It’s finally happening! The 28th UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai kicks off today, Thursday. Each day from today, we will report on key developments, provide background information and explain the details of the COP process. Bernhard Pötter, Alexandra Endres and Lukas Scheid are on site and will report from Dubai for the next two […]
In the first nine months of 2023, there was hardly any new construction of coal-fired power plants worldwide – except in China, where the construction boom that began in 2022 continued. According to research by the Global Energy Monitor organization, outside of China, construction projects for new coal-fired power plants with a capacity of less […]
China will most likely reach its emissions peak sooner than planned. Some forecasts suggest that the world’s biggest polluter will exceed its carbon dioxide emissions peak as early as this year. However, if the internationally agreed 1.5 or 2-degree target is to be achieved, emissions would have to fall very quickly after. But this presents […]
What it’s about:One of the biggest issues at COP28 is the debate on phasing out fossil fuels. At previous COPs, countries avoided this controversial topic. Only at COP26 and COP27 were fossil fuels debated more seriously.Why it’s important:Coal, oil and gas account for over 80 percent of the global energy supply. According to IEA data, […]
What it’s about:One of the most important goals of COP28 is a resolution to triple the capacity of renewable energies worldwide by 2030: From currently 3,600 gigawatts (2022), this would require increasing capacity to 11,000 GW (11 terawatts). So far, around 130 countries have signed up to the initiative to triple renewable energies and double […]
Kenya and France have announced plans to advance the debate on international climate taxes at the climate summit in Dubai. The presidents of the two countries, William Ruto and Emmanuel Macron, plan to set up a “task force” with the aim of developing concrete proposals within two years. As Climatechangenews.com reported last week, the heads […]
At least 7,200 representatives of fossil fuel interests have attended international climate conferences since 2003. Companies producing or selling fossil fuels have attended climate conferences with at least 945 representatives since COP9 (2003). This is according to a survey by the activist network “Kick Big Polluters Out”:However, these are rather modest estimates. Many COP delegates […]
According to the think tank Climate Analytics, countries are very likely to have reached the global emissions peak in 2023. The researchers are optimistic that global greenhouse gas emissions will fall by 70 percent in 2024, provided the current growth trends in renewable energies and green technologies such as electric cars accelerate and countries implement […]
Government climate plans are insufficient to reduce emissions to achieve the climate targets. The UN warns that a massive “emissions gap” needs to be closed urgently. Global warming will reach three degrees if the current climate policy is continued and not tightened. The gap “is more like a canyon – a canyon littered with broken […]
The timing could hardly have been worse: Shortly before COP28, Fridays for Future is making headlines because of Greta Thunberg’s and other activists’ controversial statements on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Leonie Sontheimer analyzes how the non-climate debate on the Middle East conflict is dividing the German and international Fridays groups. Shortly before the most important event […]