Table of Contents:

1. Letter from the Guest Editor – June Special Climate Change Edition. The realities of today show that the battle against climate change is an ongoing one that is just beginning…

 2. New research predicts the future of coral reefs under climate change. New climate model projections of the world’s coral reefs reveal which reefs will be hit first by annual coral bleaching, an event that poses the gravest threat…

 3. Telling the Stories of South Florida’s Battle with Sea Level Rise. A hotbed of rapid environmental change due to rising seas, Miami is also becoming a place of innovative environmental communication for diverse communities.

 4. Bleaching in Fiji: The Impacts of El Niño 2015.  It’s April 2016, just off the coast of Beqa – a small island to the south of Fiji’s main island Viti Levu. Amanda and myself are currently living on the beautiful…

 5. Connect with the Global Marine Community. In a nutshell, the Global Marine Community is a free interactive resource that gives you access to a weekly email detailing a round-up of events and opportunities in ocean conservation.

 6. Watercolor Artist, Sheila Horne. Artists have long been inspired by nature, and their contribution to awareness and advocacy of environmental issues cannot be understated. Mrs. Horne’s work…

 7. Architecture as Adaptation. As global warming and rising sea levels march forward at an increasing pace, humankind and society have no further option but to confront these changes head-on in how we live our lives…

8. Climate Change Misconceptions & What You Can Do. It’s in the news. It’s science. It’s somewhat controversial. While we’re certain that Earth’s climate

 9. Interview: Melissa White, Executive Director of Key Biscayne Community Foundation.  Key Biscayne is particularly vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise. Flooding already occurs..

10. More Bang for the Buck: Record New Renewable Power Capacity Added at Lower Cost. As the cost of clean technology continues to fall, the world added record levels of renewable energy capacity in 2016…

11. Planning for Climate Change & Rising Sea Levels: An Example from Boston.  The City of Boston convened a group of climate scientists and experts to determine a consensus on what the effects of climate change will be for…

12. Interested in advertising, contributing an article, or becoming a donor?.  26 Issues, readership in 174 countries, over 14,000 subscribers, 15,000 monthly visitors…and growing 

Austin Horne

With climate change impacts already occurring in many parts of the Eastern U.S. Coast, citizens in many major metropolitan areas are becoming intimately aware of the dangers that climate change-induced sea level rise poses to their communities. According to recent peer-reviewed research, heavily-populated, low-lying coastal areas in New England are vulnerable to tidal flooding as sea levels rise due to climate change. What’s more, some of Boston’s most recognizable neighborhoods like Back Bay, Downtown, the South End, and Logan Airport-adjacent East Boston are among the areas with the greatest future impact from this flooding. Needless to say, significant, increasing, and persistent flooding in all areas of the City is a major concern for City officials. As a response to the potential effects of climate change, the City of Boston has unveiled one of the most comprehensive and detailed climate impact studies to date for their local metropolitan region. While the plan concludes that a reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is the most effective way to mitigate climate change, municipalities like Boston have the ability to adapt to climate change in ways that protect their citizens. Released in December of 2016, The Climate Ready Boston report can truly be used as a model for other cities’ efforts to combat the effects of climate change.

In the beginning of the project, The City of Boston convened a group of climate scientists and experts to determine a consensus on what the effects of climate change will be for the Coastal Massachusetts area. The importance of using the latest scientific information in climate change plans should not be taken for granted and cannot be understated; furthermore, Boston’s location as an educational center with some of the world’s top universities and research centers makes it an ideal candidate to utilize this vital local resource. Using the region’s scientific expertise along with international research and ideas, the City framed its report around five key principles:

1. Generate multiple benefits where possible
2. Incorporate local involvement in design and decision-making
3. Create layers of protection by working at multiple scales (multiple, independent lines of defense that work in coordination with one another)
4. Design in flexibility and adaptability (to account for continually changing conditions as well as uncertainty in projections)
5. Leverage efforts in conjunction with building cycles (what actions, such as road repaving, are scheduled to be done already?)

These principles are aligned with best-practice guidelines for climate change adaptations, aiming to provide a layered, flexible approach that results in strong, resilient protections for City citizens. These principles also encourage working efficiently within existing City plans and Emergency Preparedness frameworks, which speeds up the process of implementation and minimizes the financial burden on local taxpayers.

