By John Parnell
– The day’s top climate change stories as chosen by RTCC
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– Updated from 0830-1700 BST (GMT+1)
Latest news: Friday 28 September
Last updated: 1725
Pakistan: A new draft climate action law has been approved in Pakistan. The legislation will build climate considerations across other government departments to tackle disaster risk reduction, energy, water and food security. (The ExpressTribune)
US: A group of democratic US Senators is calling for a halt to oil drilling off the coast of Alaska on the basis that there is not sufficient evidence that it can be done safely. The Whitehouse has committed to expanding offshore drilling in the region. (Anchorage Daily News)
Canada: The former head of Shell’s tar sands operation in Alberta, Canada has said he hopes the resultant fuel from the site can get cleaner. John Abbott said he hoped for: “oil sands-derived products at no greater carbon intensity than average crudes, a world where we don’t take fresh water off the river, where there is no incremental land use…We don’t know how to do all of those things today”. (Financial Post)
Uganda: Four children have become the latest to sue their government for taking insufficient action on climate change. The suit, filed at the High Court in Kampala, follows several cases in North America where authorities have been accused of failing to meet their public trust duties. (New Vision)
EU: The UN climate agency’s review of the EU annual greenhouse gas emissions is out. The report covers data up to 2009. Total emissions were down 13% compared to 1990 taking the bloc toward its 20% target for 2020. Emissions of the potent greenhouse gases in the HFC family were up 60% however. (UNFCCC)
Australia: Mining giant Rio Tinto has acknowledged that climate change is largely caused by human activity. The firm’s head of coal in Australia, Bill Champion told a conference that the need to reduce emissions sufficiently, while meeting energy demands created “large challenges”. (Sydney Morning Herald)
New York/UN: Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has told governments that a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol may not yield strong enough emission cuts but it remains “a necessary starting point from which to build a future global agreement by 2015”. (UN)
Arctic: New research has shown that the Arctic is warmer now than at any period in the last 1800 years, including the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). Summer temperatures since 1987 were found to be 2-2.5°C higher than during the MWP. (Reuters)
US: The American wind energy manufacturing sector is hitting record output as companies race to take advantage of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) subsidy before it expires. (Financial Times)
Worldwide: The IEA and the UNFCCC have announced a partnership to share energy data. The formal collaboration is designed to provide better information for energy policymakers. (IEA)
Scotland: The latest statistics reveal Scotland is on track to meet its target to generate 100% of its power from renewables by 2020. Last year saw the country generate 35% of its electricity from renewables, ahead of its own target of 31%. (New Energy World Network)