Posted on 4 November 2017 by John Hartz

Editor's Pick

There’s a huge gap between the Paris climate change goals and reality

Current pledges are about a third of what’s needed.

Coal-fired power plant in Wyoming 

n 2015 in Paris, the countries of the world agreed to hold the rise in global average temperatures to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

How’s that going?

The unavoidably grim answer: not well, and not just because President Donald Trump has promised to pull the United States out of the accord.

Every year, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) releases an “Emissions Gap” report, on the remaining disparity between the world’s stated ambitions on climate and the actions it is currently taking. The 2017 edition of the report is out a week before the next round of international climate talks in Bonn, Germany. And it reports that the gap remains ... substantial.

Researchers calculate that for a reasonable chance of hitting our goal, global greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2020 and the gap must be closed by 2030 — in other words, if we are not on the right trajectory by 2030, all hope of 1.5 degrees is lost and 2 degrees is almost certainly out of reach as well.

Let’s run through a few of the top-line conclusions of the report, which was assembled by an international team of scientists based on the most recent published science. 

There’s a huge gap between the Paris climate change goals and reality by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 31, 2017

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Oct 29, 2017

• Guest Post: Dieter Helm’s review is not as radical as it might first appear by Matthew Bell, Carbaon Brief, Oct 27, 2017
• Why Isn’t the Bond Market More Worried About Climate Change? by Henry Grabar, Slate, Oct 28, 2017
• US winter has shrunk by more than one month in 100 years, AP/Guardian, Oct 27, 2017
• China Has Shut Down Up to 40% of Its Factories in an Unprecedented Stand Against Pollution by Peter Dockrill, Futurism, Oct 25, 2017
• UCS Publishes Industry’s Anti-ScienceDisinformation Playbook by Climate Denier Roundup (Climate Nexus), Daily Kos, Oct 25, 2017 
• These U.S. Cities Are Most Vulnerable to Major Coastal Flooding and Sea Level Rise, Research Report by Climate Central, Oct 25, 2017
• Global warming threatens nutrition levels in staple crops by Adam Wernick, Public Radio International (PRI), Oct 29, 2017
• Richard Branson’s green energy plan for Caribbean may include debt relief by Adriana Brasileiro, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Oct 28, 2017

Mon Oct 30, 2017

• 5 Years After Sandy: Vulnerable Red Hook Is Booming, Right at the Water's Edge by Brian Walsh, InsideClimate News, Oct 26, 2017
• How Fossil Fuel Allies Are Tearing Apart Ohio's Embrace of Clean Energy by Brad Wienders & David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Oct 29, 2017
• The internal inconsistency of Scott Pruitt’s climate stance by Jeremy Deaton, Think Progress, Oct 25, 2017
• Climate, migration disputes cloud German coalition talks by Hans-Edzard Busemann & Andrea Shalal, Reuters, Oct 28. 2017
• Global atmospheric CO2 levels hit record high by Jonathan Watts, Guardian, Oct 30, 2017
• 5 years after Superstorm Sandy, the lessons haven’t sunk in by Frank Eltman & Wayne Parry, AP News, Oct 27, 2017
• Trump administration’s Clean Power Plan repeal proposal is illegal, Opinion by William W Buzbee, The Hill, Oct 29, 2017
• Who will deliver the negative emissions needed to avoid 2C warming?, Guest Post by Glen Peters & Oliver Geden, Carbon Brief, Oct 30, 2017

Tue Oct 31, 2017

• Bonn, the global climate village: Bigger, greener ... better? by Helena Weise, Deutsche Welle (DW), Oct 30. 2017
• Sumatran region heats up as forests disappear by Hans Nicholas Jong, Mongabay, Oct 29, 2017
• Massive Carbon Sink May Be More Resilient Than Scientists Thought by Chelsea Harvey, Climate Wire/Scientific American, Oct 30, 2017
• New data gives hope for meeting the Paris climate targets by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Oct 30, 2017
• Trump’s Gang of Climate Deniers Has Grown Into an Army by Emily Atkin, New Republic, Oct 30, 2017
• Trump sued, lawyers claim denying children a healthy future by Niki Anderson, Yale News, Oct 30, 2017
• Climate change fueling disasters, disease in ‘potentially irreversible’ ways, report warns by Ben Guarino & Brady Dennis, Health & Science, Washington Post, Oct 30, 2017
• UN warns of 'unacceptable' greenhouse gas emissions gap by Fiona Harvey, Guardian, Oct 31, 2017

