SEA EUROPE stated that with 90% of international trade, 80% of the EU’s external trade and 40% of the EU’s internal trade carried by water, shipping is vital for trade. In the meantime, shipping accounts for the 3.1% of CO2 emissions. Should no actions to be taken, shipping emissions could exceed the 250% by 2050.
Norway 203040 is a business-led climate initiative. Its mission is to enhance the transition to a low-carbon economy and support Norway in achieving its national climate commitments by 2030. The coalition aspires to demonstrate, to businesses and the government, the business potential that exists in the low-carbon economy and help boost the transition.
IMO Secretary-General, Kitack Lim, called all Member States and overall the maritime industry, including shipping and ports, to follow IMO’s ambitious attempts on reducing GHG shipping emissions from global shipping.
The international environmental community gathered, on February 19 in Brussels, to discuss their commitment to fight climate change and find solutions on ocean preservation. The two panels to begin discussions will be ‘Climate change and impact on Ocean biodiversity’ and ‘How to conciliate Ocean energy with Marine conservation’.
Climate action is the mega driver to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or, in other words, urgent action to halt climate change and deal with its impacts is integral to the successful implementation of all 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals, says Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of UN Global Compact.
As climate change melts Greenland’s glaciers and deposits more river sediment on its shores, researchers identified an unexpected economic opportunity for the Arctic nation. Namely, exporting excess sand and gravel abroad, where raw materials for infrastructure are in high demand. This solution was developed by scientists from CU Boulder, the University of Copenhagen, Arizona State University and the Rhode Island School of Design.
The US Navy is considering to build a 14-foot flood wall around the Washington Navy Yard, aiming to protect the around the Anacostia River from increasing sea levels. The wall would be 1.5 miles long, and will protect three dozen buildings. The wall proposal indicates that the climate change threat is high for Washington, while also challenging is the response to it.
Polar Vortex, a pattern of high-altitude winds in the Arctic, weakened resulting to frigid air over North America and Europe in the second half of January 2019. Although the Arctic ice sea extent remained below average, temperatures in the far north were closer to average than in past years. Specifically, Arctic sea ice extent for January averaged 13.56 million square kilometers (5.24 million square miles). This was 860.000 square kilometres less in comparison to 1981 to 2010 long-term average sea ice extent, and 500.000 square kilometres above the record low for the month set in January 2018.
According to a new MIT study, climate change is causing significant changes to phytoplankton in the world’s oceans, and over the coming decades these changes will affect the ocean’s colour, intensifying its blue regions and its green ones. The researchers found that, by the year 2100, more than 50% of the world’s oceans will change in colour, because of climate change.
The 49th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting closed Friday, marking further steps to addressing the complex challenges brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Among the key outcomes was that climate change risks wipe out one-quarter of global GDP and inflict immeasurable suffering.
