STOCKHOLM - Fix the climate crisis and save the Earth, one of this year's Nobel laureates for physics urged on Saturday, saying the idea of humans escaping our planet to live in other solar systems was farfetched and unrealistic.
Swiss astronomer Didier Queloz, who shared the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physics for discovering planets orbiting distant suns, said he had heard the argument against fighting climate change because 'it doesn't matter because anyway we're going to leave the Earth at some point'.
"I think this is just irresponsible ... because the stars are so far away, I think we should not really have any hope, serious hope, to escape the Earth," Queloz said at a news conference in Stockholm where he is to collect his share of the 9-million-Swedish-crown ($910,000) prize next week.
"So we better spend our time and energy trying to fix it than trying to imagine that we will ... destroy it and leave it," he said.
Some scientists, including late cosmologist and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, have said threats such as nuclear war and climate change are so serious humans may have to eventually leave the Earth in order to survive as a species.
Briton Stanley Whittingham, awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for Chemistry along with American John Goodenough and Akira Yoshino of Japan for inventing the lithium-ion battery, said a pragmatic approach was needed to the climate crisis.
"We've got to do things step-wise and have some solutions in mind," he said at the same event. "I think lithium batteries are going to help electrification of transportation, including big trucks, and in the US it's already helping solar and wind take over from coal power plants."
The prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were created and funded in the will of Swedish dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and have been awarded since 1901. This year's award ceremony and banquet is on Dec. 10.
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LONDON, United Kingdom—British band Coldplay on Friday won plaudits for shelving a new album tour over environmental concerns, in the latest sign of climate change activism in the music industry.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) praised the move, as the group released its latest album—"Everyday Life"—with only 2 gigs, both in the Jordanian capital Amman.
The performances, staged at sunrise and sunset without an audience, were broadcast free on YouTube.
"It is fantastic to see world famous artists stepping up to protect the planet," said the head of climate change at WWF, Gareth Redmond-King.
"We all have a responsibility to lead by example in the face of this climate and nature crisis—inaction is not an option if we are to preserve our planet for future generations."
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin told the BBC they would not tour until they had figured out how concerts could be more "sustainable."
He listed the amount of flying required and the use of items such as plastic water bottles as the band's primary concerns over touring.
Activists say international music tours impact heavily on the environment, with concern about the amount of electricity used to power stadiums to waste generated by concertgoers.
Coldplay played 122 shows around the world across 8 legs as part of the tour for their last album, "A Head Full of Dreams."
Martin said if the band do eventually hit the road for the new release, they hope the tour could be entirely carbon neutral.
The band is set to perform another one-off concert next Monday at London's Natural History Museum, with the proceeds donated to an environmental charity.
CLEANING UP THEIR ACTS
Coldplay's decision is the latest example of bands and the wider entertainment industry responding to growing concern about the climate crisis.
US teenage sensation Billie Eilish revealed last month that she had tried to make her world tour "as green as possible" with the help of a non-profit consultancy.
The singer told chat-show host Jimmy Fallon she had banned plastic straws and urged fans to bring their own refillable water bottles and to utilize recycling bins at venues.
On her next world tour starting in March, every site will feature an "eco-village" where concert-goers can learn about environmentalism, she said.
Meanwhile, The 1975, another British band, which this year collaborated with Swedish climate change icon Greta Thunberg, are also trying to move towards carbon-neutral touring.
It pledged in September to plant a tree for every ticket sold ahead of their upcoming tour of Britain and Ireland.
Teenage activist Thunberg refuses to fly because of the carbon emissions involved. In September, she traveled to a UN climate conference in New York by boat. She is currently sailing back to Europe.
In Britain, live music events account for 405,000 tons of greenhouse emissions, according to the campaign group Global Citizen, which stages its own zero-waste festivals.
Powerful Thinking, a think-tank focused on the festival industry, estimates the events generate some 23,500 tons of waste each year in the country.
This has led dozens of Britain's biggest festivals to try to clean up their acts, initiating everything from bans on single-use plastic to using renewable energy sources.
The UK Music umbrella group representing the industry said 3.9 million people attended festivals in Britain in 2016.
Glastonbury Festival, staged every June on a farm in western England, is partnering with charities such as Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid to improve its sustainability.
Organizers even deployed portable toilets that utilize technology to convert urine into electricity at this year's festival.
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Oscar-winner Jane Fonda was arrested Friday outside the US Capitol where she was protesting climate change and demanding action to protect the environment.
The 81-year-old film star, longtime activist and exercise guru was taken into custody with several others after 10 minutes of protesting on the Capitol steps, video posted on Fonda's Facebook page showed.
"Today, the United States Capitol Police arrested 16 individuals for unlawfully demonstrating on the East Front of the US Capitol," a police spokeswoman said in a statement that did not identify those detained.
Fonda, dressed in a bright red overcoat, chanted climate action slogans before she was handcuffed and led away to cheers from fellow protesters.
