Natural Gas More Climate Intensive than Coal & Oil | Expansion of Renewables | Global Climate Strikes | September 2019

The EWG’s newsletter is back from summer break, reenergized and fueled with the most interesting news around the global energy transition, latest scientific findings and our own work. While politicians, business representatives and scientists still discuss about adequate measures against the climate crisis, the world experienced it second hottest summer ever measured. And it won’t be the last, according to researchers from Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute (IPSL) and France’s National Meteorological Research Centre 1.5 °C could already be out of reach and temperatures could even rise up to 6 or 7 °C by 2100, while the IPCC’s worst-case scenario expects ‘only’ 5 °C of global warming.  Not to mention the devastating wildfires in the Amazon and the Borneo rainforests.

These horrifying news and developments could easily lead to the conclusion that all is lost and nothing can be done anymore. But that’s far from the truth. We are convinced that the transition from a fossil to a renewable energy system is possible and the key measure in order to bring emissions down to zero, since it makes up 55% of all greenhouse gases. Is this just a randomly picked number? No, it’s the result of one out of two analyses the EWG has published in the last months. Our recent Natural Gas Study concludes that the climate effect of betting on fossil gas will be 40% stronger compared to coal and oil. Our research suggests that the current debate over natural gas as a bridging fuel is not only wrong but also dangerous. Speaking of dangerous, and no, not referring to global warming this time but rather the opposite: the fossil industry seems to be increasingly under pressure due to increasing divestment rates. 11$ trillion have already been divested and more and more investors follow that trail to prevent their assets from stranding.

And last, September 20^th was the start of Climate Action Week and over 4 million people demonstrated for more ambitious climate policies while heads of state gathered in New York for the UN Climate Change Summit. Vocally sympathizing with the protestors, the urgency of climate action was still not reflected by the words and pledges of Merkel, Macron & Co. This means that global climate protests are far from over, as is our newsletter – find all the stories and more right here.