The climate crisis is humanity’s greatest challenge to date. At the same time, we are very little aware of how massive and catastrophic it is. Climate activists are trying to break through the greenwashing and communicate what the scientists say is absolutely necessary to be able to cope with the climate crisis. They are met with censorship, persecution and denial instead.

There are extreme amounts of fossil energy that must be replaced or removed from society if we are to manage to adapt. At the same time, we have an economic system that depends on consumption growth and perpetual growth. It doesn’t work anymore. We need a new economic system that aims to use resources as efficiently as possible while meeting basic needs, providing us with welfare and protecting the environment.

The climate crisis and the nature crisis require extensive societal changes. It is not easy to make the math work out.i In any case, the key thing is that you must act based on research, take precautions and be fair. That is far from the case now. The most central thing is to phase out fossil energy and livestock-based agriculture as quickly and globally fairly as possible. Then it does not help with an ever-increasing material consumption. We must be both pragmatic and ambitious. We must put an end to greenwashing and the myths about green transition. It only happens if enough people get involved and understand the seriousness.

The last 9 months have set extreme heat records. It doesn’t look promising. How are we going to manage to get society into the emergency mode we need to solve this problem? Everyone should become climate activists.

Climate

Climate scientists warn of runaway sea temperatures https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/27/climate/scientists-are-freaking-out-about-ocean-temperatures.html

A poorly thought-out transition to a hydrogen economy could make the climate crisis worse, scientists warn https://energynews.us/2024/02/28/scientists-warn-a-poorly-managed-hydrogen-rush-could-make-climate-change-worse/

It is very important for democracy that the state follows the law and the principle of separation of powers. https://e24.no/energi-og-klima/i/RGvlV2/aker-bp-faar-oljetillatelse-nok-er-nok

There is a lot going on at the moment, but the EU does not need more Norwegian gas, a new report shows. There is also a genocide going on in Gaza, war is not particularly good for the climate, but the West refuses to let it have consequences for the culprit. Climate justice is much the same. Climate justice must also mean justice for Palestine!

Climate

The EU does not need more gas, a new report shows. Stop oil exploration! https://www.dagsavisen.no/nyheter/verden/2024/02/21/miljoorganisations-eu-trenger-ikke-mer-norsk-gass/

The big news now is that the climate lawsuit against the state won and new oil fields are illegal under the constitution. There will also be a temporary injunction and production on these fields must stop. What is going to happen now? The state is not in the habit of following such judgments, such as with Fosen, but is the state really valid if they can break the law? Is society dissolved? It will be exciting to see.

The climate crisis post is back for a new year. There is both good and bad news about the climate from 2023, but overall we are still very far from sufficient action and the climate crisis is accelerating at an ever greater pace. Public awareness of the seriousness of the climate crisis and what is needed to reduce the damage to an acceptable level is still far too low; especially in Norway. It is our duty to ensure that this awareness spreads.

We are not worth more than the people who die from the climate crisis now and in the future. Just because we are privileged enough to have been born outside the zones that are hit hardest now does not give us the right to create a climate crisis, but rather a duty to clean up after ourselves.

We have to fight against the greenwashing and make sure that the facts actually get on the table. I have now made an overview of some of these myths. Facts and research are not political, they are methodical, objective and the most important building block in a democratic society. We must therefore stand up for policies that are based on knowledge and research - the alternative is corrupt.

Last climate crisis post before Christmas. We must not lose hope, but we must not allow ourselves to be drugged by “hopium”, the new name for false hope, either. I think the most important thing we can do for the climate is to be honest with ourselves and others. Am I willing to accept the consequences of what I do or the consequences of what I don’t do when all the facts are taken into account? And if not how can I make a bigger difference? How can I help so that we can have more real hope for the future?

COP28 is coming to an end. There are both bright spots and disappointments. The major trends are still pointing in the wrong direction. It is probably not there, together with more and more fossil fuel lobbyists, that the climate crisis is going to be solved. On the other hand, more activism and grassroots initiatives are the key to creating the necessary political pressure and understanding of the crisis. The message is therefore: commit yourself to the climate and nature!

The future looks increasingly bleak, but there is still some hope. It is more and more clear than ever that we will not survive this if we do not take to the streets to demand the necessary action. There are also positive developments, but these would not have happened if there had not also been increasing pressure for more action. This is not going to happen by itself.

Therefore, I encourage everyone to join the Grønn Bølge demonstrations against oil exploration: The Climate March, where the next one is 11.12, 16:00 at Valkyrie plass. https://fb.me/e/3fhamZSFz

This week, the climate summit COP28 starts in Dubai.

These records may seem gloomy, but the main purpose is to be realistic and create an understanding of the crisis. It is always the most important and first thing one should do to understand the scale of the crisis. The biggest threat to climate solutions is that we believe that someone else will solve it.

When it comes to solutions, the key is to reveal the false solutions and ensure a comprehensive and honest analysis. All solutions have advantages and disadvantages. We don’t really lack solutions. What we lack is the will to implement them.

Records are being broken, but the world is not at all on track for a livable future, reports the UN in a new report. Phasing out fossil energy is vital.

