Category:

Climate, Environment, Renewable Energy

Natural disasters surge in past 20 years, likely to continue to wreak havoc: U.N.

China (577) and the United States (467) recorded the highest number of disaster events from 2000 to 2019, followed by India (321), the Philippines (304) and Indonesia (278), the U.N. said in a report issued the day before the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. Eight of the top 10 countries are in Asia.

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September was world’s hottest on record, EU climate change service says

Extending a long-term warming trend caused by emissions of heat-trapping gases, high temperatures this year have played a major role in disasters from fires in California and the Arctic to floods in Asia, scientists say.

“As we go into an even warmer world, certain extremes are likely to happen more often and be more intense,” Copernicus senior scientist Freja Vamborg told Reuters, pointing to heat waves and periods of intense rain as examples of this.

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Despite shift, energy giants fall short of U.N. climate goals: study

No company was set to meet the United Nations-backed Paris Agreement’s long-term goal of limiting global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by reducing carbon emissions to net zero,

“Some (companies) might have made bigger statements so far than the others and the important thing is the direction of travel. But none of them are making net zero yet,” Bill Hartnett, stewardship director of ESG Investment at Aberdeen Standard Investments, a TPI member. told Reuters.

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Plastic pandemic: COVID-19 trashed the recycling dream

Plastic, most of which does not decompose, is a significant driver of climate change.

The manufacture of four plastic bottles alone releases the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions of driving one mile in a car, according to the World Economic Forum, based on a study by the drinks industry. The United States burns six times more plastic than it recycles, according to research in April 2019 by Jan Dell, a chemical engineer and former vice chair of the U.S. Federal climate committee.

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Honda to quit F1 to focus on zero-emission technology

“This is not a result of the coronavirus pandemic but because of our longer-term carbon-free goal,” Chief Executive Takahiro Hachigo said.Like other automakers, Honda is rushing to build new-energy vehicles in an industry shift that Hachigo on Friday described as “once in a century”. That race is accelerating amid the coronavirus outbreak as carmakers review production plans to capture market share with new models including low or zero-emission vehicles.

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AXA XL in India to plant 30,000 trees and create a Biodiversity Park in Delhi

Delhi has a significant issue with air pollution and unsanitary water and this initiative will help to keep ecosystems healthy, creating a protected space where nature can thrive,” says Derek Nazareth, Head of Global Operations and Country Head, AXA XL in India.
A healthy biodiversity helps to breakdown and absorb pollution and provide resilience to climate change.
Additionally, a healthy biodiversity helps with the management of ground water levels, preventing flash flooding and enriches the quality of the soil.

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