Commentaries

From the University of Sorbonne, an international team of leading scientistis from the PARIS REINFORCE research project consortium explain where the planet is headed.

A comment in La Revue de l’Énergie, on the PARIS REINFORCE final event at l’Amphithéâtre Liard de la Sorbonne, Paris, France, and on the value of stakeholder dialogue in climate science and policy, alongside some information on the project.

An article summarising the results of the PARIS REINFORCE opinion poll on citizens' perceptions of the energy and climate crisis, in Greece. The survey was carried out in autumn 2022, among 1026 individuals and was presented at the final project conference in Greece, which was held at the Acropolis Museum, on 8 November 2022, by 180 stakeholders.

This commentary from CNN Greece is a teaser for the results of the large-scale PARIS REINFORCE poll in Greece on the energy and climate crisis, as well as a promotional article for the Greece final conference of the project, on 8 November 2022, at the Acropolis Museum.

How to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change amidst an energy crisis. A commentary in the Oikonomikos Tahidromos newspaper (in Greek), promoting the Greek stakeholder conference in the Acropolis Museum, on Tuesday, 8 November 2022.

Prof. Haris Doukas and Dr. Alexandros Nikas participated in the B2Green Special Issue on heating and cooling, with an article on PARIS REINFORCE work on Greece's energy strategy to mitigate the impacts of the energy prices crisis as well as eliminate reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

The REPowerEU plan spells out the need to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy sources, cut energy use and diversify supply. However, European leaders are now locked into infrastructure for mobilizing liquefied natural gas and other readily available fossil-fuel options, while remaining mostly silent on climate. The climate-science community must step up to help Europe navigate this energy crisis.

Doukas, H., & Nikas, A. (2022). Europe’s energy crisis — climate community must speak up. Nature, 608, 472.

Now is the right time to re-design the way we assess energy progress. Bringing together people from all layers of the energy ecosystem is vital to keep moving forward together within these multiple crises.

Doukas, H. (2022). Energy Citizenship – A new dimension in Energy Policy Making. New Europe, https://www.neweurope.eu/article/energy-citizenship-a-new-dimension-in-energy-policy-making.

Energy is a bigger story than carbon neutrality. It interconnects people and places, hopes and fears. If we want to shift towards a carbon-free economy. an honest and inclusive conversation is needed, in which considerably more groups of people are involved and represented.

Doukas, H. (2022). Energy Transitions: Keeping the Society on Board. Open Access Government, Issue of January 2022.

Small modular reactors are being pitched as an affordable and fast way to decarbonise power grids but questions about the technology abound.

Despite the promises made at COP26, the world is still on track for a dangerous amount of warming.

Modellers look at how climate policies might change with time — and find a wide range of possible outcomes, none of them good.

During the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, many analysts rushed to report on the ambition of nations, predicting a future as predicted by climate pledges announced. A new study, that the National Technical University of Athens took part in, raises serious questions, estimating the predictions made entail great uncertainty, despite the pretext for reassurance.

During the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, many analysts rushed to report on the ambition of nations, predicting a future as predicted by climate pledges announced. A new study, that the National Technical University of Athens took part in, raises serious questions, estimating the predictions made entail great uncertainty, despite the pretext for reassurance.

Paris (AFP) – UN projections of how much current climate policies and national pledges to cut carbon pollution will slow global warming are more uncertain than widely assumed, researchers reported Monday.

In the aftermath of the United Nations’ annual climate conference earlier this month, scientists have a sobering message: The world still is not on track to meet its international climate goals.

A new analysis by researchers from the EU Horizon 2020 project 'Paris Reinforce', including Imperial College London's Dr Ajay Gambhir, has found that the impact of climate policies is more uncertain than is often assumed by policymakers.

Despite the commitments made by the signatory countries of the Paris agreement, the authors of a study published in the journal "Nature Climate Change" estimate that the average temperature on Earth could increase from 2.2 ° C to 2.9 ° C by 2100.

A new analysis casts doubt on whether scientists can precisely estimate how much nations' combined emissions-cutting pledges will stem global warming, instead showing a wide range of potential outcomes.

Researchers have calculated the most likely course of greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the century, based on today's climate policy. A temperature rise of less than two degrees is almost impossible.

Confident claims that promises made by world leaders will drastically reign in global warming could be wildly off the mark, according to a major new international study.

The overwhelming percentage of 98% of citizens in our country recognizes climate change as a major issue and specifically associates it with contemporary natural disasters (92%). They also believe that in order to deal with climate change we need to invest in solar (78,4%), wind (60%) and hydroelectric energy (32%).

According to Zacharias Zoupis, survey director in Opinion Poll, "the survey received input from 1001 households, which is a respectable sample with proportionate representation across Greece."

98% of Greek citizens recognize climate change as a major planetary issue, while among the young ones, the percentage reaches the absolute 100%.

