Posted on 14 December 2019 by John Hartz

Editor's Pick

Push for carbon loopholes sends climate talks into overtime

Australia, US and Brazil threatening ‘spirit’ of the Paris Agreement, says Costa Rican minister, as fractious talks could drag into the weekend

The plenary room at Cop25 in Madrid. Diplomats are locked in tense negotiations to try and find a deal (Photo: UNFCCC)

Negotiations at the UN climate talks are going into extra time as diplomats are at loggerheads over commitments to boost ambition and rules to set-up a new global carbon market.

As the second week of negotiations drew to a close, negotiators were set to work through the night on Friday to find landing zones and finalise the last unresolved rules of the Paris Agreement.

“We are reaching the final hours of the Cop and now is time to show the world we are capable of reaching an agreement,” Cop25 president Carolina Schmidt told negotiators.

“The eyes of the world are on us. Our kids, the women of the world, indigenous people, our communities, the youth will not understand that we are not able to get to an agreement that is committed ambition to the world. It is our responsibility to find that agreement,” she said.

But entrenched positions have run into political deadlock, with little progress on the most contentious issues, including creating a new carbon market, known as Article 6.

Push for carbon loopholes sends climate talks into overtime by Chloé Farand, Climate Home News, Dec 13, 2019

Click here to access the entire article as posted on the Climate Home News website.

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Sun, Dec 8, 2019

• Supercomputers, Climate Models and 40 Years of the World Climate Research Programme by Judy Fahys, InsideClimate News, Dec 6, 2019
• Denmark adopts climate law to cut emissions 70% by 2030 by Jocelyn Timperley, Climate Home News, Dec 6, 2019
• Bleaching risks rise for Australian coral reefs as warm seas forecast by Peter Hannam & Emma Young, Environment, Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 6, 2019
• Climate scientists try to cut their own carbon footprints by Seth Borenstein, AP News, Dec 8, 2019
• The World Solved the Ozone Problem. It Can Solve Climate Change., Opinion by the Editorial Board, Sunday Review, New York Times, Dec 8, 2019
• COP25 summit: fossil fuel groups accused of trying to influence climate talks, AFP/South China Morning Post, Dec  7, 2019
• Irresistible Greta Thunberg meets immovable UN climate talks by Chloé Farand, Climate Home News, Dec 7, 2019
• Fix climate crisis because Earth is all we've got, Physics Nobel prize winner says by Johan Ahlander & Ilze Filks, Reuters, Dec 7, 2019

Mon, Dec 9, 2019

• UN climate talks failing to address urgency of crisis, says top scientist by Fiona Harvey, Environment, Guardian, Dec 8, 2019
• Yes, Fossil Fuel Subsidies Are Real, Destructive And Protected By Lobbying by Wal van Lierop, Forbes, Dec 6, 2019
• Australia's 'betrayal of trust' emissions plan to be tested in Madrid by Peter Hannam, Environment, Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 9, 2019
• The tricky task of tallying carbon by Adam Levy, Knowable Magazine, Dec 7, 2019
• Comment threads can influence climate change attitudes by altering perceived consensus by Eric W Dolan, PsyPost, Dec 8, 2019
• Climate change: UN negotiators 'playing politics' amid global crisis by Matt McGrath, Science & Environment, BBC News, Dec 9, 2019
• California Bans Insurers From Dropping Policies Made Riskier by Climate Change by Christopher Flavelle & Brad Plumer, Climate, New York Times, Dec 5, 2019
• Trudeau is betting his entire government on the fight against climate change, Analysis by Aaron Wherry, CBC News, Dec 6, 2019

Tue, Dec 10, 2019

• Tighter climate policies could erase $2.3 trillion in companies value -report by Ron Bousso, Reuters, Dec 9, 2019
• Coping with climate anxiety on a warming planet by Ben Knight, Global Ideas, Deutsche Welle (DW), Nov 27, 2019
• The future of the Paris climate agreement is being decided this week by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 9, 2019
• Brazil will drill massive oil find despite climate concerns: minister by Jake Spring, Reuters, Dec 10, 2019
• Dozens of States Want to Keep America’s Broken Climate Promise by Robinson Meyer, Science, The Atlantic Magazine, Dec 9, 2019
• Youth urge adults to stop 'acting like children' on climate change by Megan Rowling, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Dec 9, 2019
• Greenland’s ice losses have septupled and are now in line with its highest sea-level scenario, scientists say by Chris Mooney, Climate & Environment, Washington Post, Dec 10, 2019
• Tech, climate change creating new inequalities, U.N. says by Ellen Wulfhorst, Thomson Reuter Foundation, Dec 10, 2019

