A major study on how to limit global warming could be dropped from formal UN climate talks in Bonn this week after a “gentlemen’s agreement” was made under pressure from Saudi Arabia.
Last December four large oil producers, Saudi Arabia, the US, Kuwait and Russia, refused to endorse the influential Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report which shows what the world could look like under 1.5C of warming.
The report was commissioned by the UN after the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
Now, with UN talks set to continue this week in Germany, Saudi Arabia still objects to the study being part of formal climate negotiations.
The talks are intended to "[raise] ambition to curb greenhouse gas emissions, accelerate resilience-building efforts, and ensure that climate policy is built on a solid foundation of the best available science and knowledge" in the light of the Paris accord, according to the UN.
Shape Created with Sketch. Penguin habitats threatened by climate change Show all 9 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Penguin habitats threatened by climate change 1/9 Gentoo penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty 2/9 Gentoo penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty 3/9 Gentoo penguins in Cuverville Island, designated as an Important Bird Island. These penguins feed on krill but krill is growing scarcer due to climate change AFP/Getty 4/9 Penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty 5/9 Gentoo penguins in Cuverville Island, designated as an Important Bird Island. These penguins feed on krill but krill is growing scarcer due to climate change AFP/Getty Images 6/9 Chinstrap penguins on King George Island on Antarctica. global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty 7/9 Gentoo penguins in Cuverville Island, designated as an Important Bird Island. These penguins feed on krill but krill is growing scarcer due to climate change AFP/Getty Images 8/9 A penguin and a seal on global warming has affected the glaciers that these animals live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty 9/9 Gentoo penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty 1/9 Gentoo penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty 2/9 Gentoo penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty 3/9 Gentoo penguins in Cuverville Island, designated as an Important Bird Island. These penguins feed on krill but krill is growing scarcer due to climate change AFP/Getty 4/9 Penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty 5/9 Gentoo penguins in Cuverville Island, designated as an Important Bird Island. These penguins feed on krill but krill is growing scarcer due to climate change AFP/Getty Images 6/9 Chinstrap penguins on King George Island on Antarctica. global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty 7/9 Gentoo penguins in Cuverville Island, designated as an Important Bird Island. These penguins feed on krill but krill is growing scarcer due to climate change AFP/Getty Images 8/9 A penguin and a seal on global warming has affected the glaciers that these animals live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty 9/9 Gentoo penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty
“If countries are not able to agree on welcoming the report’s findings or doing anything with them, it’s awkward,” Carl Schleussner, head of climate science at the NGO Climate Analytics told Climate Home News.
A “gentlemen’s agreement” was believed to have been made before the meeting, meaning there could not be dedicated space for country representatives to discuss the key findings.
This means that discussions will finish next Wednesday even if no agreement has been reached.
“This is a gentlemen’s deal that is not very gentlemanly,” Jennifer Tollmann, policy advisor at think-tank E3G told Climate Home News.
The IPCC report looked at all available scientific literature and laid out what would happen if the Earth’s average temperature was allowed to increase by 1.5C compared to 2C.
It took more than two years to produce and included the assessment of more than 6,000 scientific studies. The aim was to help those in power to ward off climate change and support sustainable economic development.
Saudia Arabia’s senior negotiator Ayman Shasly has previously told Carbon Brief he does not wish to formally “welcome” the IPCC report.
He said: “You would not say things like, you ‘welcome’ it…because that [means] we are giving legitimacy to some scientific report…that had its own issues of scientific gaps, knowledge gaps,” he said.
He also criticised the report for not giving developing countries more generous carbon allowances.
CO2 emissions must be cut by 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030 to curb warming at 1.5C.
By 2050 the whole world needs to be at “net zero”, meaning any remaining CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere needs to be sucked back out somehow.
god_im_bored on June 23rd, 2019 at 12:05 UTC »
Daily reminder that Saudi Arabia and UAE are still committing whole sale slaughter in Yemen, are forcefully starving civilians in an act considered barbaric even by pre-WW1 standards, have made medical conditions deteriorate in the country so much that diseases eradicated during the 19th century have made a comeback, have completely taken over an island belonging to another country with literally no Western media coverage (which is only marginally less disgusting than the fact that the UN has completely ignored this), have enforced a near complete blockade, and are doing all this because a hated authoritarian was removed from power, all with the friendly support of the "bastions of freedom" America and UK.
And while all this has been going on, the Saudis had also kidnapped Lebanon’s prime minister, have openly funded jihadi groups in Syria, have had open ties with the terrorists who committed 9/11, have indicated their willingness to obtain nuclear weapons and have acted in actively trying to get the necessary materials, have confiscated billions of dollars by kidnapping its own citizens, have murdered a foreign journalist in a gruesome manner at a embassy in a foreign nation, have openly conspired with family members of the US President, have randomly detained several women’s rights activists and have conducted clandestine trial hearings that no one is allowed to know the details of, have threatened Canada with 9/11 (quite clearly thumbing their nose at the fact that they had significant involvement in the first one), have tried to wage war on any and all Shias in the Middle East, have sold Arab rights down the drain in order to please the US as well as defeat all revolutionary sentiment, and have had a definite hand in the recent escalation of tensions with Iran.
And this is all without mentioning the slavery both countries practice, the support of radical Islam globally, violating the human rights of women, the racist nature of their countries where citizenship is only granted by blood, and the basic premise that they're countries ruled by "kings" who hold all the power.
Oh and they also lobby the UN to combat the vital fight on global warming which impacts every living human being on earth → we're here now.
Meanwhile we have the most powerful man on earth right now make up fake emergencies in order to appease these people and continue selling them weapons so they can continue doing all of the above. "Gentlemen's agreement" my ass.
DumbDumbGoodbye on June 23rd, 2019 at 11:46 UTC »
We need to list the 100 most damaging politicians to climate change. Bang their names in large stone tablets and place them in each capital in a busy area so that as the years go on future generations will be able to read the names of all who have doomed the future.
These losers will be dead soon and all they'll have is a legacy. Take their names and trash their legacy.
Edit: Thanks for the Gold! But someone should think about how to kickstart a monument for a public park somewhere.
Chips86 on June 23rd, 2019 at 10:20 UTC »
Western governments repeated dealings with and bending to the will of this vile regime are one of the greatest shames of modern times.