Research

New study “The State of the Cryosphere 2023 – Two Degrees is Too High” from the international Cryosphere Climate Initiative warns that 2 degrees of warming will lead to an irreversible loss of the Earth’s ice masses. https://iccinet.org/statecryo23/

Better late than never. Phasing out fossil energy is vital.

Climate

2023 is on track to be the warmest year https://climate.copernicus.eu/2023-track-become-warmest-year-after-record-october

Hear Johan Rockstöm explain the tipping points in the climate system here https://youtu.be/7KfWGAjJAsM

The world must phase out 240 coal-fired power stations a year to meet the climate targets. https://www.naturpress.no/2023/11/14/verden-er-totalt-bakpa-ma-fase-ut-240-kullkraftverk-hvert-ar-framover/

Oil

Oil states are planning new oil that is more than twice the world’s climate budget. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/insanity-petrostates-planning-huge-expansion-of-fossil-fuels-says-un-report?

Equinor is considering selling off the Rosebank field. Uncertainty and pressure have increased. https://www.transitmag.no/2023/11/09/kilder-til-reuters-equinor-vurderer-a-selge-seg-ned-i-rosebank/

New week more climate crisis. New week, new climate crisis post.

Climate news

What will it take for climate policy to gain wider acceptance? https://energiogklima.no/to-grader/ekspertintervju/rapport-slik-far-klimapolitikken-ikke-aksept/

A new report from Oil Change International looks at how the structural power of the oil industry is distributed in Norway. Central is the organization Konkraft, which secured the generous tax packages for the oil industry during COVID-19. https://priceofoil.org/2023/11/01/first-ever-norwegian-oil-and-gas-industrys-influence-mapped-exposes-fossil-fuel-sway-in-multiple-sectors/

New report shows that lawn treatment in the USA has a greater climate effect than road transport. https://grist.org/technology/lawn-equipment-pollution-report/

New week more climate crisis

When evil is allowed to compete with good, evil has an emotional populist appeal that wins out unless good men and women stand as a vanguard against abuse.

Hannah Arendt

September 2023 is breaking all records

Climate news

The government’s climate committee calls for an oil phase-out and a halt to oil exploration https://e24.no/energi-og-klima/i/ve25om/klimautvalg-ber-regjeringen-lage-en-plan-for-nedphasing-av-olje

Why nuclear power is better for getting rid of fossil energy completely than renewables alone and why the fossil fuel industry doesn’t want us to realize it. https://www.salon.com/2023/06/18/why-big-oil-loves-the-renewable-energy-industry/

New week more climate crisis

The result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lie will now be accepted as truth, and truth be defamed as lie, but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world - and the category of truth versus falsehood is among the mental means to this end - is being destroyed.

Hanna Arendt

New week more climate crisis

The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.

Philosopher Hannah Arendt

Climate news

We are about to lose everything if we don’t stop the fossil fuel industry, warns NASA scientist Peter Kalmus https://www.newsweek.com/sadly-its-not-just-another-summer-we-must-end-fossil-fuel-industry-opinion-1832188

The green transition has not even started, according to the DNV report https://e24.no/energi-og-klima/i/bgvPdk/dnv-omstillingen-i-det-globale-energisystemet-har-ikke-startet

The climate crisis is a major threat to democracy https://klassekampen.no/artikkel/2023-10-10/demokratitrusselen/BeVu

Why is the expansion of the oil sector a crime against humanity and what can we do to stop it?

Climate news

Leaks from gas power plants are not taken into account enough, research shows https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-09-29/the-climate-sleuth-uncovering-methane-leaks-for-the-united-nations

Fracking is taking lives: https://www.nrk.no/dokumentar/xl/brennepunkt-har-undersokt-equinors-risikable-frackingverskott-i-usa-1.15274533

20 countries’ fossil fuel plans, Norway included, are leading us towards climate chaos: https://priceofoil.org/2023/09/12/planet-wreckers-how-20-countries-oil-and-gas-extraction-plans-risk-locking-in-climate-chaos/

The Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate hammers away at Equinor and Norway for the opening of the Rosebank field

It is absurd that authorities in rich countries such as the UK and Norway call themselves climate leaders when you lie and continue to expand (the use of) fossil fuels. Not only are you leading your own population astray by smashing your own climate goals, but you are also depriving them of reasonable green energy. You are throwing fuel on the climate crisis fire from which we are already suffering, says Vanessa Nakate midway through her speech.

This is the zeroth edition of the weekly climate crisis post where I collect important research, news, myth busting, recommendations, calls and hopefully some good news too.

Climate news

The Rosebank field leads to demonstrations against Equinor all over the world (I was there) and lawsuits https://www.transitmag.no/2023/09/27/britiske-myndigheter-godkjenner-equinors-rosebank-felt-klimaaktivister-varsler-soksmal/

Norway is being sued for lack of climate action in several cases before the European Court of Human Rights. https://www.transitmag.no/2023/09/27/norge-pa-anklagbenken-historisk-stor-klimasak-opp-for-den-europeiske-mensnerettsdomstolen/ This is in addition to a separate lawsuit against Norwegian oil developments and the new climate lawsuit: https://www.greenpeace.org/norway/klimaendringer/klimasoksmal/nytt-klimasoksmal-2023-dette-ma-du-vite/