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Podcast: Challenging the climate change narrative with Bjorn Lomborg

Transcript

Listen: On the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with Danish author Bjorn Lomborg, a controversial figure in the world of climate change. Lomborg is unequivocal that climate change is a real problem and that humans are responsible for causing it. But where he differs from the global climate narrative is that the current focus on reducing carbon emissions is misguided and ineffective. Lomborg argues the world is too fixated on stopping climate change at the expense of… everything else.

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Climate emergency: limited Biden executive power
White House Climate Emergency Gives Biden New Powers To Reach Goals | US Politics :60 | GZERO Media

Climate emergency: limited Biden executive power

Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, DC, shares his analysis on US politics:

What is President Biden doing now that his legislative agenda is all but over?

Congress is getting ready to throw in the towel on 2022, racing to pass several pieces of legislation dealing with healthcare, drug prices and subsidies for the semiconductor industry before they go on their annual recess beginning in August. Some Democrats are holding out hope they can still pass a broader bill to finance green energy investments. But others are already writing the eulogy for the 117th Congress, recognizing how hard it is to legislate in a 50-50 Senate and a narrowly divided House and looking forward to Republicans taking control of at least one branch of government next year.

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West Virginia v. EPA ruling hampers climate change action
West Virginia v. EPA Ruling To Affect Climate Change Regulations | US Politics In :60 | GZERO Media

West Virginia v. EPA ruling hampers climate change action

Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, DC, shares his analysis on US politics:

This week's question, what are the implications of the Supreme Court's decision in the case of West Virginia v. EPA?

It's been a busy term for the Supreme Court, topped off this week with a ruling on the EPA's ability to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act.

The Supreme Court ruled that the EPA did not have the properly congressionally delegated authority to regulate carbon emissions. This will hamper the ability of the Biden administration to act on climate change in the absence of congressional action, which we do not expect. And more broadly could have implications for other agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission.

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Nations don’t need carbon to grow their economies, says John Kerry
Nations Don’t Need Carbon to Grow Their Economies, Says John Kerry | GZERO World

Nations don’t need carbon to grow their economies, says John Kerry

If John Kerry were only able to accomplish one thing as US climate change czar, he'd focus on changing the minds of the one-third of countries in the world that say they're "entitled" to pollute because they didn't before.

For Kerry, it's a fallacy that heavy carbon use is the only way to develop an economy because these nations can leapfrog from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

If we are able to cut by half the amount of carbon we're now releasing into the atmosphere by the end of the decade, he says, we may be able to meet the Paris Climate Agreement goal of keeping global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

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"What's it worth to save everything we have?" asks climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe
"What's It Worth to Save Everything We Have?" Asks Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe | Global Stage

"What's it worth to save everything we have?" asks climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe

Why do governments and corporations set Net Zero goals when the science just says to just cut emissions ASAP? For atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe, Chief Scientist at The Nature Conservancy and Director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University., it's too easy for humans to procrastinate on doing stuff 30 or 40 years from now. That's why she says we need more near-term goals with "everything on the table," given what's really at risk is not the planet — but rather us. "So the question is not, 'Could we possibly spend too much trying to fix climate change?' No. The question is, 'What's it worth to save everything we have?'"

Companies moving from climate pledges to judging performance, says Microsoft’s Lucas Joppa
Companies Moving From Climate Pledges to Judging Performance, Says MSFT’s Lucas Joppa | Global Stage

Companies moving from climate pledges to judging performance, says Microsoft’s Lucas Joppa

As governments haggle climate deals to curb emissions way into the future at COP26, Microsoft chief environmental officer Lucas Joppa says the private sector is moving beyond lofty pledges to talk about performance. Instead of what your commitments are, he explains, corporations are asking each other how they're scoring on what they promised to do. "How are you measuring carbon? How are you accounting for carbon? What are the systems that need to be put in place to actually make this whole Net Zero thing work?"

Joppa spoke during a live Global Stage event, Climate Crisis: Is net zero really possible? Watch the full event here.

Annie Gugliotta

The Graphic Truth: Net Zero — What are the top polluters promising?

Fighting climate change is about making the planet get less hot. The more quickly countries slow down their carbon emissions, the faster that'll happen. All the more important for the nations that pollute the most — but not all have committed to the same timeline. China and more recently Russia have pledged to go Net Zero by 2060, a decade later than the US and the EU. India, for its part, announced at COP26 that it'll follow suit by 2070, the last of the world's top 10 polluters to clean up its carbon act. We take a look at when the world's top carbon-spewing economies intend to go carbon-neutral, compared with their share of global emissions, of renewable energy as a source of electricity, and percentage of global coal consumption.

Leaders at COP26 pledge to end deforestation by 2030; US election day bets
World Leaders Pledge To End Deforestation by 2030 | US Election Day | World In 60s | GZERO Media

Leaders at COP26 pledge to end deforestation by 2030; US election day bets

Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week with a look at world leaders' deforestation pledge, US election outlooks, and China's "zero COVID" policy.

World leaders are pledging to end deforestation by 2030. What are the updates on COP26?

Well, that is one of the wins. It's the same pledge, but more countries are on board. The Russians, the Chinese, others that weren't before, and also, we're seeing movement on methane reduction pledges. Not as significant in amount as carbon dioxide emissions, but more dangerous in terms of impact on global warming. But the big issue, of course, is that still on carbon into the atmosphere, much lower coordination than you desperately need between north and south, rich and poor, Americans and Chinese. We are very far from where we want to be on that, and there, COP26 is a disappointment.

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