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Glasgow and DC "Climate Clocks" Send Message to Biden and Global Leaders in Advance of Earth Day: #Actintime!
Climate Clock light projection launches in Glasgow as youth climate activists head to DC to deliver portable clocks to top Biden officials, and demand real climate action.
WASHINGTON
The Leaders Summit on Climate will take place on April 22nd and aims to underscore the urgency of immediate and stronger climate action. It will be a key milestone on the road to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) this November in Glasgow.
A global petition will be delivered to Joe Biden and world leaders urging them to drastically increase emissions reduction targets in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius - by doing what the science demands, to stop funding fossil fuels and to get serious about the transition to renewable energy and ensure that no one is left behind.
As part of the day of actions leading up to the summit, campaigners from 350.org, Build Back Fossil Free coalition, Movement Catalyst and Fossil Free Bailout are delivering the Climate Clock to the Biden summit as a reminder that we are in a climate emergency and the time to act is now. The climate clock, which has been on display in New York, Union Square is a reminder of the urgent need to take climate action now.
Glasgow City Council and UK youth climate activists light-projected a CLIMATE CLOCK onto Glasgow's landmark Tolbooth Steeple. Like its counterpart in Union Square, New York, the Glasgow CLIMATE CLOCK will count down the time until the threshold of carbon emissions for 1.5 degrees of warming is exceeded, and show the percentage of the world's energy that is generated from renewable sources. It will run continuously every night for the six months from Earth Day until the COP26 begins, turning the eyes of the world to the upcoming UN Summit in November.
Graham Hogg, CLIMATE CLOCK's Glasgow Team
"As Glasgow prepares to host COP26, the Tolbooth Steeple is the perfect location for Glasgow's CLIMATE CLOCK. "For centuries, it was here that important proclamations were read out to the people of Glasgow. It stands at the convergence point where people from all points on the compass entered the city, and it is unmistakably Glasgow."
Laura Berry, CLIMATE CLOCK Research Lead
"The science is clear: we are in a climate emergency. With its deadline and new lifeline, the CLIMATE CLOCK makes explicit the speed and scope of action that political leaders must take in order to limit the worst impacts of climate devastation."
Thanu Yakupitiyage, 350.org US Communications Director:
"By using the Climate Clock as a tool, we are pressuring world governments to take bold action for a just recovery from the compound crisis our communities are facing from COVID-19, climate impacts, and racial and economic injustice. President Biden fulfilled his promise to cancel the Keystone XL permit, a massive Indigenous-led movement victory thanks to millions of people demanding an end to fossil fuels. Biden must now follow through to protect our communities by stopping all new fossil fuel projects -- beginning with Line 3 and Dakota Access Pipeline. It's time for Biden to be a real Climate President, show the world how serious the U.S. is about keeping fossil fuels in the ground, and lead by example on the world stage. Biden needs to go beyond promises and take immediate action to stop the bad, build the good, and repair the harm. "
James Miller, 19-year-old, UK youth climate activist
"1.5 degrees is our global beacon for climate action. The safety and wellbeing of millions of people depends on keeping below it. But it is slipping from our grasp; in order to keep that target in sight, we need to reduce global emissions by more than 50% by 2030. Existing pledges from world leaders fall far short of what the science demands."
It is vital that the UK government leads the charge as host of COP26, but currently, the glaring disparity between their climate-leading rhetoric and half-hearted action to tackle emissions domestically is damaging international ambition.
If they hope to lead the world to success at this critical climate summit, they need to end their hypocrisy immediately and get back on track to meeting their targets. That means stopping polluting infrastructure projects, airport expansions and new fossil fuel exploration. And, importantly, it means aligning policy and sector targets with their national target, together with the spending needed to meet them.
This year, at COP26, world leaders have a crucial - perhaps final - chance to unite in pulling 1.5 degrees back within reach, and keep their promise to safeguard future generations. The world's youth are watching, and we will not accept failure as an option."
Agnes Hall, Global Campaigns Director at 350.org said
"There can be no meaningful climate action if world leaders don't make a decisive move to keep all fossil fuels in the ground. The Biden Summit is a critical meeting of world leaders ahead of COP26 this November. Talk of "net-zero" won't cut it: we demand more from our world leaders than false promises, false solutions and empty negotiations at Biden's Climate Summit. The task now is to hold politicians to their lofty words, and to do that the global climate movement needs to keep up the pressure on our governments at home as well as on the international stage to take urgent action now to reduce carbon emissions and ensure a Just Recovery by creating a sustainable, fossil-free world ".
