BREAKING: Appeals Court Allows Youth Lawsuit Against Canadian Climate Policy

A constitutional challenge pitting 15 Canadian youth against federal climate change policy has new life, following a court of appeals ruling yesterday reversing previous decision that the case should not go to trial.

La Rose v. His Majesty the King “argues that the youth are already being harmed by climate change and the federal government is violating their rights to life, liberty, and security of the person under section 7 of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for failing to protect essential public trust resources,” explains Our Children’s Trust, a U.S. non-profit that is backing the case along with the David Suzuki Foundation and the Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation. “The lawsuit asks the Federal Court of Canada to declare that the government’s conduct violates the Charter and the government’s public trust duties.”

“The claim of a right to a healthy and livable environment, and the legislative sanctioning of something less, explores the scope of section 7 and tests its boundaries,” he wrote. “The argument is novel, but it is not doomed to fail.”

More generally, “courts should be cautious in striking claims at an early stage,” the judge added. “The law is not static and unchanging—actions that were deemed hopeless yesterday may succeed tomorrow. It is for this reason that courts must be cautious about striking claims and err on the side of allowing novel but arguable claims to proceed.”

“Climate change’s current and potential effects are widespread and grave, they include loss of land and culture, food insecurity, injury and death,” and Supreme Court references on the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act “noted that climate change is an existential challenge, a threat of the highest order to the country, and to the future of humanity which cannot be ignored,” Rennie wrote. “If these do not constitute special circumstances, it is hard to conceive that any such circumstances could ever exist; however this remains to be determined by the trial judge.” Read more https://www.theenergymix.com/breaking-appeals-court-allows-youth-lawsuit-against-canadian-climate-policy/| theenergymix.com/breaking-appe…

#cdnpoli #FederalCourt #ClimateChange #youth #DavidSuzuki #charter #environment #litigation #violation

BREAKING: Transition Out of Fossil Fuels, Dawn of Renewables as COP28 Concludes in Dubai

The historic provisions, arrived at after round-the-clock negotiations by climate ministers and other senior officials, appeared in the energy transition section of the 21-page document.

“A call to transition energy systems away from fossil fuels—the first time oil and gas had been included in a COP agreement—won over those demanding strong action; but oil producers and developing countries were reassured by assertions that countries are free to follow their own paths to net zero,” Bloomberg News reports. “Taken together with a call to triple renewables deployment, [take] action on methane emissions, and get a loss and damage fund going, Dubai may well be the most significant COP since the Paris Agreement in 2015.”

Steve’s note

Some people think this is a win of sorts — I don’t. Note the word “could” in the paragraph below. But, will it?

Ultimately, the final deal “could amount to a historic agreement as it addresses the impacts of polluting and harmful energy sources, and shapes a path towards energies that are safer and more reliable,” said Canadian Environment and Climate Minister Steven Guilbeault, who played a lead role in the talks. “The package is not perfect; no UN text is. But as someone who has been in this space for more than 20 years, I see a vision we can rally around.”

Still, many COP observers pointed to a breakthrough moment in the history of international climate negotiations, even as they remained clear-eyed about the hard work ahead.

Observers pointed out there was no agreement on how the transition out of fossil fuels will be funded in the poorest, most vulnerable countries on the front lines of the climate emergency. Those factors, along with the ultimately weak language on fossil fuels, made COP28 a “fossil-fuelled failure,” declared the Center for International Economic Law.

“Countries at COP28 faced a choice between fossil fuels and life. And big polluters chose fossil fuels,” said Nikki Reisch, director of CIEL’s climate and energy program. “Despite the unstoppable momentum and unequivocal science behind the need for a clear signal on the phaseout of oil, gas, and coal—free of loopholes or limitations—the text failed to deliver one. This failure was 30 years in the making, borne of a process that allows a select few countries to hold progress hostage and the fossil fuel industry not just to sit at the table, but to play host. Survival cannot depend on lowest-common-denominator outcomes.”

“Wealthy countries like Canada and the United States—who have an overwhelming responsibility to phase out fossil fuels first and fastest—have failed the global community by refusing to provide the financial support needed from developing countries in order to transition their economies away from fossil fuels, adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis, and address the losses and damages being experienced,” said Julia Levin, associate director, national climate at Environmental Defence Canada. “Rebuilding trust will require wealthy countries to start paying up so that no one is left behind.” Read more https://www.theenergymix.com/change-in-tone-has-cop-decision-moving-in-right-direction-as-negotiators-work-overnight/| theenergymix.com/change-in-ton…

#world #cdnpoli #COP28 #timelines #PhaseOut #reductions #unacceptable #environment

COP28 BETRAYAL: ‘We Will Not Sign Our Own Death Warrant’, Delegate Says, After Al Jaber Circulates ‘Unacceptable’ Declaration

UN climate negotiations seemed certain to go into overtime this morning after the COP28 secretariat published a draft decision text that left out any clear timeline for phasing out fossil fuels and was dismissed as “unacceptable”, “incoherent”, “grossly insufficient”, and a “slap in the face” by angry, frustrated, and increasingly sleep-deprived delegates.