98% of Greek citizens believe climate change is a serious issue for the planet, while among the young ones, the percentage reaches the absolute 100%, according to findings of the survey ran by Opinion Poll. More specifically 92% of Greek citizens associate climate change with contemporary natural disasters increasing, whereas just 6% disagrees. Also of note that over 68% are not aware of the priorities of the energy design of our country, while only 25% has a rough understanding of it.

Assoc. Prof. Haris Doukas (National Technical University of Athens) responds to WWF's questions on climate justice, the need for a new and just Climate Law in Greece, and the PARIS REINFORCE project, in an interview in LiFO.

Lignite production and use in Greece has been dropping in the last decade, marking a sharp decline during COVID-19. According to the country’s National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), lignite must be completely phased out by 2028.

Doukas, H., & Nikas, A. (2021). The Delignitisation Roller Coaster in Greece: An Old Car and a Steep Slope Ahead. The Future of Work. Available at: https://republic.gr/futureofwork/the-delignitisation-roller-coaster-in-greece-an-old-car-and-a-steep-slope-ahead/

The so-called “fast fashion” entails a cost that is not at all negligible. And the pandemic has highlighted it.

Doukas, H., & Nikas, A. (2021). Involve citizens in climate-policy modelling. Nature, 590, 389.

As there is no “one model fits all” approach, scientists need to employ a diversity of modelling tools, placing the human factor at the core of all scientific processes, towards enhancing the robustness of model-driven policy prescriptions through participatory frameworks.

There is no space for “one crisis at a time”. And evidence suggests that behavioural changes have been instrumental in reducing the spread of COVID-19. The climate crisis is no different.

Annela Anger-Kraavi, a senior researcher in climate change policy and economics at the University of Cambridge, highlights three positive and three negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic on climate change.

The coronavirus pandemic, like climate change, teaches us about the importance of mitigating risk to ensure our future prosperity. Should we place all our hopes on technology to deliver this safer future?

This briefing identifies key recovery policies that the UK government could introduce to both respond to the crisis of COVID-19, and support the country in meeting its commitment to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

It has been produced in association with the COP26 Universities Network, a growing group of more than 30 UK-based universities working together to help deliver an ambitious outcome at the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow and beyond.

The COVID-19 global pandemic is pushing institutions and governments to their limits. People are worried about their health, their families, losing their jobs and the uncertainty the future holds. The economic fallout of this crisis is still uncertain too, and we may well wake up in a few months to a world completely transformed. While the current focus should be on minimising the loss of life, governments around the world are already responding to support a faltering, if not free falling, global economy. The stimulus packages provided will total in the trillions of dollars, euros, pounds, yen, yuan, pesos and many other currencies.

This crisis has exposed many vulnerabilities that can be traced back to the unsustainable development that has ravaged the environment, and yet failed to eradicate poverty and hunger. Governments should take a moment to reflect, learn from past mistakes and redirect development towards a sustainable future. Medical professionals are putting their lives on the line to contain the virus; decision-makers owe it to them to rebuild the world in a way that makes it more resilient to similar situations in the future. Political and financial leaders, said International Energy Agency head Dr Fatih Birol, should consider directing economic stimulus packages that “shape policies … to step up our ambition to tackle climate change.”

How can the government response to COVID-19 help create a more sustainable, resilient, healthy future?

See the full Commentary on the Grantham Institute blog via the link below.

Coronavirus is here. Its impact on our health systems, economies and behaviours cannot yet be understood, but analogies have already been drawn between this immediate challenge and the more chronic, insidious climate change challenge.

Any broader analysis of coronavirus, beyond that which centres around how to minimise and mitigate its impact, arguably risks being insensitive or inappropriate at this time. Millions of vulnerable people of all ages are in danger and the UK’s own perennially optimistic prime minister has said that we must be prepared to lose some loved ones before their time. However, it’s critical to reflect on any lessons we might learn from coronavirus so that we can tackle climate change as effectively as possible.

See the full Commentary on the Grantham Institute blog via the link below.

Stock markets around the world had some of their worst performance in decades this past week, well surpassing that of the global financial crisis in 2008. Restrictions in the free movement of people is disrupting economic activity across the world as measures to control the coronavirus roll out.

There is a strong link between economic activity and global carbon dioxide emissions, due to the dominance of fossil fuel sources of energy. This coupling suggests we might be in for an unexpected surprise due to the coronavirus pandemic: a slowdown of carbon dioxide emissions due to reduced energy consumption.

Based on new projections for economic growth in 2020, we suggest the impact of the coronavirus might significantly curb global emissions.

The effect is likely to be less pronounced than during the global financial crisis (GFC). And emissions declines in response to past economic crises suggest a rapid recovery of emissions when the pandemic is over.

But prudent spending of economic stimulus measures, and a permanent adoption of new work behaviours, could influence how emissions evolve in future.