Countries and green energy

GREENHOUSE GASES.

COP26-THE-CLIMATE

COUNTRIES AND

GREEN ENERGY.

The current warming of the climate is too rapid. It cannot therefore be of natural origin. Excluding the influence of human activity on the climate, there are two forces capable of modifying the equilibrium temperature. On the one hand, we have solar activity and on the other hand volcanism.

However, the influence of the sun, volcanic eruptions, changes in the earth’s orbit on the rise in temperature is like zero.

GREENHOUSE GASES.

The British monarch, Elizabeth II, is calling on the world’s governments to come together in a common cause. She also hopes that COP26 is one of those rare occasions when everyone has the opportunity to rise above the politics of the moment and show real political sense.

Between climate emergency and economic leadership.

60% of China’s electricity production depends on coal. For the first time, China has set a significant target. Indeed, the Asian giant is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases. In addition, in September 2021, China has committed to the United Nations General Assembly to stop building coal-fired power plants abroad. However, the country is in the process of increasing its own coal production by 6%.

Thus, Beijing commits to reach its peak of greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. And Xi Jinping adds that Humanity can no longer ignore the repeated warnings of nature. Obviously for him, the Paris Agreement of 2015 is the minimum. necessary to protect the earth.

Greenhouse gases-Open letter.

https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/fr/climate_action_now_fr1/?fpla

As citizens of the world, we call on you to respond to the climate emergency. Not next year. Not next month. Now.

Open letter from Greta Thunberg, Swedish activist accusing rich country leaders of treason.

Greenhouse gases : major role of the oceans.

For the past 250 years, the oceans, which cover 70.3% of the Earth’s surface, have absorbed the bulk, i.e. 93%, of greenhouse gases. The emerged lands, the atmosphere and ice absorb 7%.

And yet, it is the 7% that are responsible for almost all of the global warming. +1°C in 2017 compared to the average temperatures of the pre-industrial era.

The consequences of volcanic activity.

Large volcanic eruptions have an important but short impact on global temperatures. This is because aerosols from volcanic eruptions reflect sunlight back into the atmosphere.

Thus, average temperatures fall after all major volcanic eruptions. However, these climatic variations are temporary and episodically linked to the huge eruptions.

On average, under the impact of the five major eruptions of the twentieth century, the climate cools by 0.25°C. We can refer to the eruptions of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991.

The concept of equilibrium temperature.

The earth’s climate always finds a balance between the incoming energy, that of the sun, and the outgoing energy, that which is sent back into space. This is the equilibrium temperature. In this case, when an object receives more energy than it loses, its temperature increases. Thus the object will lose more energy. Nevertheless, when the energy that this object receives corrects its energy losses, the equilibrium is again reached.

Assessment of the COP21.

Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement on December 12, 2015, 192 countries ratify the COP21 to align with its objectives.

However, according to the IPCC, the earth cannot stay below 2°C and if possible 1.5°C of global warming compared to the pre-industrial era. Because the warming is increasing. Thus, the peoples of the world are moving away from their clear objectives of the COP21.

A few lines on the IPCC.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, is a UN instrument. It has been in existence since 1988 and brings together more than 250 scientists from some 60 countries.

The first world conference on climate change was held in 1979 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Greenhouse gases : Some answers in the sea bed.

According to a study by Peter Glecker and his team published in Nature in January 2016, the oceans are absorbing as much excess energy between 1997 and 2015 as they have since 1860.

According to Dr. Matt Palmer, an oceanographer at the Hadley Center of the British Met Office weather service, This work shows that the signals of climate change are getting stronger over time, and more of those signals are in the deep ocean.

Since 1750, man has been disturbing the energy balance of the earth.

The industrialization with its steam engine in the 18th century marks the development of greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, the different elements of these gases are able to absorb infrared rays. Thus, they retain the heat in the earth system.

Boris Johnson is the first head of government to speak at COP26. Taking up the thorny issue of greenhouse gases, he said:

Yes it will be difficult. Yes, we can do it, so let’s get on with it. Any failure of COP26 will cause uncontrollable anger and impatience in the world… All the promises would be just blah-blah-blah…if we fail, he continues, paraphrasing Greta Thunberg, the mascot of the global youth climate movement.

Global warming is caused by human activities.

Robust models and satellite observations show that natural factors have almost no influence on warming over the entire 1980–2011 period. And scientists conclude that these factors compensate for nearly 30% of the warming effects of human activities.

