It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, December 12, 2020
Zodiac cipher solved 5 decades after serial killer terrorized Northern California Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — A coded letter mailed to a San Francisco newspaper by the Zodiac serial killer in 1969 has been deciphered by a team of amateur sleuths from the United States, Australia and Belgium, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday.
The cipher is one of many sent by a killer who referred to himself as Zodiac in letters sent to detectives and the media. The Zodiac terrorized Northern California communities and killed five people in the Bay Area in 1968 and 1969.
According to code-breaking expert David Oranchak, the cipher's text includes: "I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me. ... I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me," the newspaper reported.
Oranchak, who has been working on the Zodiac's codes for years, said in an email to the newspaper that the solved cipher was sent to the FBI.
"They have confirmed the solution. No joke! This is the real deal," he wrote.
Cameron Polan, spokeswoman for the FBI's San Francisco office, confirmed Oranchak's claim Friday.
"The FBI is aware that a cipher attributed to the Zodiac Killer was recently solved by private citizens. The Zodiac Killer case remains an ongoing investigation for the FBI San Francisco division and our local law enforcement partners," she said in a statement.
"Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, and out of respect for the victims and their families, we will not be providing further comment at this time," she added.
This is the second time a Zodiac cipher has been cracked. The first, one long cipher sent in pieces to The Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald papers in 1969, was solved by a Salinas schoolteacher and his wife.
It said little beyond: "I like killing because it is so much fun."
Code-breakers said they solved 'Zodiac Killer' cipher
Police released a sketch of what they believed the so-called Zodiac Killer to look like in the late 1960s. File Image courtesy of the San Francisco Police Department
Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A group of private citizens say they've broken an encoded message sent by the so-called "Zodiac Killer" to a San Francisco newspaper more than five decades ago.
The code-breakers said they translated the message after working on it for about 14 years.
The team included American software developer David Oranchak, Belgian computer programmer Jarl Van Eycke and Australian mathematician Sam Blake.
"It was incredible. It was a big shock. I never really thought we'd find anything because I had grown so used to failure," Oranchak told CNN.
Police believe the serial killer was responsible for at least five slayings in Northern California during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The crime spree, which remains unsolved, drew attention for the killer's cryptic and taunting notes sent to the San Francisco Chronicle.
One of those letters -- sent in November 1969 -- used a cipher detectives were unable to break. The FBI acknowledged it was aware of the code-breakers' apparent success in cracking the code.
"The Zodiac Killer case remains an ongoing investigation for the FBI San Francisco division and our local enforcement partners," the FBI said in a statement.
"The Zodiac Killer terrorized multiple communities across Northern California and even though decades have gone by, we continue to seek justice for the victims of those brutal crimes. Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, and out of respect for the victims and their families, we will not be providing further comment at this time."
The code-breakers said they translated the message, with typos included, as follows:
"I hope you are having lots of fun trying to catch me.
"I am not afraid because I know that my new life will be an easy one in paradice death."
Another encrypted letter was deciphered shortly after it was sent in July 1969. That letter threatened to kill lone people in the night if newspapers didn't run the killer's letter on their front pages.
Police believe the Zodiac Killer was responsible for the deaths of David Faraday in December 1968; Darlene Ferrin in July 1969; Cecelia Shepard in September 1969; and Paul Stine in October 1969.
Several other slayings and attacks may be attributed to the killer, but they've never been confirmed,
Asteroids aren't completely random? Mass extinctions of Earth's land animals follow a cycle, study finds Doyle Rice USA TODAY
Mass extinctions coincide with major asteroid impacts and devastating volcanic outpourings of lava.
Paleontologists had previously discovered that similar mass extinctions of marine life were not random events.
We're about 20 million years away from the next predicted mass extinction.
Mass extinctions of life on Earth appear to follow a regular pattern, a new study suggests.
In fact, widespread die-offs of land-dwelling animals – which include amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds – follow a cycle of about 27 million years, the study reports.
The study also said these mass extinctions coincide with major asteroid impacts and devastating volcanic outpourings of lava.
"The global mass extinctions were apparently caused by the largest cataclysmic impacts and massive volcanism, perhaps sometimes working in concert," said study lead author Michael Rampino of New York University, in a statement.
Paleontologists had previously discovered that similar mass extinctions of marine life, in which up to 90% of species disappeared, were not random events, but seemed to come in a 26-million-year cycle.
