Category: Climate negotiations

Impacts & adaptation, Paris 2015, Student blogs

Ask not what you can do for climate change, but what climate change can do for you

  SSCP-DTP student Arnaud Koehl argues for a better way of selling the benefits of the global climate agreement signed at the COP21 climate conference in Paris Many pundits applauded the Paris Agreement as an unprecedented diplomatic achievement. But for all its successes, to me one key ingredient was missing: the incentive to participate in costly global action. Fighting anthropogenic climate change is a collective … Continue reading Ask not what you can do for climate change, but what climate change can do for you

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Mitigation, Paris 2015, Policy

Climate action: Six reasons for optimism in 2016

With the passing of the historic Paris Agreement on climate change last month, things are looking up for the planet, with Rebecca Leber of the New Republic saying “the world is a little less doomed”. Attention now turns to how the countries and cities that have committed to taking action on climate change can turn those pledges into reality. There may be challenging times ahead … Continue reading Climate action: Six reasons for optimism in 2016

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CCS, Mitigation, Paris 2015, Student blogs

Unconvinced about CCS? Let me tell you more…

SSCP DTP student Clea Kolster (Centre for Environmental Policy) gauges views on Carbon Capture and Storage at the UN climate change conference in Paris (COP21). As a PhD student attending COP21, I arrived eager to take it all in: the politics, the science, the urgent desire to save the planet, the people who are most at risk because of climate change and last, but not … Continue reading Unconvinced about CCS? Let me tell you more…

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Emissions, Mitigation, Paris 2015

Peering into the emissions gap

Grantham Affiliate Dr Heather Graven gives us the lowdown on the emissions gap. What is the emissions gap? The international community agreed on a 2°C target for the upper limit on global average temperature rise at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Cancun in 2010 (COP16). The emissions gap is the difference between pledges made this … Continue reading Peering into the emissions gap

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Energy, Innovation, Mitigation, Paris 2015

How do we make renewable electricity cheap enough to leave coal in the ground?

Ajay Gambhir discusses the role of public funding on energy technology innovation The Global Apollo Programme proposal aims to get renewable electricity so cheap that we may as well give up on coal- and gas-fired generation by the mid-2020s – regardless of whether we care about climate change or not. This would be achieved by the world’s governments signing up to commit 0.02% of their annual GDP on … Continue reading How do we make renewable electricity cheap enough to leave coal in the ground?

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Communicating climate change, Paris 2015

Climate change education: filling the gaps

Grantham Institute Education Manager Sophie Smith explains why we need to nurture postgraduates with a broad perspective and a solid skills base. “Climate change education, training and public awareness are essential to achieving the Global Goals.” [targets to tackle poverty and climate change] This quote from the Director-General of UNESCO at COP21 last week sums up my thoughts exactly. Solving any of the major challenges … Continue reading Climate change education: filling the gaps

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Emissions, Energy, Paris 2015

Apollo has landed: the role of the private sector in completing the race for 100% renewables

Dr Charles Donovan and Christopher Corbishley discuss the falling cost of renewables. In the lead-up to the UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP) in Paris, there was a lot of buzz in the mainstream business press about the need for research and development that could lead to breakthroughs in the cost of clean energy technologies. Over the summer, Financial Times commentator Martin Wolf called for a “moonshot … Continue reading Apollo has landed: the role of the private sector in completing the race for 100% renewables

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Extreme weather, Paris 2015

Why a debate over who should take responsibility for climate change’s impending humanitarian disaster is proving hard to solve at COP21

Dr Gabriele Messori, Imperial physics alumnus and climate scientist writes about the contentious issue of the loss and damage caused by adverse effects of climate change. A key section in the draft agreement called ‘Loss and Damage’, has so far been one of the most debated elements of the negotiations at COP21 here in Paris, and is arguably holding up many other discussions. In the … Continue reading Why a debate over who should take responsibility for climate change’s impending humanitarian disaster is proving hard to solve at COP21

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Communicating climate change, Impacts & adaptation, Innovation, Paris 2015

World leaders are not the only champions for low-carbon living

Grantham Institute co-director Professor Martin Siegert on the inspiring role for innovation and entrepreneurship, and a new public exhibition of practical solutions for a climate change world, showing in central Paris for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21). Reaching an international agreement about the future of carbon emissions is the central aim of around 1,000 officials meeting behind closed doors at COP21. Amongst the aims … Continue reading World leaders are not the only champions for low-carbon living

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Mitigation, Paris 2015

How climate-smart soil management increases resilience and helps mitigate climate change

As we mark World Soil Day, and with COP21 well into its first week, Dr Katrin Glatzel of Agriculture for Impact takes a look at how good soil and land management practices can help us achieve important climate and development goals.   Soil matters. The decision made at the Rio+20 conference to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the agreement ‘to strive … Continue reading How climate-smart soil management increases resilience and helps mitigate climate change

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