Major banks commit to carbon neutrality by 2050

A group of 43 international banks including sector heavyweights have joined a UN-convened pact to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, the world body said Wednesday.

Bringing together household names like Barclays, HSBC, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas, the "Net Zero Banking Alliance" members vowed to make greenhouse gas emissions from their lending and investment portfolios "align with pathways to net-zero by 2050 or sooner" with regularly updated intermediate goals.

"All targets will be regularly reviewed to ensure consistency with the latest science," the United Nations' finance for the environment initiative UNEP FI said in a statement.

HSBC boss Noel Quinn said it was "essential" for banks to finance the green transition, adding that "we have to establish a robust and transparent framework for monitoring progress... and we want to set that standard for the banking industry."

The group will also be a founding member of a sector-wide initiative -- the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) -- from former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, the UN special envoy for climate action and finance.

"GFANZ will work to mobilise the trillions of dollars necessary to build a global zero emissions economy and deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement" signed by the world's governments in 2015, UNEP FI said.

Carney himself called the alliance "the breakthrough in mainstreaming climate finance the world economy needs" and "the gold standard for net zero commitments".

GFANZ's naming for Glasgow refers to the COP26 climate change conference scheduled to be held in Scotland's biggest city in November.

As well as banks, UNEP FI said major global insurers and reinsurers were working on a similar project dubbed the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance.

EU seals 'game changer' deal setting carbon-cutting target
Brussels (AFP) April 21, 2021 - The European Parliament and EU member states agreed on Wednesday a target to cut carbon emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030, in what was called a "game changer" just ahead of a US-hosted climate summit.

The deal, reached before dawn after 14 hours of negotiations, sets about putting parts of the 2016 Paris climate accord into binding legislative effect across a range of sectors, underpinning the European Union's ambition to lead the world on the issue.

The EU vice president responsible for the bloc's Green Deal, Franz Timmermans, called the agreement "a landmark moment for the EU and a strong signal to the world" alongside a 5:00 am tweeted picture showing the moment it was struck.

But top environmental groups Greenpeace and WWF immediately slammed the agreement as insufficient to limit global warming to the 1.5-degree-Celsius threshold enshrined in the Paris accord.

Greenpeace noted that Britain, a former EU member, vowed this week to slash carbon emissions by 78 percent by 2035.

The EU climate law agreement ended a deadlock between member states, which insisted on the 55-percent goal agreed in November, and MEPs who wanted the target hiked to 60 percent.

The EU announcement and the wider debate will feed into a virtual climate summit hosted Thursday and Friday by US President Joe Biden, who has made climate a top priority. He is expected to unveil ambitious new US targets on reducing carbon emissions.

Biden has invited 40 world leaders to the online gathering. Chinese President Xi Jinping -- leader of the biggest carbon-emitting country -- has said he will attend.

The EU views itself as the prime mover in getting the world to reduce greenhouse gases, leveraging its global standard-setting weight on climate as it has already done in terms of data protection and trade.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that "our political commitment to becoming the first climate neutral continent by 2050 is now also a legal one".

Last month she predicted the proposed EU climate law would "inspire many of our partners to raise their own ambition".

- Sweeping ambition -

However the EU executive faces challenges as it looks to reform its legislation on everything from transport to taxes to energy so they all reflect the shift to a green-friendly future.

Among those are plans to levy a carbon border adjustment mechanism -- a tariff on goods imported into the EU by countries that are not as ambitious in their carbon-emission goals -- and division among EU member states as to whether plants powered by nuclear energy or natural gas can be considered "green".

The chair of the European Parliament's environmental commission, Pascal Canfin, told journalists that the 55-percent target had to be accepted but the way net carbon emissions are calculated was changed "to be able to move de facto, in reality, from 55 to close to 57".

He said 52.8 percent of the carbon emission cuts would be "direct reductions" with the rest made up by calculations on carbon sinks, which are made up of plants, the soil and the sea.

"This climate deal is a game changer," he said.

In the EU and Britain, the baseline year emission-reduction targets are weighed against is 1990, while for the United States and China it is 2005, resulting in different calculations on headline goals.

Related Links
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

China says climate onus on US in Kerry talks
Beijing (AFP) April 16, 2021
China said Friday that the United States needed to take more responsibility on climate change but welcomed greater cooperation after a visit by envoy John Kerry, state media said. The former secretary of state turned US climate emissary was the first official from President Joe Biden's administration to visit China, signalling hopes the two sides could work together on the global challenge despite sky-high tensions on multiple other fronts. "China attaches importance to carrying out dialogue and ... read more