IPCC calls for urgent climate action

The IPCC’s new Synthesis Report, released in March 2023, underscores the urgency of taking more ambitious action. IPCC says that “if we act now, we can still secure a liveable sustainable future for all”.

In 2018, the IPCC highlighted the unprecedented scale of the challenge required to keep warming to 1.5°C. Five years later, that challenge has become even greater due to the continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The pace and scale of what has been done so far, and current plans, are insufficient to tackle climate change.

More than a century of burning fossil fuels, as well as the unequal and unsustainable use of energy and land, have led to global warming of 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels. This has resulted in more frequent and more intense extreme weather events that have caused increasingly harmful impacts on nature and people in every region of the world.

Every increment of warming results in rapidly escalating hazards. More intense heatwaves, heavier rainfall and other weather extremes further increase risks for human health and ecosystems. In every region, people are dying from extreme heat. Climate-driven food and water insecurity is expected to increase with increased warming. When the risks combine with other adverse events, such as pandemics or conflicts, they become even more difficult to manage.

Keeping warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels requires deep, rapid and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors. Emissions should be decreasing by now and will need to be cut by almost half by 2030, if warming is to be limited to 1.5°C.

IPCC press release 20 March 2023 https://www.ipcc.ch/2023/03/20/press-release-ar6-synthesis-report/

In this issue

Making the most of waste heat

The total excess heat in the EU covers almost all of the EU’s total energy demand for heat and hot water in residential and service sector buildings. This potential needs to be utilised, especially during these times of energy and climate crises.

Editorial: EU could be powered by recycled heat

Preventing heat waste has largely been ignored as a solution. A new report by the global engineering company Danfoss highlights the potential of excess heat recovery.

Germany shuts down last three nuclear reactors, ending nuclear power era

Germany switched off its last three nuclear reactors on 15 April, marking the end of its nuclear power era.

Global heating threatens northern forests

In the last month, fires have ravaged forests in both Canada and Russia. This is just the latest of many similar examples.

Unlocking the potential of ocean energy

To ensure affordable energy and limit global temperature rise to below 1.5 °C there is an urgent need to transition rapidly from a centralised energy system that heavily relies on fossil fuels. Ocean energy is one of the technologies that should be scaled up to support the transition of the energy system to reach full decarbonisation.

A quantative take on Russian forests

Russia has one fifth of the global forest area. This area has remained relatively constant in recent decades, but clear cutting and wildfires are altering the species composition.

Ocean acidification in the climate negotiations

If ocean acidification was redefined as an effect of climate change, the UNFCCC could interpret its existing framework so that parties were required to take action on the issue.

The forefront of cleaner, people-centred cities

Cities are dense and struggling with high levels of air pollution, sedentary behaviour and noise problems linked to car-centred urban planning. Traffic also takes up large areas in cities, resulting in lack of green spaces, and it is obvious that our oil dependency has fuelled climate change. Three cities with governments that are up for the challenge of re-thinking cities are Paris, Oslo and Barcelona, which are working to transform their cities from car-
centred to people-centred.

The Swedish Greenwashing Prize – more than a decade of ironic awards highlighting misleading claims

Each year, for over a decade, Friends of the Earth Sweden has announced a winner of its Swedish Greenwashing Prize – an ironic booby prize that turns the spotlight on misleading and false claims.

The EU needs to do more to reduce methane emissions

The EU has signed the Global Methane Pledge but action to slash methane emissions in the energy and agriculture sectors is lagging behind. Urgent measures are needed to reduce methane emissions while at the same time much more action is also needed to reduce all other greenhouse gas emissions.

E-fuels are a detour on our way to decarbonisation

It takes four times as much energy to drive a car on e-fuels compared to batteries. In addition, they emit as much air pollution as a car running on fossil fuels.

Green incentives are at the heart as UK rolls out its CAP replacement

Public money for public goods is the principle behind the new Environmental Land Management schemes in England – the jury is still out on whether it can sustain farmers’ livelihoods while also protecting the environment.

Nitrogen deposition threat to 60 per cent of European ecosystems

Most affected are regions with intensive livestock rearing. Scenarios show that both technical measures and a reduction in animal numbers are needed to tackle the problem.

Dramatic vanishing of polar sea ice and ice sheets

Polar sea ice and ice sheets are continuing to melt rapidly according to many new studies. The end-of-winter Arctic sea ice extent in March 2023 was the fifth lowest in the satellite record, while the area of Antarctic sea ice fell to a record low.

Main menu

IPCC calls for urgent climate action

In this issue

Making the most of waste heat

Editorial: EU could be powered by recycled heat

Germany shuts down last three nuclear reactors, ending nuclear power era

Global heating threatens northern forests

Unlocking the potential of ocean energy

A quantative take on Russian forests

Ocean acidification in the climate negotiations

The forefront of cleaner, people-centred cities

The Swedish Greenwashing Prize – more than a decade of ironic awards highlighting misleading claims

The EU needs to do more to reduce methane emissions

E-fuels are a detour on our way to decarbonisation

Green incentives are at the heart as UK rolls out its CAP replacement

Nitrogen deposition threat to 60 per cent of European ecosystems

Dramatic vanishing of polar sea ice and ice sheets

Publications

Food for Thought

Northern forests, climate change and the UNFCCC

EU climate targets aligned with the Paris agreement’s 1.5°C objective

Baltic Sea Offshore Wind Collaborative-Learning project

Air pollution in Europe and children’s health

Climate Change: A Himalayan Odessey

No further discussion needed. The agreed global goal is to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C

Fossil-free electricity 2021

What we do

Air pollution

Climate Change

Policy initiatives

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