The sense of fury and determination at the sprawling conference site in Dubai was driven primarily by draft decision text on the Global Stocktake, the culmination of an essential, two-year process meant to track countries’ progress on their climate commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement and set them up for faster action in the years ahead. That text is seen as “the main outcome of the summit,” but “people hate it,” Climate Home News writes this morning.

“Small island states slammed it as ‘a death warrant’, their spokesperson getting teary,” Climate Home recounts. “For the EU it contains elements that are ‘simply unacceptable’. Campaigners variably described it as ‘a scandal’, ‘divorced from reality’, and ‘a dog’s dinner’.”

‘OPEC Dictated the Text’

“We will not sign our death certificate,” declared Samoan Natural Resources and Environment Minister Cedric Shuster, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). “We cannot sign on to text that does not have strong commitments on phasing out fossil fuels.”

“We will not sign their death certificates,” an Australian delegate echoed back, after Marshall Islands negotiator John Silk said the draft declaration would commit his country to a “watery grave.”

“This obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word,” wrote former U.S. vice-president and Climate Reality project founder Al Gore, adding that the COP Presidency’s language had left negotiations “on the verge of complete failure”.

No Timeline for Fossil Phaseout

And instead of making reductions mandatory—setting percentages and target dates to get the job done in line with climate science—the text “frames such reductions as optional, by calling on countries to ‘take actions that could include’ reducing fossil fuels,” among a menu of other energy options, the Guardian explains.

“That one word ‘could’ just kills everything,” and it means that “we can’t accept this text,” said Irish Environment Minister Eamon Ryan. “It’s not anywhere near ambitious enough. It’s not broad enough. It’s not what parties have been calling for… we have to stitch climate justice into every part of this text and we are not anywhere near that yet.”

“I don’t know what will happen to my kids tomorrow if we stick to this text,” said French Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher. |Read more https://www.theenergymix.com/cop28-betrayal-we-will-not-sign-our-own-death-warrant-delegate-says-after-al-jaber-circulates-unacceptable-declaration/| theenergymix.com/cop28-betraya…

#world #cdnpoli #COP28 #timelines #PhaseOut #reductions #unacceptable #environment

Global Tipping Points

Harmful tipping points in the natural world pose some of the gravest threats faced by humanity. Their triggering will severely damage our planet’s life-support systems and threaten the stability of our societies.

For example, the collapse of the Atlantic Ocean’s great overturning circulation combined with global warming could cause half of the global area for growing wheat and maize to be lost. Five major tipping points are already at risk of being crossed due to warming right now and three more are threatened in the 2030s as the world exceeds 1.5°C global warming.

The full damage caused by negative tipping points will be far greater than their initial impact. The effects will cascade through globalised social and economic systems, and could exceed the ability of some countries to adapt. Negative tipping points show that the threat posed by the climate and ecological crisis is far more severe than is commonly understood and is of a magnitude never before faced by humanity.

Currently, there is no adequate global governance at the scale of the threats posed by negative tipping points. The world is on a disastrous trajectory. Crossing one harmful tipping point could trigger others, causing a domino effect of accelerating and unmanageable change to our life-support systems. Preventing this – and doing so equitably – should become the core goal and logic of a new global governance framework. Prevention is only possible if societies and economic systems are transformed to rapidly reduce emissions and restore nature.

The current approach of linear incremental change favoured by many decision makers is no longer an option. Existing governance institutions and decision-making approaches need to adapt to facilitate transformational change.

Crucial to achieving this transformational change are positive tipping point opportunities, where desirable changes in society become self-propelling. Concerted actions can create the enabling conditions for triggering rapid and large-scale transformation. Human history is flush with examples of abrupt social and technological change. Recent examples include the exponential increases in renewable electricity, the global reach of environmental justice movements, and the accelerating rollout of electric vehicles. Negative tipping point threats could be mitigated if there was a vast effort to trigger other positive tipping point opportunities.

Click here to download the summary report in pdf format https://global-tipping-points.org/download/4607/

Unfortunately, in the time lag during which appropriate governance and action might be realised, negative tipping points could still be triggered. This means that societies must urgently be made more resilient to minimise the vast and unequal harms. Critically, more resilient societies are also needed to ensure that collective focus on triggering positive tipping point opportunities can be sustained even through a negative tipping event. This resiliency can be achieved with ‘no regrets’ actions that anyway make societies more sustainable, equitable and prosperous.

The existence of tipping points means that ‘business as usual’ is now over. Rapid changes to nature and society are occurring, and more are coming. If we don’t revise our governance approach, these changes could overwhelm societies as the natural world rapidly comes apart. Alternatively, with emergency global action and appropriate governance, collective interventions could harness the power of positive tipping point opportunities, helping navigate toward a thriving sustainable future. |Read more https://global-tipping-points.org/| global-tipping-points.org/

#world #triggers #TippingPoints #environment #ClimateChange #cdnpoli #emergency #GlobalAction