Tag - carbon

 
 

CARBON

Carbon capture could help mitigate emissions at polluting power plants, but with the technology largely unproven at scale, it also risks extending their lives.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 5, 2024
The world’s next big carbon capture challenge? Figuring out how to use it
Fossil fuel industry's involvement raises fears that the technology might be used to prolong oil and gas extraction, while costs and scalability could limit its utility.
Michael Bloomberg, U.N. special envoy for climate ambition and solutions, speaks during a summit on methane and other greenhouse gases at COP28 in Dubai on Dec. 2.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2023
What did COP28 achieve?
With pledges to cut methane, among other achievements, COP28 may have helped reduce the costs of decarbonization — an essential stepping stone.
Researchers prepare to conduct a mapping survey of a reforested area on a hillside near Chiang Mai, Thailand.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 18, 2023
In Thailand, drones help solve forest carbon capture riddle
Drones are part of an increasingly sophisticated arsenal used by scientists to understand forests and their role in the battle against climate change.
Voters in countries representing more than 40% of the world’s population, including India, Indonesia and the U.S., will go to the polls between now and the end of 2024.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2023
Democracy and climate politics are set to collide next year
Voters in countries representing more than 40% of the world’s population will go to the polls between now and the end of next year.
An exhibition on marine life at COP28 in Dubai. The conversation around oceans and climate change was not the main focus of the conference, despite the key role oceans play in absorbing carbon.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2023
COP28, didn't the oceans deserve more attention?
Oceans are key to mitigating climate change and severely impacted by it. Yet they didn't take center stage at COP28 — though some progress was made.
A deal was reached at the eleventh hour of COP28 in Dubai on Wednesday, with countries committing to transition away from fossil fuels to meet climate goals.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2023
It’s time to kick our addiction to fossil fuels
The COP28 deal is historic in that it calls for a transition away from fossil fuels for the first time, but it's too weak to tackle the climate emergency.
COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber, of the United Arab Emirates, addresses the plenary, after a draft of a negotiation deal was released, at the COP28 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai on Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 13, 2023
Nations strike deal at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels
More than 100 countries had lobbied hard for strong language in the deal to "phase out" oil, gas and coal use, but came up against powerful opposition.
The newly built city of Nusantara is scheduled to become the capital of Indonesia in 2024 and aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2045.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 11, 2023
Indonesia’s new capital aims to be a net zero model city
Nusantara, Indonesia's future capital, is being built with climate solutions at its core. The city hopes to inspire others to do the same.
Japanese Environment Minister Shintaro Ito speaks to reporters in Dubai on Saturday during COP28.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2023
Japan to calculate 'blue carbon' amount in emissions cut
Japan aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 46% in fiscal 2030 from the fiscal 2013 level and reduce them to virtually zero by 2050.
Workers organize used clothing for packaging at a warehouse near Barcelona on Aug. 1.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 7, 2023
How to fix the carbon crisis in fast fashion
Positive partnerships between brands and manufacturers are crucial for the sector to achieve its net-zero goals.
While broad-based action at the COP28 summit is critical, the fact is that just a few key actors such as the U.S., China and India have the power to bring about a radical reduction in global emissions.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2023
COP28 can deliver progress on climate change, but will it?
Committed global climate action at every level of government, the economy, and society is needed to tackle such a complex, multifaceted challenge.
Indigenous people fish in the Pira Parana River in Vaupes province, Colombia.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 6, 2023
Carbon credit project 'destroys everything,' says Amazon community
Some two-thirds of Indigenous territory in the rainforest falls under carbon credit projects today, research in Colombia shows.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks at a high-level segment at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 3, 2023
U.S. lays out plan at COP28 to slash methane emissions from oil and gas
The rules, two years in the making, were announced by U.S. officials at the United Nations COP28 climate change conference in Dubai.
A wind farm near near Golmud, Qinghai province, China
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2023
The promise of China’s sustainable-development path
As of this month, China has (since 2017) approved 572 “ecological civilization construction demonstration zones.”
Former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga says Japanese firms' clean energy technology can speed up the country’s efforts to curb emissions.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 27, 2023
Japan’s tech leaders accelerate its climate actions, ex-PM says
Japan’s companies were once at the cutting edge of green technology but have been surpassed by Chinese producers.
Staff members work at a desk next to an exhibition for Shenzhen's metro carbon inclusion project, inside a subway station in Pingshan district of Shenzhen on Oct. 19.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / ANALYSIS
Nov 27, 2023
China turns to households in fight to slash carbon emissions
"Carbon inclusion" programs aim to help transform the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter into a carbon-neutral country by 2060.
Stacks of trays holding treated limestone, used to absorb CO2 from the air in Tracy, California.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 23, 2023
Why carbon capture is no easy solution to climate change
The technology — vital to the climate strategies of many world governments — is expensive, unproven at scale, and can be hard to sell to a nervous public.
Bifacial photovoltaic solar panels at a solar plant in Texas. According to a study, net zero pledges are often directly undermined by the lobbying activities of the companies making them.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 17, 2023
Study finds ‘net zero greenwash’ is common in corporate world
A London-based nonprofit found that 58% of the companies it analyzed advocate on climate policy in a way that’s at odds with their stated net zero goals.
Cooling towers at a coal-fired power plant in Germany. While surface temperatures might stabilize quickly after reaching net-zero, other shifting parts of the climate are harder to slow once set in motion.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Nov 17, 2023
Amid climate efforts, will net-zero emissions be enough?
A new study suggests uncertainty about how climate systems will respond after emissions stabilize is an argument for reducing them as quickly as possible.
An agent inspects a tree extracted from the Amazon rainforest during an operation to combat deforestation in Para State, Brazil, on Jan. 20.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 14, 2023
Forests key to climate fight along with cutting fossil fuels: study
Restoring global forests could sequester 22 times as much carbon as the world emits in a year, meaning trees are a key tool in fighting climate change.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?