Carbon Monoxide, Oil and Gas Production in the Global Coal-Coal Consumption Crisis: Implications for the Transition to Clean Energy

The emissions increase comes as the world grapples with an energy crisis spurred by the war in Ukraine, while also continuing to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. One contributing factor, scientists say, is a spike in coal consumption, driven in part by European efforts to make up for the loss of natural-gas shipments from Russia. Oil consumption has also increased owing to renewed air travel as governments lift restrictions. Although substantially lower than the 3% annual increases in total fossil CO2 emissions experienced during the early 2000s, this year’s projected 1% increase is more than double the average growth rate of the past decade.

Nine years is not a very long time for a climate scientist to be working. There is clearly no sign of the kind of decrease that is needed to meet international goals, she says, and even with aggressive action, climate models suggest the world is likely to at least temporarily cross the 1.5 °C threshold sometime in the 2030s.

Early signs of the transition to clean-energy are emerging. Wind and solar have helped to make the power sector cleaner in many countries because of a shift from coal to natural gas. The rise of emissions from coal in Europe this year is likely to be “a short-term blip”, Newell says. The transition to clean energy was accelerated because of the energy crisis.

The degrowth movement and the rise of the world: why does it matter what you do, and what do we need to do about it?

Finding ways to boost growth is paramount to improving society as economic logic states that bigger economies are better.

The degrowth movement has been on the political fringes for decades with its message, which is that there needs to be an end to unlimited growth. Now, after the pandemic gave people in some parts of the world a chance to rethink what makes them happy, and as the scale of change necessary to address the climate crisis becomes clearer, its ideas are gaining more mainstream recognition — even as anxiety builds over what could be a painful global recession.

Growth has served as a North Star for politicians and economists of all stripes. It’s a vehicle for creating jobs and generating taxes for public services, increasing prosperity in rich countries and reducing poverty and hunger in poorer ones.

Since 2005, a global economy has doubled in size, with 2% growth annually putting the emissions goals necessary to save the world out of reach.

“More growth means more energy use, and more energy use makes it more difficult to decarbonize the energy system in the short time we have left,” said Jason Hickel, a degrowth expert who is part of the team that received funding from the European Research Council. It’s like trying to run down an escalator that will speed up against you.

The solution, according to the degrowth movement, is to limit the production of unnecessary goods, and to try to reduce demand for items that aren’t needed.

It’s a concern that’s been echoed by Greta Thunberg, arguably the most famous climate activist. She’s criticized “fairy tales about non-existent technological solutions” and “eternal economic growth.” Degrowthers want to know if our current system has produced rampant inequality or if it is working for us.

“The fact that it’s an uncomfortable concept, it’s both a strength and a weakness,” said Gabriela Cabaña, a degrowth advocate from Chile and doctoral candidate at the London School of Economics.

Yet in some corners, it’s becoming less taboo, especially as governments and industry fall behind in their efforts to stop the planet from warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius, after which some effects of climate change will become irreversible.

Even some on Wall Street are beginning to pay closer attention. According to the investment bank, younger generations have different consumer values than those that have remained the same.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/13/economy/degrowth-climate-cop27/index.html

Why is the Global South afraid of green energy? Degrowth and its supporters argue that tackling inequality and poverty is a win-win solution

The Global South is afraid that the green energy revolution could just be a repeat of existing patterns of exploitation of resources like nickel or oil, and lead to the production of batteries instead of oil.

The “love for growth,” said Felipe Milanez, a professor and degrowth advocate based in the Brazilian state of Bahia, is “extremely violent and racist, and it’s just been reproducing local forms of colonialism.”

Degrowth can be hard to talk about, especially as fears grow about a global recession, with all the pain of lost jobs and shattered businesses that implies.

But advocates, which often speak about recessions as symptoms of a broken system, make clear they aren’t promoting austerity, or telling developing countries that are eager to raise living standards they shouldn’t reap the benefits of economic development.

