Climate 411

UN aviation agency has an opportunity to bolster sustainable flight by adopting critical fuels criteria

By Guest Author / Published: March 4, 2021

This blog post was authored by Pedro Piris-Cabezas, Director of Sustainable International Transport & Lead Senior Economist at Environmental Defense Fund, and Anna Stratton, Consultant

ICAO building, Montreal

This month, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nation’s aviation agency, is holding its 222nd Council meeting. On the agenda: an opportunity for ICAO Council to signal its commitment to a sustainable future for aviation by adopting an expanded set of sustainability criteria for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

SAF provides a distinct opportunity to put aviation on a pathway to net-zero climate impact by 2050, provided the SAF deployed actually reduces emissions, meets a high standard of environmental integrity, and is accurately accounted for. In 2017, ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) recommended a set of sustainability criteria to the Council, which adopted a portion of the criteria for its emission reduction program and delayed a decision on the rest. Environmental NGOs have called on members of the Council, who are 36 elected members from ICAO’s 193 Member States, to adopt CAEP’s full set of recommendations ever since.

ICAO’s emissions reduction program, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or CORSIA, includes a comprehensive SAF framework. CORSIA’s design incentivizes the deployment of SAF that supports decarbonization. If ICAO Council adopts the full set of sustainability criteria recommended by CAEP, it will further strengthen the CORSIA SAF framework and help ensure that CORSIA SAF (1) promotes rather than undermines the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and (2) mitigates the emissions, ecosystem and community risks otherwise present in alternative fuel production and use.

EDF is a member of the International Coalition for Sustainable Aviation (ICSA), the group of environmental NGOs with observer status at ICAO. ICSA sent a letter to all Council Members calling for the adoption of the sustainability criteria as originally recommended by CAEP. In ICSA’s view, not only does the full set of criteria provide clear environmental benefits, adopting the criteria now will provide much needed certainty to SAF producers, as they make investments in the sustainability of their supply chains. Postponing the adoption of the sustainability criteria poses the risk of delaying investments in SAF production capacity, the scale-up of which is critical to the decarbonization of civil aviation.

What’s in the sustainability criteria?

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Posted in Aviation, United Nations / Comments are closed

A bold new commitment to the Paris Agreement is achievable – and essential for U.S. leadership

By Susanne Brooks / Published: March 3, 2021

This blog post was co-authored with Nat Keohane, Senior Vice President for Climate at EDF.
The White House

Now that the United States is officially back in the Paris Agreement, after four years of climate inaction and denial, all eyes are on the Biden administration to see whether it will meet the moment by putting forward a new emissions reduction commitment that is both ambitious and credible. In order to hit both marks, the administration should commit to cut total net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030 – a target that is consistent with the science and President Biden’s goal of a net-zero economy by 2050, commensurate with commitments of other advanced economies, and one that many state leaders, businesses, advocates and others are already calling for.

This year’s UN climate talks, known as COP26 and set to take place in November, will be a proving ground for the Paris Agreement framework. Countries must come to the table with more ambitious climate targets known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs. Collectively, these NDCs must put the world on a path consistent with the Paris Agreement’s objective of limiting global temperature rise to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.

The United States has the chance to regain a position as a global leader on climate – and to galvanize climate action around the world – by setting an ambitious target that meets the scale of the climate crisis. The new U.S. NDC must also be credible – meaning that one or more technically and economically viable policy pathways can be identified to achieve it. Using a range of analyses, a new EDF report demonstrates how a bold new commitment of reducing total net GHG emissions at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030 is achievable through multiple policy pathways – and that charting an ambitious path on climate is essential for growing a stronger and more equitable, clean U.S. economy.

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Posted in Climate Change Legislation, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, International, Jobs, Paris Agreement, Policy, United Nations / Comments are closed

Is Oregon creating a backdoor that could undermine its own climate policy?

