New Scientist - USA (2019-12-21)

21/28 December 2019 | New Scientist | 5

THE UK faces the task of breaking

the deadlock on international

climate negotiations next year,

after the COP25 talks ended in

Madrid on Sunday.

The meeting overran to become

the longest climate summit yet as

delegates from over 190 countries

struggled to reach agreement on

key issues on the framework

underpinning the Paris climate

deal. Drawing up rules on a carbon

market between countries has

been deferred until next year,

when the UK hosts a landmark

climate summit in Glasgow.

António Guterres, the UN

secretary general, said he was

disappointed with the outcome,

and that leaders had missed

an opportunity to be more

ambitious on climate change

mitigation, adaptation and

finance for poorer countries.

“But we must not give up, and

I will not give up,” he tweeted.

Scientists said the “minimum

compromise” achieved in Madrid

means the Glasgow meeting will

now need to be a turning point.

“Postponing all the relevant issues

is hardly in line with the climate

emergency that we scientists

highlighted during COP25,”

said Johan Rockström at the

University of Potsdam, Germany,

in a statement. The conservation

charity WWF said the summit

showed “a staggering failure of

leadership by some countries”.

The intransigence of big

polluters – including China,

the US, Brazil and India – at the

meeting led to the European

Union, small island states and

members of the public expressing

frustration. This culminated in a

protest at the summit (pictured)

where about 200 campaigners

were marched out of the

conference by security, though

they were later allowed to return.

The UN said that more than

70 countries are expected to

submit stronger plans to curb

carbon emissions next year,

ahead of the Glasgow summit.

The lack of ambition at the

Madrid meeting is a disappointing

end to 2019, a year that has

seen an outpouring of public

concern about climate change

(see page 20). ❚

The COP25 international climate meeting ended with no new

ambitions set and little progress made, reports Adam Vaughan

Aviation

Planes to fly close

together to cut fuel

THE aviation industry is

planning to test whether

mimicking the way birds

fly in formation can

reduce fuel use, in an

effort to cut emissions.

Plane manufacturer Airbus

will run two demonstrator

flights in the first half of next

year. The idea, inspired by

the V-formation that geese

migrate in, is for one plane

to take off soon after

another, following closely

and precisely enough to

take advantage of the air

vortex produced in the first

plane’s wake. It could cut

fuel use by 5 to 10 per cent

per trip, says Airbus.

If initial tests go well,

the firm will then try the

technique with a real

passenger plane following

an Airbus demonstrator

flight, says Sandra Bour

Schaeffer at Airbus, with

tests planned for 2021.

The technique could be used

on normal flights by 2025.

“We have to demonstrate

the safe operation, we

have to demonstrate that

we can find a spot where

passenger comfort is

not affected because we

basically want to benefit

from the updraft of the

vortex,” says Bour Schaeffer.

She doesn’t expect

take-offs to be more

turbulent, but says it is

possible the fuel savings may

not be as great as hoped. ❚

Adam Vaughan

Climate summit failure

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“The idea is inspired

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