By Jang Daul
The year 2021 is ending soon. While 2021 will be mainly remembered for the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we also need to recap the key climate moments of the year in this era of climate emergency.
On Jan. 20, his first day in office, Joe Biden, the new president of the largest cumulative carbon emitter in the world, came back to the Paris Climate Accords. The U.N. head described that event as a day of hope and U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry replied that America had rejoined the global climate effort "with humility and with ambition."
In the first half of February, an exceptionally severe cold wave hit large parts of the U.S. More than 500 places in the U.S. recorded the lowest temperatures ever, and 5.5 million households in 18 states suffered from power outages. Scientists have not yet concluded whether climate change caused the extreme weather phenomenon, but it is believed that the warming of the Arctic is causing unpredictable weather events around the world.
During April 22―23, the Biden administration invited the heads of the major carbon emitting countries, including President Moon Jae-in, to the Leaders' Summit on Climate to raise their concerted aspirations to stop climate change. At the summit, more ambitious targets were announced by key countries, including the U.S., Canada, Japan and the U.K. The event was a critical step forward in tackling the global climate emergency.
On April 29, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the German Climate Protection Act was partially unconstitutional and ordered the German government to strengthen its climate targets. The decision was part of a continuation of climate change litigation cases, starting from the historic Urgenda case in the Netherlands in 2019. In February of this year, the Paris Administrative Court also ordered the French government to take all necessary measures to tackle the climate crisis to prevent a further increase of carbon emissions.
A little less than one month after the German court decision, another historic verdict was made on May 26 in the Netherlands. The District Court in The Hague ruled that Shell, the multinational oil and gas company, is liable for damaging the climate, and therefore, that it needs to curb its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030.
The court case was brought by NGOs including Greenpeace as well as individual co-plaintiffs. There is a similar ongoing lawsuit in Korea that was filed by 19 youth activists on March 13, 2020, against the government and the National Assembly at the Constitutional Court. I hope Korea will also recognize the rights of the plaintiffs and make another historic ruling soon.
On June 9, 2021, the Keystone XL pipeline, which was proposed in 2008 to bring oil from Canada to U.S. refiners, was canceled by the owner company. It is a meaningful victory for the people in the world who are fighting against new fossil fuel infrastructure and calling for alternatives. We need more and more resistance across the globe to stop the further development of massive fossil fuel projects.
Following a record-breaking 202 millimeters of rainfall in one hour in July, a catastrophic flood killed more than 300 people and prompted the evacuation of 815,000 residents of Henan Province in central China. Also, more than 200 deaths were caused by severe floods in Germany and Belgium. Scientists analyzed that climate change made deadly floods in Western Europe at least 20 percent more likely to happen.
On Aug. 9, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the first part of its "Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis," concluding that we face a "code red for humanity," as we are observing unprecedented changes in the earth's climate due to global warming ― or more accurately, human-driven global heating. The report is yet another piece of scientific evidence calling for urgent and ambitious climate action.
On Sept. 23, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China "will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad." Earlier this year, similar commitments came from the other top public financiers of overseas coal plants, Japan and South Korea. With these pledges, we came a step closer to making coal history.
From Oct. 31 to Nov. 12, the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) was held in Glasgow, the U.K. COP26 was meant to deliver on firmly closing the gap to reach the target of limiting global heating to only 1.5 degrees Celsius, but that did not happen. However, the line in the Glasgow Climate Pact related to phasing out unabated coal and fossil fuel subsidies is nevertheless a breakthrough, even though it is weak considering the severity of the climate crisis we face.
Lastly, deadly tornadoes devastated communities in the U.S. Midwest this month. It will take some time to conclude scientifically whether global warming caused by humans is the main cause of the unusually severe storms.
The new year is coming. We don't know what extreme weather events will occur next year. However, we do know that the frequency and severity of extreme weather events caused by global warming are increasing and they will only become worse unless we take bold and urgent actions. I hope to see more climate actions in 2022.
