EV & N – 171 – CCTV | Climate “Deal” Reached…Really?

https://www.cctvcambridge.org/node/273281

Cambridge Climate Research Associates.

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What did the global community agree on in climate talks?

PBS NewsHour

Published on Dec 14, 2014

For the first time in history, climate change negotiators have come up with a plant to limit greenhouse gas emissions in every single nation. The agreement requires all 196 countries to create a detailed plan within the next six months to limit emissions from burning coal, gas and oil. William Mauldin of the Wall Street Journal joins Hari Sreenivasan via Skype from Cuzco, Peru.

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Noam Chomsky (2014) “Language, Politics, and Propaganda”

The Chomsky Videos

Published on Dec 14, 2014

Date – November 26, 2014

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European climate deal ‘ambitious’

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29752281

24 October 2014 Last updated at 08:01 BST

European Union leaders have agreed a landmark deal on climate change, with a commitment by 2030 to a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

They also pledge to boost the use of renewable energy to 27% and increase energy efficiency to at least 27%.

The European Council’s president, Herman van Rompuy, said the deal was both ”ambitious and balanced”.

Read more

EU leaders agree CO2 emissions cut

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BBC News – IPPC report – Fossil fuels should be ‘phased out by 2100’

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29869499

2 November 2014 Last updated at 18:47 GMT

The unrestricted use of fossil fuels should be phased out by 2100, if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change, a UN-backed expert panel says.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Synthesis Report summarises the causes, impacts of, and solutions to rising temperatures.

It says most of the world’s electricity can – and must – be produced from low-carbon sources by 2050.

David Shukman reports.

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BBC News – The IPCC climate change report – in 90 seconds

23 September 2013 Last updated at 00:16 BST

Scientists and politicians are gathering in Stockholm this week to await the latest report from the IPCC, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The last report from the panel – which came out in 2007 – was considered so important that it led to the IPCC being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with Al Gore.

The BBC’s Victoria Gill explains why this report really matters – in just 90 seconds.

Research video and graphics of Argo floats courtesy of University of California, San Diego

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Will climate change meeting make a difference?

8 December 2014 Last updated at 00:09 GMT

The last 14 years have been among the 15 hottest ever recorded.

What hopes are there that the latest UN meeting on climate change will reach an agreement that might change that?

The BBC looks at the issues involved in an increasingly extreme global climate – in 60 seconds.

Video produced by Michael Hirst

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BBC News – UN climate talks: ‘Sense of relief’ after deal reached

14 December 2014 Last updated at 13:12 GMT

Delegates at United Nations climate talks in Peru have broken a deadlock on how to move forward with plans to combat global warming.

Negotiators backed a document setting out the ways in which all countries will tackle global warming.

Matt McGrath reports.

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Fossil Free Indexes, LLC

Fossil Fuel Divestment for Index Investors

Embracing the transition to a low carbon economy through responsible investing, we aim to provide broad market fossil free indexes to reduce environmental risk while managing portfolio risk.

Our Story

Back in November 2012, Stuart Braman, adjunct associate research scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and former Managing Director at Standard & Poor’s, attended the New York City show on Bill McKibben’s “Do the Math” tour, which kicked off the Go Fossil Free divestment campaign. On the way home, he and his wife – long concerned about climate change – discussed divesting their retirement portfolio. Since they were index investors, he began looking for information on “fossil free indexes”. Six months of googling and lunches, drinks and phone calls, emails and Skype sessions didn’t turn up any activity on the fossil free indexes front, and in April 2013, Stuart established Fossil Free Indexes LLC and began to gather a team.

Former colleagues from S&P, DRI, and Reuters, with financial sector, risk management, product development, and intensive data analysis experience joined the team along with experienced investment analysts, forensic data analysts and social media experts looking for a way to make a contribution in the intersecting worlds of sustainable investing and fighting climate change.

Today, the team is well on their way to ensuring that when someone else looks for information on “fossil free indexes,” their own products and services will turn up quickly and prominently.

Our Vision

Fossil Free Indexes provides benchmarks and strategies for ethical investing with an initial focus on broad market indexes ex-fossil fuels that align with the divestment movement. Embracing the transition to a low carbon economy through responsible investing, and inspired by the growing fossil fuel divestment movement, our aim is to fill the vacuum for index investors who see environmental sustainability as an imperative and seek to divest from the largest fossil fuel companies. We join the growing number of analysts who believe fossil fuel companies are overvalued and a risky long-term investment based on unburnable reserves.

Mission

We will develop a family of fossil free indexes that capture broad markets in the US, in developed markets beyond the US, and in emerging markets. The indexes specifically exclude the top 100 public coal companies globally and the top 100 public oil and gas companies globally, ranked by the carbon content of their reserves. These indexes will serve as benchmarks and will be offered for licensing as investable products to meet the needs of index investors who want to divest from the largest fossil fuel companies, either from an environmental sustainability perspective or from an industry risk perspective.

…(read more).

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Climate Change Pledges = Action? | Fossil Free Indexes, LLC

3-Nov-14 / Posted By Lynn Connolly
Climate Change Pledges = Action?

September 2014 was an exciting month for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The People’s Climate March took New York and the globe by storm. The Divest-Invest coalition saw great momentum with the launch of the Individuals pledge, and the announcement that total pledges to divest from fossil fuels from over 181 institutions and local governments and 646 individuals represent over 50 billion in assets. And, there were numerous commitments, pledges and press releases by institutional investors which included some of the world’s largest asset managers, pension funds, and family offices. New developments included The Global Investor Statement on Climate Change, The Low Carbon Investment Registry, The Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition, and the Montreal Carbon Pledge. All of this was followed with the EU announcement in October committing to 40% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Great news all around. Institutional investors are taking action – right? Noting that institutional investors manage over US $75 trillion in assets globally, let’s review the pledges and commitments and put this in perspective:

The Global Investor Statement on Climate Change1: Signed by over 350 investors representing more than US $24 trillion in assets, signatories indicate that they are aware of risks, capital requirements, steps that can be taken, and the need for government policy action to facilitate climate change mitigation and adaptation. Basically signatories are acknowledging the how which is to work with policy makers, identify and evaluate, develop capacity to assess risks, work with companies invested in, and continue to report on actions taken. But, signatories have not defined the what or when. There are no definitive statements on GHG emissions reduction targets or climate change actions.

…(read more).

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