A new analysis released today at the G7 summit provides a 'bread and butter' overview of how national climate action plans will benefit everyday citizens in terms of better jobs, longer lives and a cleaner atmosphere.
The New Climate Institute report, Assessing the missed benefits of countries’ national contributions, explores and contrasts climate commitments from Canada, Japan, Europe, the US and China with an eye towards examining how they fall short of the opportunity to make dramatic changes in the quality of life for future generations. The Climate Action plans of Japan and Canada are singled out for submitting the least ambitious Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).
The report notes, however, that the proposals cumulatively "move the world closer to a trajectory which would keep global warming well within the danger threshold of 2degC - and even the 1.5degC advocated by many of the world’s most vulnerable nations."
The climate action plans by the five major economies assessed in the new report - Japan, Canada, EU, US and China - will collectively save 115,000 lives a year, put USD41 billion back in the coffers annually, and create 1 million jobs in the renewable energy sector by 2030.
A US-Centric View: What's in it for YOU?
The illustrations below show that by 2030, the current United States' INDCs will create 470,000 new jobs while saving 7,000 lives by dramatically reducing air pollution.
But if the US plan had aimed higher, with a goal of converting to a 100% renewably powered economy, by 2030 the number of new jobs would jump to 650,000, 27,000 lives would be saved each year, and nation's coffers would increase by $160 billion due to costs saved not importing fossil fuels.
A more ambitious plan creates 180,000 new jobs in the next ten years, saving some 20,000 more lives annually.
“The consideration of the multiple benefits of climate action can significantly influence the ambition level of national governments when formulating their national plans as it links directly to the needs of the people,” says NewClimate Institute’s Niklas Höhne, author of the study.
Life In A 2 Degree C World
According to a New Climate press release issued this morning, "If all these governments had presented plans in line with 100% renewables by 2050, the additional benefits of their collective actions would add up to 1.2 million lives saved per year, more than 2 million jobs created, and $514 billion saved."
Tables from WRI on LDCs
WRI
WRI
Daily Tck: UN climate negotiations enter their final week in Bonn
Josh Wiese Reports:
"It’s week two of the UN climate talks in Bonn. Negotiators kicked off with a meeting to take stock of progress and lay out a course for the few remaining days of talks, universally agreeing on the need to quicken their pace and calling for help from the meeting’s co-chairs to draft a new, consolidated, working version of the Paris agreement. According to The Union of Concerned Scientists' Alden Meyer, “There was an unprecedented, united call by countries — the likes of which I have not seen in my 26 years of following this process — for the co-chairs who are managing these negotiations to put forward their own draft text later this week.” We expect a new text as early as Wednesday, and it could be significantly smaller than the current 86-page working draft.
While the negotiations’ co-chairs work on the new text, governments have begun a third read of the draft, focused on shrinking it further and digging into the political issues. They also agreed to increase focus on pre-2020 climate action - with the potential to deliver a draft decision on what governments will agree in Paris to bolster near-term action. “This is good news for this process,” according to Meyer, “Obviously this does not mean that there were tremendous compromises and breakthroughs on the key political issues… There’s still hard work to do, but I’m more confident than I was yesterday that we will come out of this week with a product from the co-chairs that can help parties actually start to engage in those political negotiations.”
Later on Monday, G7 leaders released the outcome of their weekend meeting in Southern Germany - sending a clear signal that the world is moving away from fossil fuels and towards a future powered by renewable energy.See Tree Alert."
TED: Gorgeous Portraits of the World's Vanishing People
When Jimmy Nelson traveled to Siberia to photograph the Chukchi people, elders told him: "You cannot photograph us. You have to wait, you have to wait until you get to know us, you have to wait until you understand us." In this gorgeously photo-filled talk, join Nelson's quest to understand — the world, other people, himself — by making astonishing portraits of the world's vanishing tribes and cultures.
The Climate Action Hub
The Climate Action Hub is a platform to inform and mobilize action on environmental campaigns on The Road to Paris. The UNFCCC negotiators will meet at COP21 to ratify a legally binding treaty to ensure global warming remains below 2°C . Follow the progress on Twitter via the COP21 hashtag.
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