Current climate pledges mean emissions will be too high in 2030 to stop dangerous global warming. But there are a number of things we can do to fix this.
Australia’s Renewable Energy Target was reduced in 2015.
Wind turbine image from www.shutterstock.com
Wil Burns, American University School of International Service
Despite the fanfare of signing the Paris Agreement on climate, little progress has been made on compensating poor countries for irreparable damages from climate change.
More than 160 nations will sign the Paris Agreement on its opening day – a record for a United Nations treaty.
Aotearoa/Wikimedia Commons
James Whitmore, The Conversation; Michael Hopkin, The Conversation, and Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation
More than 160 countries are expected to sign the Paris Agreement in New York on April 22. But enough countries will also need to ratify the treaty domestically before it can become international law.
A woman in Burkina Faso collects firewood. Developing nations – and particularly women in these nations – are more vulnerable to climate change, and have less ability to adapt.
CIFOR/Flickr
Australia will be one of more than 160 nations formally signing the Paris climate agreement in New York this week. But delivering on those promises is what really counts.
Malcolm Turnbull’s speech to the Paris climate summit lacked real focus, but he still has time to grab the issue with both hands before the election.
EPA/Christophe Petit Tesson
Australia has been mired in climate confusion for years - as reflected by its underwhelming performance at last year’s Paris climate summit. Here’s how to get things back on an even keel.
South Africa has a long way to go to make a fair contribution to the global goals set out under the Paris Agreement.
Reuters
The Paris agreement has given us some solid targets to aim for in terms of limiting global warming. But that in turn begs a whole range of new scientific questions.
Is the sun setting on coal investments?
EPA/Federico Gambarini/AAP
Energy companies are realising that, in light of the Paris climate deal, the economics are starting to line up in favour of climate action, not against it.
Will the world resort to ‘solar radiation management’ to slow the Earth’s heating?
Mark Robinson/flickr
Simon Nicholson, American University School of International Service and Michael Thompson, American University School of International Service
Yes, we blunt the effects of climate change by getting off fossil fuels. But countries’ most ambitious targets imply use of climate engineering schemes – and that discussion should be done in public.
Countries such as Mauritania have contributed little to climate change, yet face the worst impacts such as crop failure.
Oxfam International/Flickr
Australia’s greenhouse emissions are once again rising, after a decade of consistent declines. But the right policies are already in place to turn things around - they just need to be ramped up.
Solar downtown: state-level policies led to a surge in solar adoption and energy efficiency measures in the late 2000s.
Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs