From the GWPF:

G7 Leaders Shift Decarbonisation Goal To End Of Century

Calls by the Group of Seven (G7) Monday to slash world carbon emissions did little to boost UN climate talks in Bonn, where frustration mounted over the snail-­like progress. Due to end on Friday, the 11­day Bonn talks are tasked with shaping a draft text for the November 30 ­December 11 UN conference in Paris, which must yield a global agreement. But after a week of wrangling, just about five percent had been shaved off a sprawling near ­90 ­page draft, mostly by removing glaring duplications, said delegates. —Agence France-Press, 9 June 2015

In a joint declaration from the G7 summit, leaders of the world’s richest countries called for a global phase-out of fossil fuels for the first time on Monday. That sounds great, but unfortunately, they’re talking about a lax timescale — “over the course of this century.” The leaders also committed to “doing our part to achieve a low-carbon global economy in the long-term,” though they didn’t announce any increased ambitions in cutting carbon in their own economies. –Eric Holthaus, Slate, 8 June 2015

Already in 2009 (L’Aquila summit), G8 made a similar announcement. How did it influence the Copenhagen climate summit? To sum up: G7 repeating UNFCCC + IPCC language and promising to go carbon neutral by 2099. —Oliver Geden, 8 June 2015

Trade union GMB has signed a landmark agreement with the fracking industry in a bid to accelerate the exploitation of shale gas and oil resources in the UK and boost local supply chains as the sector develops. In a move that is likely to anger environmental groups, GMB signed a joint charter with UK Oil and Gas (UKOOG) which argues that gas is “essential” to British industry and households and will continue to play a key role in the UK’s future energy mix. Gary Smith, GMB national secretary, said gas was a matter of national security. “Our homes and large parts of British industry need gas; any suggestion to the contrary is just not real world,” he said in a statement. —Jessica Shankleman, BusinessGreen, 9 June 2015

The lunatics have escaped their asylum and have taken over the entirety of this lovely and beauteous continent. They’re imposing import tariffs on cheap Chinese solar cells. This at the same time as vast swathes of public policy are devoted to the idea that we’ve got to have cheap renewable power in order to save our entire species from boiling itself. We’re also spending hundreds of billions to make such cheap renewables a reality. So, when someone comes knocking at the door asking if we’d like to purchase some cheap our answer is to try and tax them for their temerity? Seriously people, how did we end up with an entire continent, the cradle of modern civilisation, adopting such an insane public policy? –Tim Worstall, Forbes, 7 June 2015

Reality Check: UN Climate Talks Stall Despite G7 Posturing

Agence France-Press, 9 June 2015

Calls by the Group of Seven (G7) Monday to slash world carbon emissions did little to boost UN climate talks in Bonn, where frustration mounted over the snail-­like progress.

Delegates during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn, Germany, June 2015 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Groups of countries pleaded for greater efforts to streamline a draft text for a climate pact due to be adopted at a conference in Paris in just over six months.

“We are very concerned about the pace of negotiations,” said Amjad Abdulla of the Maldives, speaking for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) which are deeply exposed to climate change.

“We have not made the big jump forward that we need,” he told a stock­taking session. “There is clearly an urgent need to make more substantive progress and to proceed at a faster pace than we did last week,” said South Africa’s Nozipho Mxakatoc ­Diseko on behalf of the so ­called G77 and China group of developing nations.

Due to end on Friday, the 11­day Bonn talks are tasked with shaping a draft text for the November 30 ­December 11 UN conference in Paris, which must yield a global agreement.

The final document is supposed to enshrine the will of 195 countries to roll back climate change, spell out commitments to tackle greenhouse gases and provide aid to vulnerable economies from 2020.

But after a week of wrangling, just about five percent had been shaved off a sprawling near ­90 ­page draft, mostly by removing glaring duplications, said delegates. And there has been little serious talk about some of the many thorny issues that remain.

Full story

Delayed Until Further Notice: G7 Leaders Shift Decarbonisation Goal To End Of Century

Slate, 8 June 2015

Eric Holthaus

In a joint declaration from the G7 summit, leaders of the world’s richest countries called for a global phase-out of fossil fuels for the first time on Monday. That sounds great, but unfortunately, they’re talking about a lax timescale—“over the course of this century.”

The leaders of the world’s richest countries wave goodbye to any urgent or binding climate targets on June 7, 2015 at Schloss Elmau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

The leaders also committed to “doing our part to achieve a low-carbon global economy in the long-term,” though they didn’t announce any increased ambitions in cutting carbon in their own economies. Reports from the two-day meeting in Germany indicated that bolder statements were considered, including a call to decarbonize the G7 economies by 2050, but they were ultimately dropped, likely under pressure from Canada and Japan.

Though today’s statement is bold, the focus on the very long-term is disappointing. The G7 meeting was billed as a showcase for Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, to assert leadership on climate change in advance of key negotiations in December, when world leaders will gather in Paris and are expected to sign the first-ever global agreement on climate change. Expectations for an ambitious outcome in Paris have been waning in recent months, and today’s G7 statement doesn’t help things much.

Full story

G7 Business As Usual: Plus Ça Change, plus C’est La même Chose

Oliver Geden, 8 June 2015

German policy wonk Oliver Geden sums up the lame G7 climate statement in two tweets.

Oliver Geden ‏@Oliver_Geden

Already in 2009 (L’Aquila summit), #G8 made similar announcement. How did it influence Copenhagen #climate summit?

Oliver Geden ‏@Oliver_Geden

to sum up: #G7 repeating #UNFCCC + #IPCC language and promising to go carbon neutral by 2099

https://www.g7germany.de/Content/DE/_Anlagen/G8_G20/2015-06-08-g7-abschluss-eng.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=5 …

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