[ad_1]
Want climate news in your inbox? Register here for Climate Fwd:, our newsletter
SAN FRANCISCO – For years, presidents and prime ministers have been the public face of the fight against climate change, meeting at UN summit meetings and lobbying to reduce emissions.
The results have often been dull.
A climate conference in California this week tried something different. The meeting, organized by state governor Jerry Brown, had far fewer national leaders present. Instead, a series of governors, mayors, and business leaders from around the world came together to promote their successes in reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the local level and encourage each other to do so. more.
A key The principle of the conference was that if a handful of states, cities and high-tech companies could demonstrate that it was possible – and even lucrative – to go green in their own backyard, they could inspire others to do likewise. This could facilitate the action of national leaders.
"If a researcher does an experiment and you find out he has a drug that works, it's spreading," Governor Brown said.
The announcements were not lacking during the meeting. Cities like Tokyo, Rotterdam and West Hollywood have signed joint commitments to purchase only zero-emission buses after 2025. Companies like Walmart and Unilever have launched new programs to limit deforestation in their huge supply chains. Dozens of philanthropic groups have committed $ 4 billion over the next five years to combat climate change.
But it will take time to know whether these local actions can grow fast enough to significantly reduce global emissions. And scientists warn that time is running out if we want to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
The magnitude of this challenge has not been fully exploited by many policymakers, said Johan Rockström, sustainability expert and co-author of the report. "We have to think about exponential changes."
Bring the United States back on board
The American politicians at the conference, who usually came from liberal cities and blue states like New York and Washington, had a more immediate concern: to try to persuade the rest of the world that the United States has not completely abandoned the fight, despite President Trump is committed to withdrawing from the Paris agreement on climate change.
Governor Brown met Xie Zhenhua, China's chief climate negotiator, and announced his intention to establish a partnership between California and China for research on emission-free vehicles and fuel cells. Later in the week, several blue state governors met behind closed doors with environment ministers from Canada and the United States. build new partnerships on issues such as electric vehicles and reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
It was an unusual situation: a handful of US governors actually took the lead in international climate diplomacy at a time when the president had disengaged from the issue. But some foreign officials were happy to return the favor.
"It's important to show the world that we're still working with the United States," said Catherine McKenna, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Canada, in an interview. "There are really practical things we can do together."
There have even been some substantive announcements. California, New York, Maryland and Connecticut said they would develop new regulations to reduce hydrofluorocarbons, the most powerful greenhouse gases used in air conditioners and refrigerators. In 2016, countries agreed to a treaty to eliminate these gases, but Mr Trump did not submit the pact for ratification or written federal regulations.
While companies would prefer a single federal standard, even a few states acting together could create a significant market for cleaner alternatives to HFCs, said Caroline Davidson-Hood, General Counsel, Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute. an industrial group.
However, local leaders in the United States who have promised to respect the Paris climate deal still face a difficult battle.
Their coalition – which now consists of 16 statesPuerto Rico, hundreds of cities and nearly 2,000 companies have pledged to act for the climate and to ensure that the United States meets the commitment of former President Barack Obama to reduce gas emissions greenhouse effect of 26 to 28% compared to 2005.
These states and cities will have to pursue ambitious new policies, such as upgrading hundreds of buildings to make them more energy efficient and reducing methane emissions from landfills in order to get closer to the target. They should also persuade several other states beyond the coastal blue enclaves to join them, according to the report.
"We can not leave that to the states that were the first actors," said Mary Nichols, who heads the California Air Resources Board. "We need others to join us too."
In anticipation of US talks
While the California conference saw a wave of ads from states, cities, and businesses around the world, some of them seemed more ambitious than anything else, at least for the moment. It is unlikely that this meeting alone will radically change the trajectory of global emissions.
For example, the mayors of dozens of major cities around the world have pledged to halve the amount of garbage sent to landfills, build neutral buildings, and encourage walking and cycling in the coming decades. But the good follow-up of these mayors remains to be seen.
Despite questions like these, some analysts have argued that one of the great benefits of the conference could be to spur greater momentum for clean energy and global warming.
In December, countries will gather in Poland to finalize a "settlement" on the implementation of the Paris Agreement contentious topics like how to track and check emissions reductions. Over the next two years, many countries will then have to decide to strengthen their national climate action commitments, which are currently far too low to prevent significant warming.
However, preliminary negotiations on these issues were halted during negotiations in Bangkok this month, as the poorest countries accused the richest countries, including the United States, of denying
"The UN negotiations are still locked in this dynamic where people act as if they are fighting climate change as a zero-sum game," said Alden Meyer, director of policy and strategy for the United Nations. Union of Concerned Scientists. in San Francisco Bangkok talks.
"The atmosphere here in California has been different, there is a real spirit," he said. "We'll see if this mentality can stand up."
Source link
