Wrap Up 2017 - The Year In Review

Hello there people.👋 Howya doing? Christmas cheer in the air yet? Well before we end the year we are going to have the last post this year, looking at the things that happened this year in the climate change world. So yea, gather round the fire with a warm cuppa☕ and here we go:

We started the year with the third warmest January in modern record keeping history, whereby gold was taken by January 2016, and silver by January 2007, this being according to NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies. I might also point out that the world in general was still coming to terms with the outcome of the American Presidential election of 2016 and what that meant for climate action and especially America’s leading role in it – formerly that is.

 February 2017 was the second warmest in the 137 years of record keeping history after February 2016. March followed suit, taking silver after March 2016. There was also some good news in March in that Bloomberg Markets reported that renewables (sun and wind) provided more than 10% of power in the U.S for the first time.

April saw the gathering of thousands of people to protest against the new US administration policies on environmental issues specifically climate change. The gathering held on April 29 in Washington DC and in many other places was in support of the US remaining in Paris Agreement 2015 and abiding by the Clean Power Plan. April 2017 was also the second warmest after April 2016.

May 2017 was ushered in by the Bonn Climate Change Conference that was held in preparation for COP 23 later in the year. IRENA also released their annual review focusing on employment and jobs from renewable energy. Notably, 9.8 million people were employed in 2016, 1.1% more than 2015. May continued with the warming trend, coming in second after the hottest May in 2016. It was also in May that the G7 reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement, all except the US President.

On the first day of June 2017, the American president announced the government’s intention to withdraw America from the Paris Agreement citing the economy and workers as concerns. This decision was widely condemned within and without the US and led to the formation of a domestic alliance to combat climate change. Made up of 14 states and Puerto Rico, the alliance is part of positive climate action from US society, which is also supported by businesses and companies. This is particularly commendable as it is in accordance with the role of states and regions as espoused by the Paris Agreement 2015. I might now point out that if successful, the US would be the only one in the entire world not part of the agreement as both Syria and Nicaragua have joined the climate pact.

 It was also in the sixth month of the year that the World Circular Economic Forum was held in Helsinki, Finland.

In the month of July 2017, the Global Climate Report indicated that average global land and ocean temperature was the second highest for the month of July after July 2016. It also mentioned that the 10 warmest Julys have been in the 21st century, that is, since 2005. The Copernicus Institute also reported that sea ice was much less widespread in July 2017 than the average for July since 1981-2010. This was true in both the Arctic and Antarctic. Melting sea ice is one of the contributors to sea level rise, and the consequent implications, of which you can read about here 

The Climate and Development Knowledge Network also released their report on Kenya which found that the country is doing quite well when it comes to climate action, having among other things, signed the Climate Act into law in 2016.

The month of August was ushered in by the terrible news of the Sierra Leone mudslide, where over 500 people were killed and over a thousand displaced. Blamed on heavier than normal torrential rains as a result of climate change as well as sustained ecosystem damage, the horrible tragedy would be the start of other extreme weather events as heavy monsoon rains swept across Bangladesh, India and Nepal killing 1200 people and impacting 41 million as according to the UN. Hurricane Harvey then hit Texas causing so much destruction of homes and property. On 30th August 2017, Hurricane Irma struck the Caribbean and part of the US causing billions of dollars in damage and resulting in loss of life.  NASA’s Goddard Institute also noted that this August was the second warmest after August 2016.

It was also in the month of August that IKEA started selling solar panels with storage batteries. This means that one can go off grid.

September was also caught up in Hurricane Irma but was struck again by one of the most powerful storms in history, Hurricane Maria which swept through the Caribbean causing over a hundred billion dollars in damage and hundreds of lives lost. Significantly affected was Puerto Rico, with the country losing power and faced with so much destruction of infrastructure. Embed from Getty Images 

 It was also in September that the sixth international conference on climate change adaptation was held in Toronto, Canada.

The annual Climate Week organized by the Climate Group was held in New York City in September and was held alongside the Global Goals Week. Of note was the launch of EV100, an initiative for major businesses throughout the world to turn to electric vehicles. It was also here that the campaign #ClimateOptimism was launched, which is meant to push for positivity in climate action.

October 2017 was welcomed with the release of the Renewables 2017 report by the International Energy Agency. The report has several up looking points, such as that solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity grew by over 50% with China accounting for half of this expansion. Renewables also accounted for almost two thirds of new power capacity around the world in 2016. Solar PV additions rose faster any other fuel, coal included.

It was also in October that a high level event on the nexus between climate change and migration and the effect on peace and security in Africa was held under the auspices of the UN. October also saw the start of the short rains season in Kenya, which were exceptionally heavy.

That brings us to November, which kicked off with the Conference of Youth on climate change in Bonn Germany. Hundreds of young people from around the world gathered to discuss climate action. 
It was also in November that the 23rd Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC took place in Bonn, Germany where the UNFCCC is domiciled. The world gathered in Bonn to discuss climate action in light of Paris Agreement and climate finance. Dubbed the ‘islands COP’, the conference was presided over by Fiji. The US did not make an official stand but a group of governors and businesses did commendably well and put up an unofficial US stand.

The holidays were ushered in with Tesla building the world’s biggest lithium ion battery and switching it on in Australia. This was great news in renewable energy sector as it shows the far we’ve come in making society understand and embrace climate action as opposed to continued usage of fossil fuels.

4rd to 6th December saw the world converge in Nairobi for the third United Nations Environmental Assembly, which was held at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The theme was #BeatPollution, whereby several steps were taken to bring the same into effect.
Notably there are several commonalities between Climate Action and Beat Pollution, like use of plastic which has both a huge carbon footprint and also causes marine pollution as it is a threat to marine life. Read more here on the simple steps we can take on both initiatives 

On 12th December 2017, the second anniversary of the landmark Paris Agreement 2015, world and business leaders once again met in the French capital for the One Planet Summit to discuss climate finance with concrete action being discussed that hopefully will be implemented.
The Eiffel tower lit up in green during the One planet summit - image credit of globaltimes.cn



Well, ladies and gentlemen of the interwebs, there we have it! The year 2017 in review. I hope you enjoyed it and learnt a thing or two. Going forward, I must say there is a lot of optimism and hope in climate action now that it is a society wide thing, no longer the preserve or responsibility of governments. We all realize that it is incumbent upon us to change our way of life, to choose to live a life with less of a carbon footprint.

It is not only for the sake of the planet, but also for us. Outlook 2018 has a few pointers whereby we expect the warming trend to continue, we can most definitely expect more stellar growth for the renewable energy sector.

So on that note, ladies and gentilhommes you will permit me to take my leave, after having sincerely thanked you for gracing this page with your presence and coming back again and again to visit. It is always such a joy to write for you and enjoy what I do.

For a season filled with good cheer, I wish you happy happy holidays!

Let us celebrate as we look forward to the New Year 2018.







Cheers! Here’s to us!✌🎆🎈




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