Jang Daul (daul.jang@greenpeace.org) is a government relations and advocacy specialist at Greenpeace East Asia's Seoul office.
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On Jan. 20, his first day in office, Joe Biden, the new president of the largest cumulative carbon emitter in the world, came back to the Paris Climate Accords. The U.N. head described that event as a day of hope and U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry replied that America had rejoined the global climate effort "with humility and with ambition."
In the first half of February, an exceptionally severe cold wave hit large parts of the U.S. More than 500 places in the U.S. recorded the lowest temperatures ever, and 5.5 million households in 18 states suffered from power outages. Scientists have not yet concluded whether climate change caused the extreme weather phenomenon, but it is believed that the warming of the Arctic is causing unpredictable weather events around the world.
During April 22―23, the Biden administration invited the heads of the major carbon emitting countries, including President Moon Jae-in, to the Leaders' Summit on Climate to raise their concerted aspirations to stop climate change. At the summit, more ambitious targets were announced by key countries, including the U.S., Canada, Japan and the U.K. The event was a critical step forward in tackling the global climate emergency.
On April 29, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the German Climate Protection Act was partially unconstitutional and ordered the German government to strengthen its climate targets. The decision was part of a continuation of climate change litigation cases, starting from the historic Urgenda case in the Netherlands in 2019. In February of this year, the Paris Administrative Court also ordered the French government to take all necessary measures to tackle the climate crisis to prevent a further increase of carbon emissions.
A little less than one month after the German court decision, another historic verdict was made on May 26 in the Netherlands. The District Court in The Hague ruled that Shell, the multinational oil and gas company, is liable for damaging the climate, and therefore, that it needs to curb its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030.
The court case was brought by NGOs including Greenpeace as well as individual co-plaintiffs. There is a similar ongoing lawsuit in Korea that was filed by 19 youth activists on March 13, 2020, against the government and the National Assembly at the Constitutional Court. I hope Korea will also recognize the rights of the plaintiffs and make another historic ruling soon.
On June 9, 2021, the Keystone XL pipeline, which was proposed in 2008 to bring oil from Canada to U.S. refiners, was canceled by the owner company. It is a meaningful victory for the people in the world who are fighting against new fossil fuel infrastructure and calling for alternatives. We need more and more resistance across the globe to stop the further development of massive fossil fuel projects.
Following a record-breaking 202 millimeters of rainfall in one hour in July, a catastrophic flood killed more than 300 people and prompted the evacuation of 815,000 residents of Henan Province in central China. Also, more than 200 deaths were caused by severe floods in Germany and Belgium. Scientists analyzed that climate change made deadly floods in Western Europe at least 20 percent more likely to happen.
On Aug. 9, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the first part of its "Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis," concluding that we face a "code red for humanity," as we are observing unprecedented changes in the earth's climate due to global warming ― or more accurately, human-driven global heating. The report is yet another piece of scientific evidence calling for urgent and ambitious climate action.
On Sept. 23, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China "will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad." Earlier this year, similar commitments came from the other top public financiers of overseas coal plants, Japan and South Korea. With these pledges, we came a step closer to making coal history.
From Oct. 31 to Nov. 12, the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) was held in Glasgow, the U.K. COP26 was meant to deliver on firmly closing the gap to reach the target of limiting global heating to only 1.5 degrees Celsius, but that did not happen. However, the line in the Glasgow Climate Pact related to phasing out unabated coal and fossil fuel subsidies is nevertheless a breakthrough, even though it is weak considering the severity of the climate crisis we face.
Lastly, deadly tornadoes devastated communities in the U.S. Midwest this month. It will take some time to conclude scientifically whether global warming caused by humans is the main cause of the unusually severe storms.
The new year is coming. We don't know what extreme weather events will occur next year. However, we do know that the frequency and severity of extreme weather events caused by global warming are increasing and they will only become worse unless we take bold and urgent actions. I hope to see more climate actions in 2022.
Jang Daul (daul.jang@greenpeace.org) is a government relations and advocacy specialist at Greenpeace East Asia's Seoul office.
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