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EU: The EU’s 2030 climate goals should not focus solely on CO2, according to former pioneering nuclear engineer and energy efficiency expert Bernard Laponche. He warned that ignoring methane, which has stronger warming properties than CO2, was “dangerous”. The EU is currently designing its climate and energy policy framework for 2030. (EurActiv)
Laponche says a narrow focus on CO2 would be “dangerous” for the EU
Canada: James Hansen should be ashamed of himself for saying the exploitation of the oil sands would be “game over for the climate”, according to Canadian natural resources Minister Joe Oliver. He told an audience at a Washington think tank that those claims were “…exaggerated rhetoric. It’s frankly nonsense.” (The Guardian)
UK: Climate sceptic MP Peter Lilley has been appointed to Prime Minister David Cameron’s new influential policy unit. The board will play a key part in the development of the party’s 2015 election manifesto. The appointment of Lilley has sparked rumours that the Conservatives could attempt to overturn the country’s 2008 Climate Change Act, which committed the country to a fixed carbon budget. (Financial Times)
South Africa: Continued delays in the release of details about the proposed carbon tax in South Africa are making industry jittering. The tax is supposed to begin in 2015 but a long awaited second review document has failed to materialise since late 2011. Additional concerns over exemptions for the heaviest emitters have raised fears that the system could suffer the same fate as the EU’s hamstrung carbon trading system. (Business Day)
Germany: European carbon permits need to be 15 times more expensive in order to encourage the country’s big utility firms to burn cleaner gas instead of coal, according to an executive from EON. The failure to strengthen the carbon market could result in record levels of coal burning for electricity in Germany. The Government estimates coal burning increased 16% in the last quarter. The country is in the process of phasing out its nuclear power stations. (Bloomberg)