April 7th, 2014 - Atmospherice Carbon Dioxide exceed 400 ppm.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere has exceeded 402 parts per million (ppm) during the past two days of observations, which is higher than at any time in at least the past 800,000 years, according to readings from monitoring equipment on a mountaintop in Hawaii.
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According to the Keeling Curve website, carbon dioxide concentrations spiked to 402.20 parts per million on April 7, whereas data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed a slightly lower level of 402.11 parts per million on the same day.
Both data sets indicate that daily carbon dioxide measurements have been at or above 400 ppm since March 29, and the graph appears on course to stay above 400 ppm throughout the rest of the month and into the next. In 2013, atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide briefly hit 400 ppm for the first time in mid-May, but this year that symbolic threshold has been crossed even earlier.
This means it is more likely that the annual peak, which typically occurs in mid-to-late May, will climb further above 400 ppm for the first time. Although crossing above 400 ppm is largely a symbolic milestone, scientific research indicates that the higher that carbon dioxide concentrations get, the more global temperatures will increase, resulting in a wide range of damaging effects.
These impacts will range from global sea level rise to a heightened risk of heat waves, severe droughts and floods, according to a recently released comprehensive Assessment Report of climate science produced by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
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Press Conference
2014 Investor Summit on Climate Risk:
Financing the Clean Energy Future - January 15, 2014
Tackling climate change and transitioning to clean energy are the greatest economic challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
More than 500 global financial leaders gather at the United Nations to discuss the growing urgency of climate change and investor actions that are needed to mitigate escalating economic risks. The all-day gathering includes key players in the climate debate, including:
Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC
Tom Steyer, Farallon Capital Management
Nick Robins, HSBC (The World in 2050, Research, Publication Jan.14)
Robert E. Rubin, former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury
Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO
Timothy E. Wirth, UN Foundation
Statements and Presentations:
- International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
- Dr. Barbara C. Samuels II, Executive Director, Global Clearinghouse for Development Finance ppt
- Dr. Barbara C. Samuels II, Executive Director, Global Clearinghouse for Development Finance text
- Bhumika Muchhala, Finance and Development Programme
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Mr. Aldo Caliari, Rethinking Bretton, Woods Project, Center of Concern
Program:
9:00am Opening Remarks
• Kathy Calvin, President and Chief Executive Officer, UN
Foundation
• Mindy Lubber, President, Ceres; Director, Investor Network on Climate Risk
9:10am Welcome from the United Nations
• Roland Rich, Executive Director, United Nations Office for Partnerships
9:15am Risky Business: The Cost of Inaction
• Mindy Lubber, President, Ceres; Director, Investor Network on Climate Risk
(moderator)
• Robert E. Rubin, Co-Chairman, Council of Foreign Relations; Former Secretary
of the U.S. Treasury
• Tom Steyer, Founder and Co-Managing Partner, Farallon Capital Management
10:00am Making the Connection: Institutional Investors and Climate Change
• Thomas DiNapoli, Comptroller, New York State
10:10am Perfect Storm: The Physical and Economic Impacts of Climate Change
• Rosina Bierbaum, Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy,
University of Michigan
10:40am The Future is Now: Closing the Clean Energy Investment Gap
• Lisa Carnoy *, Head of Global Capital Markets, Bank of America
• Jack Ehnes, Chief Executive Officer, California State Teachers’ Retirement
System (CalSTRS) (moderator)
• Mark Fulton, Senior Fellow, Ceres
• Michael Liebreich, Chief Executive, Bloomberg New Energy Finance
11:40am Infrastructure and Impact: The Global Clean Energy Economy
• Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO
12:00pm Resilient Cities, Resilient Economies: Addressing Climate Change as a Business
Imperative
• J. Eric Smith, President and CEO Swiss Re Americas
12:30pm Networking Lunch
2:00pm Afternoon Opening
• Scott Stringer, Comptroller, New York City
2:10pm Stranded Asset Risk: The Future of Fossil Fuels in a Low Carbon Future
• Jeremy Leggett, Chairman, Carbon Tracker (moderator)
• Nick Robins, Head, HSBC Climate Change Centre of Excellence
• Anne Simpson, Senior Portfolio Manager and Director for Corporate
Governance, California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS)
3:00pm Seizing Opportunities: Investing Globally in Climate and Clean Energy Solutions
• Jane Ambachtsheer, Partner and Global Head of Responsible Investment,
Mercer Investments (moderator)
• Donald MacDonald, Trustee Director, BT Pension Scheme; Chairman,
Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)
• Frank Pegan, Chief Executive Officer, Catholic Super; Chair, Investor Group on
Climate Change (IGCC)
• Cecilia Reyes, Chief Investment Officer, Zurich Insurance Group
3:45pm Igniting Investor Leadership: Scaling Solutions for a Sustainable Global Economy
• Denise Nappier, Treasurer, Connecticut
• Rob McCord, Treasurer, Pennsylvania (Invited)
4:00pm The Road to 2015: Investor Leadership in Climate and Clean Energy Policy
• Timothy E. Wirth, Vice Chair, United Nations Foundation (moderator)
• Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
• Rachel Kyte, Vice President, Sustainable Development, World Bank (Invited)
• Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic
Planning, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, United Nations (Invited)
5:00pm Closing Keynote
• John Kerry, Secretary of State, United States (Invited)
5:30pm Conclusion and Next Steps
• Timothy E. Wirth, Vice Chair, United Nations Foundation
• Mindy Lubber, President, Ceres; Director, Investor Network on Climate Risk
5:45pm Networking Reception
Christiana Figueres says $1 trillion a year is required for the transformation needed to stay within 2C of warming
"From where we are to where we need to be, we need to triple, and we need to do that – over the next five to 10 years would be best – but certainly by 2030," she said.
The International Energy Agency said four years ago it would take $1tn a year in new infrastructure projects by 2030 to make the shift from a coal- and oil-based economy to the cleaner fuels and technologies that would help keep warming below the dangerous threshold of 2C.
But investment has lagged far behind. "What we need to have invested in the energy sector and in the green infrastructure in order to make the transformation that we need in order to stay within 2C is one trillion dollars a year and we are way, way behind that," Figueres said.
Figueres and leading Wall Street figures will urge global investors to step up their clean energy investments at a meeting at the UN on Wednesday organised by the Ceres investment network.
The biggest investors – pension funds, insurance companies, foundations and investment managers – control about $76tn in assets, according to OECD figures.
But by Figueres's estimate, those institutional investors were committing less than 2% of the funds under their control to clean energy infrastructure – compared to 10% or 15% that was still going into coal and oil.
"Last year, we had $300bn, and in the same year we had double that amount invested in exploration and mining in fossil fuels. So you can see that the ratio is not where it needs to be. We need to be at the opposite ratio."