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The Fossil Fuel Industry Continues Producing Heat-Trapping Emissions that Drive Climate Change

Union of Concerned Scientists

A new dataset released by InfluenceMap provides information on heat-trapping emissions traced to the 122 largest investor and state-owned fossil fuel companies in the world. Fossil fuels are the main driver of climate change and the terrifying effects of it that we see happening across the world.

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Progress Possible at COP 28 Despite Fossil Fuel Industry Deception

Union of Concerned Scientists

Last week, I joined my colleagues at COP28 in Dubai , as negotiators and civil society push for a fossil fuel phaseout to meet climate goals. The industry is pushing a narrative that misleadingly calls out emissions , not fossil fuels as the problem. Global net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions 1990–2019.

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Good News—and Bad—about Fossil Fuel Power Plants in 2023 

Union of Concerned Scientists

And fossil fuel power plants may not stick to their retirement schedules for a variety of reasons. In 2021 alone, the plants slated for retirement emitted more than 28,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxides (NO x ), 32,000 tonnes of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), and 51 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), according to EIA data.

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What EXACTLY Did the UN Conference Decide?

Legal Planet

Coal is supposed to be “phased down” except where the resulting carbon dioxide is removed and securely stored (which may or may not actually be feasible). In a fourth significant subsection, section 28 highlights the role of greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide. Fossil fuel subsidies.

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Is “carbon management” just another COP-out?

Legal Planet

Alongside a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, substantial deployment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) techniques might avert – or at least limit – overshoot of 1.5°C. At COP 28 this week the US and several partners launched a ‘Carbon Management Challenge’ with an aim to collectively store 1.2 Gt of CO2 by 2030.

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COP28 Global Methane Pledge Efforts Still Not Enough

Union of Concerned Scientists

The pledge is a voluntary agreement to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030; however, methane levels keep going up and we are woefully off track for meeting this goal. Compared to carbon dioxide (CO2), methane doesn’t linger for long in the atmosphere after being emitted.

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COP27 Global Methane Pledge Efforts Are Not Enough

Union of Concerned Scientists

The pledge is a voluntary agreement to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030. It is 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide (CO2) at trapping heat on short timescales. Methane emissions come from two main sources : fossil fuels and agriculture—primarily animal-based agriculture.