In Bid To Expand Biden’s Glasgow Agenda

Renewable fuel groups are seizing on the United Nations climate summit beginning in Scotland this week to renew their push for the Biden administration to expand its support for increased biofuels use to quickly reduce greenhouse gases, though the sector faces long odds as the administration does not appear likely to back their efforts. So far, the Biden administration has largely limited its efforts to expand support for biofuels to aviation and potentially marine fuels, though even that may be...

U.S.-EU Metals’ Plan Touted As Basis For Carbon Border Adjustment

Environmentalists are praising the United States’ and European Union’s recently announced plan for factoring in the carbon content of aluminum and steel in a trade agreement, saying it could be the basis for global carbon border adjustments that are crucial to decarbonizing energy-intensive industries and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The U.S-EU agreement, formally announced Oct. 31, marks a significant win for the Biden administration and its sweeping climate agenda, setting the tone for global climate talks kicking off this...

Biden urges greater GHG ambition in ‘decisive decade’

President Joe Biden, during a Nov. 1 address at the international climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, pressed fellow world leaders to boost their pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the “decisive decade” before 2030, adding that he hopes his legislative plans and other actions will secure U.S. credibility for future climate efforts. “To state the obvious, we meet with the eyes of history upon us and profound questions before us. It’s simple: will we act, will we do what...

Hill Inaction, China Target Cast Shadow On Glasgow Climate Summit

Expectations were already relatively low for the climate summit that just opened in Glasgow, Scotland, though ongoing uncertainty about whether congressional Democrats can seal the deal on major climate legislation, coupled with underwhelming new commitments from China and other large emitters, is casting a further shadow on the talks. As President Joe Biden and other world leaders arrive in Glasgow to offer high-level statements on how their countries plan to contribute to broader climate efforts, other officials will be negotiating...

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