When the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established in the 1990s, negotiators focused on greenhouse gas emissions, or GHGs. They discussed mitigation actions; ways to reduce GHGs. The landmark Kyoto Protocol of 1997 (at COP 3) emphasized mitigation, with commitments from developed countries to reduce their production of and reliance on fossil fuels. The 2015 Paris Agreement set the goal of a global temperature rise of no more than 1.5 degrees centigrade by 2050. This goal would be achieved only if developed countries - the major GHG emitters - transitioned significantly to renewable energy sources. This has not happened. Countries are expanding their use of renewables but not fast enough th meet the 1.5 degree goal. Consequently, negotiators now devote considerable time to discussing adaptation - how to deal with a warming world and its consequencxes, such as wildfires, drought, intense hurricanes and typhoons... These articles relate to the imp...
The CAN has done a lot of tremendous work, both practical and political/bureaucratic. They have been make large pushes towards the classic renewables such as solar and wind for smaller communities. This is admirable as smaller communities such as isolated tribes or villages do not have the infrastructure or need for anything larger than one or a few solar panels. The renewable energy tracker is a report that the CAN makes every year or so and goes over the state of renewable energy technology and the progress nations have made to implement them into their grid. Its a well made paper with some interesting points of interest. My only qualm with the paper is the exclusion of nuclear energy. As a NSE student I am 100% biased and am pretty used to nuclear power being side stepped on the renewable/green energy talk. However, the paper does mention bioenergy which brings me to mention the absence of nuclear power in the paper. Bioenergy is as much a renewable as nuclear if not a worse renewable and yet nuclear is not mentioned once in the paper. The paper talks about global attempts to improve their grids with green energy so there is not a practical reason not to mention one of the only means of powering cities using carbon neutral energy. Sorry for the rant.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I learned about the CAN organization is how much work they put in. I think its very good that they actually take steps to implement efficient practices into place. For these smaller communities if they can get into these regions and actually build infrastructure to help adopt all climate safe practices. Raising awareness is good and crucial but for change to take place we need to take steps to actually physically make a change. I also learned that CAN provides support and resources to its member organizations to strengthen their capacity for effective advocacy and engagement on climate issues. This may involve training workshops, knowledge sharing, and networking opportunities to enhance collective action and impact.This gets more people involved which is what the climate crisis needs.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that truly stood out to me about the Climate Action Network was its focus on the people themselves who are affected by the climate crisis, as a way to gather leverage and outreach strength. By representing so many people across the globe, it shows how truly devastating the crisis can be. It also highlights how much people care about climate change and how many people are trying to do something about it. While I was exploring the site, I found a map of the global organizations that it represents. Without thinking, I selected an organization in Uzbekistan just to see what it was. The whole thing was in Cyrillic, but with the help of google translate I was able to understand the site. I unexpectedly found some moving stories about climate activists who shared similar beliefs as me on the other side of the globe. I also learned the tragic story of the Aral Sea, which was once the 4th largest lake in the world but has since almost completely dried up due to climate change and it being diverted for irrigation by the Soviet Union.
ReplyDeletesreda.uz is the name of the website that I found. It has thousands of blog posts about a huge range of topics from the physical environment to environmental law. The perspective that hearing these insights from an entirely different cultural viewpoint gave me was invaluable.
