With the devastation of floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, forest fires and more, we know much more needs to be done to mitigate GHG emissions. Many commentators were concerned after COP28 last year that there was no sense of urgency. Read once more the comment from Fiona Harvey, published on EiD in December, on the need for governments, businesses and individuals to choose to move away from fossil fuels more urgently. It is encouraging that now the European Commission is expected to table its proposed climate target for 2040 on February 6th. Nathan Canas writes on the EURACTIV website that the EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, under pressure from members of the European Parliament, has pledged to defend a 90% reduction in net GHG emissions by 2040. Environmental groups are expecting a higher target. Canas notes that industry “support the EU’s climate objectives but warn that decarbonisation policies must also preserve their competitiveness relative to companies outside of Europe.” There are so many pressing factors at play that any change is complicated. There is also some caution because of pushback from many member states. Tools and resources need to be put towards getting countries to accept a higher level of ambition. And that will simply not happen until wider public opinion, industry and policymakers accept that we have no choice. That is not the case today.
Check out the post on upcoming events. The two not to miss are the eceee Zero Carbon Industry event and the European Energy Efficiency Conference which is part of World Sustainable Energy Days.
With so many people planning to travel over the upcoming weeks, here is some useful news to help you along:
- The inews website provides Europe’s most exciting new rail routes for 2024.
- For winter walking, the Responsible Travel website gives you many interesting options.
- The EuroBikes website describes winter cycling tours.
- There is always the option of virtual tourism at the Xplore Nature Channel that EiD first promoted back in September. There are now 122 videos.
Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980), Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory, provides a strong message as we start 2024: “We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- Encouraging sustainability in the wine industry
- There continues to be real opportunities for social impact investing (SII) directed to the Global South
- The role of small modular reactors in the energy transition
- Op-Ed on Small Modular Reactors in Britain
- Time for agriculture to get into the digital world – traditional agricultural practices are unsustainable
- New generation of wind turbines built with wood
- Many nations agree that a binding treaty on plastic pollution is critical to solving the plastic pollution problem
- Bringing off-grid, pay-as-you-go power to Africa
- Upcoming events
Please send us your comments on any of the posts. Please follow us on X at @EnergyDemand and @rodjanssen. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 