The extreme cold temperatures currently affecting the US Midwest are caused by cold polar air traveling further south than usual. This phenomenon is caused by disturbances in the so-called polar vortex. The polar vortex is an air current in the stratosphere that holds the cold polar air. If the vortex is weakened, the so-called rubber […]
The climate crisis forces itself to the center of debates in the new year. Germany experiences a severe flood, World Economic Forum experts see extreme weather events as the biggest threat in the coming years, and climate scientists warn that we are not adequately prepared.Despite these terrible reports and its own budget crisis, the German […]
US greenhouse gas emissions have declined for the first time in two years. In 2023, emissions fell by 1.9 percent, with economic growth of 2.4 percent, as Bloomberg reports. In detail, this means:According to the Rhodium Group think tank, the USA would have to reduce its emissions three times faster in order to achieve its […]
Thailand and Switzerland have, for the first time, bilaterally traded carbon offsets under Article 6 of the Paris Climate Agreement. The Foundation for Climate Protection and Carbon Offset (Klik) purchased 1,900 credits for Swiss fuel importers from a Thai e-bus operator who had received them for converting from fossil to electric buses. The price for […]
Last week, Mukhtar Babayev was appointed president-designate of the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku in November. The 55-year-old environment minister of Azerbaijan looks back on a long career in the oil and gas industry. He is a relatively unknown quantity in international climate policy. The fact that a former oil and gas executive will […]
In the UK, fossil-fueled electricity production fell by 22 percent last year compared to 2022. Only 104 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity were produced from coal, oil and gas – the lowest figure in 66 years, as reported by Carbon Brief. In 2008, electricity production from fossil sources was still around 300 TWh. Since then, […]
Germany’s carbon emissions fell by around ten percent in 2023 – more than in any year since they were recorded for the whole of Germany. This is revealed by an analysis published today by Agora Energiewende. This is significantly below the 2023 target. However, the think tank writes that there is still a “significant gap” […]
In the debate over a plant operated by Volkswagen in the Chinese Uyghur region, pressure on the automaker is increasing. IG Metall head Jörg Hofmann, who sits on the Wolfsburg-based company’s supervisory board, questioned VW’s activities there. “In the meantime, there is hardly any doubt that human rights violations are taking place in Xinjiang,” the […]
COP28 is over – and as soon as the gavel dropped, there was discussion about whether the COP had achieved a “historic result” and heralded the “end of the fossil fuel era” – or it only achieved “the bare minimum.” Lukas Scheid took a close look at the final text and categorizes the most important […]
International reactions to the final document of COP28 are mixed. Both OPEC and its opponent, the International Energy Agency (IEA), are pleased with the outcome. NGOs and think tanks speak in part of a “strong signal” but also complain about “loopholes” for fossil fuels. Climate scientists criticize that, although the results of the conference are […]