Climate Capsule - Week of October 27

Highlight of the Week

Sobering Overview: Climate Changing Faster, Stronger Than Previously Predicted

Climate change is happening more rapidly than was predicted by experts just 15 months ago, according to a new World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report.

The report, Climate Change: Faster, Stronger, Sooner, draws from some of the most recent scientific reports and data on global warming. The information reveals that our planet is being degraded more rapidly than was predicted in the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in 2007.

One of the most disconcerting aspects is the evidence that some areas of the Arctic Ocean are losing sea ice 30 years ahead of current IPCC predictions. Linked to sea ice loss, global sea levels are now expected to rise at rates more than double the pace of most recent projections, putting millions of people in coastal regions at risk.

“It is clear that climate change is already having a greater impact than most scientists had anticipated, so it’s vital that international mitigation and adaptation responses become swifter and more ambitious,” said Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, climatology professor and newly elected Vice Chair of the IPCC, who endorsed the publication.

Rising temperatures have already resulted in reduced global yields of wheat, maize and barley, according to WWF’s study.

The report's author, geoscientist Dr. Tina Tin, describes the new statistical compendium as a “sobering overview” and proof of the urgent need for climate action now.

Power Company To Warn Investors On Business Risks Posed By Coal

Dynegy Inc., a major owner of coal-burning power plants, has agreed to divulge to investors the risks of global warming, an unnatural process fueled in part by coal power.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has announced that the Dynegy energy company agreed to include detailed information in its financial reports about business risks posed by climate change and the future of a carbon economy.

Relevant business risks may include educating investors about potential government regulations that would limit coal emissions, or divulgence that the company could be sued over pollution levels that contribute to global warming, according to a press release.

“We're going to continue doing what we're doing,” said Dynegy spokesman David Byford. “To the extent that we identify material risks related to climate change, we'll disclose them as we do other material risks.”

This summer, Xcel Energy Inc. made a similar pledge to New York’s attorney general, who has urged other power companies to follow the example of Dynegy and Xcel.

Former Vice President Al Gore was in New York alongside Attorney General Cuomo for the announcement, calling the disclosure requirement “a new model to combat global warming.”

Happening This Week
Congress is on recess this week.

Tuesday, October 28: Carbon Capture and Sequestration Guidelines Briefing, 11 a.m-1 p.m., World Resources Institute, 10 G Street NE, Suite 800

Wednesday, October 29: Energy Policy Challenges - Is the Past Prologue?, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (Registration and continental breakfast will begin at 8:30 a.m.), Resources for the Future, 1616 P Street, NW, First Floor Conference Center

Thursday, October 30: Characterizing the Uncertain Impacts of Policy for Pre-commercial, Low-Carbon Technologies, 3-4 p.m., National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 901 D Street SW,  Ninth Floor

Quote:

“We're in this pickle in the first place because these banks made unwise loans...Giving a loan that doesn't take climate change into account also is an unwise loan.”

—Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change, says the financial crisis holds important lessons that could be applied to climate action.  

Economic Message of the Week
Deutsche Bank Asset Management: Climate Change Is A Huge Investment Opportunity

Deutsche Bank Asset Management (DeAM) last week published a research paper urging governments to invest heavily in climate change mitigation despite the current financial crisis.

DeAM's Global Climate Change Investment Research team authored Investing In Climate Change 2009—Necessity and Opportunity In Turbulent Times. The research paper argues that the accelerating pace of global warming (see “Highlight of the Week”) requires action that also provides opportunity in this period of global economic struggle. Governmental spending on efficient green infrastructure will serve as an economic stimulus. 

“The current crisis is making the necessity of tackling climate change an opportunity to stimulate growth through investment opportunities,” said Mark Fulton, DeAM's Global Head of Climate Change Investment Research. “Encouraging investment in renewable energy is a key focus. Energy efficiency technologies are obviously highly desirable in economies facing recession.”

Kevin Parker, Global Head of Deutsche Bank's Asset Management division and a member of the Bank's Group Executive Committee says in the report that new research shows carbon in the atmosphere has reached an 800,000 year high and immediate action is essential. “Severe though it is, the current financial crisis can eventually be fixed, and should not be used as an excuse for inaction,” Parker said.

Autumn Arctic Warming At Record High, Reindeer Population May Be Declining

Seasonal temperatures in the Arctic have reached record highs. The Arctic Ocean is becoming warmer and less salty as sea ice melts, and reindeer herds are in decline as a result of climate change, according to a new report.

“The planet is interconnected, so what happens in the Arctic does matter” to the entire planet, said Jackie Richter-Menge of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory

“There continues to be widespread and, in some cases, dramatic evidence of an overall warming of the Arctic system,” the experts said in the third annual Arctic Report Card from the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The new report, compiled by 46 scientists from 10 countries, focused on specific areas to conclude that the global region is experiencing dramatic and unprecedented seasonal changes: atmosphere, sea ice, Greenland, ocean, biology and land.