Wed, Dec 11, 2019

• The Arctic may have crossed key threshold, emitting billions of tons of carbon into the air, in a long-dreaded climate feedback by Andrew Freedman, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Dec 10. 2019
• Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Climate Change But Were Afraid to Ask by Devin Thorpe, Forbes, Dec 9, 2019
• EXPLAINER-What an EU carbon border tax might look like and who would be hit by Francesco Guarascio & Jonas Ekblom, Reuters, Dec 10, 2019
• Time (Magazine) Person of the Year: Climate crisis activist Greta Thunberg by Kerry Flynn, CNN Business, Dec 11, 2019
• The old made our climate mess. And the young will get us out of it, Opinion by Rebecca Solnit, Comment is Free, Guardian, Dec 11, 2019
• Judge Clears Exxon in Investor Fraud Case Over Climate Risk Disclosure by Nicholas Kusnetz & David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Dec 10, 2019
• US seeking further block on compensation for climate damage by Chloé Farand, Climate Home News, Dec 12, 2019
• Click, Click, Emit—The Carbon Cost of Online Shopping by Maxine Joselow, E&E News/Scientific American, Dec 11, 2019

Thu, Dec 12, 2019

• “We are desperate for any sign of hope,” Greta Thunberg tells UN climate negotiators by Umair Irfan, Vox, Dec 11, 2019
• Greenland's Rapid Melt Will Mean More Flooding, Vital Signs of the Planet, NASA's Global Climate Change, Dec 10, 2019
• More and More Links Are Emerging between Warming and Extreme Weather by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, Dec 10, 2019
• Citing Climate Crisis as Top Concern for Future of Humanity, Young Adults Say They Are Living in 'Failed System': Amnesty Poll by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, Dec 10, 2019
• Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49, 2019 by Doug Bostrom, Dec 11, 2019
• The high and low points for climate change in 2019 by Bud Ward, Yale Climate Connections, Dec 11, 2019
• ABC article effectively illustrates important climate trends for Australian readers, Edited by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, Dec 11, 2019
• Vatican calls Greta Thunberg ‘great witness’ of Church’s environmental teaching by Elise Harris, Crux, Dec 12, 2019

Fri, Dec 13, 2019

• Scientists feared unstoppable emissions from melting permafrost. They may have already started. by Brian Resnick, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 12, 2019
• Interactive: When will the Arctic see its first ice-free summer?, Words by Daisy Dunne & Design by Tom Prater, Carbon Brief, Dec 12, 2019
• Largest countries silent as world seeks action on climate by Chloé Farand, Climate Home News, Dec 13, 2019
• Climate change: Methane pulse detected from South Sudan wetlands by Jonathan Amos, Science & Environment, BBC News, Dec 11, 2019
• Australia's bushfires have emitted 250m tonnes of CO2, almost half of country's annual emissions by Graham Readfearn, Environment, Guardian, Dec 12, 2019
• Talk is just more hot air as emissions keep rising, climate activists tell politicians by Valerie Volcovici, Reuters, Dec 13, 2019
• Even Greta Isn’t Radical Enough by Jeff Goodell, RollingStone Magazine, Dec 11, 2019
• How Katharine Hayhoe Stays Hopeful as the Planet Warms by Megan Kimble, Texas Observer, Dec 9, 2019

Sat, Dec 14, 2019

• We Are Furious': As COP 25 Draws to Close, Green Campaigners Fume as Rich Nations Move to Gut Paris Agreement by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams, Dec 13, 2019
• Facing catastrophic climate change, they still can’t quit Big Oil by Juliet Eilperin, 2^oC: Beyond the Limit, Washington Post, Dec 13, 2019
• 'Like a furnace': Massive heatwave could roast Australian records by Peter Hannam, Environment, Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 13, 2019
• Anger erupts at U.N. climate summit as major economies resist bold action by Matthew Green & Valerie Volcovici, Reuters, Dec 14, 2019
• We Have Climate Leaders. Now We Need Followers., Opinion by David G Victor, New York Times, Dec 13, 2019
• Arctic Report Card 2019: Extreme Ice Loss, Dying Species as Global Warming Worsens by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, Dec 10, 2019
• Push for carbon loopholes sends climate talks into overtime by Chloé Farand, Climate Home News, Dec 13, 2019
• UN climate talks drag on as rifts scupper hopes of breakthrough by Fiona Harvey, Environment, Observer/Guardian, Dec 14, 2019