[Ecological Environment Week Observation] is a special weekly newspaper product of Titanium Media, which aims to present the most important policies, events, discussions and data in the field of global ecological environment every week in front of readers, and capture the small but important changes around us with the most authentic and cutting-edge information. The world is hot and cold, and the vision lights up the future.
Climate diplomacy
- U.S.-China talks on climate: The two sides will carry out relevant technical cooperation
According to CCTV News, from May 8 to 9, the meeting of the "Enhanced Climate Action Working Group in the 20s of the 21st Century" between China and the United States was held in Washington, D.C. The meeting was co-chaired by China's Special Envoy for Climate Change Liu Zhenmin and the U.S. President's Senior Advisor on International Climate Policy, John Podesta, and was attended by officials from both countries. According to the report, the meeting reviewed the San Francisco meeting between the Chinese and US heads of state, and conducted in-depth discussions on the energy transition, methane and other non-CO2 greenhouse gases, circular economy and resource efficiency, deforestation, low-carbon provinces/states and cities as identified in the Sunshine Country Statement on Strengthening Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis, and cooperated on multilateral issues related to the successful hosting of the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. The two sides shared their experiences and challenges in climate policies and actions aimed at effectively addressing the climate crisis and its impacts. In addition, the two sides plan to host the second "Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gas Summit" during COP29. The two sides commit to promote bilateral cooperation and capacity building on the deployment of emission reduction technologies and the establishment or improvement of their respective MRV systems and standards, so as to achieve the goal of methane emission control or emission reduction in the 20s of the 21st century. The two sides took note of the methane alert and response system at the United Nations Environment Programme's International Methane Emissions Observatory. The two sides will also undertake technical cooperation and capacity building on measurement and mitigation options for other non-CO2 greenhouse gases, including nitrous oxide in industry and tropospheric ozone precursors. The two sides also said they look forward to the U.S.-China High-Level Event on Local Climate Action to be held in Berkeley, California, May 29-30.
policy
- The third round and the second batch of central ecological and environmental protection inspectors have all been stationed
According to CCTV News, on May 9, the Yunnan Provincial Mobilization Meeting of the Seventh Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Supervision Group was held in Kunming. So far, the third round of the second batch of 7 central ecological and environmental protection inspection teams have all been stationed. The seven provinces and cities are Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing and Yunnan. According to the work arrangement, the third round of the second batch of central ecological and environmental protection inspectors will be stationed for one month. During the stationing period, each inspection team set up a special duty telephone and post office box to accept letters, calls, letters and reports from the ecological and environmental protection of the inspected locality.
- The four departments jointly held a symposium on the construction of a beautiful China with green financial services
According to China Environment Network, on May 10, the People's Bank of China, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the State Administration of Financial Supervision and the China Securities Regulatory Commission jointly held a symposium on the construction of a beautiful China in green financial services. The meeting pointed out that the development of green finance is an inevitable requirement for implementing the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and serving the construction of a beautiful China, an important part of supporting the green transformation of the real economy and achieving high-quality financial development, and an important aspect of responding to climate change risks. In addition, the meeting emphasized that the financial management department, the ecological environment department, financial institutions and relevant enterprises should strengthen cross-departmental and cross-field coordination and cooperation, strengthen overall planning, and further strengthen the top-level design. Promote the construction of the environmental factor market, gradually expand the industry coverage of the mainland carbon market in stages, and improve the national greenhouse gas voluntary emission reduction trading market。 Make good use of the professional advantages of relevant institutions and units of the ecological environment, and strengthen technical support in carbon accounting, third-party assessment and certification. We will give full play to the positive role of financial institutions and financial infrastructure to further contribute to the construction of the carbon market. Strengthen the tripartite financing docking between the government, banks and enterprises, and establish a joint promotion mechanism for key projects serving the construction of a beautiful China.
- The National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice to carry out in-depth energy efficiency diagnosis of key energy-using units
On May 11, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Notice on In-depth Energy Efficiency Diagnosis of Key Energy-using Units", requiring that by the end of 2025, all regions should establish energy-saving management files for key energy-using units with an annual comprehensive energy consumption of 5,000 tons of standard coal and above, so as to achieve full coverage of energy-saving supervision of key energy-using units, further improve the management level of energy conservation and carbon reduction of key energy-using units, and continue to improve the reserve list of energy-saving and carbon-reduction transformation and energy-using equipment renewal projects.