Instead, they talk about sharing more goods, reducing food waste, moving away from privatized transportation or health care and making products last longer, so they don’t need to be purchased at such regular intervals. It’s about “thinking in terms of sufficiency,” Cabaña put it.

There could be some proposals within the current system. A universal basic income, in which everyone gets a lump sum payment regardless of their employment status, would help the economy reduce its reliance on polluting industries. So is a four-day work week.

The latest report from the IPCC — the UN authority on global warming — noted that “addressing inequality and many forms of status consumption and focusing on wellbeing supports climate change mitigation efforts,” a nod to one of degrowth’s biggest objectives. The movement was name-checked, too.

The degrowth people think that the poor will get a bigger piece of cake if they bake a smaller one. That has never happened before.

Backers of green growth are convinced their strategy can work. They cite promising examples of decoupling GDP gains from emissions, from the United Kingdom to Costa Rica, and to the rapid rise in the affordability of renewable energy.

Gates, the Microsoft co-founder who’s prioritized investing in climate innovations, admits that overhauling global energy systems is a Herculean task. But he thinks boosting the accessibility of the right technologies can still get there.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/13/economy/degrowth-climate-cop27/index.html

The Global Growth of Population and the Challenges of Modernization: Commentary on J. A. Guterres’ “Capital in the Anthropocene”

Could a growing cohort agree? In 2020, his book on degrowth from a Marxist perspective became a surprise hit in Japan, where concerns about the consequences of stagnant growth has inflected the country’s politics for decades. “Capital in the Anthropocene” has sold nearly 500,000 copies.

A number of factors contribute to the slower growth in population, including access to birth control and better education. The U.N. says countries that have low birth rates will not be able to maintain their populations.

The growth of life expectancy is projected to rise from 72.98 to 77.2 in 40 years, but that will not be the same rate across the globe, according to the report.

The most developed countries have a life expectancy seven years greater than the least developed countries. Better systems to take care of elderly people, like social security and health care, will need to be developed in countries with older populations.

The report predicts a reordering of countries. India will be the most populous country in the world in 2023 and remain so through the year 2050, according to the report. The United States will be displaced by Nigeria for the third most populous country in that same time period.

According to the report, international migration is a major factor in population changes. The authors say all countries have to do anything they can to create order and stability in the changes.

Writing in an opinion piece in USA Today, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres cautioned that inequalities in the world population will continue to be a threat to the overall stability and longevity of the world’s population.

“Divisions are causing delays and deadlock on issues from nuclear disarmament to terrorism to global health,” Guterres wrote. “But I never bet against human ingenuity, and I have enormous faith in human solidarity.”

The advancement of science and public health was applauded by the UN secretary general, who warned that the family could be at risk if it continues to be divided.

The Day of 8 Billion: When Did the World Come to an End? Why Does the World Imply More Carbon Dioxide Emissions?

The 8 billionth person was born on November 15. It’s more or less. That was the date selected by United Nations demographers as the moment the world crossed its latest population milestone. The exact date is probably incorrect, but there are more people alive now than there were 11 years ago.

A lot of online coverage about the Day of 8 Billion came from the same perspective. “It should not be controversial to say a population of 8 billion will have a grave impact on the climate,” read one headline in The Guardian. That is completely true on a basic level. If everything else remains the same, more people will cause higher carbon emissions. According to the charity, if better family planning is provided, it will prevent over 70 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions by 2050.

The world’s richest people are responsible for much of the planet’s carbon dioxide emissions. One study from the World Inequality Lab found that as emissions have fallen for the middle class in rich countries, those from the top 0.001 percent have risen by 107 percent. “When I see rich people with massive families I think, no, we don’t have the capacity to have more rich people on the planet,” says Lorraine Whitmarsh, a psychologist at the University of Bath who studies behavior and climate change. Reducing consumption in the developed world, where populations are stagnant makes sense if we really want to reduce emissions.