FtF News #180 – 17th May 2023
Heatwaves, the Great Arctic resource rush, and Brussels’ bike-centric reinvention
This week is a busier one once again, with the planet seemingly keen to remind us that it’s none too happy with our activities with extreme heat, flooding and more. I finally started reading ‘Hot Money’ by Naomi Klein – going through this week’s news made me think about the potential to funnelling excess wealth and corporate gains towards tackling the climate crisis. This is of course not a new idea, nor is it easy to implement, going against the grain of capitalism never is. However, it feels like an economy with its focus firmly on quarterly profits will never truly accommodate a crisis with timelines and impacts measured in decades if not centuries!
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
Heatwaves continue to roll over South and Southeast Asia, with temperature records seen in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, China and more countries besides.
Vietnam saw its two hottest ever temperatures on consecutive days, with much of the region also suffering from prolonged drought, which is exacerbating the conditions.
Bangladesh and Myanmar are also dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha, which struck the coast as a massive Category 5 storm.
Major flooding in the Great Lakes region of Africa has killed hundreds across the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, and left thousands homeless.
Wildfires are raging across western Canada, forcing 30,000 to evacuate, with BC also seeing significant flooding as temperatures suddenly rose to unseasonal highs.
The Uruguayan government is subsidising bottled water in and around the capital as a three year drought has triggered the country’s worst drinking water crisis in at least 50 years.
It’s Science!
The latest from in climate research and analysis
A (very) rapid attribution study has found that the recent Mediterranean heatwave was made at least 100x more likely by climate change.
58% of the ocean’s surface experienced at least one marine heatwave last year, with the rate of sea level rise doubling between 1993-2002 and 2013-2022.
Air pollution from fossil fuel production has been linked to at least $77bn in health impacts per year, including 7,500 premature deaths.
A study has suggested that Australia’s massive 2019-2020 bushfire season may have contributed to the rare triple La Niña seen in the years following.
Research is increasingly showing that low emissions zones in major cities are proving effective at tackling urban air pollution.
Zero-deforestation commitments by major cattle companies like JBS are having a measurable positive impact on Amazon deforestation.
Party Political Broadcast
Climate politics are a special creature indeed
Norway’s biggest oil and gas companies are renewing efforts to explore for new resources in Arctic waters in a bid to remain Europe’s biggest gas supplier following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Arctic as a whole is turning into a geopolitical football, with various northern nations laying claim to huge swathes of seabed in a bid to secure rights over the prized resources that lie beneath.
The EU is preparing to push for a global goal on renewables, after failing to get through an agreement to phase out fossil fuels at COP27.
That change in tack is probably sensible, given the fossil fuel-centric team building around COP28 – this week saw a new oil and gas alliance formed, though they don’t want to worry about scope 3 emissions (i.e. most of them). The COP28 team has also hired an ex-Boris Johnson aide who was known for opposing fossil fuel taxes and pushing back on renewables.
Money makes the world go around
The machinations of climate finance
What could be the world’s biggest ‘debt for nature’ deal is coming together in Ecuador, with the country selling off up to $1.6bn of its sovereign debt in exchange for protecting the Galapagos Islands.
Haha, Business!
Climate happenings in the corporate world
Shell has brought home record first-quarter profits of $9.6bn, leading to accusations of a ‘profiteering bonanza’. Here’s some context on the scale of big oil’s recent windfalls.
Following similar bounties, BP is ramping up exploration and drilling efforts in a reversal of its previous commitment to clean energy.
Italian oil giant Eni is facing Italy’s first climate lawsuit, which claims the company knew about the impacts of climate change as long ago as 1970.
The company, alongside Shell, has also been called out by a report into spills in the Bayelsa region of Nigeria, where cleanup costs have recently been estimated at $12bn for decades of pollution mostly attributed to the two firms.
The High Court in Guyana has ruled against ExxonMobil and the country’s EPA for not purchasing sufficient insurance to protect against a major spill.
The UK ASA is to start banning adverts that feature claims of carbon neutrality or other climate benefits that are based upon offsetting.
The Future is Electric
EVs and all things electrification
EVs pose some interesting challenges around charging capacity and sharing, particularly in the US, with a high potential for overbuilding of charging infrastructure.
Clean Green Energy Machine
Renewables or fossil fuels – a look at the changing energy system
The UK lacks grid capacity for the huge numbers of new renewables projects, with the waiting list stretching up to 15 years, and £200bn in projects stuck in the backlog.
The finding came as a report identified a £70bn/yr opportunity for the UK to become a net exporter of clean energy, assuming it can solve its grid connection woes.
Biden is dancing to Joe Manchin’s tune again, agreeing to fast-track approval of some fossil fuel projects in order to also accelerate build-out of much-needed electricity transmission lines.
Some US states are starting to pass laws classifying gas as a clean fuel to keep it on the menu amidst a plethora of targets for clean energy.
A new study found that there are 14,000 orphaned oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico, with a clean-up price tag of up to $30bn (though the majority could be plugged for a fraction of this cost).
Fossil fuel exploration and extraction is taking place at almost 3,000 sites in nature protected areas worldwide, with the UK topping the list at 509 such sites.
Breakthroughs
New inventions to inspire hope
A new technology that removes carbon from seawater by electrolysis is being trialled in the Bay Area, although scalability has yet to be proven.
Quantumscape, the Silicon Valley solid-state battery darling, is struggling to productionise its moonshot tech, pushing back its target dates recently.
Climate Inequity
A hard look at the inequities of the climate crisis
Whilst EVs do appear to be making a dent on California’s air pollution, the effects are only seen in the richest areas, who are also receiving the bulk of the state’s EV incentives.
Brazil’s president has legally recognised 800 square miles of Indigenous lands in Brazil, in an effort to reduce illegal mining and logging.
Knowledge is Power
Fuelling awareness of the climate crisis
An explainer on per-capita emissions and how they vary from country to country, highlighting the outsize emissions of the average US citizen.
Long Reads
Interesting deep-dives into climate-related topics
Spain is proving a weathervane for Europe as it struggles with ever worsening drought, the effects of which are heightened by modern industrial agriculture.
Brussels used to be one of the most car-centric cities in Europe, but managed to reverse that in less than a generation, in a model that many US cities could learn from.
UN NDCs, the national climate targets declared by countries each year, are often overlooked due to their opacity and complexity, but they are a far more effective guide to how we’re doing than the high level statements that come out of COP meetings.
Coffee fuels the productivity of much of the world, and Carbon Brief explores the history, climate impact and environmental exposure of this noble bean in this climate commodity guide.