Asad Rehman: UK COP26 coalition
Billions around the world face a daily struggle to survive in the face of a worsening climate crisis, a never ending crisis of inequality and a global health pandemic - with millions denied access to life-saving vaccines. Tinkering around the edges of a broken system will simply be a death sentence for them. Fixing the climate crisis requires more than simply cutting carbon; we need bold action that meets these challenges and puts us on a pathway to a fairer and safer planet for everyone."
"The window is rapidly closing to prevent even more loss of lives and livelihoods. It's only fair that the richest countries who have done the most to cause these crises, lead the way and put forward plans to decarbonise by 2030 and to meet their obligations to help developing countries with real financial pledges."
Joseph Sikulu Pacific Managing Director 350.org
"In a world recovering from COVID-19 and the climate crisis, governments need to quickly divest from the fossil fuel industry and begin investing in a just recovery for all. Countries with high emissions, such as the United States and Australia, must stop subsidizing oil, gas and coal and direct their investments toward clean and just renewable energy so that we can limit Earth's warming to 1.5 degrees."
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
LATEST NEWS
UN Climate Chief Warns Inaction on Emissions Will Deliver 'Inflation on Steroids'
"Climate finance is global inflation insurance. Rampant climate costs should be public enemy number one," the U.N. official told world leaders at COP29.
Nov 12, 2024
As he addressed world leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan on Tuesday, U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell made the case that action against the planetary emergency can help combat an economic problem plaguing nations around the world: inflation.
Far from a threat reserved for future generations, Stiell told ministers gathered for day one of the conference's World Leaders Climate Action Summit that the climate crisis was "fast becoming an economy killer," already slashing some nations' gross domestic products by up to 5%.
"The climate crisis is a cost-of-living crisis," Still said, "because climate disasters are driving up costs for households and businesses. Worsening climate impacts will put inflation on steroids unless every country can take bolder climate action."
Stiell's remarks come amid growing discussion of the impact of inflation on political stability following the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election last week. In the wake of Trump's win, commenters have pointed out that almost every country that voted in 2024 voted to oust the incumbent party, and inflation following the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine is one prominent explanation.
Stiell told the leaders gathered at COP29 that they should learn from that inflation spike when making decisions about climate.
"Let's learn the lessons from the pandemic—when billions suffered because we didn't take the collective action fast enough when supply chains were smashed," Stiell said. "Let's not make that mistake again."
"Climate finance is global inflation insurance," Stiell continued. "Rampant climate costs should be public enemy number one."
"Unless emissions plummet and adaptation soars, every economy will face far greater fury."
In his remarks to the leaders summit, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also emphasized the economic impacts of climate-fueled disasters.
"No country is spared," Guterres said. "In our global economy, supply chain shocks raise costs—everywhere. Decimated harvests push up food prices—everywhere. Destroyed homes increase insurance premiums—everywhere."
Guterres also tied the climate emergency to economic inequality, citing a recent Oxfam study finding that billionaires emit more greenhouse gases in an hour and a half than an ordinary person will during their entire life.
"This is a story of avoidable injustice. The rich cause the problem, the poor pay the highest price," Guterres said, adding that "unless emissions plummet and adaptation soars, every economy will face far greater fury."
However, both U.N. leaders saw hope in a rapid and equitable transition to renewable energy.
"Bolder climate action can drive economic opportunity and abundance everywhere. Cheap, clean energy can be the bedrock of your economies. It means more jobs, more growth, less pollution choking cities, healthier citizens, and stronger businesses," Stiell said.
Guterres argued that "the economic imperative is clearer and more compelling with every renewables roll out, every innovation, and every price drop" and called doubling down on fossil fuels "absurd."
"The clean energy revolution is here," Guterres continued. "No group, no business, and no government can stop it. But you can and must ensure it is fair, and fast enough to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C."
Currently, national policies put the world on track for 3.1°C of heating, which scientists warn would have devastating consequences for ecosystems and human communities.
Both Stiell and Guterres urged leaders to rapidly reduce their climate pollution and agree to a new finance goal at COP29 to help developing countries fund their green transitions and adapt to increasing climate impacts.
"On climate finance, the world must pay up, or humanity will pay the price," Guterres said.
Stiell warned that "billions of people simply cannot afford for their government to leave COP29 without a global climate finance goal."
"These are not easy times, but despair is no strategy, and it's not warranted," Stiell concluded. "Our process is strong, and it will endure. After all, international cooperation is the only way humanity survives global heating. The time for hand-wringing is over; so let's get on with the job."