One of the most groundbreaking approaches in the report, however, is its focus on community outreach and involvement. The report encourages extensive information sharing for, and input from, City citizens and local advocacy groups. As with any climate impact & adaptation assessment, the ultimate goal is to produce the best outcomes for impacted citizens. Citizen awareness, input, and, ultimately, buy-in are the most crucial aspects of this strategy and can make the difference between a successful plan and one that is not. Placing an emphasis on public outreach and involvement increases the plan’s on-the-ground knowledge that only community leaders can provide, such as critical local resilience opportunities and generating ideas for solving multiple challenges at once in their communities. All of this leads to increased community support for the plan’s implementation and long-term maintenance.

Of particular note is the City of Boston’s efforts to aim adaptation and resilience efforts toward its citizens who need it most. Older citizens, children, people with disabilities, people with limited English proficiency, and other groups may not have access to helpful information or economic resources that can help protect themselves and their families from the effects of climate change and rising sea levels. Efforts to reach these populations are a targeted effort of the Climate Ready Boston report, and can enhance protection for Boston’s most vulnerable communities. Also of note is the plan’s proposal of work programs, which can provide valuable job opportunities for unemployed citizens in encouraging climate resiliency; installation and maintenance of green infrastructure, performing property resilience audits, and resilience retrofitting are among the opportunities available for Boston citizens under the plan’s guidelines. Additionally, prioritizing the use of minority- and women- owned businesses is a component of the plan that can benefit smaller enterprises not as likely to be involved in this type of work.

All of these components speak to a remarkably comprehensive, well-thought-out plan that not only identifies the specific impacts Boston will face in the coming decades, but also uses the latest science and in-depth local knowledge to target responses to the organizations and communities where it is best suited. The result is a multi-faceted, appropriately-targeted approach that includes many different stakeholders from around the City and aims to serve all citizens effectively. There is certainly no one-size-fits-all approach to climate change adaptation, and the Climate Ready Boston 2016 report serves this notion well. Its incorporation of peer reviewed scientific research and local information leads to a climate plan that is remarkably up-to-date, holistic, and targeted for its population. The report leaves Boston better prepared to deal with this increasingly severe situation, and can serve as a model for other municipalities across the United States that are just learning to deal with climate change and sea level rise.

For more information, please visit https://www.boston.gov/departments/environment/climate-ready-boston

As the cost of clean technology continues to fall, the world added record levels of renewable energy capacity in 2016, at an investment level 23 per cent lower than the previous year, according to new research published today by UN Environment, the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2017 finds that wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-energy, geothermal, small hydro and marine

sources added 138.5 gigawatts to global power capacity in 2016, up 8 per cent from the 127.5 gigawatts added the year before. The added generating capacity roughly equals that of the world’s 16 largest existing power producing facilities combined.

Investment in renewables capacity was roughly double that in fossil fuel generation; the corresponding new capacity from renewables was equivalent to 55 per cent of all new power, the highest to date. The proportion of electricity coming from renewables excluding large hydro rose from 10.3 per cent to 11.3 per cent. This prevented the emission of an estimated 1.7 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide.

The total investment was $241.6 billion (excluding large hydro), the lowest since 2013. This was in large part a result of falling costs: the average dollar capital expenditure per megawatt for solar photovoltaics and wind dropped by over 10 per cent.

“Ever-cheaper clean tech provides a real opportunity for investors to get more for less,” said Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment. “This is exactly the kind of situation, where the needs of profit and people meet, that will drive the shift to a better world for all.”

New investment in solar totalled $113.7 billion, down 34 per cent from the record high in 2015. Solar capacity additions, however, rose to an all-time high of 75 gigawatts. Wind made up $112.5 billion of investment globally, down 9 per cent; wind capacity additions fell to 54 gigawatts from the previous year’s high of 63 gigawatts.

“The investor hunger for existing wind and solar farms is a strong signal for the world to move to renewables,” said Prof. Dr. Udo Steffens, President of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, commenting on record acquisition activity in the clean power sector, which rose 17 per cent to $110.2 billion.

While much of the drop in financing was due to reduced technology costs, the report documented a slowdown in China, Japan and some emerging markets, for a variety of reasons.
Renewable energy investment in developing countries fell 30 per cent to $117 billion, while that in developed economies dropped 14 per cent to $125 billion. China saw investment drop 32 per cent to $78.3 billion, breaking an 11-year rising trend.

Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa and Morocco all saw falls of 60 per cent or more, due to slower than expected growth in electricity demand, and delays to auctions and financings. Jordan was one of the few new markets to buck the trend, investment there rising 148 per cent to $1.2 billion.
The US saw commitments slip 10 per cent to $46.4 billion, as developers took their time to build out projects to benefit from the five-year extension of the tax credit system. Japan slumped 56 per cent to $14.4 billion.

“The question always used to be ‘will renewables ever be grid competitive?’,” said Michael Liebreich, Chairman of the Advisory Board at BNEF. “Well, after the dramatic cost reductions of the past few years, unsubsidised wind and solar can provide the lowest cost new electrical power in an increasing number of countries, even in the developing world – sometimes by a factor of two.”

“It’s a whole new world: even though investment is down, annual installations are still up; instead of having to subsidise renewables, now authorities may have to subsidise natural gas plants to help them provide grid reliability.”

Recent figures from the International Energy Agency cited the switch to renewables as one of the main reasons for greenhouse gas emissions staying flat in 2016, for the third year running, even though output in the global economy rose by 3.1 per cent.

Investment in renewables did not drop across the board. Europe enjoyed a 3 per cent increase to $59.8 billion, led by the UK ($24 billion) and Germany ($13.2 billion). Offshore wind ($25.9 billion) dominated Europe’s investment, up 53 per cent thanks to mega-arrays such as the 1.2 gigawatt Hornsea project in the North Sea, estimated to cost $5.7 billion. China also invested $4.1 billion in offshore wind, its highest figure to date.

Another positive sign came in winning bids for solar and wind in auctions around the world, at tariffs that would have seemed inconceivably low a few years ago. The records set last year were $29.10 per megawatt hour for solar in Chile and $30 per megawatt hour for onshore wind in Morocco.

Additional highlights

• Purchases of assets such as wind farms and solar parks reached a new high, $72.7 billion.
• Corporate takeovers reached $27.6 billion, 58 per cent more than 2015.The smaller sectors had mixed fortunes in terms of new investment.
• Biofuels fell 37 per cent to $2.2 billion, the lowest for at least 13 years; biomass and waste held steady at $6.8 billion and small hydro at $3.5 billion.
• Geothermal rallied 17 per cent to $2.7 billion. Marine edged down 7 per cent to $194 million.
• Siting two different technologies in the same location – to make use of shared land, grid connections and maintenance, and to reduce intermittency – is growing. Some 5.6 gigawatts of these ‘hybrid’ projects have been built or are under development worldwide.
• The Ramanathapuram solar complex in India, billed as the world’s largest ever solar voltaic project (648 megawatts), was constructed.

The report in full can be downloaded at http://fs-unep-centre.org/

About UN Environment
UN Environment is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UN Environment works with governments, the private sector, the civil society and with other UN entities and international organizations across the world. To ensure its global effectiveness UN Environment supports six regional offices, a number of sub-regional and country offices and a growing network of centres of excellence.
About Frankfurt School and the Frankfurt School-UNEP Centre

The Frankfurt School – UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance is a strategic cooperation between the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and UN Environment. The Centre is committed to facilitate the necessary structural change of energy supply and use around the globe by helping to catalyse private sector capital flow towards investments in sustainable energy and climate change mitigation and adaptation. A primary objective is to bridge the public-private sector gap through think-tank activities combining research, education and project implementation. A key part of this process is to enable the public sector to put in place policies, regulations and initiatives that overcome existing or perceived investment risks and other barriers seen by the private sector due to unfamiliarity with clean energy initiatives, particularly in developing countries. Together with partners in different institutions, the Centre is elaborating and field-testing new financial instruments and implementing cutting-edge projects that serve the growing markets for energy-efficient and clean energy production.

About Bloomberg New Energy Finance
BNEF provides unique analysis, tools and data for decision makers driving change in the energy system. With unrivalled depth and breadth, we help clients stay on top of developments across the energy spectrum from our comprehensive web-based platform. BNEF has 200 staff based in London, New York, Beijing, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Munich, New Delhi, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Washington D.C., and Zurich.

For more information, please visit http://www.rona.unep.org/more-bang-buck-record-new-renewable-power-capacity-added-lower-cost