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<font size="+1"><i>January 24, 2018</i></font><br>
<br>
[Davos, Switzerland]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/20/davos-2018-wef-hottest-topics-climate-change-harassment-donald-trump">Climate
change, AI and harassment - the hottest topics at this year's
Davos</a></b><br>
The World Economic Forum focuses on the 'fractured world' this year:
but the biggest star at the gala will be Donald Trump...<br>
Trump moved quickly to pull the US out of the Paris climate accords
in one of his first acts as president last year. At Davos, where the
environment is always among the most important issues up for debate,
this won't have gone down well.<br>
The former US vice-president Al Gore is attending and will speak on
several panels, including one about how extreme weather events are
proving more devastating and expensive.<br>
The WEF's <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://weforum.ent.box.com/s/v47o1sar82njqzby9w2nxrnpedp977nf">global
risks perception survey</a>, released last week, cited climate
change-related issues as the top problems facing the world, while it
also issued a thinly veiled warning to the US president that
"nation-state unilateralism" will make it harder to combat change
and ecological damage...<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/20/davos-2018-wef-hottest-topics-climate-change-harassment-donald-trump">https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/20/davos-2018-wef-hottest-topics-climate-change-harassment-donald-trump</a></font><br>
- <br>
[Survey]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://weforum.ent.box.com/s/v47o1sar82njqzby9w2nxrnpedp977nf">The
Global Risks Report 2018, 13th Edition, is published by the
World Economic Forum.</a></b><br>
Global Risk Report summary clips: <br>
<blockquote>In Risk Reassessment, selected risk experts share their
insights about the implications for decision-makers in businesses,
governments and civil society of developments in our understanding
of risk. In this year's report, Roland Kupers writes about
fostering resilience in complex systems, while Michele Wucker
calls for organizations to pay more attention to cognitive bias in
their risk management processes...<br>
<br>
Among the most pressing environmental challenges facing us are
extreme weather events and temperatures; <br>
accelerating biodiversity loss; pollution of air, soil and water;<br>
failures of climate-change mitigation and adaptation; and
transition risks as we move to a low-carbon<br>
future. However, the truly systemic challenge here rests in the
depth of the interconnectedness that exists<br>
both among these environmental risks and between them and risks in
other categories - such as water<br>
crises and involuntary migration. And as the impact of Hurricane
Maria on Puerto Rico has starkly illustrated,<br>
environmental risks can also lead to serious disruption of
critical infrastructure...<br>
<br>
<b>Our growing vulnerability to systemic risks</b><br>
Humanity has become remarkably adept at understanding how to
mitigate countless conventional risks<br>
that can be relatively easily isolated and managed with standard
risk management<br>
approaches. But we are much less competent when it comes to
dealing with complex risks<br>
in systems characterized by feedback loops, tipping points and
opaque cause-and-effect relationships that<br>
can make intervention problematic...<br>
<br>
Think of the tensions between our creaking global institutional
framework and the pace of change <br>
in the 21st century. Think even of the ethical value systems that
shape behaviour within and between<br>
countries, and the unpredictability that can result when there is
a reevaluation of what is acceptable and<br>
unacceptable.<br>
<br>
When a risk cascades through a complex system, the danger is not
of incremental damage but of "runaway<br>
collapse" - or, alternatively, a transition to a new, suboptimal
status quo that becomes difficult to escape. <br>
For example, even though a runaway collapse of the global
financial system<br>
was averted a decade ago, the global financial crisis triggered
numerous economic, societal, political and<br>
geopolitical disruptions. Many are still only poorly understood,
but they shape a "new normal" that in turn will<br>
create its own disruptions, spillovers and feedback loops in the
months and years ahead.<br>
<br>
As the pace of change accelerates, signs of strain are evident in
many of the systems on which we rely. We<br>
cannot discount the possibility that one or more of these systems
will collapse. Just as a piece of elastic<br>
can lose its capacity to snap back to its original shape, repeated
stress can lead systems - organizations,<br>
economies, societies, the environment - to lose their capacity to
rebound. If we exhaust our capacities<br>
to absorb disruption and allow our systems to become brittle
enough to break, it is difficult to overstate the<br>
damage that might result...<br>
<br>
The results of the GRPS (<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://weforum.ent.box.com/s/v47o1sar82njqzby9w2nxrnpedp977nf">Global
Risks Perception Survey</a>) are pessimistic in this regard: the<br>
overwhelming majority of respondents expect the risks of
interstate military conflict or incursion <br>
to increase in 2018. New technologies add a layer of economic
vulnerability to geopolitical disruptions, <br>
with emerging risks of asymmetric economic warfare including
potential cyberattacks designed <br>
to disrupt critical financial infrastructure...<br>
<br>
It is striking how sanguine financial markets have remained while
political and geopolitical <br>
risk has jumped in recent years. Given current market dynamics, it
may not be rational for<br>
any single market participant to price in rising political and
geopolitical tensions. <br>
The risk is that we will hit a tipping point at which point
everyone prices in these tensions, <br>
with a rush to the exits that hits asset prices, strains the
resilience of the global financial system <br>
and tests whether policymakers retain the firepower to prevent
deep and long-lasting <br>
impacts on the real economy.<br>
</blockquote>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://weforum.ent.box.com/s/v47o1sar82njqzby9w2nxrnpedp977nf">https://weforum.ent.box.com/s/v47o1sar82njqzby9w2nxrnpedp977nf</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[NYTime$]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/business/economy/fighting-climate-change.html">Fighting
Climate Change? We're Not Even Landing a Punch</a></b><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/business/economy/fighting-climate-change.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/business/economy/fighting-climate-change.html</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[poll]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/trump-nuclear-war-global-warming-uk-children-fears-mental-health-foundation-a8174996.html">British
children more worried about Trump than global warming and
nuclear war, study suggests</a></b><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/trump-nuclear-war-global-warming-uk-children-fears-mental-health-foundation-a8174996.html">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/trump-nuclear-war-global-warming-uk-children-fears-mental-health-foundation-a8174996.html</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[survey]<b><br>
</b><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.wcvb.com/article/survey-mayors-view-climate-change-as-pressing-urban-issue/15851661?src=app">Survey:
Mayors view climate change as pressing urban issue</a></b><br>
U.S. mayors increasingly view climate change as a pressing urban
issue, so much so that many advocate policies that could
inconvenience residents or even hurt their cities financially.<br>
In all, 115 mayors of cities with at least 75,000 residents answered
the fourth annual survey ...<br>
Organizers of the survey declined to release a list of the 115
mayors who responded, citing confidentially agreements. According to
the report, nearly two-thirds of the mayors were Democrats and the
cities had an average population of 233,000...<br>
"At a time when the national conversation is divisive, cities offer
a sense of hope and shared identity," the mayors said.<br>
Sixty-eight percent of mayors said they would be willing to expend
additional resources or sacrifice revenue to combat climate
change...<br>
The survey found that attitudes about climate change differed
geographically as well as politically. For example, 90 percent of
all Eastern mayors and 97 percent from the Midwest blamed human
activities for climate change, compared to 70 percent from Southern
cities.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.wcvb.com/article/survey-mayors-view-climate-change-as-pressing-urban-issue/15851661?src=app">http://www.wcvb.com/article/survey-mayors-view-climate-change-as-pressing-urban-issue/15851661?src=app</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Concern]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://psychcentral.com/news/2018/01/19/does-threat-of-climate-change-affect-mental-health/131436.html">Does
Threat of Climate Change Affect Mental Health</a></b><br>
By Rick Nauert PhD<br>
Many people believe climate change is the driving force behind
extreme weather events, be it unprecedented flooding, wildfires, or
hurricanes. Historically, the threat of being directly impacted by
these events has been small but times may have changed as reports of
such incidents continue to rise.<br>
In a new study, researchers at the University of Arizona (UA)...
discovered that while some people have little anxiety about the
Earth's changing climate, others are experiencing high levels of
stress, and even depression.<br>
In the study, UA researcher Sabrina Helm, an associate professor of
family and consumer science found that psychological responses to
climate change seem to vary based on what type of concern people
show for the environment. Individuals displaying the most concern
about the planet's animals and plants were also experiencing the
most stress.<br>
The researchers outline three distinct types of environmental
concern:<br>
<blockquote> <b>Egoistic concern</b> is concern about how what's
happening in the environment directly impacts the individual; for
example, .. worry about how air pollution will affect their own
lungs and breathing.<br>
<b>Altruistic concern</b> refers to concern for humanity in
general, including future generations.<br>
<b>Biospheric concern</b> refers to concern for nature, plants,
and animals.<br>
</blockquote>
The findings appear in the journal Global Environmental Change.<br>
An online survey of 342 parents of young children, found that those
who reported high levels of biospheric concern also reported feeling
the most stressed about global climate change.<br>
However, among those whose concerns were more egoistic or altruistic
reports of significant stress related to the phenomenon were absent.<br>
In addition, those with high levels of biospheric concern were most
likely to report signs of depression, while no link to depression
was found for the other two groups.<br>
"People who worry about animals and nature tend to have a more
planetary outlook and think of bigger picture issues," Helm said.<br>
"For them, the global phenomenon of climate change very clearly
affects these bigger picture environmental things, so they have the
most pronounced worry, because they already see it everywhere.<br>
"We already talk about extinction of species and know it's
happening. For people who are predominantly altruistically concerned
or egoistically concerned about their own health, or maybe their own
financial future, climate change does not hit home yet."<br>
Those with high levels of biospheric concern also were most likely
to engage in pro-environmental day-to-day behaviors. These
activities may include recycling or energy savings measures.<br>
Moreover, these individuals were the most likely to engage in coping
mechanisms to deal with environmental stress. Strategies utilized
ranged from denying one's individual role in climate change to
seeking more information on the issue and how to help mitigate it.<br>
Although not generally stressed about climate change, those with
high levels of altruistic concern, or concern for the well-being of
others, also engaged in some environmental coping strategies and
pro-environmental behaviors - more so than those whose environmental
concerns were mostly egoistic.<br>
<blockquote> "Climate change is a persistent global stressor, but
the consequences of it appear to be slowly evolving; they're
fairly certain to happen - we know that, now - but the impact on
individuals seems to be growing really slowly and needs to be
taken very seriously," ..<br>
</blockquote>
The research, Helm said, has important public health implications.<br>
"Climate change has evident physical and mental health effects if
you look at certain outcomes, such as the hurricanes we had last
year, but we also need to pay very close attention to the mental
health of people in everyday life, as we can see this, potentially,
as a creeping development," Helm said.<br>
"Understanding that there are differences in how people are
motivated is very important for finding ways to address this,
whether in the form of intervention or prevention."<br>
Source: University of Arizona<font size="-1"><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://psychcentral.com/news/2018/01/19/does-threat-of-climate-change-affect-mental-health/131436.html">https://psychcentral.com/news/2018/01/19/does-threat-of-climate-change-affect-mental-health/131436.html</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[international climate negotiations]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://climatefocus.com/publications/cop23-fijibonn-progress-two-zones">COP23
- Fiji/Bonn - Progress in two zones</a></b><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://climatefocus.com/publications/cop23-fijibonn-progress-two-zones">Client
Brief summarizing the main outcomes</a> of COP-23. We found a
striking difference in the atmosphere of the two zones, where the
buzz outside of the negotiation halls was certainly more stimulating
than the procedural and often tedious progress towards the Paris
rulebook.<br>
Nevertheless, we feel cautiously optimistic towards adoption of the
rulebook later this year and think that COP23 partially delivered on
the expectations. With an extra negotiation session already being
considered for 2018, it is however also clear that the
implementation of the Paris Agreement still remains a major
challenge. We hope that you find our summary informative and look
forward to your reactions.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://climatefocus.com/publications/cop23-fijibonn-progress-two-zones">http://climatefocus.com/publications/cop23-fijibonn-progress-two-zones</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://climatefocus.com/">Climate
Focus </a><br>
Climate Focus is a pioneering international advisory company and
think tank that provides advice to governments and multilateral
organizations, non-governmental and philanthropic organizations, and
the private sector. We support our clients with shaping and
navigating through international and domestic climate policies,
accessing climate finance, and engaging with new climate mechanisms
and cooperative approaches.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://climatefocus.com/">http://climatefocus.com/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Asian Palm Oil Consumption]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.regnskog.no/en/news/the-impact-of-expanding-palm-oil-use-in-biofuels">DESTROYING
THE WORLD TO SAVE IT</a></b><br>
Rainforest Foundation Norway and Cerulogy today launched a report,
'Driving deforestation', looking at the impact of expanding palm oil
use due to biofuel policies around the world<br>
If the world's major biofuel consumers meet their current targets,
they will generate unprecedented demand for palm oil, devastating
Southeast Asia's rainforests in the process.<br>
The report goes directly into the heated debate in Europe and the
rest of the world about the use of palm oil for biofuels. It
analyses biofuel policies in key markets including the EU, the US,
China, Indonesia and the aviation industry. If the world's major
biofuel consumers meet their current ambitions, they will generate
unprecedented demand for palm oil, devastating Southeast Asia's
rainforests in the process.<br>
Some key findings from the report:<br>
Currently, biofuel policy results in 10.7 million tonnes of palm oil
demand, just under a fifth of global production.<br>
The scenario in the report for high 2030 palm oil consumption due to
biofuel policy would result in:<br>
<blockquote>- 67 million tonnes palm oil demand due to biofuel
policy.<br>
- 4.5 million hectares deforestation – of which 2.9 million
hectares peat loss.<br>
- 7 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions over 20 years, more than total
annual U.S. GHG emissions.<br>
</blockquote>
The consequences this would have for the Southeast Asia's remaining
rainforests can hardly be overstated.<br>
See more, incl a link to the report, at our website: <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.regnskog.no/en/news/the-impact-of-expanding-palm-oil-use-in-biofuels">https://www.regnskog.no/en/news/the-impact-of-expanding-palm-oil-use-in-biofuels</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Imagination contest]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/design-climate-change-monster">Help
Us Design a Climate Change Monster</a></b><br>
OUR FEAR OF THE BOMB created Godzilla. Now, climate change is
bringing us closer to doomsday. Our changing world will doubtless
inspire fictional monsters - but what will they look like?<br>
When I imagine a monster brought about by climate change, I think
about what happens when ecosystems are allowed to run rampant. As
I'm afraid of deep water, and the things that live there, my climate
change monster probably lives in the sea. It's huge and primordial -
a kind of reptilian, shark thing, brought to the ocean's surface by
fish die-off deep, deep underwater, where it ordinarily lives.
(Perhaps it's been lured upwards by an incredible buffet of
jellyfish, whose population have exploded due to rising ocean
temperatures.) And heck, with the threat of nuclear warfare hanging
over us like a dust cloud, let's give it a post-nuclear kick - it's
got two tails, and far more eyes than anything really needs.<br>
We want to imagine some other Atlas Obscura climate change monsters,
and we need your help. Where will the climate monster come from?
Where does it live? What will it do? Use your imagination (we'd love
inspiration from any children who might want to join in) and <b>send
all ideas to <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:natasha.frost@atlasobscura.com">natasha.frost@atlasobscura.com</a>
by Thursday, January 25, 2018. We'll illustrate some of our
favorites.</b><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/design-climate-change-monster">https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/design-climate-change-monster</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB9OUcPENL0">This Day in
Climate History January 24, 2012</a> - from D.R. Tucker</b></font><br>
In his State of the Union address, President Obama declares, "The
differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a
comprehensive plan to fight climate change. But there's no reason
why Congress shouldn't at least set a clean energy standard that
creates a market for innovation."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB9OUcPENL0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB9OUcPENL0</a> <font size="+1"><br>
</font><font size="+1"><br>
<br>
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