DeleteThis article in particular was fascinating: https://sreda.uz/rubriki/voda/rasskazat-pro-klimaticheskij-aktivizm-na-sobstvennom-primere/
I found it incredibly impressive how CAN has reached over 130 countries. As I continued exploring their website, I found myself reading through their main focuses, specifically fossil fuels and their efforts to dismantle and extinguish the progression of fossil fuels. I also appreciated how CAN highlights the voices of those impacted by the climate crisis. That is the best way to gain momentum and support and highlight the inequalities countless people face every day. The biggest takeaway I had from this website is how they highlight how high-income countries are the most significant contributors to climate change emissions and should be held accountable for the consequences low-income countries are now experiencing. I also learned about sunshine stories, which depicted that it is more than possible to transfer entirely to renewable resources with the correct implementation. It also shows locations worldwide where they have implemented increased reliance on solar energy compared to fossil fuels.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that stood out was its large scope. It contains over 1,800 non-government organizations from 130 countries. They have news articles for people trying to learn and resources for people looking to get involved. Their information covers countries, organizations, policy, and new developments. From a cursory look, they seem very thorough and have more information available than many sites. I read an article from the EECCA website about potential developments in wind and nuclear power in Kazakhstan. I appreciated the tone of the article as it laid out pros and cons to both possibilities. It favored wind power, but maintained an even tone and concluded with a restatement of their priorities, not a push explicitly for one policy or the other. It was nice to see an article that remains so focused on the objective. This is the article: https://caneecca.org/chto-vyberut-kazahstancy/
ReplyDeleteThe big idea that I was very interested in was CAN's commitment to renewable energy. I feel that this is such a huge and important concept in today's world. Additionally, from personal experience, I feel that striving toward sustainable and renewable resources is one of the least controversial and damaging methods toward reaching a healthy environment.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing about CAN"s work is that they do not just attack fossil fuels, but they offer a detailed alternative solution that is an imperative component toward engaging in change.
One question or concern that I do have in regard to changing sources used is the issue of previous machinery and technology that utilized fossil fuels. How are we going to accommodate and attend to all new machinery and equipment that rely on renewable energy? How are you going to get community members to disregard everything they previously knew and buy all new innovations? Additionally, how are you going to address myths around renewable energy to reach your audience more efficiently (Lagarrigue, 2021)?
Reference:
Lagarrigue, E. (2021, March 1). Debunking common myths about the renewable energy industry | World Economic Forum. The World Economic Forum. Retrieved March 15, 2024, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/03/renewable-energy-myths-debunked/
The first thing that jumped out to me regarding CAN was its commitment to centering people and climate impacts. In my opinion, it seems that more climate change discussions are focusing on the more urbanized nations and the way fossil fuels are such a big aspect of society, but they never seem to focus on the marginalized communities that are being effected by climate change. As the website mentions, some of the communities being impacted most by climate change are often the ones being forgotten about and being left to fend for themselves, so I appreciate that this seems to be a point of emphasis for CAN. I also found it interesting to look at the interactive map that they provide with every one of their member organizations, and I was surprised to see that there really aren't many organizations in South America. In addition, I was really surprised to see that there aren't many in Sweden and Norway, considering how much they seem to emphasize renewable energy.
ReplyDeleteA big standout from this website is the activism that they advocate for. They have a good mission statement, and they have many member organizations acrost the world. I really appreciate that they show where all of the organizations are around the world. They support grassroots organizations that fight for a better world and inform people for more effective global advocacy and strategies. Apparently, CAN is the largest climate organization in the world.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to this site, I think that it is important to know more about climate statistics to help stay informed while advocating for a better world. I would recommend NOAAs Climate.gov website (this page is for global temperature) - https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature
DeleteI learned a lot about CAN and I think that it is a very important resource in the fight against climate change. They are a huge organization that spans hundreds of countries with a lot of diversity. They provide a lot of vision statements but I think they should be clear on how they plan on reaching these idealistic goals. They have done a lot of good work though and seem to be a very honest organization. I wonder what their longer-term goals are: like how do they envision the world in 2044? What are some of the biggest changes they wish to make? Do they understand the difficulties in getting the public to change their ways? I have some concerns about them being overly confident and not acknowledging the true barriers of their plans. I'm glad I was exposed to this resource and plan on looking further into them.
ReplyDeleteI learned about how CAN is committed to fighting against longstanding companies in the fossil fuel industries. I think it's very refreshing to see an organization pushing for the end of fossil fuels. I am of the opinion that being born when I was has given me a very cool perspective on the development of electric vehicles. When I was younger, the electric vehicle didn't even exist. Now many of the major car companies have at least one electric or hybrid model car. I think the more we can push to move away from fossil fuels, in all aspects of life, the better of we all will be. It was crazy to see that we push more than 250 billion dollars into the fossil fuel econonmy, and it was very cool to read that CAN is fully committed to stop the flow of public money into fossil fuel projects.
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