How could this be? Aren't asteroid or comet impacts completely random? Apparently not, the study suggests, and it's because of the orbit of our planet through the galaxy.
The solar system passes through the crowded part of our Milky Way galaxy about every 30 million years. During those times, comet showers are possible, leading to large impacts on the Earth.
"These new findings of coinciding, sudden mass extinctions on land and in the oceans, and of the common 26- to 27-million-year cycle, lend credence to the idea of periodic global catastrophic events as the triggers for the extinctions," Rampino said.
"In fact, three of the mass annihilations of species on land and in the sea are already known to have occurred at the same times as the three largest impacts of the last 250 million years, each capable of causing a global disaster and resulting mass extinctions."
The study said that the impacts can create conditions that would stress and potentially kill off land and marine life, including widespread dark and cold, wildfires, acid rain and ozone depletion. The most infamous asteroid strike we know of is the one that killed off the dinosaurs some 66 million years ago, which overall wiped out 70% of the species on Earth.
"It seems that large-body impacts and the pulses of internal Earth activity that create flood-basalt volcanism may be marching to the same 27-million-year drumbeat as the extinctions, perhaps paced by our orbit in the galaxy," Rampino said.
And as for where we are in the current cycle, he told USA TODAY that we're about 20 million years away from the next predicted mass extinction that's due to a comet strike or volcanic activity.
Researchers say global carbon emissions dropped by an estimated 2.4 billion metric tons this year due to the coronavirus-induced lockdowns. They have also warned that the emissions may rebound once the pandemic ends.
The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to reduced emissions
Carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 fell by 7%, the biggest drop ever, as countries around the world imposed lockdowns and restrictions on movement to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the Global Carbon Project said in its annual assessment on Friday.
The pandemic-struck year saw emissions cut by an estimated 2.4 billion metric tons, shattering previous records of annual declines, such as 0.9 billion metric tons at the end of World War II or 0.5 billion metric tons in 2009 when the global financial crisis hit.
Researchers say the emissions are down mainly because more people stayed home and traveled less by car or plane this year.
Transport accounted for the largest share of the global decrease in emission of carbon dioxide, the chief man-made greenhouse gas. Emissions from road transport fell by roughly half in April when the first wave of the coronavirus was at its peak. By December, it had fallen 10% year-on-year.
Emissions from aviation were down by 40% this year.
Industrial activity, which accounted for 22% of the global total, was down by 30% in some countries due to strict lockdown measures. The US and the European Union saw the most pronounced emissions reduction, down 12% and 11% respectively. China, however, saw its emissions drop just 1.7% as the country powered up its economic recovery.
CORONAVIRUS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: 7 CHANGES TO EXPECT
Better air quality
As the world grinds to a halt, the sudden shutdown of most industrial activities has dramatically reduced air pollution levels. Satellite images have even revealed a clear drop in global levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a gas which is primarily emitted from car engines and commercial manufacturing plants and is responsible for poor air quality in many major cities.
Also, China had an earlier lockdown with less of a second wave, said study co-author Corinne LeQuere, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia. China's emissions are more industrial-based than other countries and its industry was less affected than transportation, she said.
Under the Paris climate accord, signed five years ago, emissions cuts of 1 to 2 billion metric tons annually this decade are needed to limit the global temperature from rising well below 2 degrees Celsius. Since the 2015 accord, emissions have grown each year. The UN says they must fall 7.6% annually by 2030 to reach the more ambitious temperature limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Lockdown not a solution
"Of course, lockdown is absolutely not the way to tackle climate change," LeQuere said.
Experts have warned that emissions may rebound after the pandemic ends, although it is still too early to say how fast they would jump back up.
Long-term emission trends would depend on how countries power their economic recovery post-pandemic.
"All elements are not yet in place for sustained decreases in global emissions, and emissions are slowly edging back to 2019 levels," LeQuere said.
Watch video 03:42 Iceland gets creative in climate battle
Transition to green energy
Without the pandemic, the carbon footprint of big emitters such as China would have continued to grow in 2020, said Philippe Ciais, a researcher at France's Laboratory of Climate and Environment Sciences.
"It's a temporary respite," he said. "The way to mitigate climate change is not to stop activity but rather to speed up the transition to low-carbon energy."
Chris Field, director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, is more optimistic about the future.
While he too believes that emissions will increase after the pandemic, he is confident that people have become more environmentally conscious.
"I am optimistic that we have, as a society, learned some lessons that may help decrease emissions in the future," Field said.