Thus for the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, it is us, the human species, who have unleashed a war against nature. It is up to us to stop this threat, to reverse the curve. This requires a radical paradigm shift. And he continues : In Europe as elsewhere, young people have awakened our conscience. They are right to be mobilized. The European Union understands and wishes to be fully mobilized.

The role of aerosols emitted by humans.

Aerosols are solid particles suspended in the air. They lower the temperature when they are clear and reflect all the light. This is the case of nitrates or sulfates. On the other hand, when they are dark and absorb light, the climate warms up. In this case, we can take black carbon as an example. More concretely, aerosols with their cooling effect compensate for half of the temperature increase due to greenhouse gases.

And it is as an actor of the green economy that Jeff Bezos, ex-CEO of Amazon, in the company of Leonardo DiCaprio declares : Nature provides all the food we eat, the water we drink and the oxygen we breathe … the climate … is … a powerful reason to invest in nature. To conclude he pledges a billion dollars from the Bezos Earth Fund for environmental protection.

Greenhouse gases.

Human activities emit a lot of greenhouse gases. These gases absorb the infrared rays that the earth’s surface reflects. And so they trap the heat received from the Sun. Greenhouse gases are the main factor in the rapid warming of the planet.

It is time to say “Enough”… Enough of brutalizing biodiversity. Enough of killing ourselves with carbon. Enough of treating nature like a toilet. Enough of burning and drilling and mining ever deeper… choose to safeguard our future and save humanity pushed to the brink by our addiction to fossil fuels. Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General.

What is the COP26 or Conference of Parties ?

This is the 26^th Conference of the Parties. Indeed since 1995, the COP are the signatory states of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC. They meet every year under the auspices of the UN on the subject of climate change. In August 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC published a report that sounds the alarm.

For his part, the Brazilian head of state affirms his commitment to the preservation of the Amazonia. He also reveals the effort of 30 to 40 billion dollars of Brazil to protect the largest forest in the world for fifteen years. And this on behalf of the rest of humanity.

The main issues of the COP26.

Four issues crystallize the attention of the actors:

• Raising climate ambition.

Not all countries have yet committed to the Paris

Agreement. The COP is waiting for the different countries to present their strategies to fight against global warming by 2050.

Finalize the rules of application of the Paris Agreement.

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement provides for mechanisms allowing countries to trade emission reductions in order to reach their NDCs, Nationally Determined Contributions. A decision by the international community is needed to make these mechanisms operational.

Mobilizing climate finance.

Developing countries still lack the $100 billion annual climate finance for 2020-2025.

Strengthen the Action Agenda.

The Paris Agreement encourages the multiplication of multilateral agreements, the real involvement of civil society and the private sector in the process. The various states must then encourage action and drive initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, ISA.

ISA, International Solar Alliance.

Indeed, the International Solar Alliance is a joint initiative of India and France. It is a platform for cooperation between countries that lie between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and developed countries with advanced solar technologies. In particular, India and France plan to raise $1,000 billion in investment in solar photovoltaics by 2030. The ISA currently has 121 signatory countries.

India is the world’s fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind the European Union. By 2030, India is increasing its non-fossil energy capacity from 50 GigaWatts to 500 GW. Thus 50% of its energy needs are from renewable sources.

At the same time, India is reducing the carbon intensity of its economy by 45%. And by 2070, India will reach the goal of zero net carbon emissions announced Narenda Modi, Indian Prime Minister.

The positioning of France.

We must all have national strategies that correspond to the 1.5 degree definition. France, and more broadly the European Union and the United Kingdom, are on track to meet this commitment…

In addition, the key for the next two weeks is that the largest emitters, whose national strategies do not comply with the 1.5 degree objective, must raise their ambitions within the next two weeks…

Our youth want to see us make commitments, they want to see our actions and they want them to be measurable… It is within reach if we mobilize ourselves… All this will only move forward if we are coherent, if we manage to link this agenda with the biodiversity and trade agendas… Our trade agreements must reflect our climate commitments…

All developed economies must contribute their fair share, we must find all the means to make the richest countries accelerate this aid.

It is the poorest countries that are experiencing the first consequences of the climate crisis…

Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic.

This is how an official of the World Food Program, WFP, attached to the UN, reports the first climatic famine. Without doubt, it is not the last of its kind. And this famine affects 30,000 people in the southern half of Madagascar. Indeed, a drought unseen for 40 years is hitting this region.