By Erica Morehouse / Published: March 1, 2021
Mt Hood

Mt Hood

On February 19, the U.S. officially reentered the Paris Agreement after being on the sidelines for four years. Even with the federal government beginning to restore and strengthen climate leadership, states still have a critical role to play in putting climate action points on the board. Oregon’s recently launched Climate Protection Program has the potential to deliver critical state-led climate leadership by putting an enforceable limit on emissions across its economy. This limit would decline in line with Oregon’s science-based climate targets, ensuring that the state slashes harmful climate-warming pollution. This is why EDF and the broader environmental community are so concerned about a few policy design suggestions that could severely cripple Oregon’s ability to reach the climate goals the state has already committed to.

In this installment, we want to shine a light on one design element that could provide a backdoor to blowing up the climate budget that Oregon will rely on to achieve its climate goals: the alternative compliance instrument. It may seem like a wonky term, but it’s an incredibly important piece of the puzzle to get right.

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Posted in Cities and states, Greenhouse Gas Emissions / Read 1 Response

Washington state moves closer to comprehensive climate policy, strengthening its climate leadership

By Katelyn Roedner Sutter / Published: March 1, 2021

This post was co-authored with Kjellen Belcher, Senior Analyst, U.S. Climate Policy at EDF.

Washington state capitol.

The Washington Legislature has just advanced ambitious climate policy that would make the state the second in the nation to place an enforceable, declining limit on climate pollution from the largest-emitting sectors of its economy. This is a fundamental step toward protecting the people of Washington state from the most severe consequences of climate change.

The Climate Commitment Act, which passed 7-3 out of the Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee on Thursday morning, places a firm limit on the state’s climate pollution and puts a price on carbon to ensure continued investments in community resilience, green jobs, sustainable transportation, and clean energy. The bill would guarantee that greenhouse gas emissions from across the state are slashed in line with Washington’s strong statutory climate goals.

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Posted in Cities and states, Greenhouse Gas Emissions / Comments are closed

A teachable moment: Zero-emission school buses are a winning proposition

By EDF Blogs / Published: February 26, 2021

By Larissa Koehler

Every pre-COVID school day, approximately 480,000 school buses carry more than 25 million children to school across the United States. Most of them run on diesel fuel and spew pollution that causes cancer, triggers asthma attacks and makes climate change worse. Indeed, of the over 40,000 school buses registered in the U.S. in 2019, only 240 were zero-emission (and only about 1% of school buses are electric). This picture will not improve without intervention — barring additional measures, only 27,000 of the projected 560,000 school buses that will be built in the next 10 years will be electric.

Luckily, that intervention is starting to arrive. Today Senator Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Senator Murray (D-WA) and Representatives Cardenas (D-CA)  and Hayes (D-CT) introduced the Clean School Bus Act a groundbreaking piece of legislation that will provide grants for infrastructure and vehicles, with an emphasis on deploying them in communities hardest hit by health-impacting air pollution.

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Posted in Cars and Pollution, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health / Read 2 Responses

Latest Western Climate Initiative auction sells out; still space for more climate ambition from cap and trade

By Katelyn Roedner Sutter / Published: February 24, 2021
Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park

The latest California-Quebec auction was fully subscribed, based on results released today. This is the second quarter in a row where all allowances sold, which is good news for the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. There is still opportunity, however, for more ambition in the program moving forward.

Today’s results, by the numbers

  • All 54,773,607 current vintage allowances were offered for sale. This is the second consecutive auction where all current allowances sold. It should also be noted that there were just under 2 million more allowances offered in November compared to February, mainly due to the annual decline of the emissions cap.
  • Current vintage allowances cleared at $17.80, 9 cents above the floor price of $17.71. This is 87 cents above the November 2020 settlement price of $16.93.
  • All of the 8,306,250 future vintage allowances offered for sale sold, just as 100% sold in the previous auction. These allowances may not be used for compliance until 2024.
  • Future vintage allowances sold at $18.01, 30 cents above the floor price of $17.71, and 66 cents above the $17.35 settlement price from November 2020.
  • California raised almost $650 million for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, some of which the Legislature may allocate during the ongoing budget process for priorities such as the Community Air Protection Program and the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Program.
  • Quebec raised just over $150 million (just over $190 million CAD) to invest in their own climate priorities.

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Posted in California, Cities and states, Greenhouse Gas Emissions / Comments are closed