Despite the difficult geopolitical situation in Russia, the problem of climate change has not disappeared, and the country’s leadership continues to move according to its plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. In this regard, the most important climate event in Russia within the first half of 2022 is undoubtedly the decision to conduct a...
Year: 2022
Inauguration of a Government-Sponsored National Clean Cooking Committee in Nigeria
The most significant climate change-related event in Nigeria in the first half of the year 2022 is the federal government’s inauguration of a committee to develop a national policy on clean cooking. This development is important because of the country’s pledge to increase access to clean cooking by 2030 as part of its Nationally Determined...
Mexico Evalua’s Report on the Need to Reform the State-Owned Electricity Commission
According to a 2020 México Evalúa report, the state-owned Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) is responsible for 17% of Mexico’s carbon dioxide emissions. The CFE is an electric power company operating as a Productive State Company (Empresa Productiva del Estado), wholly owned by the Mexican Government. The report, based on an analysis of CFE’s Business...
Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Poses a Challenge to Japan’s Energy Security
Due to the scarcity of domestic natural resources, the Japanese energy sector is almost completely dependent on imports, making it vulnerable to even minor changes in the global energy market. Roughly half of the Japanese crude oil imports come from Russia’s Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects, and almost all its LNG import from Russia is supplied...
Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Sparked an Energy Security Crisis in Germany
One of the most significant events in Germany’s overall emissions this year was the invasion of Russia into Ukraine.Not only did this event disclose Germany’s major dependency on the Russian energy supply, but it also triggered a still ongoing debate on military rearmament and cooperation and long-term partnerships with controversial countries. Countries, that before were...
The Absence of Climate Change as a Politically Important Issue in France
The most important climate event in France in the first half of 2022 was, in fact, the absence of an event. The French presidential election dominated the first half of 2022, however, climate change was largely absent from the candidates’ debates and speeches. Neither candidate addressed climate action marches taking place in the country, nor...
European Council Agrees on Legislative Proposals for EU “Fit for 55” Package: Promising or Still Not Ambitious Enough?
On June 29, 2022, the European Council came together to discuss the EU’s “Fit for 55” package, which is a set of climate and energy legislation proposed by the European Commission that has the purpose of providing a concrete pathway for the EU to reach its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% when...
China to Step Up Climate Efforts with Monitoring Pilots and Enhanced Policy
In past articles, we discussed the importance of data monitoring, availability, and quality in order to track emissions developments resulting from policies and required measures introduced by governments.China has been notoriously lagging in data availability, quality, and reporting. Data must be collected, for example, from companies included in the various Emissions Trading Systems across the...
The Arctic is Warming at More Than Twice the Global Average Resulting in Wildfires and Thawing Permafrost
For the second year in a row, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) scientists (April 2022) report a record annual increase in atmospheric levels of methane during 2021 as 17 parts per billion (ppb) since measures began in 1983. Carbon dioxide has also increased with historically high rates of 414.7 parts per million (ppm) during...
Burns in the Amazon are 30% Above the Historical Average
The destruction of the Amazon by fires has greatly accelerated and is 30% above the historical average. The alert system of the Laboratory of Environmental Satellite Applications at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (LASA/UFRJ) shows that the total amount of forest burned in 2022 already exceeds that of 2021.By 07/13/22, 622 thousand hectares...