Planet Week: Emissions rebound to pre-pandemic levels
Welcome to Planet Week, where we highlight the last week of environmental news and what it means for our Planet.
Welcome to Planet Week, where we highlight the last week of environmental news and what it means for our Planet.
Last week, climate change was linked to butterfly die-offs out West. Citigroup became the latest bank to set net-zero targets. And Volvo committed to going electric.
In case you missed it, here’s what else happened around the Planet:
Tuesday, March 2
Emissions rebound to pre-pandemic levels
So much for that 7% drop in emissions last year — global emissions are now rebounding big time. Carbon emissions were 2% higher in December 2020 than the same month a year earlier, according to new data by the International Energy Agency.
“The rebound in global carbon emissions toward the end of last year is a stark warning that not enough is being done to accelerate clean energy transitions worldwide,” said Fatih Birol, IEA executive director, in a statement. “[T]hese latest numbers are a sharp reminder of the immense challenge we face in rapidly transforming the global energy system.”
Separate research in Nature Climate Change finds that 64 countries have slowly (and marginally) reduced their emissions since the Paris Agreement, while 150 countries actually increased them. Put another way, it’s a wash. Axios covers both studies.
China, china, china (smh)
Speaking of emissions rebounding, a new analysis by Carbon Brief finds that China’s emissions surged 4% in the second half of 2020, largely due to stimulating the economy with dirty industries like construction. That pushed the country’s total emissions for 2020 above 2019, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Later in the week, China released its latest five-year plan to curb emissions, which was largely a disappointment, writes Bloomberg. China’s new plan lacks concrete limits on short-term emissions, fails to move the needle on expected emissions peaks, and continues to promote coal. The few carbon goals set were unchanged from 2016.
The bottom line for both these stories: Though countries are talking a big game on their long-term goals — China plans to be carbon neutral by 2060 — they’re struggling to figure out how to get there.
US climate bill aims for net-zero by 2050
While we’re on the subject, House Democrats unveiled a sweeping climate bill last week that may help shape the United States’ pathway to a carbon-free future. Notably, the legislation would cut emissions 50% by 2030, with the aim to hit net-zero emissions by 2050, the target set by the Paris Agreement.
Though Republicans have already criticized it as a “one-size-fits-all” approach, some parts of the bill could have bipartisan support, including carbon-capture technologies, clean electricity standards, and new pollution controls, writes Roll Call.
There is, however, a catch. As The Atlantic points out, the bill isn’t written to get through the Senate’s reconciliation rules and sure as hell wouldn’t garner the 60 votes needed to override a filibuster. In Planet Days this week, we acknowledge the filibuster’s frustrating role in American climate action, while arguing to keep it in place.
Wednesday, March 3
FedEx plans to go carbon neutral by 2040
FedEx is going electric. The delivery company announced plans to have an all-electric fleet by 2040, as part of its larger goal to go carbon neutral across operations by then.
To do this, FedEx is investing $2 billion in electric vehicles, clean energy, and carbon capture. The tricky part is planes. Jet fuel, which has no viable carbon-free alternative, makes up the largest part of FedEx’s carbon footprint.
“The issue is the time frame,” Mitch Jackson, chief sustainability officer at FedEx, told Fast Company. “The question is, will sustainable aviation fuels be here in sufficient quantities for the aviation industry in the near term?”
ExxonMobil’s up-and-down week
After four straight quarters in the red, ExxonMobil decided to change it up. Last week, the oil giant named activist investor Jeffrey Ubben and former Comcast executive Michael Angelakis to its board, in part to shift focus to clean energy.
The company followed that with Investor Day on Wednesday, where it presented carbon capture, carbon offsets, and hydrogen as keys to its future, reports The Wall Street Journal.
But let’s not forget that ExxonMobil still sucks and knowingly fueled the climate crisis for decades. By week’s end, a federal judge slapped the company with a $14.25 million fine for air pollution violations in its Houston complex.
A battery boom
More batteries were powered up in the U.S. during the last quarter of 2020 than in 2013 through 2019 combined, according to new data.
This means that battery storage connected to the electricity grid, which reserves wind and solar energy when the wind dies or the sun goes down (or cold strikes), grew substantially. Grist reports that this isn’t a one-off boom, either — it’s part of a larger trend that could strengthen the reliability of renewable energy sources during crises.
Thursday, March 4
We’re wasting too much food
Our eyes are glaringly bigger than our stomachs: A new report found humans wasted about 17% of all food available to consumers in 2019. That’s enough to fill 23 million fully loaded 44-ton trucks, bumper-to-bumper circling the Earth seven times.
The waste was equally distributed between rich and poor countries, challenging earlier assumptions that wealthy countries wasted a greater share of their plates. And while food waste and loss currently cause about 10% of global emissions, making small changes to your diet is easy and could help save the Planet. The Guardian has the full story.
“Reducing food waste would cut greenhouse gas emissions, slow the destruction of nature through land conversion and pollution, enhance the availability of food and thus reduce hunger and save money at a time of global recession,” Inger Andersen, the head of the UN Environment Programme, which published the report, said in a statement. “Businesses, governments, and citizens around the world have to do their part.”
Bonus
We dig echidnas
The echidna — basically a spiny anteater — digs into the ground looking for its next meal. And new research shows it may help the Planet. As echidnas dig, they trap leaves and seeds that improve soil health, promote plant growth, and keep carbon out of the atmosphere.
“Soil restoration can be expensive and impractical across vast areas of land,” The Conversation writes. “Soil disturbance by echidnas offers a cost-effective restoration option, and this potential should be harnessed.”
See you next week.
— Brandon and Sam