WRI Insights

Australia is a major nation to watch when it comes to curbing climate change. The country made an [international commitment](http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/copenhagen_accord/application/pdf/australiacphaccord_app1.pdf) to reduce its GHG emissions by 5 to 25 percent from 2000 levels by 2020. How Australia achieves these reductions can provide lessons on how other countries around the world can pursue their own climate change mitigation plans. WRI’s [Open Climate Network](http://www.openclimatenetwork.org/) and Australia’s [The Climate Institute (TCI)](http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/) [recently analyzed](http://www.wri.org/publication/ghg-mitigation-aus-policy-landscape) Australia’s climate change plan, which includes a mix of policies to reduce emissions (check out the [working paper here](http://www.wri.org/publication/ghg-mitigation-aus-policy-landscape)). We found that three initiatives stand out in terms of their potential to significantly reduce GHG emissions: a carbon pricing mechanism, a Renewable Energy Target (RET), and the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI).

As I prepare to take part in [an event](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_7yXRkpnJyVM0enaRMvsUYKq0u8QjwaPEmxYqkjSCgQ/viewform) on hurricanes and extreme weather in Miami, Florida later today, it’s clear just how much climate change threatens the state’s local communities. Florida is the most vulnerable U.S. state to sea-level rise, with seas [projected to rise](http://www.wri.org/publication/sea-level-rise-impact-on-florida) along the state’s coast by as much as 2 feet by 2060--threatening valuable infrastructure, homes, and communities. Even Superstorm Sandy--which had the [greatest impacts](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/11/listening-hurricane-sandy-climate-change-here) in New York and New Jersey--caused significant damages along Florida’s east coast while centered miles offshore. Rising seas contributed to Sandy’s storm surge and tidal surges, causing flooding throughout Miami-Dade County and sweeping away portions of State Road A1A in Fort Lauderdale. But as overly concerned as I am of the climate change impacts Florida faces, I’m also encouraged. Florida has something that few other states have: A bipartisan collaboration to address global warming’s disastrous impacts.

Being "thrifty" means spending one cent as if you have only half a cent. This is an old Chinese saying to warn people to handle affluence without forgetting about a potential crisis. Underlying this common sense is an ethic rooted in Chinese culture: wasting is bad. President Xi Jinping has urged Chinese people to "build a thrifty society", because if we persist with our business-as-usual production and consumption pattern we would invite a resource and environmental crisis. One "inconvenient truth" is that China [uses about 20 percent](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2ea6681e-ec27-11df-9e11-00144feab49a.html) of the total global energy to produce [about 12 percent](http://www.statista.com/statistics/167632/china-share-on-gdp-ppp-of-the-world/) of the world GDP. The country's energy consumption per unit of GDP is 2.2 times that of the world average. A similar pattern is seen in the consumption of other resources such as steel, cement and other raw materials, as highlighted by State leaders and experts at the International Forum on Building Ecological Civilization hold in Guiyang, Guizhou province, last month. In doing so, the leaders indicated that huge amounts of energy could be saved in China by improving efficiency.

As part of his [recently released Climate Action Plan](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/first-take-looking-president-obama%E2%80%99s-climate-action-plan), President Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set carbon pollution standards for existing power plants. While these federal standards are a critical component of the U.S. plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb climate change, the responsibility to actually implement them will fall to individual states. The good news for many states is that they [can greatly reduce](http://www.wri.org/power-sector-opportunities-for-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions) their power sector emissions through existing policies and infrastructure, such as by meeting state standards for renewables and efficiency and increasing the use of existing natural gas power plants. These measures will ease the path for those states to meet future EPA power plant emissions standards and combat climate change. WRI [recently analyzed](http://www.wri.org/publication/power-sector-opportunities-for-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-ohio) the existing tools Ohio can use to reduce its power sector emissions and help meet future EPA emissions standards. Over the coming months, we’ll release [a series of fact sheets](http://www.wri.org/power-sector-opportunities-for-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions) that outline the steps several other states can take.

The United Nations’ new population growth projections show that the world is set to reach nearly 9.6 billion by 2050. This growth holds serious implications for [global food security](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/05/great-balancing-act-3-needs-sustainable-food-future). Absent other effective measures to control dietary shifts and [reduce food loss and waste](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/numbers-reducing-food-loss-and-waste), the world will need to produce about 70 percent more food annually by 2050 to meet global demands. That is a big task, and even harder to do without converting millions more hectares of forests into farmland, contributing to climate change.

Germany’s energy transition (or [“Energiewende”](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/05/5-achievements-germany%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cenergiewende%E2%80%9D)) is the most ambitious current effort to put a large industrial economy onto a sustainable energy path, recognizing the 21st century reality of a climate-constrained world. If the world’s fourth largest economy demonstrates that this shift is possible without undermining economic growth, it could be a major factor in enabling a global energy transition. And with climate change intensifying – 2012 was the 36th straight year of above-average global temperature, and 2011 and 2012 each produced more extreme weather events costing over one billion dollars each than any other year in recorded history – reducing greenhouse gas emissions is imperative for any future energy system. Thus, the Energiewende is critical to the ongoing fight against global warming.

When President Barack Obama [announced](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/first-take-looking-president-obama%E2%80%99s-climate-action-plan) the country’s first national climate strategy, many people wondered what it would mean across the nation. Yet, the strategy may carry even more significant implications overseas. The plan restricts U.S. government funding for most international coal projects. This policy could significantly affect energy producers and public and private investors around the globe.

As impacts from climate change become more visible and costly, leaders across the nation are responding. In the wake of [projections](http://www.umces.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/SeaLevelRiseProjections.pdf) from the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science showing that Maryland could face sea-level rise of more than six feet by the end of the century, Governor Martin O’Malley [unveiled](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/omalley-to-release-greenhouse-gas-reduction-plan-at-climate-change-summit/2013/07/25/f801e410-f4f1-11e2-81fa-8e83b3864c36_story.html) a state climate action plan this week. The initiative will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also supporting job creation and economic growth.

Last month, Death Valley, California [experienced](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-its-official-death-valley-reached-degrees-sunday-20130701,0,1187098.story) the highest June temperature ever recorded (129 degrees F!). Fires [have been blazing](http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/national/two-dozen-wildfires-burning-across-western-us/2013/07/20/4b4e439c-f138-11e2-b2e0-0ecd9d3227c0_video.html) in the western United States, leading to catastrophic losses of life. We’re barely more than a month into summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and it has started off extreme.

New energy efficiency legislation has been introduced by Senators Shaheen and Portman that could come before the U.S. Senate as early as this month. This bill, formally known as the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2013 (S. 761), provides goals, incentives, and support for energy efficiency efforts across the U.S. economy. Passage of this bill would be a positive step toward saving money through improved efficiency while helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions.