Climate Change's Most Vulnerable Nations Vow to Run Entirely on Renewable Energy

Zahra Hirji from Inside Climate News.

MARRAKECH, Morocco—As talks on implementing last year's landmark climate treaty closed in Marrakech, a group of 47 developing countries that are highly vulnerable to the climate crisis announced their intention to run on 100 percent renewable energy "as rapidly as possible."

They said this ambition is crucial to their survival in a warming world, as well as an example to other, more prosperous nations.

"We aim to survive and thrive," wrote the member countries of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) in a two-page decision adopted Friday at the climate talks. They also reaffirmed their commitment to keeping warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, the most ambitious climate target of the Paris agreement.

This climate action pledge was welcomed by climate officials and experts as one of the more aggressive to come out of the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 22). The UNFCCC is the umbrella treaty that led to the Paris Agreement last year.

Read Zahra Hirji’s story on Inside Climate News - “Climate Change's Most Vulnerable Nations Vow to Run Entirely on Renewable Energy.”

The Paris train has gone and we are left forlornly standing on the platform

(Australia is not among those countries which have signed up to the Paris agreement and The Sydney Morning Herald reported early last month:

“A spokesman for Australia's Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said the government was trying to get it ratified as soon as possible.

“The parliamentary committee was looking at the deal as part of Australia's domestic processes, he said.

“Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop insists Australia wants to ratify the agreement before the end of the year.

"The election is being blamed for the delay in tabling the agreement."

This train has left the station and Australia, one of the worst carbon dioxide emitters per capita, is left standing, forlornly, on the platform – Robert McLean)

 

The Paris train has left and
 Australia is left standing
 forlornly on the platform.

A new chapter in the world's climate talks starts this month as the Paris climate agreement enters into force on November 4, followed by the first round of formal discussions on how to turn its promises into action.

Negotiators, leaders, experts and activists will gather in Marrakech, Morocco to begin the daunting task of implementing the historic accord that seeks to avert the worst impacts of man-made climate change. The 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) will convene from Nov. 7-18, tasked with continuing the momentum of the Paris accord that was negotiated last year and signed into force ahead of schedule.

"The Paris agreement really represents a promise that we've made to ourselves and...to the world," said Mariana Panuncio-Feldman from the World Wildlife Fund. "Now it is time to turn that into action and that's the work we need to do in Morocco."

Read the Inside Climate News story - “Climate Talks in Morocco Aim to Set Paris Agreement in Motion.”

World's largest solar plant in Sahara Desert switched on

Yesterday, Morocco switched on the first section of its new Ouarzazate solar power plant. The new installation already creates 160 megawatts of power and is expected to grow to cover 6,000 acres by 2018—making it the largest in the world.

The first wave of power production is known as Noor 1. Situated in the Sahara Desert, its crescent-shaped solar mirrors follow the sun to soak up sunlight all day long. The mirrors, each of which is 40 feet tall, focus light onto a steel pipeline that carries a synthetic thermal oil solution. The oil in those pipes can reach 740℉, and that’s what’s used to create electricity: The heat is used to create steam which drives turbines. The hot oil can be stored to create energy overnight, too.

Read the story by Jamie Condliffe on GIZMODO - “Morocco Switches on First Phase of the World's Largest Solar Plant.”