• Air

China’s “Airpocalypse” Grounds Flights and People

• air pollution
• airpocalypse
• China
• climate change
• sand storm

This week, Beijing was hit by China’s strongest sand storm in a decade and conservationists are blaming an ongoing “ecological crisis” in the north and west of one of the world’s most populous cities. Air quality readings, which averaged 80 throughout most of 2020, reached 999 on Monday, triggering a “yellow alert” from China’s weather bureau. 

Why This Matters: China is the world’s largest polluter, accounting for about 28% of the globe’s carbon emissions. China’s recently raised its 2030 national climate targets to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

• Climate Change

China’s Climate Goals Fall Short

• China
• climate change
• Xi Jinping

by Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Last year, China made a surprise commitment to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. But last week, the country released its latest Five-Year Plan, which sets the course for its near-term economic development, with no new climate goals. It still allows China to burn coal and doesn’t set a carbon […]

• Climate Change

Global Carbon Pollution Reached Pre-Pandemic Levels Again by the End of 2020

• Brazil
• carbon emissions
• China
• CO2
• global emissions
• IEA
• India
• International Energy Agency
• pandemic
• transportation

According to a report out on Tuesday from the International Energy Agency, while the pandemic allowed a brief reprieve from the uptick in global carbon dioxide emissions, global carbon pollution had returned to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020.  Carbon emissions in Brazil, India, and China were all up over 2019 levels.

Why this Matters:  Under the Paris Agreement, nations agreed to prevent the rise in global temperature from reaching two degrees Celsius and keeping the rise under 1.5 degrees celsius, but that won’t be possible if our emissions start going up again.

• Sustainability

Climate Again Near Top of 2021 Risks According to Eurasia Group’s Annual Assessment

• China
• clean energy
• climate change
• coronavirus
• net zero emissions
• political risk

Each January, the Eurasia Group, a management consultancy, looks at the biggest global political risks in the year to come.  Climate change is perennially on the list — this year it ranks third behind public doubt in the legitimacy of President-elect Biden’s election and the coronavirus.

Why This Matters: “In 2021, climate will go from a playground of global cooperation to an arena of global competition.”

• Energy

Glass Shortage Stalls China’s Renewable Energy Goals

• China
• solar energy
• solar panels

by Amy Lupica, ODP Contributing Writer There is a new obstacle in the push for clean energy: there’s just not enough glass.  The world’s largest solar power company, Longi Green Energy Technology Co., says that a glass shortage is stymieing China’s renewable energy goals. The price of the glass that coats photovoltaic panels has increased […]

• Politics

Races To Watch: Montana’s Bullock is Bullish in the Senate Battle of the Steves

• beef
• China
• climate change
• Montana
• ranchers
• Senate

Montana’s Senate race is a toss-up, according to the Cook Political Report, because the popular Democratic governor, Steve Bullock, has managed to put incumbent Senator Steve Daines on the defensive over a deal he orchestrated in which Montana ranchers were to supposed sell $200m in beef to China’s second-largest company, JD.com, and the company was going to build a $100m processing plant in Montana.