Guest Work • Apr 19, 2016 •
By Dr George Preddey In my 17th submission to all MPs and other worthies on Budget Day, 20 May 2015 (Budget Day), I suggested alternative proposals for New Zealand’s climate change INDCs (intended nationally determined contributions). These proposals dispensed with the pseudo-econometrics that characterised much of the discussion document and worked backwards from an essential goal of net carbon … Read More
Eric Crampton • Apr 18, 2016 •
I hadn’t quite understood New Zealand’s carbon emissions trading scheme before I moved to Wellington. The thing seemed a little dodgy with a fair bit of reliance on dubious foreign credits. But then the genius of the thing was explained to me. I’ve not looked at it properly myself, but the story is interesting, and seems plausible. It goes something … Read More
Guest Work • Dec 15, 2015 •
Steffen Böhm, University of Essex The Paris Agreement has mostly been greeted with enthusiasm though it contains at least one obvious flaw. Few seem to have noticed that the main tool mooted for keeping us within the 2℃ global warming target is a massive expansion of carbon trading, including offsetting, which allows the market exchange of credits between … Read More
Guest Work • Dec 13, 2015 •
Simon Lewis, UCL The UN climate talks in Paris have ended with an agreement between 195 countries to tackle global warming. The climate deal is at once both historic, important – and inadequate. From whether it is enough to avoid dangerous climate change to unexpected wins for vulnerable nations, here are five things to help understand … Read More
Guest Work • Dec 11, 2015 •
Andrew Glikson, Australian National University 2015 will likely be the hottest year on record, beating the previous record set only in 2014. It is also likely to be the first year the global average temperature reaches 1℃ above pre-industrial temperatures (measured from 1880 – 1899). Global warming is raising temperatures, and this year’s El Niño … Read More
Cindy Baxter • Dec 09, 2015 •
I’ve been in Paris for over a week now, and the speed at which everything goes past, including time, is frightening. I think the 40,000 expected have now all arrived. I’m getting worried the only Eiffel Tower I’ll see is the one made of red folding chairs at the end of the “Champs Elysee” at the meeting. We began last … Read More
Guest Work • Dec 02, 2015 •
Paul N Edwards, University of Michigan The world’s nations are convening in traumatized Paris to hammer out commitments to slow down global climate change. Any long-term solution will require “decarbonizing” the world energy economy – that is, shifting to power sources that use little or no fossil fuel. How fast can this happen, and what could we do to … Read More
Peter Griffin • Dec 15, 2014 •
Sciblogs Editor’s Picks Diplomatic Immunity – the Rock & Roll of infectious diseases Guest Work – Visualising 268,000 tonnes of floating plastic Ariadne – Trends in carbon pricing Pointing @ Science – Watson’s Nobel auction … Read More
Cindy Baxter • Dec 05, 2014 •
New Zealand is coming under increasing scrutiny in Lima, not least because it’s our turn to be reviewed by the UNFCCC process. Early next week our representatives will have to defend our position and our lack of action to 190 governments in our first “multilateral assessment.” Already, there have been some tough questions, coming especially […] … Read More
Waiology • Nov 10, 2014 •
By Sarah Mager The Southern Alps of New Zealand are the source of some of New Zealand’s most iconic river systems. The development of the South Island has been intimately connected with these powerful water sources. For instance, the Clutha initially provided a critical navigation route into Central Otago and the early gold fields; the Waitaki sustains eight hydroelectrical power … Read More