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Your daily must-read during the UN climate change summit in Paris | COP21 Day #9
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At a relative stone’s throw from the UN climate summit, Great Britain is dealing with large scale evacuations following an extreme weather incident. The army has been deployed with tens of thousands of homes across Scotland and the north of England and Wales affected after storm Desmond dumped torrential rain across the area this weekend, causing major flooding. More rain is expected this week. Power has been lost to almost 50,000 properties and as many as 5,000 homes have been flooded.
UK prime minister David Cameron said some people might not be home for Christmas, the BBC reports. Schools are closed and hospital services cancelled. Road and rail travel is also disrupted. Early figures suggest there was a record-breaking downpour of rain as 340 millimetres fell in 24 hours in the UK’s Lake District, breaking a record of 316.4mm set in 2009, New Scientist knows, adding that “storminess” is increasing due to climate change and that these types of events are likely to increase.
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Last week we reported how regional leaders are very active at COP21 – and how they often push for more radical action than their national counterparts. Yesterday, they did just that. A grouping of regions and provinces from around the world announced plans to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 12.4 gigatonnes by 2030, reports Reuters.
This is more the current emissions of China — or the European Union and United States combined — they said in a report released at the climate summit in Paris. The recently launched Compact of States and Regions, supported by Climate-KIC, is a mechanism for sub-national regions to report and analyse their climate efforts. By 2050 Compact governments from both developed and developing nations will have reduced their collective emissions by almost 55 per cent. It has the support of 44 regions that represent over 325 million people and $10.5 trillion in gross domestic product, or one eighth of the global economy.
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As ministers started the high-level negotiations at the climate summit yesterday afternoon, Reuters reported that the trend of rapid global emissions growth has been broken. Growth in global carbon dioxide emissions is expected to slow for a second year running in 2015, in spite of economic growth, after typically rising by around 2 to 3 percent since the turn of the century, according to research published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
In order to stop temperatures rising, emissions need to peak and then be reduced to zero. The Irish Times highlights that the report shows it is possible for the world economy to grow while reducing emissions, but adds that the study says it is not certain that emissions have peaked for good because many growing economies still rely on coal for energy generation and emissions reductions in some industrialised countries are still very modest. The decline is largely down to China’s decreased coal use, driven by its "economic adjustment."
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So said UN climate chief Christiana Figueres during the BINGO (Business and Industry NGOs) day at the climate negotiations in Paris. Decision-makers from the corporate world met to share expertise in technology cooperation and development, climate finance and research and development. French minister of foreign affairs Laurent Fabius — COP21’s president — said that companies have “proved that they are ready to support the transition to a low-carbon economy. That’s a positive signal that they are sending to governments in order to encourage them to set ambitious targets.”
Other speakers at the event called for governments to also send a clear signal to the private sector about the future direction of global climate policy through a long-term agreement that protects competitiveness, accelerates investment and unleashes the deployment of existing and new technologies and finance in the near and long term.
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Scroll Down for Social Media Highlights
 We've got an assignment for all you Twitter users today! Scroll down for the details, as well as our COP21 social media highlights. Today's Daily Planet also brings you two new sections: The Daily Planet Report, a video, and #WordOnTheStreet with interesting comments overheard at COP21. Other items include a cities special, insider tips from Le Bourget where the negotiations are taking place, our insight of the day about the role of business in solving climate change as well an overview of climate innovation events in Paris and a flashback to how we made it there. Not a subscriber yet? Subscribe today!
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Video: The Daily Planet Report
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The Daily Planet news crew ran into David Ellenberger at COP21. He was in Le Bourget to represent former US vice president Al Gore's Climate Reality Project and its "leadership corps".
Watch this 3-minute clip and find out how Dave is working to get the US congress to take climate action.
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Climate-KIC has partnered with the Climate Reality Project to push for climate action. With winters getting warmer — and ski seasons shorter — one of the main projects run by the initiative is the "Pro Snow" campaign. Don't forget to help Dave by signing this petition!
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Insider Tips from the Summit in Le Bourget
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The Daily Planet's latest insider tips, brought to you by Climate-KIC's observers at the COP21 negotiations.
- Nordic Lunch: The Nordic Council of Ministers organises a lunch at 13:15 in the OECD pavilion. Join them and hear from Nordic financial investors — who are leading in their field — and policy makers on how they manage climate risks.
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- Meet John Schellnhuber: Come see the scientist, Potsdam Institute director and Climate-KIC chairman at 16:45. He will talk about tracking, implementing, and ramping up transformative climate action post-Paris. Also: did you know he just published a book (in German) called self-combustion?
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Celebrity of the Day: Don't Miss Alec Baldwin!
 Meet the world’s "local climate heroes" at 17:00 in the Blue Zone, press room 1. At this event, Hollywood star Alec Baldwin will interview climate heroes who are not only feeling the brunt of climate change, but are providing the world with low-cost, innovative, local solutions. Come learn what’s at stake for them at COP21 and for the rest of humanity (and get a selfie with Alec). If you can't make it, watch it here live online.
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Special: COP21 Cities Day
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The Daily Planet looks at urban innovation on COP21's official cities day.
