A new analysis found a majority of multinational companies, which Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) had found to be 1.5°C-2°C compatible, did not actually live up to these labels. The analysis by The New Climate Institute (NCI) found the green targets of 11 of the 18 MNCs that it observed to be “highly contentious due to subtle technicalities”.
The climate plans of Several high-profile brands such as Nestlé, Ikea and Unilever were found to have “very low integrity”. The SBTi has previously endorsed thousands of companies to be in line with global climate targets. But according to the NCI, there is a conflict of interest because the SBTI is funded by the same companies whose climate plans it approves.
Experiences with extreme weather raise people’s concern about environment, promotes green voting: Study
A new study found that people’s personal climate change experiences had “significant and sizeable effect” on their concern for the environment and voting for green parties. These experiences included temperature anomalies, heat episodes and dry spells. The study analysed how the experience of climate extremes influences people’s environmental attitudes and willingness to vote for Green parties in Europe.
The magnitude of this effect, however, differed substantially across European regions. It was stronger in regions with a cooler Continental or temperate Atlantic climate and weaker in regions with a warmer Mediterranean climate, according to the study published in the journal Nature.
India’s only national green party, however, is failing to find supporters despite the country experiencing a rise in extreme weather events. The India Greens Party is struggling to make its presence felt ahead of UP Assembly elections due to lack of funds, candidates.
Public perception and political response emerge as key drivers of climate change and climate action in exhaustive study
Climate policy ambitions are largely determined by political appetite and public opinion, yet most climate change simulations exclude political and social drivers of policy, and rely purely on technological pathways. A new study has taken the first step towards plugging this gap in projection science. The study, which simulates 100,000 possible future policy and emissions trajectories, indicates that public perceptions and how political institutions respond to public pressure will be key determinants in the evolution of climate change and climate action over the 21st century, in addition to the development of mitigation technologies.
The integrated, multi-disciplinary model used for the study integrates social and political variables to create scenarios to reflect factors such as public and political support, social perceptions of climate change, how quickly collective action or carbon pricing responds to changes in public opinion. The resultant pathways fell into five clusters, with warming in 2100 varying between 1.8 to 3.6 degrees Celsius above the 1880-1910 average, but with a strong probability of warming between 2 and 3 degrees Celsius at the end of the century.
Debt, tax justice needed to meet global biodiversity targets: Study
The lack of public financing is the reason for the failure to reach global biodiversity targets, particularly in the Global South, according to a new study. The study proposed relying on tax reform and debt justice to supercharge public financing for biodiversity and deflate harmful financial flows, while trying to analyse the causes of state austerity. “We must move beyond simply attempting to fill the funding gap, and initiate transformative change that addresses underlying drivers [political and economic] of biodiversity loss,” the study stated.
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