"For example, as people get good at telecommuting a couple of days a week or realize they don't need quite so many business trips, we might see behavior-related future emissions decreases," he added. Watch video 02:46 Germany's climate program disappoints environmentalists
adi/rc (AP, AFP)
Good news? Earth's carbon dioxide emissions had record drop this year during the pandemic Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Although it took a catastrophic global pandemic for it to occur, worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide had a record drop in 2020, a new report said
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which are the leading cause of global warming, fell by 7% in 2020, according to the report from the Global Carbon Project, a group of international scientists who track emissions.
That's the biggest yearly drop on record, the group said.
Emissions from transportation accounted for the largest share of the global decrease, researchers said. Those from surface transport, such as car journeys, fell by approximately half at the peak of the COVID-19 lockdowns earlier in 2020.
“Of course, lockdown is absolutely not the way to tackle climate change,” said report co-author Corinne Le Quere, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia in the U.K.
The report estimated that the world will have put 37 billion U.S. tons of carbon dioxide in the air in 2020. That’s down from 40.1 billion U.S. tons in 2019.
Emissions dropped 12% in the U.S. and 11% in Europe, but only 1.7% in China. That’s because China had an earlier lockdown with less of a second wave. Also China’s emissions are more industrial-based than other countries and its industry was less affected than transportation, Le Quere said.
Globally, the peak of the decrease in emissions in 2020 occurred in the first half of April, when lockdown measures were at their maximum, particularly across Europe and the U.S.
Lead researcher Pierre Friedlingstein of the University of Exeter in the U.K. said that “although global emissions were not as high as last year, they still amounted to about 37 billion tons of CO2, and inevitably led to a further increase in CO2 in the atmosphere. The atmospheric CO2 level, and consequently the world’s climate, will only stabilize when global CO2 emissions are near zero.”
Researchers warn that it is too early to say how much emissions will rebound by during 2021 and beyond, as the long-term trend will be largely influenced by actions to stimulate the global economy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“All elements are not yet in place for sustained decreases in global emission, and emissions are slowly edging back to 2019 levels," Le Quere said. "Government actions to stimulate the economy at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic can also help lower emissions and tackle climate change."
A wealthy Tory MP is facing demands to pay reparations for his family’s part in the Caribbean slave trade after the Observer revealed that he now controls the plantation where his ancestors created the first slave-worked sugar plantation in the British empire almost 400 years ago.
The MP for South Dorset, Richard Drax, has inherited the 250-hectare Drax Hall plantation in Barbados from his father, inquiries by the Observer have established. His father died in 2017. Drax has not yet declared the land or its properties in the parliamentary register of members’ interests.
Last week, leading figures in the Caribbean Reparations Commission (Caricom) described the Drax Hall plantation as a “killing field” and a “crime scene” from the tens of thousands of African slaves who died there in terrible conditions between 1640 and 1836. The Draxes also owned a slave plantation in Jamaica which they sold in the 18th century. Sir Hilary Beckles, a prominent Barbadian historian of slavery, said Drax must acknowledge the wealth brought to the family by slavery. “If Richard Drax was in front of me now, I would say: ‘Mr Drax, the people of Barbados and Jamaica are entitled to reparatory justice.’”
Beckles, the chair of Caricom and the vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, said: “Today, when I drive through the Drax Hall land and its environs, I feel a keen sense of being in a massive killing field with unmarked cemeteries. Sugar and Black Death went hand in glove. Black life mattered only to make millionaires of English enslavers and the Drax family did it longer than any other elite family.”
Official sources in Bridgetown, Barbados, confirmed the MP now farms Drax Hall. One document reveals his involvement in the farm, showing that in February he registered the plantation as a business in the Barbados Companies House in his full name, Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.
On Friday, the MP said he does not yet legally own the Barbados holdings “as these are still going through the probate process and have not yet transferred to my name. Once that process is completed, I will of course register it in proper accordance with the rules.”
David Comissiong, the Barbados ambassador to Caricom, said on Friday: “There have been centuries of looting and siphoning off the wealth which should have remained in Barbados.
“This was a crime against humanity and we impose upon him [Mr Drax] and his family a moral responsibility to contribute to the effort to repair the damage.”
Like many of his ancestors, Drax is a Dorset MP and is probably the wealthiest landowner in the House of Commons, with 5,600 hectares of farmland and woodlands. The estate’s finances are largely opaque to the public gaze and involve at least six trusts and other disconnected financial entities.
