The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, issued its advisory opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change, read out by the President of the Court, Judge Iwasawa Yuji, on Wednesday. The UN’s principal judicial body ruled that States have an obligation to protect the environment from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and act with due diligence and cooperation to fulfill this obligation.
Pope Francis passed away yesterday morning. We want to remember him also for the messages he delivered on the climate and environmental crises, which were forceful and direct. He called the leaders of fossil fuel companies into the Vatican to hold them to account; declared a global climate emergency, in 2019; and in his final months, held a conference on “the economics of the common good”. He was a prowerful pope, alongside the poor and migrants, against wars. For these reasons Pope Francis was loved even by non-Catholic and non-religious people.
Here you find the Encyclal letter “Laudato Si’” on care for our Common Home. It recognized climate change as a global problem with significant consequences, especially for the poor, and criticized developed countries, which have contributed the most planet-heating pollution.
We know that Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s first big environmental move after being elected leader of the Catholic Church was his choice of the papal name Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi, known among other things for his appreciation of the natural world.
REMARKS AT THE COP29 HIGH-LEVEL EVENT ON DELIVERING EARLY WARNINGS FOR ALL AND ADDRESSING EXTREME HEAT
Excellencies, friends,
Welcome.
It is a pleasure to join you today – in the home stretch of a brutal year.
2024 has shown climate calamity is now commonplace.
This is on track to be the hottest year in the history books.
It has scorched countries and communities with temperatures that push the limits of human endurance.
And around the world, we’ve seen record rains and hurricanes, historic fires, and deadly droughts.
Eni, a global energy company, Fincantieri, one of the world’s largest shipbuilding groups, the only one active in all high-tech marine industry sectors, and RINA, a multinational inspection, certification, and engineering consultancy, have signed an agreement to develop joint initiatives for the energy transition. The partnership formalises the commitment to develop joint projects, in line with the partners’ strategies, to decarbonise the maritime sector in the medium to long term with the goal of Net Zero by 2050. Additionally, the establishment of a permanent global observatory regarding future technological, regulatory, and market developments will be evaluated.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 opens today with a resounding call to accelerate collective climate action. The conference takes place in what is already known to be the hottest year ever recorded in human history and as the impacts of the climate crisis wreak unprecedented havoc on human life and livelihoods around the world.
Arkema, which had already strengthened its climate plan in July 2022, is setting new, even more ambitious targets by 2030 across its whole value chain, approved by the organization Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a partnership between CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), United Nations Global Compact, WRI (World Resources Institute), and WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature). The Group now aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 48.5% for Scopes 1+2 and by 54% for Scope 3 by 2030 versus 2019.
We receive and publish this post by Jukka Kantola, the founder of the World BioEconomy Forum. The World BioEconomy Forum is a global platform for circular bioeconomy stakeholders to share ideas and promote bio-based solutions.
We have witnessed that several economies are putting more efforts into the bioeconomy. Only in the last half year alone there have been multiple examples of work being carried out, despite other challenges, including the tail end of the pandemic, geopolitical tensions and energy prices.
Royal DSM, a global purpose-led science-based company, pledges to purchase all of its electricity worldwide from renewable sources as well as further reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its own operations faster with stringent new 2030 sustainability targets.
Basf Venture Capital GmbH, the corporate venture arm of Basf, has invested in Climentum Capital’s first €150 million venture fund. Both organizations will engage in a strategic relationship fostering knowledge sharing, deal sharing and co-investment opportunities. The fund is backed by other renowned corporate investors, banks, industrial conglomerates as well as prominent family offices and successful tech entrepreneurs, all of which share the ambition to combat climate change through investing in disruptive technologies. The investors also include the Danish growth fund Vaekstfonden and Arbejdernes Landsbank.
The upcoming Bonn Climate Change Conference (6-16 June) is set to kick off next week, designed to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in November of this year. COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, will build on the positive outcome of last year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, which finalized operational details of the Paris Agreement and identified work going forward in the key areas of mitigation, adaptation, support – particularly finance – and loss and damage.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 