UN releases bleak report on temperature change projections based on global carbon emissions rates
The UN Environment Program has released its tenth annual report on emissions gaps, having found that the current rate of global carbon emissions will lead to an average temperature rise of 3.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels by 2100. The report was completed by international scientists and specialists that assess where countries are in terms [...]
There’s a joke about a group of friends finishing up their meal at a local restaurant. One friend puts down the cutlery, pushes back the chair, and declares with conviction: “this food was bad and the portions were too small.” And so it is with the Paris Climate Change agreement. The Paris Agreement is bad [...]
Lawmakers in New Zealand approved a bill on Thursday that aims to reduce the country’s non-biogenetic greenhouse emissions to zero by 2050. The Zero Carbon Bill provides a framework for limiting average global temperature increase to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as set forth in the Paris Agreement. The bill establishes a Climate Change Commission, [...]
Trump administration notifies UN of US withdrawal from Paris Agreement
The US government notified the UN on Monday of its intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. In remarks made in June 2017, President Donald Trump announced the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement due to the “unfair economic burden” imposed upon American workers and businesses. In the press statement released on Monday, Secretary [...]
Massachusetts brings climate-related fraud case against Exxon
The Massachusetts Attorney General sued ExxonMobil on Thursday for repeatedly violating the state’s consumer and investor protection laws and related regulations by defrauding investors and threatening the world economy. Two claims were made against ExxonMobil in the complaint: ExxonMobil is deceiving the investors by systemically failing to disclose the risks to its business from climate [...]
US files complaint against California for international cap-and-trade agreement
The US government filed a civil complaint against the state of California Wednesday for entering into a cap-and-trade agreement with Quebec. According to the federal government, California overstepped its state powers by entering into an international climate change agreement in 2013 with a foreign nation. Cap-and-trade agreements are a major component of California’s plan to [...]
Supreme Court rejects oil companies' bid for stay in Baltimore climate change suit
The US Supreme Court declined to grant a stay to BP Plc and several other oil and gas companies Tuesday in a Baltimore lawsuit against the companies, solidifying a remand order issued by the US District Court for the District of Maryland. The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore sued in state court last year [...]
The New York Attorney General’s suit against multinational oil and gas corporation Exxon Mobil started on Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, a trial-level New York court. The Attorney General filed a complaint in October 2018 under General Business Law §352, Executive Law § 63(12) and for common law fraud. The suit alleges that Exxon falsely [...]
Poland proposes coal mine expansion while lawsuit challenges largest European coal plant
The Law and Justice party (PiS) of Poland on Wednesday indicated that it plans to unveil legislation to allow the government to expand coal mine operations. PiS intends for half of Poland’s electricity to be generated by coal from its own mines by 2050. This decision is juxtaposed with the EU’s goal of carbon neutrality, [...]
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) Tuesday, urging action to protect human rights. The report focuses on the impact of global climate change on individuals who live in mountainous, coastal and Arctic regions. Roughly 1.42 billion people live in communities [...]
