German cities to trial free public transport to cut pollution

“Car nation” Germany has surprised neighbours with a radical proposal to reduce road traffic by making public transport free, as Berlin scrambles to meet EU air pollution targets and avoid big fines.

Public transport is hugely popular in Germany, with 10.3
  billion journeys being made in 2017. A plan to trial free
public transport is part of an effort to reduce road traffic.

The move comes just over two years after Volkswagen’s devastating “dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal unleashed a wave of anger at the auto industry, a keystone of German prosperity.

“We are considering public transport free of charge in order to reduce the number of private cars,” three ministers including the environment minister, Barbara Hendricks, wrote to EU environment commissioner Karmenu Vella in the letter seen by AFP Tuesday.

Read the story by Philip Oltermann, and agencies, on The Guardian - “German cities to trial free public transport to cut pollution.”

China the largest emitter, but holding steady

China leads the world in many
things, among them it is now
the world's largest
emitter of CO2 emissions.

China accounts for a tenth of all the greenhouse gases and aerosols that have collected in the atmosphere over the industrial era, according to new research.

Boasting one of the world’s largest economies, China has overtaken the EU and the U.S. as the world’s largest emitter, with CO2 emissions from fossil fuels tripling over the past 30 years.

But despite soaring CO2 emissions, China’s relative contribution to climate change has remained steady—around the 10 percent mark—over the whole industrial period, says a study published in Nature.

It’s a pretty complicated picture. But in recent times, this is because cooling from aerosols has been masking part of the warming signal. The upshot of this is that cutting some types of aerosol in a much-needed bid to improve air quality could drive faster warming in the coming decades, say the authors.

Read the EcoWatch story - “China Contributes 10% of Human Influence on Climate Change.”

Australia belatedly joins the 'coalition of ambition' in Paris

Australia has belatedly joined a “coalition of ambition” in the Paris climate talks – a loose grouping of more than 100 developed and developing countries including the US, EU, Canada and Brazil – aimed at countering a push by China, India and Saudi Arabia to water down aspects of the climate pact as negotiations run overtime.

Tony de Brum, foreign minister of the tiny Marshall Islands, and a founder of the new alliance, insisted Australia had not yet joined, and Australia was not represented at a press conference to announce new members – which also include Brazil, Switzerland, Iceland, the Philippines, the Seychelles, Luxembourg and Canada.

Read The Guardian story - “Australia belatedly joins 'coalition of ambition' at Paris climate talks.”

Chance or coincidence puts Shepparton in step with international goals

S

hepparton people banded together on Thursday, well about 150 of them, to demand the State Government provided the city with better rail transport.

Some of those among the pyjama-clad train travellers would have been eager to see trains used as the easily outstrip private transport with regard carbon dioxide emissions, while others sought only travel convenience, being another marker in Shepparton’s maturation.

By coincidence or chance, this push for improved rail transport to and from the Goulburn Valley comes as there is an international initiative aimed at ensuring the creation of more low-carbon transport.

Transport Ministers participating in the International Transport Forum (ITF) Annual Summit agreed in their Declaration from Ministers on Transport, Trade and Tourism on the value of pursuing low-carbon transport towards COP21.

The summit’s declaration says the Ministers, “Recognize that the new international climate agreement, which is to be forged and agreed by COP21, should encourage mainstreaming of low carbon transport in global policies on climate change and sustainable development.”

A report from the summit - “Transport Ministers from 54 countries call for global policies to mainstream low-carbon transport” – said, “Company CEOs, transport initiative leaders and government representatives discussed strategies and innovations to mitigate transport-related climate change impacts related to trade and tourism during this session.

“Ministers from the EU, France, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, and others shared detailed and ambitious plans on transport advancing climate action.”