Wed Nov 1, 2017

• New Zealand considers creating climate change refugee visas by Charles Anderson, Guardian, Oct 31, 2017
• China says it still wants US cooperation on climate change, AP/Washington Post, Oct 31, 2017
• World set to bust global warming goal, but U.N. cool on threat from Trump by Tom Miles, Reuters, Oct 31, 2017
• Beyond Electric Cars: As China Leads in Electric Buses, India Could Follow Suit in Electric Motorcycles by Srikanth Shastry, World Resources Institute (WRI), Oct 31, 2017
• Can religions help in the fight against climate change? by Anna Pujol-Mazzini, Reuters, Oct 31, 2017
• Sea Change by Hannah Hoag, bioGraphic, Oct 31, 2017
• Climate change is happening — but it's not game-over yet by Ruby Russell, Deutsche Welle (DW), Nov 1, 2017
• Fossil fuel companies undermining Paris agreement negotiations – report by Michael Slezak, Guardian, Nov 1, 2017

Thu Nov 2, 2017

• The Cruel, Topsy-Turvy Economics of Collapse by Jeremy Lent, Patterns of Meaning, Oct 31, 2017
• Got Climate Questions? Climate Watch Has Answers by Johannes Friedrich & Andrew Pickens, World Resources Institute (WRI), Nov 1, 2017
• Trump’s nominee for NASA administrator comes under fire at Senate hearing by Christian Davenport. Washington Post, Nov 1, 2017
• Government Scientist Blocked from Talking About Climate and Wildfires by Brittany Patterson, ClimateWire/Scientific American, Oct 31, 2017
• 'Critical turning point' as more nations hit peak carbon emissions: think-tank by Peter Hannam, Sydney Morning Herald, Nov 2, 2017
• Huge private sector investment puts Paris climate target in reach, says report by Fiona Harvey, Guardian, Nove 2, 2017
• Trump Team to Promote Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power at Bonn Climate Talks by Lisa Friedman, New York Times, Nov 2, 2017
• Trump's pick to lead NASA reveals controversial global warming views by Andrew Freedman, Mashable, Nov 1, 2017

Fri Nov 3, 2017

• Red Sea Warming Faster Than Global Average by Ruth Schuster, Haaretz, Nov 2, 2017
• How Wind Might Nudge a Sleeping Giant in Antarctica by Chelsea Harvey, ClimateWire/Scientific American, Nov 2, 2017
• Impact of climate change on health is ‘the major threat of 21st century by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Oct 30, 2017
• New Greenland maps show more glaciers at risk by Carol Rasmussen, NASA's Global Climate Change, Nov 1, 2017
• Mining activity causing nearly 10 percent of Amazon deforestation by Zoe Sullivan, Mongabay, Nov 2, 2017
• Massive Government Report Says Climate Is Warming And Humans Are The Cause by Christopher Joice, All Things Considered, NPR, Nov 2, 2017
• Is the world prepared for climate refugees? by Dave Keating, Deutsche Welle (DW), Nov 3, 2017
• A Contested Finding in a Major New Climate-Change Report by Robinson Myer, The Atlantic, Nov 2, 2017

Sat Nov 4, 2017

• More coral bleaching feared for Great Barrier Reef in coming months by Michael Slezak, Guardian, Nov 2, 2017
• There’s a huge gap between the Paris climate change goals and reality by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 31, 2017
• UNEP: Six crucial actions to help close the world’s ‘emissions gap’ by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, Oct 31, 2017
• After a Record-Breaking Atlantic Hurricane Season, Here's What to Expect in the South Pacific by Kate Wheeling, Pacific Standard, Nov 3, 2017
• What do Jellyfish teach us about climate change? by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Nov 3, 2017
• From Miami to Shanghai: 3C of warming will leave world cities below sea level by Jonathan Watts, Guardian, Nov 3, 2017
• New research, October 23-29, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Scince, Nov 3, 2017
• Study Says Public's Politics Are Correlated With Climate Change Opinion. They Shouldn't Be. by Marshall Shepard, Forbes, Nov 1, 2017