Posted on 11 May 2019 by John Hartz

Editor's Pick 

Proposal to spend 25% of EU budget on climate change

Schoolchildren have been protesting climate change inaction in recent months across Europe REUTERS

Eight European countries have called for an ambitious strategy to tackle climate change – and to spend a quarter of the entire EU budget on fighting it.

The joint statement says the EU should have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 "at the latest".

It was signed by France, Belgium, Denmark, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

The group says their plan can "go hand in hand with prosperity" and "set an example for other countries to follow."

The position paper comes ahead of a major summit of European leaders in the Romanian city of Sibiu, beginning on Thursday, which will discuss the future of Europe and the EU's strategy for the next five years.

But not everyone is on board - there are 28 countries in the EU, and several of those absent from the joint position statement are significant players - including Germany.

Proposal to spend 25% of EU budget on climate change, BBC News, May 8, 2019 

Links posted on Facebook

Sun May 5, 2019

• How Do You Save a Million People From a Cyclone? Ask a Poor State in India by Hari Kumar, Jeffrey Gettleman & Sameer Yasir, Asia Pacific, New York Times, May 4, 2019
• India needs heat action plans everywhere by Hem H. Dholakia, India Climate Dialogue, May 3, 2019
• The rising temperature of climate change politics, Opinion by Jack Watson, Canberra Times, May 4, 2019
• Why Bill McKibben Sees Rays of Hope in a Grim Climate Picture, Interview by Elizabeth Kolbert, Yale Environment 360, Apr 30, 2019
• India cyclone kills at least 33, hundreds of thousands homeless by Jatindra Dash, Reuters, May 5, 2019
• The Last of the Arctic's Old Sea Ice Is on the Verge of Vanishing by Brian Kahn, Climate Change, Earther, May 3, 2019
• Bill McKibben Sees Climate Strikes in Our Future, KQED Science, May 2, 2019
• 'Beautiful Trouble' Grows With Friday Climate Strikes on Multiple Continents by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams, May 3, 2019

Mon May 6, 2019

• Climate change has U.S. fund managers adjusting agriculture investments by David Randall, Reuters, May 1, 2019
• New research, April 22-28, 2019 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, May 3, 2019
• Civilization Is Accelerating Extinction and Altering the Natural World at a Pace ‘Unprecedented in Human History’ by Brad Plumer, Climate, New York Times, May 6, 2019
• The Green New Deal isn’t big enough by Ben Adler, Washington Post, May 2, 2019
• Climate change erodes mental health,' says psychiatrist, CBC News, Apr 28, 2019
• Children Change Their Parents’ Minds about Climate Change by Lydia Denworth, Scientific American, May 6, 2019
• One million species threatened with extinction because of humans by Isabelle Gerretsen, CNN, May 6, 2019
• Once again, the U.S. embarrasses itself on climate change, Opinion by Joel Clement, Washington Post, May 6, 2019

Tue May 7, 2019

• ‘Climate denial’ just made it into the dictionary. Wait, what? by Kate Yoder, Grist, May 2, 2019
• Cyclone Fani: what we know by Brian Resnick & Sean Collins, Energy & Environment, Vox, May 5, 2019
• The Most Important Thing Individuals Can Do About Climate Change, According To Ernest Moniz by Jeff McMahon, Forbes, May 5, 2019
• Urban Heat Islands Don't Explain Climate Change - Here's The Bigger Problem by Marshall Shepherd, Science, Forbes, May 6, 2019
• Greta Thunberg became a climate activist not in spite of her autism, but because of it by Steve Silberman, First Person, Vox, May 6, 2019
• A million species are at risk of extinction. Humans are to blame. by Brian Resnick, Science & Health, Vox, May 7, 2019
• The day a million species are announced to be on brink of extinction, U.S. says melting ice creates ‘new opportunities for trade’, Analysis by Rick Noak, World Views, Washington Post, May 7, 2019
• The race is on to cultivate a seaweed that slashes greenhouse emission from burping cows, other livestock by Joshua Emerson Smith, San Diego Union, May 6, 2019

