Our Climate Campaigner, Natasha Hurley, reports on the 18th Conference of the Parties (CoP18) to the UNFCCC in Qatar. While some progress was made including a deal on a 'Loss and Damage Mechanism' and acknowledgement of the need for HFC phase-out, an overall lack of urgency and mitigation pledges was disappointing.
The Montreal Protocol’s relatively unblemished record of forging consensus looks as though it could be severely compromised by the actions of just a few countries – particularly India, China and Brazil – to block agreement on a proposal to globally phase down HFCs, the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions
EIA’s F-Gas team hosted a debate in the European Parliament to discuss the forthcoming revision of the F-Gas Regulation. They are a huge amount of work building up to something that lasts just a couple of hours, and right up to the event you have no idea how they will go
What is the most environmentally destructive industry? After oil and gas, a strong contender has to be ‘Big Fluorine’, a collection of chemical companies that have profited, and continue to profit, from some of the most environmentally damaging technologies on the planet
It is important to remind yourself that progress is happening, and that things can get better. It is also important to remember what all these emissions mean and where they come from.