The protest may become a familiar site on Capitol Hill.
Fonda recently told the Los Angeles Times that she was moving to Washington for four months, fully committed to fighting global warming with a passion similar to that of Swedish teenager and climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Speaking to a small gathering before her arrest, Fonda decried the "man-made crisis" of climate change and said she and other activists would be returning to Capitol Hill "every Friday at 11:00, rain or shine or snow or blizzard or whatever," for a series of rallies.
"This is a collective crisis that demands collective action now," she said.
Climate change has emerged as a prominent issue in US politics, and several candidates seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination have released major and ambitious climate action platforms.
Fonda starred in US movie classics like "9 to 5" and "On Golden Pond," as well as the recent Netflix series "Grace and Frankie."
She won best actress Academy Awards for 1971's "Klute" and "Coming Home," from 1978.
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NEW YORK, United States—An angry and emotional Greta Thunberg berated older generations as she spoke before the United Nations Climate Action Summit Monday.
Her speech was punctuated by her frustration over the inaction to address climate change.
“How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones,” the 16-year-old climate activist said before delegates from different countries.
“People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”
Thunberg’s speech set the tone of the climate action summit, which is meant to boost climate commitments of countries in time for the 2020 deadline of the Paris agreement.
The agreement aims to curb global heating to at least 2 degrees Celsius in order to combat climate change.
Thunberg, who was the face of the global youth climate strikes last Friday, called the goal of cutting carbon emissions in half in 10 years as unacceptable, especially since young people like her will have to live with its consequences.
“How dare you pretend that this can be solved with business-as-usual and some technical solutions?” she said.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis said in a video message that country pledges were still inadequate.
“Four years after that historic agreement (Paris 2015), we can see that the commitments made by states are still very weak,” he said. “Indeed they are far from achieving the objectives set.”
Pope Francis said it was “necessary to ask whether there is a real political will to allocate greater human, financial and technological resources to mitigate the negative effects of climate change and to help the poorest and most vulnerable populations, who suffer the most.”
"While the situation is not good and the planet is suffering, the window of opportunity is still open," the pope added.
ACTION SUMMIT
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the Climate Action Summit is not for talking or negotiations but action.
He acknowledged the failure of his generation “in its responsibility to protect our planet.”
“That must change,” he said.
Guterres, who spoke before Thunberg and the other youth activists, repeatedly referred to the calls of young people.
“I believe it's the duty of all decision makers in the world, not only to listen to the voice of young people and to do what they ask us to do, but also to support them in their own action for climate action around the world."
He also did not mince words when it came to countries that receive money from fossil fuel companies or those that construct more coal plants.
“Is it common sense to build ever more coal plants that are choking our future?Is it common sense to reward pollution that kills millions with dirty air and makes it dangerous for people in cities around the world to sometimes even venture out of their homes?” he said.
The main point of the summit was the commitments announced by various world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel who pledged that her country will become carbon neutral by 2050 and Indian Prime Minister Narendran Modi’s target to further increase their renewable energy goals.
“In 2030 we want to get two-thirds of our energy from renewables,” Merkel said. “In 2022 we will phase out the last of our nuclear power plants, and at latest, in 2038 we will phase out coal.”
According to the World Resources Institute, there are now 65 nations that committed to enhancing their climate goals for 2020. This does not include the Philippines.
During the climate finance session, French President Emmanuel Macron asked other countries to increase their contributions to the Green Climate Fund after the United States withdrew from it.
Incidentally, US President Donald Trump, who was expected to skip the event as he did with other previous climate meetings, managed to drop by the opening session.
He listened to Modi and stayed for 14 minutes.
The rest of the one-day summit will be filled with speeches from other world leaders and side events like press conferences from country coalitions.
As for the Philippines, the government did not send any of its cabinet members to what the Climate Change Commission (CCC) calls a historic summit.
Instead, attending the event are one official each from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the National Economic and Development Authority and three advisors from the CCC.
Civil society groups have expressed concern over the seeming lack of interest of interest of the Philippine government in actually participating in negotiations. It has also yet to update its climate commitments, which is due by 2020.
While CCC Secretary Emmanuel de Guzman did not attend the summit, he sent a statement asking for climate actions that are inclusive, fair and equitable.
“Now, more than ever, developed countries must ensure the flow of climate finance towards developing countries. We hope that the summit will provide clarity and direction for achieving the climate finance goal enshrined in the Paris Agreement,” De Guzman said.
President Rodrigo Duterte has acknowledged the effects of climate change but has focused on the need for accountability of developed countries.
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NEW YORK, United States—Huge numbers of children skipped school Friday to join a global strike against climate change that teen activist Greta Thunberg hopes will mark a turning point in persuading leaders to act against environmental disaster.
Chanting slogans and waving placards, youngsters and adults filled the streets of cities across the world in what was expected to be the biggest ever protest against the threat posed to the planet by warming temperatures.
