Shipping industry urged not to ‘miss the boat’ on emissions reductions
Calls for the global shipping industry to reduce its carbon emissions intensified last week as a coalition of companies from across the sector have demanded climate action from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI), a collection of business and NGOs worth $0.5 trillion, believes that the IMO’s Marine Environmental Protection Committee meeting, which takes place on 18 April, must, as a minimum, agree on the development of significant and early emissions reductions for shipping. The SSI recently set out its own 2040 vision for the sector, calling for fuel efficiency improvements of 20 percent per decade. The calls come as latest figures show that, if left unchecked, emissions from shipping will increase up to 250 percent by 2050 – a rate of emissions growth clearly incompatible with global climate goals. (edie)
Responsible Investment
Banking giants unite to catalyse $8 billion sustainable investment drive
Several of the world’s largest banks have signed up to a new initiative designed to stimulate at least $10 billion of investment in ‘high-impact’ clean energy projects. Bank of America has announced that a host of financial institutions, including Credit Agricole, HSBC Group, and the European Investment Bank, have joined its Catalytic Finance Initiative, taking total pledged investment through the programme to $8 billion. Bank of America said that by working together the group of global financial institutions and investors could “combine their efforts to increase funding and significantly accelerate the transition to clean energy solutions and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. “Financial innovation and capital play a critical role in the transition to a low-carbon economy,” said the new CFI partners in a joint statement. (Business Green)
Corporate Reputation
Report: Big oil spent $115 million ‘obstructing’ climate laws in 2015
Giants of the oil and gas industry spent millions of dollars last year to manipulate lawmakers and public discourse on climate change, claims Influence Map, a London-based non-profit organisation. Exxon, Shell and three trade associations spent $114 million on lobbying according to the new report. Lobby group the American Petroleum Institute spent the most at $65 million, followed by Exxon Mobil on $27 million and Shell on $22 million last year. The finds come as investors are calling for increased disclosure on where their funds are headed, and Exxon is under investigation over claims it misled investors on the evidence for human-caused climate change. While more and more investor groups are spending money on pro-climate advocacy, Influence Map estimates the amount is much smaller, at less than $5 million a year. (Climate Home)
Report: Tata Steel benefited from EU climate policies
A recent study counters Tata Steel chairman Theo Henrar’s claim that EU climate rules put the company at a “competitive disadvantage”, environmentalists have said. According to a recent report by consultants CTDelft, no other British company has benefited more from the EU’s emissions trading scheme (ETS). Since 2008, Tata has taken more than £700 million from the ETS in free allowances, offsets and windfall profits passed through to consumers, the study says. In total, British businesses pocketed €3 billion through the ETS between 2008 and 2014. Research suggests such subsidies were, for the most part, not spent on innovation or research. Sharan Burrow, the secretary general of the International Trades Union Confederation and a New Climate Energy commissioner, complained that the handouts also depleted funds that could have enabled a more just energy transition. “Companies must accept [that] industrial transformation is essential to stabilise the planet and stop demanding a free ride,” she said. (Guardian)
Environment
Climate models may overstate clouds’ cooling power, scientists say
The computer models that predict climate change may be overestimating the cooling power of clouds, new research suggests. If the findings are borne out by further research, it suggests that making progress against global warming will be even harder. The new paper, in the journal Science, focuses on the balance of water and ice in clouds, which affects the impact that carbon dioxide levels have on atmospheric temperatures, a factor known as equilibrium climate sensitivity. The research suggests the effects of a flaw in the model could be serious: based on its analysis of one model of climate change, the cloud error could mean an additional 1.3°C of warming than expected. The findings, if proved correct, would vastly reduce the amount of carbon that could be emitted to achieve the Paris target of 1.5°C warming. (New York Times)
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