Harrow-educated 62-year-old Drax, a former Guards officer and BBC journalist, lives at Charborough Park, noted for its three-mile long brick wall running alongside one of Dorset’s major roads.
In the centre of the park is the Grade I-listed mansion. Drax also owns some 125 Dorset properties personally or through family trusts and could be worth as much as £150m. He also owns a £4.5m holiday villa on nearby Sandbanks, which is rented out at up to £6,734 a week in peak season.
In Barbados, the imposing plantation house, Drax Hall, built around 1650, still stands – the oldest house in the western hemisphere – and sugar is still grown on the plantation.
Drax rarely comments on his ancestors’ history of slave owning. When he first stood for parliament in 2010, he was asked by the Daily Mirror about his historical responsibility. He replied: “I can’t be held responsible for something that happened 300 or 400 years ago.” Drax said it was an attempt to smear him. “They are using the old class thing and that is not what this election is about. It’s not what I stand for and I ignore it.”
On Friday, Drax said: “I am keenly aware of the slave trade in the West Indies, and the role my very distant ancestor played in it is deeply, deeply regrettable, but no one can be held responsible today for what happened many hundreds of years ago. This is a part of the nation’s history, from which we must all learn.’’
The Barbadian historian Beckles, however, told the Observer: “It is no answer for Richard Drax to say it has nothing to do with him when he is the owner and the inheritor. They should pay reparations.”
Music Industry Mourns Country Artist Charley Pride: ‘Truly a Giant’
After news broke Saturday that legendary country musician Charley Pride died of complications from COVID-19, musicians and industry professionals took to social media to honor his career and mourn his death.
Maren Morris commented on the fact that Pride had recently performed at the Country Music Association Awards on Nov. 11. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions because no family statement has been made, but if this was a result of the CMAs being indoors, we should all be outraged. Rest in power, Charley,” she wrote.
Dolly Parton also mourned his death, writing, “I’m so heartbroken that one of my dearest and oldest friends, Charley Pride, has passed away. It’s even worse to know that he passed away from COVID-19. What a horrible, horrible virus. Charley, we will always love you.”
Country singer Reba McEntire paid tribute to Pride, writing: “Charley Pride will always be a legend in Country music. He will truly be missed but will always be remembered for his great music, wonderful personality and his big heart.”
Country singer Ronnie Milsap remembered Pride in a statement to Variety.
“Charley Pride, a pioneer, a music man, a baseball player, a good friend and the love of Rozene’s life, has passed on. Without his encouragement when I was playing the Whiskey.A-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip in the ‘70s, I might have never made it to Nashville – and to hear this news tears out a piece of my heart,” Milsap wrote. “That he died of COVID makes me even sadder. These are such sad days with too much lose. Please, to everyone who’s ever loved ‘Kiss An Angel Good Morning,’ ‘Mountain of Love’ or ‘Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone,’ wear a mask, wash your hands and be wise about gathering. We’ve lost too many, and I just want us all to be here to love each other and the music the way Charley always did for years to come.”
Country-folk band Flatland Cavalry tweeted lyrics from Pride’s 1971 track “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'”: “Kiss an angel good morning and love her like the devil when you get back home. RIP to the legend Charley Pride.”
“The Voice” winner and singer Chevel Shepherd wrote, “Heartbroken to hear about Charley Pride. We just watched you on the CMA Awards. You have touched so many lives, and your music will continue to do just that.”
Singer-songwriter Kelleigh Bannen commented on Pride’s acceptance speech for the lifetime achievement award at the CMAs: “Heartbroken. I never met Charley Pride but admired him from afar. His acceptance speech for the lifetime achievement CMA award was such a stunning display of humility and humanity from a man who was truly a giant.”
Jeremy Blum ·Reporter, HuffPost Sat., December 12, 2020,
Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg said on Friday — one day before the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement — that she is glad the United States will be rejoining the accord, but added that world leaders still had far to go in tackling environmental challenges.
“I am more than happy that the U.S. will rejoin the Paris agreement; that is absolutely crucial,” Thunberg said to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, referencing President-elect Joe Biden’s affirmation to rejoin on day one of his presidency.
Thunberg said that despite this hopeful development, global leaders still needed “to start treating the climate crisis like a crisis.”