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City and country pledges to become carbon neutral or fossil free have become powerful messages in the quest for a low-carbon future. This topic was at the heart of discussions at a Nordic Mayors’ event at COP21. Continue >>
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The CityActions Platform is one of the most recent additions to the number of pledges and programmes for cities launched at the UN climate negotiations. Continue >>
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Find out more about Low Carbon City Lab, one of Climate-KIC's flagship programmes. Continue >>
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Did You Know? Insight of the Day
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Did you know, that only 6 per cent of Human Resources departments — those responsible for hiring personnel with skills to respond to climate change — understand it?
A new Climatea-KIC study — released in Paris last week — shows European business is addicted to incrementalism, and lacks the skillset needed for an innovation step change in line with a 2°C trajectory. The Daily Planet brings you an insight per day!
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In this new Daily Planet section, #WordOnTheStreet, we bring you some of the most interesting comments overheard at COP21.
Super National: At the launch of the Compact of States and Regions' first disclosure report yesterday in Paris, regional leaders were jokingly calling themselves "super national" governments instead of "sub-national".
The COP21 Crashers: Ontario's premier, Kathleen Wynne, was overheard suggesting the regional leaders would "crash" the actual COP21 negotiations, with Vermont governor Peter Shumlin adding that they would reach a deal in just "17 minutes."
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Climate Innovation at COP21
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Today in Paris (Stade de France) at 14:15.
Climate-KIC will host an expert-led roundtable discussion entitled “The Great Transformation” during the Sustainable Innovation Forum, the largest business gathering during COP21.
More info >>
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Today in central Paris (Grand Palais) at 15:00.
A panel of business and community leaders tests out the options and examine the opportunities of the Global Calculator, an interactive model of the world’s energy, land and food systems.
More info >>
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Tomorrow in central Paris (Grand Palais) at 13:00.
Open innovation is an asset for the aviation sector. The association of complementary skills from diverse actors can lead to a lighter carbon footprint and tangible savings.
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Tomorrow in central Paris (Grand Palais) from 15:00.
Climate-KIC and its partners present how the Climate Smart Agriculture programme is developing services to boost the development, exploitation and large-scale adoption of new solutions.
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Tomorrow in Le Bourget (Green Zone) at 13:30.
This event will showcase how cities, states and regions can and are decarbonising their grids whilst improving energy efficiency.
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Tomorrow in Le Bourget (Blue Zone, EU Pavilion) at 18:15.
Drawing upon fresh insights from the new Climate-KIC study ‘Sparking an Innovation Step Change’, this roundtable will discuss the need for corporate action at scale.
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Quelle surprise!: As we pointed out in yesterday's Daily Planet, you can barely move at COP21 without running into a celebrity. Even UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon was a little star struck when he ran into actor Alec Baldwin on Monday.
"You never know who you are going to meet in Paris! #COP21 #EarthToParis #climatechange," Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson tweeted.
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We told you he was back!: Actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger published a post on Facebook yesterday with the headline "I don’t give a **** if we agree about climate change."
He concludes his post with "To use one of the four-letter words all of you commenters love, I don't give a damn if you believe in climate change. [...] It doesn't matter to me which of us is right about the science. I just hope that you'll join me in opening [the door] to a smarter, cleaner, healthier, more profitable energy future."
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Cheeky!: Meteorologist and weather presenter Claire Martin was wondering if taking a photo while watching a COP21 live stream with Arnold Schwarzenegger counts as a selfie with the actor — and decided to ask Twitter.
"Does this constitute a selfie with @Schwarzenegger - hope so?! #COP21," she tweeted. Since Martin is actually at COP21 — and she may have been watching from nearby — the Daily Planet is willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and deem it a selfie.
In fact, we encourage you all to do the same - tweet us your selfies with Alec Baldwin, include #COP21selfie and @ClimateKIC! The live stream is here and starts at 17:00 Paris time.
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Daily #JourneyToParis Flashback
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#JourneyToParis:
We have arrived!
 Following a virtual journey that started in June, we have arrived in Paris and now keep you up to date with daily reports from COP21.
Find out how we got here by checking out our Journey to Paris, which took us across 27 countries. We put a spotlight on innovators who are already creating solutions across Europe.
We have an unprecedented opportunity to create a prosperous zero carbon future, driven by innovation, jobs, and investment. Climate-KIC is seizing that opportunity for Europe by connecting both public and private sectors with climate change-focused education, research and innovation. Join us!
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Get in touch
 Drop the Daily Planet newsroom a line if you have any questions or tips!
Contact our editors — based in Paris and London during COP21 — on Twitter or send us an email at media@climate-kic.org.
Connect with Climate-KIC's COP21 observers at the official UN site in Le Bourget: Tweet @krptndr or email andrea.karpati@climate-kic.org.
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EDITORIAL: Executive Editor: Angela Howarth | Editor in Chief: Peter Koekoek | Editor, Events: Kelsey Hunter | Editor, Social Media: Molly Redmond | Reporter, Le Bourget: Andrea Karpati
PUBLISHER: Climate-KIC, the EU's main climate innovation initiative © 2015 Climate-KIC
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