Hello, and welcome to Forge the Future, your weekly rundown of the latest climate news.
Christmas is fast approaching, as I can see by the ever-increasing arrays of festive lighting adorning my neighbours’ windows. I’ve actually decided to take a seasonal break this year, and so whilst there’ll be a post next week, I’ll be taking the time between Christmas and New Years off, so there won’t be a post on the 29th! I’ll be following that brief hiatus with my usual wrap up post summarising 2021 as we head into a new, and hopefully greener 2022.
Once again, this week’s issue was ably assisted by Syuan Ruei Chang, who contributed a number of the articles and stories featured this week.
State of the world
Climate research and findings, weather events and studies
Severe tornadoes have swept across six states in the US, killing at least 80 people and causing massive damage. Whilst tornadoes are not uncommon in December, events of this magnitude are rare, although the head of FEMA said that similar disasters are the ‘new normal’. President Biden has called for the EPA to investigate links between the storm and climate change.
A study has suggested that tropical rainforest may recover in as little as 20 years if left untouched by humans. The speed of recovery is due to a mechanism called ‘secondary succession’, where remnants of old forest seed new growth faster than if it grew from nothing. However, different aspects of forest take different amounts of time, with overall biomass recovery taking up to 120 years.
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the largest ocean current in the world, may be speeding up thanks to climate change. The current rotates around Antarctica, keeping the continent cold, but thanks to increased wind speeds and warmer water temperatures it’s increasing in speed. The impacts of this are not fully clear, but given the scale of the current, it is likely to impact much of the environment in the far south to some degree.
Afghanistan has been suffering a severe drought for the past two years, exacerbated by climate change. 25 of the country’s 34 provinces are affected, with wheat harvests expected to be down 20% year-on-year. At least 700,000 people have been driven from their homes, and more are expected to follow this winter. The combination of successive droughts with the Taliban takeover has massively hit the Afghan economy, and as much as 60% of the population may be unable to feed themselves by the end of the year.
Peatlands are a vital carbon sink, storing double the carbon of all the world’s trees in just 3% of the world’s land area. However, they are under threat across the world, from draining or from being harvested for fuel. Protecting peatlands has been long recognised as a ‘quick-win’ solution for increasing carbon take-up as well as lowering land-use emissions, but solidifying this protection has been tricky. Carbon Brief looks at whether the recent changes to carbon markets at COP26 could help secure them finally.
Climate Visuals
A picture tells a thousand words…
A series of striking climate-centric images from across 2021 from Bloomberg (including the image above).
Interactive ‘postcards’ from 193 countries across the world, featuring pictures, video and audio showing the many forms of climate impact worldwide.
The climate impact of food, particularly meat, summed up in a clear, concise video format. A great watch!
Planet positives
Moving towards a greener and more equitable world
Federal Fervour
Joe Biden has signed off on an executive order instructing US federal agencies to become carbon neutral by 2050. The order includes a number of concrete goals to decarbonise operations, including running from carbon-free electricity by 2030, purchasing entirely zero-emissions vehicles by 2035, and eliminating greenhouse emissions from federal buildings by 2045. Whilst not as sweeping as a country-wide target, the US federal government is a huge spender in many key areas and industries, and this target could help boost many nascent clean sectors, and help boost decarbonisation across the US.
Not settling for less
A wide-ranging survey by Deloitte has found that young people are increasingly pursuing purpose with their careers over purely monetary ambitions. 49% of those aged 18-25 said they chose their preferred work or employers based on personal ethics, alongside 44% of those aged 26-38. This in turn is driving companies to compete for employees by offering climate-related skills in sustainability or environmental fields, alongside boosting their overall green credentials. Whilst some greenwashing is likely amongst these efforts, it suggests a wider shift in the market as more job-seekers demand jobs that match their own ethics.
Adverse circumstances
Events that move the needle in the wrong direction
Plastic Proliferation
The UN FAO has released a new report warning of the growth of plastics use in farming. Plastic is used extensively both in farming and in food packaging, and much of this is single-use, and often ends up buried, burned or lost after use. The report estimates that 12.5m tonnes of plastic were used in plant and animal production in 2019, with another 37.3m tonnes consumed in food packaging. Demand for farming plastics is steadily rising, and could increase by 50% by 2030.
In a similar vein, a new report names the US as the world’s largest plastic polluter, generating around 42m tonnes of plastic per year, which equates to around 130kg per person. This total is more than all EU member countries combined, and between 2 and 8 times that of comparable countries around the world. A major issue is a lack of recycling infrastructure as well as poor disposal, with at least 2.2m tonnes of plastic leaking into the environment each year, much of which ends up in the oceans.
Fight for your right to protest
A growing trend of late is countries locking down the right to protest. Long a bastion of more dictatorial states, the past couple of years has seen a number of US states adopt rules imposing huge penalties on protests against oil and gas infrastructure, and now it seems that the UK is following suit. A policing bill currently making its way through the House of Lords would essentially give the police free reign to shut down and arrest any protest, including environmental activism. The bill arose originally after Black Lives Matter protests in March, but has seen sweeping amendments that would allow police to stop and search anyone suspected of ‘public nuisance’ or ‘serious disruption to 2 or more individuals or to an organisation’. If they refuse to comply, they could be arrested and face up to 51 weeks in prison. The bill appears designed to ride on public frustration at recent protests by Extinction Rebellion and the Insulate Britain movement, but its implications would make almost all protest a highly risky proposition.
Long Reads
Interesting deep-dives into climate-related topics
I’ve covered biomass and its questionable role in reducing carbon emissions before, but this New Yorker piece is worth reading regardless, exploring the vast wood pellet industry that has emerged from what was initially a minor oversight by IPCC officials. Now, biomass supplies around 60% of all ‘renewable’ energy in the EU, and that number isn’t going down any time soon, calling EU emissions targets into question.
An oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has ended up proving a massive financial windfall for the billionaire responsible for the mess. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan took out one of Taylor Energy’s rigs in the Gulf, and the resulting leak continued for over a decade, putting out more oil overall than the Deepwater Horizon disaster. However, the owner of the company, Phyllis Taylor, has since used the massive cleanup cost as a write-off for her taxes, and hasn’t paid a cent in nearly two decades, despite her company having actively obstructed efforts to cap or reduce the impact of the leak.
Much of the attention internationally around deforestation in the Amazon is (rightly) focused on Brazil, but a significant portion of the rainforest also lies in Colombia. In a surreal state of affairs, after around 50 years of armed insurrection in the country between the government and the Marxist rebel group FARC, a peace deal brokered in 2016 may have actually led to increased deforestation. The rebels’ harsh rule in certain areas protected the forest from deforestation and exploitation, though for tactical rather than environmental reasons.
Quick Headlines
Some quick climate news nuggets to sate your appetite
Serbs have taken to the streets for the third weekend in a row to protest the environmental impacts of a proposed new lithium mine in the country.
Amidst a Europe-wide power crunch, Switzerland is proposing several new hydropower projects, but is likely to face environmental opposition.
Registrations of new EVs are up 110% in the UK in November against last year, as diesel sales fell over 60%, although charger roll-outs are lagging.