Climate researchers launch online tool to help local governments set carbon targets

Researchers are using the latest climate science to help local authorities calculate their carbon budget and cut down on emissions in the midst of the current climate crisis.

Scientists from The University of Manchester and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research have developed an online tool which is now being used by local authorities including Manchester to understand their role in meeting the climate change objectives set by the UN.

The unique new tool, announced today, allows users to calculate a carbon budget for any UK administrative area larger than local authority scale, and set climate change targets which meet the objectives of the United Nations Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The tool is based on latest synthesis report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on how quantities of carbon dioxide emissions from human activities relate to global warming.

Dr Chris Jones from The University of Manchester who helped develop the tool said: “Our approach applies principles from the Paris Agreement to scale this global carbon budget down to the UK and a set of clearly stated allocation principles to share the carbon budget between local areas.

“This is a practical and straightforward way for local and devolved governments in the UK to translate the implications of the Paris Agreement into carbon reduction commitments based on the latest science.”

The Tyndall carbon budget tool is a particularly relevant resource for local authorities who have declared a climate emergency. By using the tool authorities can better understand the scale of the challenge when addressing climate change through local action.

…“Having seen the carbon budgets, the important thing now is to work with all of our stakeholders in a concentrated effort to develop and undertake action to move us forward.”

The tool calculates a maximum carbon budget for the selected area, as well as projected emissions reduction pathway, interim carbon budgets and average emissions reduction rate. The tool provides a downloadable PDF covering the method, results and recommendations for the carbon budget. The tool is free to use and is compatible with the SCATTER carbon footprint tool  and CDP sustainability reporting. MORE

We are not just a small bit player’: National Inuit organization launches climate change strategy

“Our land underneath us is melting as we speak. It’s climate change and it’s not faring well for a lot of people up here.”

Inuit have largely been ‘excluded’ from climate change decisions, says Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president

The landscape of the Mackenzie Delta is a maze of small lakes and rivers. Thawing permafrost is now transforming it in ways no one has ever seen. Canada’s Inuit want a bigger role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. (David Michael Lamb/CBC)

On Friday in Inuvik, N.W.T., Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is releasing a national climate change strategy to help Inuit adapt and thrive while becoming climate change leaders, according to the organization.

Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland, accounts for 35 per cent of Canada’s landmass. (CBC)

“Inuit are often brought into the conversation as ‘canaries in a coal mine’ talking about the personal lived experience of the effects of climate change,” Natan Obed, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president, said in Inuvik.

The organization represents roughly 65,000 Inuit in Canada. Most live in 51 communities spread out over four regions, areas warming at a rate up to three times faster than the global average.

• How a warming Arctic speeds up climate change — and spreads its damage

Far too often, Obed says, Inuit are “largely excluded” from developing climate change policy and research.

“We are not just a small bit player. We don’t want to sit by and listen to others talk about our fate. We want to be participating and active actors in creating solutions that will not only help Inuit Nunangat, but the globe.”

The strategy focuses on five priorities:

• Knowledge and capacity building.
• Health and well-being.
• Food security.
• Energy.
• Infrastructure.

• Arctic now locked into devastating temperature rise, UN report says

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