Negative 1nc

Warming Decreasing

Climate change is improving—emissions falling worldwide.

Magill 15. (Bobby, Senior Science Writer at Climate Central, focusing on energy and climate change. Internally quotes IEA Chief Economist and incoming IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “Energy Bombshell: CO2 Emissions Stabilized in 2014,” Climate Central. March 13th, 2015. http://www.climatecentral.org/news/co2-emissions-stabilized-in-2014-18777)//CB

Solar, wind and other renewables are making such a big difference in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide that global emissions from the energy sector flatlined during a time of economic growth for the first time in 40 years.

The International Energy Agency announced Friday that energy-related CO2 emissions last year were unchanged from the year before, totaling 32.3 billion metric tons of CO2 in both 2013 and 2014. It shows that efforts to reduce emissions to combat climate change may be more effective than previously thought.

Energy-related CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants and other sources have gone flat worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency. Credit: Ian Britton/flickr

“This is both a very welcome surprise and a significant one,” IEA Chief Economist and incoming IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement. “It provides much-needed momentum to negotiators preparing to forge a global climate deal in Paris in December. For the first time, greenhouse gas emissions are decoupling from economic growth.”

Following an announcement earlier this week that China’s CO2 emissions fell 2 percent in 2014, the IEA is crediting 2014’s progress to China using more solar, wind and hydropower while burning less coal. Western Europe’s focus on sustainable growth, energy efficiency and renewables has shown that emissions from energy consumption can fall even as economies grow globally, according to the IEA.

Global CO2 emissions stalled or fell in the early 1980s, 1992 and 2009, each time correlating with a faltering global economy. In 2014, the economy grew 3 percent worldwide.

In the U.S., energy-related CO2 emissions fell during seven of the past 23 years, most notably during the recession of 2009, U.S. Energy Information Administration data show. Emissions in 2013 — the most recent year for which U.S. data is available — were higher than they were in the previous year, but 10 percent lower than they were in 2005.

Global political will for curbing emissions is increasing.

Davenport 14. (Coral, energy and environment reporter for NYT. Internally quoting Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development. “U.S. Moves to Reduce Global Warming Emissions,” NYT. SEPT. 16, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/us/hfc-emissions-cut-under-agreement.html)//CB

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Tuesday announced a series of moves aimed at cutting emissions of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, powerful greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

The White House has secured voluntary agreements from some of the nation’s largest companies to scale down or phase out their use of HFCs, which are factory-made gases used in air conditioning and refrigeration. Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Red Bull, Kroger, Honeywell and DuPont, the company that invented fluorinated refrigerants, have agreed to cut their use and replace them with climate-friendly alternatives.

Over all, the administration estimated that the agreements announced on Tuesday would reduce cumulative global consumption of HFCs by the equivalent of 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide through 2025. That is about 1.5 percent of the world’s 2010 greenhouse gas emissions, or the same as taking 15 million cars off the road for 10 years.

A repair technician in New Jersey removed an air-conditioning unit that uses HCFC-22, which is banned for use in new units, to install a new one that uses a different coolant, R-410A.Chilling

The announcement came a week before President Obama is expected to join over 100 other world leaders at a United Nations climate change summit in New York, which will begin 15 months of negotiations as leaders work toward a global climate change agreement in Paris next year.

The primary focus of that deal will be to push for enactment of new laws around the world aimed at cutting emissions of carbon dioxide, the abundant planet-warming gas caused by burning fossil fuels such as oil and coal. Negotiators anticipate it will take a grueling battle to achieve such an agreement, which would require the world’s largest economies — including the United States, China and India — to greatly cut their use of burning coal and oil.

But climate policy advocates say small steps aimed at reducing other greenhouse gases will also help. While HFCs are less abundant in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, they have 10,000 times the planet-warming potency. But carbon dioxide lingers in the atmosphere for centuries, while HFCs disintegrate after about 15 years.

“Every drumbeat in this symphony helps. It drives it along. This is part of that drumbeat,” said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, a research organization. “The benefits from cutting non-CO2 come much faster,” he added. “CO2 is like a supertanker – you can stop it, but it keeps drifting for a long time. Cutting HFCs are like stopping a steamboat. You stop it and that’s that.”

Warming is slowing—renewable energy and reduced consumption.

Cohen 15. (Steven, executive director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and a professor in the Practice of Public Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. “Renewable Energy Growth Mitigates Climate Change While Boosting Economy, IEA Reports,” EcoWatch. March 23, 2015. http://ecowatch.com/2015/03/23/renewables-mitigate-climate-change/)//CB

The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced this month that 2014 carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector leveled off—the first time in 40 years this has happened without being linked to an economic downturn.

According to the IEA:

“Global emissions of carbon dioxide stood at 32.3 billion tonnes in 2014, unchanged from the preceding year. The preliminary IEA data suggest that efforts to mitigate climate change may be having a more pronounced effect on emissions than had previously been thought.

The IEA attributes the halt in emissions growth to changing patterns of energy consumption in China and OECD countries. In China, 2014 saw greater generation of electricity from renewable sources, such as hydropower, solar and wind, and less burning of coal. In OECD economies, recent efforts to promote more sustainable growth—including greater energy efficiency and more renewable energy—are producing the desired effect of decoupling economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions.”

In OECD economies, recent efforts to promote more sustainable growth—including greater energy efficiency and more renewable energy—are producing the desired effect of decoupling economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions.

While this halt in global emissions may not survive this year’s cut in oil prices, it’s still a promising sign that the increased adoption of renewable energy technology, increased use of energy efficiency measures and the transition to a renewable economy, is well underway.

In Europe, three countries have already met their renewable energy targets five years ahead of schedule. According to United Press International, Bulgaria, Estonia, and Sweden have all surpassed the required goal of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020, mandated by the EU for each member country, with several other European countries, such as Italy, Romania and Lithuania, not far behind.

China’s commitment to reducing air pollution has likely had a huge effect on the leveling off of global carbon emissions, as its dependence on coal dropped for the first time in a decade and its clean energy consumption increased. Bloomberg Business reported that:

“China led in renewables last year with investments of $89.5 billion, accounting for almost one out of every three dollars spent on clean energy in the world, according to BNEF figures released in January.”

The U.S also reached new renewable energy milestones, with solar accounting for one-third of new generating capacity last year, more than any other energy source besides natural gas. The Washington Post also reported that electricity generated from renewable energy in 2014 outgrew that of fossil fuels, with wind power growing faster than all other sources and solar power more than doubling.