The following provides a sample of the updates and reports identified by ‘edie’
Steel industry implored to stop investing in coal-fired blast furnaces
The steel industry will eat into one-quarter of the global carbon budget through to 2050 without concerted efforts to accelerate the transition away from coal
That is a warning from SteelWatch, a new organisation founded this week in the hopes of providing the pressure, information, inspiration and policy landscape that the steel sector needs to decarbonise in line with the Paris Agreement on climate.
SteelWatch has launched with a new briefing paper plotting a pathway to address emissions from coal-based production methods. These methods, it claims, account for 90% of the sector’s carbon footprint.
The pathway involves not developing any new coal-powered blast furnaces in OECD countries, nor retrofitting existing furnaces in these markets. This change in plans would need to be made immediately. This is because retrofitted furnaces are expected to last at least 15 years longer, bringing us close to the 2050 net-zero deadline agreed upon by most wealthy nations.
Read more : .edie.net/steel-industry-implored-to-stop-investing-in-coal-fired-blast-furnaces
UK and France join forces on Global Roadmap for nature recovery
The UK Environment Secretary and French State Minister have launched a new biodiversity credits initiative to mobilise nature recovery in accordance with the COP15 framework.
During the Summit for a New Financial Pact held in Paris, Thérèse Coffey, the Environment Secretary, and French State Minister, Bérangère Couillard, revealed the UK-French Global Biodiversity Credits Roadmap.
The roadmap outlines a strategy to amplify global efforts in facilitating the procurement of biodiversity credits by companies and enabling a credible restoration of nature.
Biodiversity credits allow individuals and companies to invest in global environmental projects that contribute to biodiversity enrichment and nature restoration. These credits document the project’s location, developer, and include measurement and verification processes for transparency.
Read more : edie.net/uk-and-france-join-forces-on-global-roadmap-for-nature-recovery
Report: Current technologies can halve built environment emissions
A recent McKinsey report highlights that professionals in the built environment sector can reduce more than 50% in industry emissions by 2030 using existing technologies.
Many of these technologies are either already cost-effective relative to conventional practices or are expected to be by 2030 if industrialised.
Industry players can unlock economic benefits by scaling up technology and material production, establishing service companies, optimising supply chains and developing operational skills throughout the value chain, according to the report.
The built environment sector is accountable for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, amounting to 14.4 metric gigatons of CO2 equivalent (GtCO2e) annually.
Read more : edie.net/report-current-technologies-can-halve-built-environment-emissions
Report: None of the Sustainable Development Goals on course to be achieved by 2030
According to the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), global progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been “static” for the third year in a row, posing a threat to the world’s decade-long efforts on the Global Goals.
While the world made some progress on SDGs between 2015 to 2019, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine have caused progress to fall behind projected performances based on pre-pandemic trends.
At the halfway point of the SDGs, a new SDSN report warns that not a single SDG will be achieved by 2030 at the current rate, and on average less than 20% of the SDG’s underlying targets are on track to be achieved.
The report highlights that there is a risk that the gap in SDG outcomes between high-income countries (HICs) and low-income countries (LICs) will be larger in 2030 than it was in 2015, putting a decade of progress against the Goals at risk.
Read more : edie.net/report-none-of-the-sustainable-development-goals-on-course-to-be-achieved-by-2030