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Continuing 'Ethnic Cleansing' Campaign, Israel Blows Past US Deadline for Gaza Aid
One advocate urged action "to prevent further loss of innocent life, the deepening of an extraordinary humanitarian crisis, and the continued erosion of U.S. credibility as an upholder of international humanitarian law."
Nov 12, 2024
As the deadline set by the Biden administration last month for Israel to step up aid deliveries to Gaza passed on Tuesday, human rights groups demanded that the U.S. stick to its commitment to holding the Israeli government accountable for what one advocate called "a campaign of ethnic cleansing."
But the White House's refusal over the last 13 months to follow U.S. and international law provoked doubt that it would do so.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government on October 13, giving Israel 30 days to allow at least 350 humanitarian aid trucks per day into Gaza, open a fifth crossing into the enclave, and ensure access to northern Gaza for aid groups, among other specific steps outlined in the letter.
Noncompliance would violate National Security Memorandum 20, which President Joe Biden issued in February to demand credible assurances from Israel that it was acting according to international law, and Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits the U.S. from providing military aid to countries that are blocking U.S. humanitarian aid.
Advocates have said for months that Israel and the U.S. have been violating both statutes, as mounting evidence has shown U.S. weapons have been used in Israeli attacks on civilians and United Nations experts have warned Gaza has descended into famine.
Louise Wateridge, a senior emergency officer for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said Tuesday that the Biden administration's warning 30 days ago did not improve conditions in Gaza, with aid entering the enclave "at its lowest level in months."
"Thousands and thousands of people have been killed senselessly. They have been killed because there is lack of aid, because the bombs have continued, and because we have not been able to even reach them under the rubble," Wateridge said at a press briefing in Geneva. "The average for October was 37 trucks a day into the entire Gaza Strip... That is for 2.2 million people... Children are dying. People are dying every day."
With the number of daily deliveries since October 13 far below the level stipulated by the Biden administration, Wateridge emphasized that "anything that happens now is already too late."
As the deadline passed, Israel appeared eager to put new humanitarian aid efforts on display, with the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) posting on social media an image of a convoy delivering what it said were "hundreds of food and water packages to the Jabaliya and Beit Hanoun areas in 6n Gaza."
The military also arranged a photo call on Monday where journalists "were invited to film around eight aid trucks passing into Gaza," reported Jon Donnison at the BBC. "They were laden with sacks of flour, rice, and toilet paper, among other things."
"So, aid is getting into Gaza," wrote Donnison. "But nowhere near enough."
Before Israel began its bombardment of Gaza in October 2023, about 500 aid trucks entered the enclave each day.
A spokesperson for COGAT told the BBC Tuesday that "most aspects [of Blinken's demands] have been met and those which have not are being discussed."
The publisher of a Substack newsletter titled Gaza Updatessaid in response, "In other words, expect nothing today."
U.N. officials said this week that aid workers have been unable to deliver relief even after the Israel Defense Forces gave approval for deliveries in northern Gaza, which has been cut of from virtually all aid for more than a month. Israeli troops on the ground have restricted aid despite the IDF's approval.
In southern Gaza, hundreds of trucks containing aid have been sitting on the enclave's side of the border with Egypt because U.N. workers cannot reach them due to "lawlessness, theft, and Israeli military restrictions," according to The Associated Press.
As the deadline passed Tuesday, a coalition of human rights groups including Oxfam, Refugees International, and Save the Children released a scorecard assessing Israel's progress in complying with the conditions set by Blinken and Austin on October 13.
They found "outright failure" by Israel to meet 15 out of 19 measures of compliance, and said the IDF has only partially complied with the remaining four.
Israel has failed to allow 350 aid trucks into Gaza over the last month, said the groups, and has not ended the isolation of northern Gaza or allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to Palestinians detained by Israel, among other requirements set last month.
"The U.S. government once again laid out basic measures for how the government of Israel must follow international law and allow for aid delivery in Gaza," said Oxfam America president and CEO Abby Maxman. "Since then, we have seen Israeli forces accelerate their efforts to bombard, depopulate, deprive, and erase the Palestinian population of the North Gaza governorate. We are witnessing a campaign of ethnic cleansing."
"Oxfam and partner organizations are unable to provide any support to the remaining civilians in the North Gaza governorate, where people are dying every day," added Maxman. "jAccess to the rest of Gaza is also severely restricted, with civilians facing starvation and relentless violence. The U.S. must finally make this overdue call to suspend deadly arms sales to Israel or be complicit in the horrific atrocities unfolding before our eyes."
Michelle Nunn, president and CEO of CARE, said that with the letter sent to Netanyahu's government last month, the U.S. "created a critical opportunity to respond to the facts on the ground, and to insist upon accountability to our own laws."
