FtF News #174 – 22nd February 2023
BP back to business (oil, that is), England’s tallest wind turbine, and the impacts of electric motorbikes on urban African air pollution
I feel like when we look back on the key climate images of 2023, one of them will likely be the vast toxic smoke cloud released from this week’s massive chemical train derailment in Ohio. Sadly, like many things these days, the story has been hijacked by those bemoaning climate action, but given the train’s petrochemical cargo, it seems as much a climate story as it is any other kind.
It feels like continuing to dwell upon the depressing impact of the fossil fuel industry, but Josh Gabbatiss of Carbon Brief made a brief thread highlighting just what could be done using the profits of the top five oil companies last year ($195bn). How about eradicating malaria? Providing near universal electricity across Africa? Never mind, I’m sure those fossil fuel execs will put all that cash to much better use, I’m sure…
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. If you spot any stories you’d like to share, you can submit them here.
Wild Weather
Mother nature’s reactions to the ever-warming world
The winter heatwave meant that January in Europe was 2.2°C hotter than the 1991-2020 average.
The start of the year has been unusually warm in North America, and South America has seen wildfires fuelled by dry weather, high temperatures and strong winds.
Around 36m trees died in California last year, over triple the count from 2021, a figure thought to stem from drought, insect damage and disease.
It’s Science!
The latest from in climate research and analysis
A new study looks at alternative pathways to those proposed by the UN IPCC, which require infeasible rates of coal phase-out in India, China and South Africa, and instead suggests routes with much faster reductions of oil and gas use in the West.
⅕th of all wetlands have been destroyed by humans in the past 300 years, with the majority due to drying for growing crops, according to the most comprehensive study yet of wetland destruction.
An expedition has examined the bottom of the massive Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica, and found concerning signs of rapid melting.
A study of juniper rings has determined that snow cover in the Alps now lasts 36 days less than the long term average, with the new approach looking back 600 years.
The US IRA might actually have a negative effect on water pollution, by promoting corn-based ethanol and manure-based energy sources.
Norwegian Arctic ice has been found to be contaminated with high levels of PFAS, which is likely a major stressor to wildlife there.
A thinktank is warning that we could be poised near a ‘climate doom loop’, where efforts to deal with climate impacts now divert resources away from addressing the root cause.
Party Political Broadcast
Climate politics are a special creature indeed
EU states are poised to agree a joint stance calling for a global phase-out of fossil fuels ahead of COP28 in Dubai.
Wales has scrapped all major road-building projects following a review of their potential climate impact.
The UN is trying for the third time in a year to pull together a treaty to protect the world’s oceans, with two weeks of focused talks to try and resolve outstanding differences.
Money makes the world go around
The machinations of climate finance
The US EPA has announced a $27bn fund focusing on rooftop and community solar, clean energy and storage, targeting historically underserved and disinvested communities.
Around 30 major money lenders managing over $1.5tn have called on five top European banks to stop the direct financing of new fossil fuel fields by the end of this year.
Another piece on the massive gaping hole in climate finance going to Africa, despite it being ideally suited to a huge clean energy boom.
Haha, Business!
Climate happenings in the corporate world
TotalEnergies is the latest oil major to post huge profits, doubling its take from last year and prompting activists to daube red paint over its Paris HQ.
BP has scaled back its climate ambitions following its own windfall, causing many to question its commitment to environmental improvement.
Exxon has pulled the plug on its algae-based biofuel efforts after more than a decade, just as the tech was starting to show promise.
Trade groups connected to Big Oil have outspent clean energy groups 27-fold, spending billions on advertising and lobbying to promote their cause.
Many of the world’s largest companies have ‘exaggerated, false and misleading’ claims in their net-zero goals and ambitions, with just one, Maersk, receiving a ‘high’ integrity rating.
Mercedes-Benz is facing more than 300,000 claims in London’s High Court for purportedly fitting ‘defeat devices’ to diesel vehicles to cheat emissions tests.
The Future is Electric
Renewables, EVs and all things electrification
The IRA has created an estimated 100,000 clean energy jobs, linked to more than 90 new clean energy projects summing to nearly $90bn.
Equinor and SSE are looking to expand the world’s biggest wind farm, Dogger Bank, by another 1.32GW.
The latest predictions from the IEA show renewables + nuclear more than covering growth in electricity demand in the next three years, meaning renewables will start actively displacing fossil fuels!
New analysis suggests that a combination of war and subsidy programs may have sped up the clean energy transition by up to 10 years.
A community group has managed to install England’s largest on-shore wind turbine (despite the de-facto ban), with profits to go to help residents hard-hit by the cost-of-living crisis.
Despite many objecting to wind turbines on aesthetic grounds, many areas are finding they are actually a draw for tourists, with some even offering tours.
Breakthroughs
New inventions to inspire hope
A major new solar farm in Australia will be an agrivoltaic project, with sheep grazing underneath, highlighting the benefits of the approach.
Climate Inequity
A hard look at the inequities of the climate crisis
Currently, the top 10% of global energy consumers consume around 30x more energy than the bottom 10%, and this gap would have to reduce 8-fold by 2050 to both achieve a liveable climate and an equitable standard of living for all.
This sentiment is echoed by this piece by Greta Thunberg on how the ever-expanding footprint of the Western lifestyle is incompatible with tackling climate change.
Maasai pastoral peoples in Tanzania are facing violent persecution and evictions as the government pushes them out of key game reserves and tourist areas.
Speaking truths
Efforts in activism and awareness
The judge who sentenced seven Just Stop Oil protesters praised their aims and goals, and seemed genuinely reluctant to punish them.
Activists blocked private jet terminals at 16 airports across the world to protest the outsize impact of private jet emissions.
Two artists have created an alternative carbon credit scheme which would issue credits to those who take major climate action (such as blockading an oil terminal), with profits to go to climate activist groups.
ClientEarth, the activist law firm, is suing Shell’s board personally under their duties as company directors for not properly managing the risks inherent in climate change.
Long Reads
Interesting deep-dives into climate-related topics
Electric motorcycles have taken off in Asia, but are increasingly seen as a solution in Africa, where air pollution is high in urban areas and motorbikes are the de-facto transport option for many.
A lone female biologist managed to single-handedly change the attitudes of thousands in rural Assam, shifting public perceptions of a critically endangered stork from a reviled bad omen to a local attraction.
Grist have dived deep into the finances behind the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline case, where the company paid local police to lock down protests.
A rather melancholy look at the ‘Last Ice Area’ – a 400,000 sq mile utterly unique ecosystem north of Greenland that is one of the fastest changing regions in the world.