“We need to communicate the situation where we are, we need to understand that we are facing an emergency, we need to change the social narrative around this, and of course as young people we would really appreciate it if we stopped only talking about future, distant hypothetical goals and targets ... and start focusing on what we need to do now,” Thunberg said.
“We don’t want to solve these problems for you; we want you to take care of it right now,” she said.
Thunberg echoed similar points in an Instagram video released on Thursday, stressing that pledges by countries such as the U.K., which has promised a 68% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, presented only a vague illusion of progress.
“We need to stop focusing on goals and targets for 2030 or 2050,” Thunberg said in the clip. “We need to implement annual binding carbon budgets today.”
is "happy that the U.S. will rejoin the Paris agreement", she is calling for far greater climate urgency from political leaders.
"As young people, we would really appreciate if we stopped only talking about future, distant hypothetical goals and targets."
A huge thanks to Tom Mustill, Evie Wright and Fergus Dingle for turning my Paris Agreement Anniversary speech into a film!!
UPDATED EU agrees on tougher climate goals for 2030
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the EU will cut carbon emissions to 55% of 1990 levels within a decade. The agreement to cut emissions followed all-night talks at the EU summit
EU leaders agreed on Friday to set an ambitious target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55% compared to 1990 levels by 2030.
The deal came after more than 10 hours of negotiations late Thursday into Friday morning. The increase from an earlier reduction target of 40% was proposed by the European Commission in September, but was met with resistance in some EU states.
EU greenhouse gas emissions dropped by 24% between 1990 and 2019, according to the Commission. The economy, meanwhile, grew around 60% during the same period.
The new plan will require major overhauls of the energy and transport sectors as well as a huge push to renovate and retrofit buildings to make them energy-efficient and able to charge electric vehicles.
Massive investments will be needed to help those countries with a higher reliance on fossil fuel to manage the transition, EU officials have said.
Announcing the plan, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. She said it "puts us on a clear path towards climate neutrality in 2050."
"Great way to celebrate the first anniversary of our #EUGreenDeal!" she tweeted.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the deal was a "very, very important result." She added, "It was worth staying up all night for that."
In a separate statement, German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said the Berlin government had "worked hard over the past few months" to try to seal the deal. Coal-heavy countries opposed the plan
Poland, backed by other coal-dependent central European countries, had been holding out for guarantees on funding to pay for a clean energy transition. Those states said it was unfair that all member states should commit to the same goal without considering their respective energy dependencies.
To win their approval, member states agreed that the new target should be delivered collectively.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his country had achieved its goals, securing additional cash from the EU modernization fund.
The European Parliament, which itself is pushing for a slightly higher target, still has to approve the Commission's new emissions goal.
Both targets, however, are lower than those proposed by the UK, which is set to leave the EU's single market and customs union at the end of the month and has vowed that environmental standards will not suffer as a result.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week that he wants the UK to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% from 1990 levels by 2030.
Global summit to present 'ambitious' climate change goals
Issued on: 12/12/2020 -
China's President Xi Jinping is among the leaders taking part in the summit
JOHANNES EISELE AFP
London (AFP)
Global leaders were due to announce more ambitious plans to combat global warming on Saturday, on the fifth anniversary of the signing of the landmark Paris Agreement.
The Climate Ambition Summit, being held online, comes as the United Nations warns current commitments to tackle rises in global temperatures are inadequate.
Britain, the UN and France are co-hosting the summit, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson will open at 1400 GMT and which will be live-streamed at climateambitionsummit2020.org.
China's President Xi Jinping and France's Emmanuel Macron are among the heads of state taking part, with speaking slots handed to leaders of countries that submitted the most ambitious plans.
These include Honduras, and Guatemala, which were both recently hit by hurricanes, as well as India, which is battling increasingly erratic weather patterns and air pollution.
Business figures set to speak reportedly include Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, which has committed to making its whole supply chain carbon neutral by 2030.
But major economies including Australia, Brazil and South Africa are absent. Australia has not committed to net-zero emissions by 2050 and has been accused of setting targets that are too weak.
Speakers will deliver short video messages, with organisers saying they will announce "new and ambitious climate change commitments" and there will be "no space for general statements".
The 2015 Paris climate accord saw signatories commit to take action to limit temperature rises to "well below" 2.0 Celsius above pre-industrial levels and try to limit them to 1.5C.
But the UN warned this week that under current commitments, the Earth is still on course for a "catastrophic temperature rise" of more than 3.0C this century.
