Global Methane Pledge aims for 30 percent methane emissions cut from 2020 levels by 2030

A global Methane Pledge will be launched at the UN Climate Change Conference at Glasgow COP26 in November. The pledge will commit countries to a collective goal of reducing global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030 and moving towards using best available inventory methodologies to quantify methane emissions, with a particular focus on high emission sources. The pledge is an initiative of the USA and European Union.

Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas. Methane (CH4)  emissions need to be reigned in along with carbon dioxide to meet the Paris climate agreement temperature targets. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment report on climate change warns that "Strong, rapid and sustained reductions in CH4 emissions would also limit the warming effect resulting from declining aerosol pollution and would improve air quality."

Update 28 October: The Nationals carved out agriculture and any methane emissions reduction as part of commitment to support Net Zero by 2050 plan. Australia will not sign the Global Methane Pledge at COP26.

Video: Life at 50C - The families forced to defend their homes from Australian bushfires (BBC)

This short BBC documentary investigates the climate change impacts of extreme heat and bushfires. It articulates climate change is here and now. It will get worse. But there are things we can do to change the direction of global warming.

IPCC climate science report: code red for humanity says UN Secretary General

 

"Today’s IPCC Working Group 1 Report is a code red for humanity.  The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable:  greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk. Global heating is affecting every region on Earth, with many of the changes becoming irreversible." said Antonio Guiterres, UN Secretary General upon the launch of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th assessment report on the Physical science.

"The internationally agreed threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius is perilously close. We are at imminent risk of hitting 1.5 degrees in the near term. The only way to prevent exceeding this threshold is by urgently stepping up our efforts, and pursuing the most ambitious path. We must act decisively now to keep 1.5 alive." said Guiterres in an official statement.

Australian climate action rated Highly Insufficient by Climate Action Tracker

The Climate Action Tracker, in a new report, has highlighted that Australia, in the leadup to the UN Climate Conference in Glasgow (COP26), is one of the climate action emission reduction and policy laggards. It categorised Australia in the Highly Insufficient category in the Overall rankings. It criticised Australia for effectively submitting the same Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) when the Paris Agreement calls for countries to increase ambition.

It called out Australia among a shortlist: "Of particular concern are governments - Australia, Brazil, Indonesia Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland and Viet Nam - that have failed to lift ambition at all – they have submitted the same or even less ambitious 2030 targets than they had put forward in 2015. These countries need to rethink their choice." 

Australian climate finance falling far short of our fair share, getting worse

A new report highlights the shortfall in developed countries climate finance, including noting Australia as a particular laggard. It estimates the Australian Government is contributing about 8 per cent of what our global fair share commitment should be for the years 2020-2025.

Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, has warned developed nations they must deliver on climate finance for a successful outcome from the UN Climate Conference in Glagow (COP26) in November. 

The UN Secretary General, speaking at High-Level Dialogue on Climate Action in the Americas, hosted by the Government of Argentina , said developed nations must deliver on the solidarity agenda. He told the Dialogue: 

“developed nations must deliver on the solidarity agenda. That means support to developing countries on vaccines, debt and liquidity, as well as climate finance. We need a credible plan for delivering on the $ 100 billion dollar commitment made over a decade ago. We need it well ahead of Glasgow, to restore trust.” he said.

In 2009 at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen Australia committed with other developed nations to raising US $100 billion climate finance per year from 2020 to developing countries to assist the transition and global decarbonistion.

Of the 23 developed countries responsible for providing international climate finance, only Germany, Norway and Sweden have been paying their fair share of the annual $100 billion goal. All other countries are falling short.

Australia, Canada, Greece, New Zealand, Portugal and the United States (US) all contributed less than 20% of their fair share of international climate finance. 

Australia has committed AU$1.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) for climate finance for 2021–2025, which means it will be funding only 8 per cent of its fair share over the next five years, according to the study.

The OECD and Oxfam International in recent media releases have also highlighted this shortfall in climate finance commitment, one of the pillars behind the Paris Agreement. (see updates below)

Update: Australian NGOs published the Fairer Futures: Financing Global Climate Solutions report 20 October 2021. This report called for the Scaling up Australia’s contributions to global climate finance in three stages to 2030: including Immediately double Australia’s current climate finance to $3 billion over 2020-2025; by 2023, shape regional and global climate responses by committing an additional $700 – $990 million to the Green Climate Fund; by 2030, scale up Australia’s climate finance to meet its fair share of $12 billion annually.

IPCC report, Labor climate policy and targets: Email to Peter Khalil MP for Wills

The following email was sent to Labor MP for Wills, Peter Khalil on 16 August 2021. As of 12 September 2021 there has been no response or acknowledgement of this email. 

Australia: Carbon Capture and Storage | Honest Government Ad

The Juice Media latest Honest Government Ad on Carbon Capture and storage.

Great dissection of one of the Australian Government Technology Investment Roadmap 'solutions' for climate change that actually results in little climate mitigation while it continues to enrich the Fossil Fuel mining companies.

See the recent post Carbon Capture & Storage Failure | Spin Bin with Angus Taylor (August 2021)

Global framework on Biodiversity - Australian statement on the Convention on Biodiversity 2030 target

Australia's statement on the Convention on Biodiversity Plenary 24 Aug - Open-ended Working Group 3 on Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The Conference of the Parties (COP15) for the Convention on Biodiversity is coming up early next year. I haven't seen any local news on this...

I'd like to highlight this part of the statement in particular:

"Australia welcomes a global target for the protection of 30 per cent of land and 30 per cent of sea by 2030. We support the focus in this target on areas important for biodiversity and through a combination of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures. Australia also recognises that Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) must be full partners in the implementation of this target."

You can read the draft global framework on Biodiversity to be put for adoption.

The draft framework includes 21 targets for 2030 that call for, among other things:

• At least 30% of land and sea areas global (especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and its contributions to people) conserved through effective, equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas (and other effective area-based conservation measures) 

• A 50% of greater reduction in the rate of introduction of invasive alien species, and controls or eradication of such species to eliminate or reduce their impacts 

• Reducing nutrients lost to the environment by at least half, and pesticides by at least two thirds, and eliminating the discharge of plastic waste 

• Nature-based contributions to global climate change mitigation efforts of least 10 GtCO2e per year, and that all mitigation and adaptation efforts avoid negative impacts on biodiversity 

• Redirecting, repurposing, reforming or eliminating incentives harmful for biodiversity, in a just and equitable way, reducing them by at least $US 500 billion per year 

• A $US 200 billion increase in international financial flows from all sources to developing countries.