Wed May 8, 2019

• The Green New Deal is going global by Kyla Tienhaara, The Conversation Canada, May 6, 2019
• Australians overwhelmingly agree climate emergency is nation's No 1 threat by Katharine Murphy, Australia, Guardian, May 7, 2019
• UN Report Says Indigenous Sovereignty Could Save the Planet by Mike Ludwig, Truthout, May 7, 2019
• Losing Marine Stratocumulus Clouds Could Create a Mega-Hothouse Climate by Jeff Masters, Category 6, Weather Underground, May 6, 2019
• We’ll soon know the exact air pollution from every power plant in the world. That’s huge. by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, May 7, 2019
• U.N. climate panel kicks off general meeting in Kyoto focused on how to calculate greenhouse gas emissions, JIJI/The Japan Times, May 8, 2019
• Hate to sound like a broken record, but we just set a scary new CO2 record by Kate Yoder, Grist, May 7, 2019
• UK urged to take lead on biodiversity as UN issues urgent warning by Jonathan Watts, Environment, Guardian, May 6, 2019

Thu May 9, 2019

• Proposal to spend 25% of EU budget on climate change, BBC News, May 8, 2019
• Markets missing fossil fuel exposure to climate risk: analysis, AFP, May 7, 2019
• A Very Important Climate Fact That No One Knows by Robinson Meyer, Science, The Atlantic, May 8, 2019
• Nothing in today’s headlines compares to the coming catastrophe, Opinion by Kathleen Parker, Washington Post, May 7, 2019
• Trump White House quietly cancels NASA research verifying greenhouse gas cuts by Paul Voosen, Science, May 9, 2018
• Meet the Mom Leading the Fight for Cleaner Air by Sarah Engler, Martha Stewart, May 7, 2019
• Nearly two dozen Democrats want to be president. Only two have a climate change plan by Emily Holden, Environment, Guardian, May 8, 2019
• In Trump vs. California, the state is winning nearly all its environmental cases by Anna M Phillips, Politics, Los Angeles Times, May 7, 2019

Fri May 10, 2019

• Airborne NASA scientists just filmed something troubling in Greenland by Mark Kaufman, Mashable, May 8, 2019
• Climate crisis: flooding threat ‘may force UK towns to be abandoned’ by Sandra Laville, Environment, Guardian, May 8, 2019
• The World Blows Over $5 Trillion a Year on Oil and Gas Subsidies: Report by Brian Kahn, Earther, May 9, 2019
• Deep sea carbon reservoirs once superheated the Earth – could it happen again? by Lowell D. Stott, The Conversation US, May 9, 2019
• Ireland Becomes Second Country to Declare Climate Emergency by Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch, May 10, 2019
• Fox News made the US a hotbed of climate denial. Kids are the cure. by Dana Nuccitelli, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 8, 2019
• The first time I heard about climate change I barely listened – this weekend I'll be making up for it by Shappi Khorsandi, Voices, Independent (UK), May 10, 2019
• Americans Have Never Been Known to Run Away from a Battle. Until Climate Change, Opinion by Michael E Mann, Newsweek, May 10, 2019
• Why the UK’s carbon footprint is decreasing, Guest Post by Anne Owen, Carbon Brief, May 8, 2019

Sat May 11, 2019

• Why the UK’s carbon footprint is decreasing, Guest Post by Anne Owen, Carbon Brief, May 8, 2019
• New York’s plan to make 50,000 buildings super-efficient by Kriston Capps, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 5, 2019
• Why we all need to stop worrying about climate change (and what to do instead) by Max St John, Medium, Apr 25, 2019
• Southern Texas has seen nearly 600% more rainfall than it typically does in early May by Christina Maxouris, CNN, May 11, 2019
• Young Republicans Aren’t Going Along with Fox on the Green New Deal by Jeremy Deaton, Nexus Media, May 10, 2019
• Exclusive: Presidential hopeful Biden looking for ‘middle ground’ climate policy by Valerie Volcovici, Reuters, May 10, 2019
• Joe Biden Looks To Revive Obama’s Climate Plan. Scientists Say That’s Not Good Enough. by Alexander C. Kaufman & Chris D’Angelo, HuffPost, May 10, 2019
• Change the Climate 2020: Week in Review, League of Conservation Voters (LCV), May 10, 2019