The IEA calls for an end to coal, oil, and gas development to reach net zero in 2050
A lot of worrying news today, on coffee, plastics, and fossil fuels, but the good news is that the IEA sees a narrow pathway to lead us out of the climate crisis.
The news about the planet was grim today; The Planet newsletter will not be light reading for you this morning. But wait for the silver lining at the end. So grab your morning coffee and get ready to know the facts because we risk focusing too much on short-term problems instead of the existential threats. We all need a regular reminder about the urgency of the planetary crisis.
Coffee
Let's start with that coffee you just grabbed. Brazil, the world's most significant coffee producer, experiences a severe shortage of water, and the output of its famous high-end arabica coffee drops sharply. Similar reports come in about orange crop production. Now that the dry season is about to start, the water reservoirs are drying up or are depleted. To make matters worse, a Brazilian meteorologist predicts that the annual dry spell will end only in October or November instead of September. This latest news adds to previous research: climate change and environmental destruction threaten your daily coffee availability, price, and taste.
Plastics
The global environmental news is also profoundly worrying today. You may remember that I recently wrote that we eat on average a credit card size amount of microplastics every week. Get ready for an additional weekly dose soon, let's say another 30 percent because that is the predicted growth for single-use plastics for the next five years. Think about that for a moment: that means more production of fossil fuels, more greenhouse gasses, and more plastic in the ocean, and ultimately in your food.
Meanwhile, in the supermarket, I still have to choose between a dozen brands of toilet paper that are, without exception, all wrapped in plastic. What is the idea of keeping toilet paper fresh by using plastic? Seriously, we need laws that forbid this kind of waste, and we need politicians who make these laws, and then we need voters who vote for those politicians. In short: here lies a task for you at the next elections. Vote for leaders that lead in times of crisis.
Because, in case you missed the message, our planet is in a deep crisis, a mix of multiple crises that often reinforce each other.
Plastic is an example of one of these. It is linked to the crisis in governance, to the waste crisis, the oceans crisis, to fossil fuels (that you need for plastic production), and the climate crisis. The Minderoo Foundation looked into the source of all this waste and concluded that 20 companies are the source of half of the worldwide used single plastics.
Exxon knew
ExxonMobil occupies the top position. To refresh your memory, Exxon knew since the 1970s about the causes of climate change and the dangers climate disruption poses. Instead of warning the world of the climate disaster that will cost millions of lives, it decided instead to become an active funder of organizations that undermined action against climate change. Greenpeace made a helpful overview of their policies that you can find here. You can find facts in the timeline like in 1997 'Exxon CEO Lee Raymond tells the 15th World Petroleum Congress in Beijing that the world's climate isn't changing, and that even if it were, fossil fuels would play no part.' Remember: Exxon knew.
I suppose ExxonMobile will not have been particularly happy with today's latest report of the International Energy Agency. It says that we should end investments in new coal mines, oil and gas wells to meet the 2050 climate goals. This message comes from the IEA, the most authoritative energy body in the world and an organization that for many years had a reputation of being close to the fossil fuel industry.
The IEA also calls to stop the sale of new fossil-fuel cars before 2035, double global investment in energy, and a fourfold increase in solar and wind power by 2030. The organization warns that even if all pledges by governments to date would be fully achieved, they still fall well short of what is required to bring global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to net-zero by 2050. That would give the world an even chance of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 °C.
The IEA has found a narrow but viable pathway for a global energy sector with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 while ensuring stable and affordable energy supplies, providing universal energy access, and enabling robust economic growth. It would lead to a clean energy economy dominated by renewables and fossil fuels.
And that is the silver lining I promised, consistent with my messaging that you have read in this newsletter and interviews: we are in a massive crisis, but we have the knowledge, technology, and economic possibilities to avoid the worst of climate change. It asks for effective leadership.
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Notes:
https://theplanet.substack.com/p/you-eat-a-credit-card-size-amount
https://news.trust.org/item/20210518035221-siqey/
https://www.minderoo.org/plastic-waste-makers-index/
https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050
Photo industry: by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
Photo sunrise: by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay
Good morning Alexander the sun is out here for a while today.
I'm happy about IEA taking a stands. Bravo!
To help out with the plastic overload that's coming our way I change the way I shop. By bringing my own containers like ceramics', glass, paper and cotton bags, as they did not that long ago. Even a (galvanized or other food safe protective coating) water bucket for holding thick skinned produce(Potatoes). The 5 gallon water buckets, although plastic, comes to mind. Also the durable food safe reusable small size plastic ones, if needed.
Use the already existing safe(?) plastics in the house until one really needs to do away with them. Milk used to come in glass bottles and I start seeing them again on the shelves. The idea is that you bring them back to the store and exchange them for a fresh one filled with the new milk or other (loose)product purchase. Today most of the modern day cashiers are set up to deduct the weight of the containers you bring. I have a 3 and/or 5 Gallon glass water Jug that I refill at the store with drinking/cooking water.
Thank you for the bad and good tidings today (-:
PS. I have stopped drinking coffee for more than a year now and my health level jumped up several octaves. Some Green tea is my choice drink now.
IEAが、やっと動き出したようですね。腰が重すぎです。もっと早くに声明を発表するべきでした。気候変動は、私たちの身近で起きており、台風の大型化による風水害、線状降水帯による水害、気温の上昇、大雪、干ばつなどキリがないです。私達一人一人が出来ることをやっていきましょう。私達には、知恵がある、団結力がある。