It warned this will create a crisis that will "dwarf the impacts of Covid-19" and has said current pledges to cut emissions to meet the Paris accord were "woefully inadequate".
- 'Moment of accountability' -
Greenpeace called the summit -- seen as a warm-up for the UN's climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, next November -- a "moment of accountability for leaders".
Under the Paris deal's "ratchet" mechanism, countries are required to submit renewed emissions cutting plans — termed Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs — every five years.
The deadline for this is December 31.
Countries are set to announce efforts to reduce national emissions, long-term strategies and financial commitments to support the most vulnerable.
More than 110 countries have committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. China, the world's biggest polluter, announced in September it plans to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060.
The summit comes as EU leaders on Friday committed to the goal of reducing emissions by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
Britain -- out of the EU since January -- this month announced it would seek to reduce emissions by 68 percent over the same period.
Johnson has presented plans for a "green industrial revolution" creating up to 250,000 jobs.
And before the summit opened, he committed to ending all direct government support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas.
The last five years have been the warmest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization, a UN agency, with concern at rising numbers of wildfires, storms and flooding.
The UN has said that the drop in emissions due to the global coronavirus pandemic is too small to halt the rising temperatures.
The United States, the world's second-largest polluter after China, left the Paris Agreement under President Donald Trump who questioned the accepted science behind climate change.
Incoming US climate envoy John Kerry plans immediately to re-enter the accord and President-elect Joe Biden has set a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
EU Chiefs Back Tough Emission Goal After Last-Minute Scuffle
Ewa Krukowska Fri., December 11, 2020
(Bloomberg) -- European Union leaders have agreed to more aggressive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, one year after launching a moonshot Green Deal that led the way for other major economies to raise their climate ambitions.
The decision to cut pollution by at least 55% by 2030, up from 40% previously, was expected. But it helps keep global momentum on the issue going into 2021, when incoming U.S. President Joe Biden plans to re-join the landmark Paris Agreement and set a 2050 net-zero goal. It also gives European leaders a bold new commitment to tout at a global climate meeting on Saturday.
The EU decision was reached at a summit in Brussels that began on Thursday and ran through most of the night as three poorer, fossil-fuel reliant Eastern countries opposed an initial deal, asking for more help to clean up their economies.
Their last-minute pushback shocked western leaders, prompting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to say she was speechless, according to two officials with knowledge of the discussions. “Climate was a nightmare,” said an EU diplomat. “I’ve never seen so many revised versions of one-page conclusions.”
Hungary and the Czech Republic dropped their objections during the night but Poland continued to block the deal until 8 a.m. on Friday. It eventually agreed to the new target after getting assurances that the financial burden will not fall disproportionately on its shoulders. The new target will require an additional 350 billion euros ($424 billion) a year in energy production and infrastructure investment.
Climate-ambitious western economies, including France, Sweden and the Netherlands, were pushing for a swift agreement on the stricter emission-reduction target before Saturday’s Climate Ambition Summit marking the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. More than 70 countries are set to announce new commitments, and expectations are high for Chinese President Xi Jinping to build on his pledge that the world’s biggest polluter will be carbon neutral by 2060.
The last EU leaders’ summit of the year turned into a high-stakes meeting where financial aid, climate goals and Brexit collided in ways that have tested Merkel’s talent for finding compromises on the thorniest issues for the bloc. A deal was eventually reached on a massive economic recovery package, but Brexit was still unresolved with just days to go.
The EU is the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, right behind China and the U.S. Carbon dioxide emissions from Europe have been going down in recent years, largely driven by a reduction in the use of coal, which fell 18% in 2019, according to the Global Carbon Budget for 2020.
The EU’s new emissions target is part of the Green Deal recovery plan. By 2050, Europe wants to be the world’s first climate-neutral continent. The bloc will formalize its new pledge under the global climate accord at a meeting of environment ministers on Dec. 17.
The 2030 target is key to completing the European Climate Law, legislation that would make binding the Green Deal objective of eliminating greenhouse gases by the middle of the century. National governments and the European Parliament can now proceed with negotiations and shape a draft law by early next year.
Once adopted, the climate law will pave the way for a swath of regulations to implement the green transition. Next year the European Commission plans to propose measures that will strengthen the bloc’s carbon market, bolster rules to boost renewable energy, toughen emissions standards for cars and impose pollution limits on maritime transport.