"It is imperative to act now to prevent further loss of innocent life, the deepening of an extraordinary humanitarian crisis, and the continued erosion of U.S. credibility as an upholder of international humanitarian law," said Nunn.
The analysis, added Refugees International president Jeremy Konyndyk, "demonstrates that the Israeli government is violating its obligations under U.S. and international law to facilitate humanitarian relief for suffering Palestinians in Gaza."
"With experts again projecting imminent famine in north Gaza, there is no time to lose," he added. "The United States must impose immediate restrictions on security cooperation with Israel as required under Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act."
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'We Don't Give Up': Climate Groups Resolute as Shell Wins Appeal Against Landmark Ruling
"This setback will only help us grow stronger," said the Dutch climate group that originally brought the case. "Large polluters are powerful. But united, we as people have the power to change them."
Nov 12, 2024
Climate campaigners didn't sugarcoat their reactions to a Dutch court decision on Tuesday that overturned a landmark 2021 ruling ordering the oil behemoth Shell to cut its planet-warming emissions nearly in half by the end of this decade.
"We are shocked by today's judgment," said Donald Pols, director of Milieudefensie, the Netherlands-based environmental group that originally filed suit against Shell in 2018.
"It is a setback for us, for the climate movement, and for millions of people around the world who worry about their future," Pols said of Tuesday's ruling by the Hague Court of Appeal. "But if there's one thing to know about us, it's that we don't give up. This setback will only help us grow stronger. Large polluters are powerful. But united, we as people have the power to change them."
The original 2021 ruling, as CNBCnoted, marked "the first time in history that a company was found to have been legally obliged to align its policies with the Paris Agreement" and "sparked a wave of lawsuits against other fossil fuel companies."
Despite acknowledging that Shell has "an obligation toward citizens to reduce CO2 emissions," the appeals court on Tuesday scrapped a legal mandate compelling the company to slash its emissions by 45% by 2030 compared with 2019 levels, saying it was "unable to establish that the social standard of care entails an obligation for Shell to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45%, or some other percentage."
"It is primarily up to the government to ensure the protection of human rights," the court added.
Laurie van der Burg of Oil Change International said in response that "while we mourn today's setback, the ruling establishes a responsibility for Big Oil and Gas to act that future litigation can build on."
"The court ruled protection against climate change is a human right, and corporations have a responsibility to reduce their emissions," she added. "As far as we know, this is the first case where a court has acknowledged that new investments in oil and gas are incompatible with international climate goals."
"Today's ruling underscores the importance of world leaders now negotiating at the U.N. Climate Summit in Baku taking responsibility."
Shell, which is responsible for just over 2% of global CO2 emissions, said in a statement that it was "pleased" with the court's ruling and claimed to be "making good progress in our strategy to deliver more value with less emissions."
But research by the human rights organization Global Witness has found that Shell has consistently overstated the scale of its investments in green energy—including by characterizing fossil fuels as "renewable."
"Even as Shell claims to be reducing its oil production, it is planning to grow its gas business by more than 20% over the next few years, leading to significant additional emissions," Global Witness wrote in a complaint to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year.
Andy Palmen, the director of Greenpeace Netherlands, said Tuesday that while campaigners working toward a just phaseout of fossil fuel emissions are "disappointed that Shell is being allowed to continue polluting," they "will not give up the fight."
"This only motivates us more to take action against major polluters," said Palmen. "It really gives hope that the court finds that Shell must respect human rights and has a duty to reduce its CO2 emissions."
"Today's ruling underscores the importance of world leaders now negotiating at the U.N. Climate Summit in Baku taking responsibility," Palmen added, referring to the COP29 gathering that kicked off on Monday in Azerbaijan's capital city. "The summit in Dubai last year marked the end of coal, oil, and gas, now governments must come up with concrete plans to move away from fossil fuels."
The Dutch appeals court's ruling came in the wake of new research showing that oil and gas production surged to an all-time high in 2023—the hottest year on record.
"The oil and gas industry is not transitioning," the environmental group Urgewald and dozens of other NGOs found. "In fact, 95% of the upstream companies on [the Global Oil and Gas Exit List] are still exploring or developing new oil and gas resources. This includes the oil and gas producers TotalEnergies, Shell, BP, Eni, Equinor, OXY, OMV, and Ecopetrol, which all claim to be targeting net zero emissions by 2050."
Nils Bartsch, head of oil and gas research at Urgewald, said Tuesday that the 2023 oil and gas production record is "deeply concerning."
"If we do not end fossil fuel expansion and move towards a managed decline of oil and gas production," said Bartsch, "the 1.5°C goal will be out of reach."
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