Poland wins Colossal Fossil award of #COP24, while Pacific nations provide a Ray of Light

No surprises here that host Country Poland has received the Colossal Fossil Award of COP24 for it's behaviour incongruent with a climate change conference, including continuing emphasis on coal development, and coal company sponsorship of the COP.

What was even more concerning was the security legislation passed early this year, and it's by Polish authorities to deny entry and/or deport at least 12 members of civil society groups due to attend the UN climate talks in Poland.

Note the Amnesty International report on Poland: Arrests and Refusal of entry to environmentalists during the COP24 climate talks, which documented that at least 13 staff members and activists of environmental organizations were refused entry to Poland during the UN Conference on Climate Change, COP24, held in Katowice. In addition, three staff members of environmental organizations were questioned in their hotels about their IDs by the border police in Katowice. Two of them were arrested and detained for 12 hours.

Some consolation was provided by the awarding of a Ray of the Day, actually a Ray of the COP to Pacific Island Developing nations, specifically Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tuvalu, Fiji, Maldives, Tuvalu for stepping up in this pivotal moment in history (unlike some countries Cough Cough Australia.)

The official Award commendations from Climate Action Network International:

Deciphering Australia's High Level statement to COP24 by Melissa Price

As I watched and listened to Australian Environment Minister Melissa Price statement on behalf of Australia to the High Level Segment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Conference of the Parties (COP24), I decided I wanted to annotate, correct falsities, mistruths or distortions and place her words into political historical context. I transcribed her speech, then circulated it inviting other people to add details. Several people did so, and I fact checked these contributions, but most of the annotation were my own.

Australia displayed a total lack of ambition, in stark contrast to quite a few other nations who made announcements of increased climate ambition actions.

• No mention was made of the IPCC Special Report on 1.5C
• No mention was made on the need for raising Australia's ambition in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)
• No mention of lifting Australia's targets, currently rated as insufficient.
• No mention that Climate Finance has been incorporated as part of the Foreign Aid budget which has suffered substantial real reductions over the last four years.
• No mention was made of Australia continuing to expand coal export trade and the protests and opposition to the Adani Carmichael mine.
• No mention of latest energy policy announced by Energy Minister Angus Taylor for Federal Government support for existing and new coal fired power stations
• No mention that Prime Minister Scott Morrison withdrew the minimal funding support to the Green Climate Fund in October 2018.
• Some of the actions being lauded, such as the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Government actually tried to abolish but had been stymied by a hostile Senate.
• Use of excess Kyoto credits as carryover to meet Paris 2030 targets not ruled out

The transcription was based on the UNFCCC on-demand video of the second part of the High Level Segment conducted on Wednesday 12 December 2018. An un-annotated version of Minister Price's speech to COP24 follows at the end.

See Also Tracking Australia's Environment Minister Melissa Price at COP24

Fossil Award to Australia for not ruling out Kyoto carbon credits for Paris target use

It just wouldn't be a United Nations Climate Change conference COP in recent years without Australia at the Fossil of the Day Awards. And this year does not disappoint.

The failure to rule out use of Kyoto carbon credits to meet it's low Paris Agreement 2030 targets while demanding robust accounting and transparency is just too galling. Even best buddy New Zealand reckons, Crikey, using Kyoto credits is just too much.

And watching the Australian ambassador for the Environment on the panel of the US side-event promoting coal the other day....

As well as Australia standing back being silent over whether to 'note' or 'welcome' the IPCC Special Report on 1.5C. But hardly surprising given Environment Minister Melissa Price had rejected the findings of this report in the Australian Parliament when it was published in October.

And then there is Energy Minister Angus Taylor trying his damndest to help new coal fired power into the Australian grid, when firmed renewables are already a far cheaper option.

Or Prime Minister Scott Morrison telling students striking over climate change to be 'less activist', and Resources Minister Matt Canavan saying a student climate strike would lead to the dole queue, none of which deterred tens of thousands of students from joining protests around Australia organised by School Strike for climate action.

All this while Australia abolished a perfectly good carbon pricing scheme in 2014, to produce record rising emissions over the last 4 years.



So give it up for the return of Australia at COP24.

Climate policies on the rise globally, but ambition level still lacking

The latest assessment of country emissions and climate policies aggregated globally shows that there is still a substantial gap to meet, according to Climate Analytics, who have been analysing and tracking country climate policies and global emissions for the last decade on their Climate Action Tracker website.

If all governments achieve their largely insufficient climate targets, the world will see 3.0˚C of warming by 2100, twice the 1.5˚C limit they agreed in Paris three years ago their latest analysis shows. This analysis does not include the potential for climate feedbacks and tipping points in the climate system that might boost the level of global warming to 'Hothouse Earth' conditions (Study).