Demonstrations across Asia and the Pacific kicked off the day of action, which spread to Africa and Europe, with crowds turning out in Paris, London and Berlin, before nearing their completion in the United States where Thunberg rallied.
"I hope this will be another social tipping point that we show how many people are engaged, how many people are putting pressure on leaders," the 16-year-old told AFP in New York.
Organizers forecast protests in more than 5,000 locations across 137 countries. In Australia alone, they said more than 300,000 children, parents and supporters rallied.
Although there was no official turnout, Thunberg said "millions" had participated.
"It can't go on any longer. We are at the end of our planet," said Bernie Waldman, 14, one of thousands to protest in New York, where 1.1 million students were permitted to skip school for the event.
In Slovakia, 5-year-old Teo asked a crowd of 500 "not to cut down forests, and reduce garbage production and not to use so many petrol-fuelled cars."
"Stop climate change now" and "There is no planet B" read some of the signs brandished by demonstrators in a trendy central shopping district of Tokyo.
"We adults caused this planet emergency. We should take our responsibilities for the next generation," said Chika Maruta, 32.
'WE DESERVE BETTER'
Swedish schoolgirl Thunberg called on leaders to act now to curb gas emissions.
"Now we have proven what we can do, now they have to prove what they can (do). They need to take their responsibility," she said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel used Friday to pledge at least 100 billion euros by 2030 to tackle emissions in the energy and industrial sectors, boost zero tailpipe emission electric vehicles and get passengers out of planes and onto trains.
About 200 marched in Ghana's capital Accra, where some 44 percent of the country's population has not heard of climate change, according to a study by Afrobarometer.
"Developing countries like Ghana are the most affected. We don't have the resources to adapt to climate change," said 26-year-old protest organizer Ellen Lindsey Awuku.
Hundreds also took to the streets in Kenya and Uganda.
Events began in the deluge-threatened Pacific Islands of Vanuatu, the Solomons and Kiribati, where children chanted: "We are not sinking, we are fighting."
The defiance message was heard across Asia.
"We are the future and we deserve better," 12-year-old Lilly Satidtanasarn, known as "Thailand's Greta" for her campaign against plastic bags in malls, told AFP in Bangkok.
'YOU'RE BEING LIED TO'
In Australia, some local authorities, schools and businesses encouraged people to participate in the strikes.
Australia has been struck in recent years by droughts, more intense bushfires, devastating floods and the blanching of the Great Barrier Reef—phenomena blamed on a changing climate.
Numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown a link between human-made gas emissions and climate change.
But the protests also highlighted resistance from those who question the threat.
Australian ruling coalition parliamentarian Craig Kelly told children Thursday that "everything you're told is a lie."
"The facts are, there is no link between climate change and drought, polar bears are increasing in number."
BUSINESSES TAKING ACTION
An increasing number of businesses backed the protests.
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos pledged Thursday to make the US retail giant carbon neutral by 2040 and encouraged other firms to do likewise.
Friday's mass action set the scene for a range of high-profile climate events in New York.
A Youth Climate Summit will take place at the United Nations on Saturday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will then host an emergency summit on Monday in which he will urge world leaders to raise their commitments made in the 2015 Paris climate accord.
The agreement saw countries pledge to limit the long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels, and if possible, to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
A landmark UN report to be unveiled next week will warn that global warming and pollution are ravaging Earth's oceans and icy regions in ways that could unleash misery on a global scale.
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LONDON, United Kingdom—Himalayan glaciers have been melting twice as fast since the start of this century, underscoring the threat the climate crisis poses to water supplies for hundreds of millions of people across Asia, according to a study published on Wednesday.
Scientists have long been trying to establish how quickly rising global temperatures caused by the burning of coal, oil and gas are eating away at the region's icebound landscapes, sometimes referred to as Earth's third pole.
The new analysis, spanning 40 years of satellite observations across India, China, Nepal and Bhutan, showed glaciers have been losing the equivalent of more than a vertical foot-and-a-half of ice each year since 2000. That represents double the rate between 1975 and 2000.
"This is the clearest picture yet of how fast Himalayan glaciers are melting over this time interval, and why," lead author Joshua Maurer, a PhD candidate at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said in a statement.
Although the study, published in Science Advances, did not attempt to ascertain precisely how much ice had melted, Maurer said the glaciers may have lost as much as a quarter of their mass over the last 40 years.
The accelerated melting appears to be swelling rivers during warm seasons, but scientists are concerned about the long-term impact on irrigation, hydropower and drinking water supplies that support some 800 million people.
Joseph Shea, a glacial geographer at the University of Northern British Columbia, who was not involved in the study, said the findings demonstrated that even glaciers in the world's highest mountains were being affected by higher temperatures.
"In the long term, this will lead to changes in the timing and magnitude of streamflow in a heavily populated region," Shea said.
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