This post was written by EDF’s Ellen Robo
One year ago this month, the Inflation Reduction Act put the pedal to the metal for investments in electric vehicle manufacturing – and it shows no sign of letting up.
In fact, U.S. EV investments are still growing at a breakneck pace.
This blog was authored by Jordan Faires (Manager at EDF+Business) and Pedro Martins Barata (Associate Vice President for Carbon Markets and Private Sector Decarbonization).
The voluntary carbon market is an essential tool to advance net zero progress. The market can help us channel much-needed finance to drive climate action, conserve vital ecosystems, and support sustainable development and livelihoods in local communities. However, one of the leading challenges for companies is differentiating high-integrity carbon credits in a crowded marketplace. New integrity guidance is shedding light on how companies can make the highest impact investments to complement their sustainability commitments.
Damage in Tacloban, Philippines after Super Typhoon Haiyan, 2013
Imagine living in a coastal fishing community with fresh food, unpolluted air, and people sharing their food and resources. Imagine your childhood running around on a beautiful white sand beach, swimming in the ocean whenever you like, and in your free time, collecting seashells from the nearby shore, playing like tomorrow doesn’t matter.
I’m Marinel Ubaldo, a 25-year-old whose idea of a normal life changed after surviving the wrath of super-typhoon Haiyan.
This piece was co-authored by EDF Clean Air Legal Fellow Richard Yates and Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Fellow Eleonor Dyan Garcia. It is also posted on the Sabin Center’s website.
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and Environmental Defense Fund have just launched IRAtracker.org. This free online resource includes a searchable database that catalogues all of the climate change-related provisions in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as well as a tracker that records actions taken by federal agencies to implement those provisions.
By Catherine Ittner and Hongming Liu
Despite global efforts to address the climate crisis, the shipping sector is on track to increase its global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions up to 10% by 2050 – unless countries take urgent action.
China’s effort to increase investment and economic collaboration by building the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road – otherwise known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – is a great opportunity for countries to cooperate on decarbonizing shipping. The sea routes that make up the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which sail through Southeast Asia to South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, are critical to the success of international trade in the region — but the ships that travel these routes are significant sources of greenhouse gases.
Environmental Defense Fund contributed to a new BRI report, which highlights innovative ideas and low-carbon technologies that can cut shipping pollution and help China and other BRI countries meet their climate goals.
Despite an urgent need to reduce GHG emissions in the shipping industry, many countries do not prioritize climate policies for shipping. Twenty-three countries are part of the Maritime Silk Road – but only five of them have incorporated the shipping industry into their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), the efforts by each country to reduce national emissions.
The BRI International Green Development Coalition “aims to establish a policy dialogue and communication platform, an environmental knowledge and information platform, and a green technology exchange and transfer platform” to help ensure a green and sustainable BRI, including by decarbonizing shipping. EDF, along with Equitable Maritime Consulting, got the chance to contribute research to the BRI International Green Development Coalition’s new report on maritime connectivity and green development.
The report lays out four key policy recommendations to advance green shipping:
The well-designed policy suite outlined in BRI International Green Development Coalition’s new report drew a roadmap for BRI countries to spur innovation, deploy proven and cost-effective low-carbon technologies, and lead a green transition for the shipping industry. China and other BRI countries have an opportunity to model climate cooperation while pursuing economic success for the region, as well as having a ripple effect among the international community for facilitating multi-lateral cooperation.
By Adam Peltz, Senior Attorney, Energy
After over 150 years of boom and bust oil and gas development, there are over a million inactive, unplugged oil and gas wells across the country. A new study published in the journal Elementa describes how, when not properly plugged, these wells can contaminate groundwater and emit methane as well as harmful chemicals into the atmosphere that endanger the economy and public health in communities where they are found. It also provides suggestions for how to maximize the environmental benefits of efforts to plug these wells.
There are 57,000 documented “orphan” wells across the country, meaning they have no owner of record, at least not one that’s still in business, and hundreds of thousands more orphan wells that are not documented. State, federal and tribal governments are left with the responsibility of plugging these wells – some of which have been abandoned for decades.