(Updates with detail in fourth)
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
EU leaders agree to reduce emissions after all-night talks
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders reached a hard-fought deal Friday to cut the bloc’s net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by the end of the decade compared with 1990 levels, avoiding a hugely embarrassing deadlock ahead of a U.N. climate meeting this weekend.
Following night-long discussions at their two-day summit in Brussels, the 27 member states approved the EU executive commission’s proposal to toughen the bloc’s intermediate target on the way to climate neutrality by mid-century, after a group of reluctant, coal-reliant countries finally agreed to support the improved goal.
“Europe is the leader in the fight against climate change,” tweeted EU Council president Charles Michel as daylight broke over the EU capital city. “We decided to cut our greenhouse gas emissions of at least 55% by 2030.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the 21-hour summit during which the climate debate was a constant worry, had much to show for it. “It was worth having a sleepless night," she said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, hailed Friday's deal.
“It’s a very welcome announcement, one that inscribes itself in the efforts the secretary-general has called on member states, the groups of member states, to take," Dujarric said.
Five years after the Paris agreement, the EU wants to be a leader in the fight against global warming. Yet the bloc’s leaders were unable to agree on the new target the last time they met in October, mainly because of financial concerns by eastern nations seeking more clarity about how to fund and handle the green transition.
But the long-awaited deal on a massive long-term budget and coronavirus recovery clinched Thursday by EU leaders swung the momentum.
Large swaths of the record-high 1.82 trillion-euro package are set to pour into programs and investments designed to help the member states, regions and sectors particularly affected by the green transition, which are in need of a deep economic and social transformation. EU leaders have agreed that 30% of the package — some 550 billion euros — should be used to support the transition.
Still, agreeing on common language was not an easy task. Negotiations were punctuated throughout the night by intense discussions in the plenary session and multiple chats in smaller groups on the sidelines.
Another delay in revising the EU’s current 40% emission cuts objective for 2030 would have been particularly embarrassing before the virtual Climate Ambition Summit marking five years since the Paris deal, and leaders worked to the wire to seal a deal.
The event on Saturday will be co-hosted by the U.K. with the United Nations and France.
French President Emmanuel Macron praised “a major signal” that will enable EU leaders “to bring in our wake our big international partners, especially the United States and China.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week he wants the U.K. to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% from 1990 levels by 2030 — a more ambitious goal than the EU’s.
Poland, which last year didn’t commit to the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality goal, and other eastern countries, including the Czech Republic and Hungary, largely depend on coal for their energy needs. They considered it unfair that all member states should be submitted to the same ambition without considering their respective energy mixes.
To win their approval, member states agreed that the new target should be delivered collectively. According to the Belgian Prime minister's office, “leaders agreed that the cuts will be first achieved in sectors and countries where there is still plenty of room for improvement."
In addition, the European Commission will take into account specific national situations when drawing up the measures. A progress report will be submitted to the European Council in the spring.
The accord also left the door open to member states to use gas or nuclear power as they drop fossil fuels. EU leaders agreed last year that nuclear energy would be part of the bloc’s solution to making its economy carbon neutral, and they reiterated Friday that they would respect member states' rights to decide on their energy mix and to choose the most appropriate technologies to reach the goal.
According to a French official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the meeting, Poland also obtained guarantees that the EU's Emissions Trading System — a cap-and-trade scheme for industries to buy carbon credits covering about 40% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions — would be revamped. Poland wants the reform of the system to redirect more revenues to the poorer EU countries.
World leaders agreed five years ago in Paris to keep the global warming increase to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and ideally no more than 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) by the end of the century. Under the Paris accord, countries are required to submit updated climate targets by the end of this year.
Greenpeace and other environmental groups have said the improved EU target is insufficient to properly tackle climate change.
“To increase the chances of limiting global heating to 1.5°C and avoid the worst effects of climate breakdown, Greenpeace is calling for at least a 65% cut in EU emissions from polluting sectors by 2030,” the NGO said.
Climate Action Network Europe regretted that the revised “net” target includes carbon sinks like reforestation, meaning that emitting sectors will need to decarbonize less to reach the new goal.
“As the Commission indicates itself in its 2030 Climate Target Plan, if the EU is successful in implementing the Commission’s biodiversity, carbon removals could represent up to 5% of emissions. In this case the real emissions reduction target would be as low as 50%,” the NGO said.
EU leaders also encouraged the commission to propose a carbon tax at the bloc’s borders for countries that did do not regulate CO2 emissions as strictly as the EU does.
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Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this story.
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