Current Government pledges in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would lead to warming of 3.3˚C.

If governments were to implement the planned or additional policies they have in the pipeline, warming would also be limited to 3.0°C by 2100.

Egypt wins Fossil Award for being dead set on no-ambition strategy in Talanoa

Well today's Fossil Award came from the leftfield.

But on some days the least expected step up to be the worst, who does the most to be the least, and who tries their hardest to make sure we don't get fair justice and a binding climate deal.

Egypt, the land of the pyramids, this day is yours for Fossil of the Day, for being dead set against ambition in Talanoa.

Here be the award commendation for today:

Tracking Australia's Environment Minister Melissa Price at COP24

So what is Australia's Environment Minister Melissa Price getting up to at COP24? Attending the Umbrella Group meetings, photo opps with Pacific Islander women whose nations will be innundated by sea level rise due to Australia's intransigence on coal and climate policy, meeting Indigenous Rangers...

Melissa Price is the Liberal MP for Durack and a former corporate lawyer for mining companies.

So far Australia has not been terribly popular at this conference with civil society and a great number of other parties.

Australia was completely silent over to 'note' or 'welcome' the IPCC Special Report on 1.5C in the SBSTA. Given Australia chairs the Umbrella group, the silence spoke heaps about Australia's role. Then the Australian ambassador for the Environment and head of the negotiating team for Australia, Patrick Suckling, was featured as a speaker on a US Government side-event promoting clean coal and CCS as climate solutions.

Given these two incidents perhaps we need to keep track of our Environment Minister at COP24.

Two Fossils Awards: Developed Countries for lack of Loss and Damage climate finance, and Austria for facilitating coal subsidies

Some unusual suspects today. While everyone was looking at SBSTA discussion on to 'note' or 'welcome' the IPCC special report on 1.5C, these bad boys snuck in and whisked away the Fossil of the Day awards.

The first Award went to the developed countries of the Executive Committee (Excomm) of the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) on Loss and Damage. Five years old and still not a penny of climate finance. How miserly the parents are.

But the Climate Action Network is gracious and sang them a Happy birthday message.

The second Fossil Award to Austria for subsidising coal. Yes, you heard me right, Austria, not Australia! Austria has the presidency of the European Council and wants to subsidize existing and new coal plants for the next 17 years through backdoor mechanisms. Really Austria, you know you can't compete with Australia when it comes to coal (Cough Cough).

Here be the award commendations for today:

US clean coal side-event with Australian ambassador disrupted at COP24

The Australian Ambassador for the Environment, Patrick Suckling, appeared on a panel for a US government side-event pushing clean coal technologies as climate solutions. The session on Monday 10 December was called: "U.S. Innovative Technologies Spur Economic Dynamism - Promoting innovative approaches".

One must ask was Ambassador Suckling's presence sanctioned at Ministerial level? His attendance on the panel is hardly good diplomacy for Australia, even given the Liberal Government support for coal and weak climate targets and climate policy.

After about 9 minutes the first speaker was disrupted and youth and civil society delegates unfurled a banner and made their own testimonies on the disruptive and dangerous nature of coal for health and climate.

They chanted "Keep it in the ground" and "Shame on you", before leaving the session. After they left, there were very few people to listen to the myths being spouted of clean coal.

London Assembly passes climate emergency motion

The London Assembly has passed a motion by a vote of 12 votes for, 0 against, for declaring a climate emergency. The motion by UK Greens Councillor Caroline Russell urges that the Mayor should "declare a Climate Emergency, supported by specific emergency plans with the actions needed to make London carbon neutral by 2030".

This follows on from the City of Bristol declaring a climate emergency on 13 November 2018, the first UK council to declare a climate emergency. The Bristol motion was passed unanimously. Consequently, the city council set an ambitious goal of making Bristol carbon neutral by 2030.

Caroline Russel also referred to David Attenborough speech to the United Nations climate change conference COP24 meeting in Katowice, Poland, in which he warned, "If we don’t take action the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon." The IPCC 1.5C climate science report published in October was also referred to in motivating rapid social transformation needed for meeting the Paris Agreement climate targets and avoiding dangerous climate change..

What is in a word? Lots when it comes to welcoming the IPCC special report on 1.5C to #COP24

During negotiations on Saturday at the UN climate change conference fossil fuel major countries blocked welcoming the IPCC Special report on 1.5C target for informing the negotiations. Blocking countries were Saudi Arabia, USA, Kuwait, and Russia.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on 1.5C was initiated by the Conference of the Parties as part of the Paris Agreement in 2015.

The report was based on over 6000 peer reviewed papers. The Summary for Policy makers document of the report was approved by a meeting of government representatives on the IPCC.