- The G7 plans to shut down all coal power plants by 2035
Andrew Bowie, the UK's Secretary of State for Nuclear and Renewable Energy, revealed to U.S. media on April 29 that at the G7 meeting in the northern Italian city of Turin, representatives of seven countries (the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Canada) had agreed on a timetable for phasing out coal-fired power plants and would commit to achieving this goal by 2035, Xinhua news agency reported. However, other media reported that the Italian side responded that the so-called 2035 deadline is "only hypothetical" for now.
affair
- LONGi set a new world record for the conversion efficiency of monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic cells
On May 7, local time, LONGi Green Energy held a press conference in Madrid, Spain, announcing that the company's self-developed back-contact crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cell (HBC) photoelectric conversion efficiency has reached 27.3%, once again setting a new world record for the conversion efficiency of single-crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. It is reported that the previous record is the 27.09% photoelectric conversion efficiency of HBC cells created by LONGi in December 2023.
- Microsoft signed the largest green energy agreement and the largest carbon removal agreement in history
On May 1, local time, Microsoft and Brookfield Asset Management announced that the two sides signed an agreement totaling more than $10 billion to develop renewable energy power generation to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence and data centers. The companies said the agreement will focus on solar and wind power, but will also focus on some new, promising and carbon-free, cutting-edge power generation technologies. This was followed by an agreement on May 6 at Swedish energy company Stockholm Exergi to permanently remove 3.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and deliver carbon removal certificates to Microsoft over a decade starting in 2028. According to the statement, the contract is the world's largest carbon removal agreement to date.
- The world's largest direct carbon capture plant officially starts operations in Iceland
According to a report released by the global network on May 11, the world's largest direct carbon capture plant opened by Swiss startup Climeworks in Iceland has officially started operation recently. According to reports, the plant, called Mammoth, has 72 industrial fans and is capable of capturing about 36,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year from the air, significantly surpassing the company's previous record of about 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide absorbed by the Orca carbon capture plant per year.
- Japan's fifth discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea has been completed
According to CCTV News, Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company's first and fifth discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea in fiscal year 2024 ended at noon local time on May 7, and a total of about 7,800 tons of nuclear-contaminated water were discharged into the sea in 17 days. In addition, TEPCO also said that in the fifth discharge, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was shut down for about six and a half hours due to a power outage caused by cable damage caused by excavation operations on April 24. According to TEPCO's previously announced plan, a total of 7 discharges of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea are expected in FY2024, with a total discharge of about 54,600 tons, 1.8 times that of FY2023.
- Several states in the U.S. are plagued by severe weather
Recently, the southern United States has suffered a wide range of severe weather that has lasted for more than two weeks, and more than 1,000 abnormal weather reports have been reported since May 6, including more than 100 tornadoes. According to preliminary statistics from the Associated Press, the tornado has killed at least four people everywhere. According to the statistics of the Storm Prediction Center of the U.S. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, tornadoes, hailstorms, heavy rains and other disasters since May have affected at least 220 million people in 39 states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee. According to a report by Caixin, on the evening of May 8, local time, the Texas Electric Reliability Commission (ERCOT) released data saying that the spot electricity price in Texas jumped to more than US$3,000 per megawatt-hour (about 21.7 yuan/kWh) that night, an increase of nearly 100 times from the previous day. According to ERCOT's analysis, hot weather and planned power outages during the spring shoulder season (April-June) are the main reasons behind this. In addition, hot and windless weather reduces the efficiency of many wind farms, affecting wind power generation.
study
- The World Meteorological Organization said April was the hottest on record
According to Xinhua News Agency, the World Meteorological Organization on May 10, citing a report by the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European Union's climate monitoring agency, said that the world has just experienced the hottest April on record, with the global average surface temperature reaching 15.03 degrees Celsius, breaking the record of 14.89 degrees Celsius set in April 2016, 1.58 degrees Celsius higher than the average temperature of the same period before industrial time (1850 to 1900), and the global average monthly temperature has been the highest value for the same period for 11 consecutive months. The report also notes that the duration of record temperatures is prolonging, fueled by El Niño and greenhouse gases from human activities. (This article was first published on Titanium Media APP, author|Hu Jiameng, editor|Liu Yangxue)
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