FtF News #184 – 12th July 2023
Big Oil doubles down, every day is the new hottest day ever, and how Tuvalu is trying to preserve its culture as climate change looms
This week I read a recent newsletter from the outgoing energy editor at the FT, who commented that, in his opinion, capitalism won’t deliver the energy transition fast enough. It seems that more and more, people are coming around to the realisation that markets won’t save us from the climate crisis. Given the current reaction of fossil fuel firms to their recent windfall profits, that shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. It’s often felt like the timelines of our current quarterly-returns-driven economy are out of step with the scale and longevity of the climate action required.
But what alternative is there? A change from our current system to something more suited would be more than welcome, but is there time for such a transition when we’re already so short of time? Or is such a change the only way we’re likely to take sufficient action?
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
Last month was the hottest June on record globally, with the average temperature just over 0.5°C above the June average for 1991-2020.
Meanwhile, the average worldwide temperature record was broken three times in a week, with records falling on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Temperatures have been at record levels across the world, with heatwaves in India, Pakistan, China, USA, Mexico and Europe.
Canada’s wildfire emissions have hit a record high in just the first six months of this year, with more area burned so far than 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022 combined.
It’s Science!
The latest from in climate research and analysis
Humanity has now pumped so much groundwater that the planet’s axis has shifted by 70 cm in less than 20 years, and the change has contributed to sea level rise.
Despite many pledges on deforestation, rates of forest loss rose by 10% last year, with significant increases in Brazil, the DRC and Bolivia.
New analysis shows that demand for cocoa is causing major forest loss in West Africa, where 70% of the world’s chocolate is sourced.
Fugitive methane emissions from fossil fuel production in Australia are likely being massively underestimated, with knock-on consequences for the country’s climate targets.
Research suggests that IMO rules on low sulphur fuel for ships have already decreased global sulphur dioxide emissions by 10% since their introduction in 2020.
Party Political Broadcast
Climate politics are a special creature indeed
The UK’s Climate Change Committee has issued a withering criticism of the government’s progress on climate, with the outgoing chair warning that the UK is losing any climate leadership it once had. The CCC now has ‘markedly’ less confidence in the UK’s net-zero trajectory.
A leaked memo suggests that the government is also planning to break its flagship £11.6bn climate and nature funding pledge for developing countries, as it has underspent so much it can’t afford to make the target in the remaining time.
Adding to all this, the climate minister Zac Goldsmith has resigned, saying the current government doesn’t care enough about climate.
The IMO, the UN’s shipping body, has finally agreed to reduce shipping emissions to net-zero ‘by or around 2050’. However, the targets are non-binding and lack any weight after serious pushback by a number of countries. This is despite recent research showing that shipping emissions could be halved by 2030 without any impact to trade.
Money makes the world go around
The machinations of climate finance
A draft report suggests that the EU will need an additional €700bn per year of largely private capital to fund the green transition – considerably more than previously forecast.
Haha, Business!
Climate happenings in the corporate world
Shell has doubled down on its return to oil production, with the firm’s CEO saying that cutting production would be ‘dangerous’ and the world still ‘desperately needs oil and gas’.
Meanwhile, investigations have shown that despite pledging to withdraw from the Russian energy market over a year ago, the company was involved in nearly 1/8th of Russia’s shipborne gas exports last year.
A deep dive into corporate lobbying has revealed that in the US, nearly 1,500 lobbyists working for major US corporations, universities and environmental groups also work for fossil fuel firms.
Many financial institutions don’t understand the climate risk models they use, and so are massively underestimating the true climate risk that they are exposed to.
The Future is Electric
EVs and all things electrification
More and more car firms in the US are signing agreements to use Tesla’s Supercharger network, as other charging networks have struggled with reliability as EVs scale up in the country.
Not quite EVs, but public transit counts I think! Honolulu has its first passenger rail service since the 1940s with the opening of a long-awaited train service in the city.
Clean Green Energy Machine
Renewables versus coal – a look at the changing energy system
Despite the meteoric rise of renewables, the global energy system is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, though renewables are close to meeting all new energy demand.
A new report suggests that China is on track to almost double its wind and solar capacity by 2025, hitting its 2030 target of 1,200GW five years early.
Solar rollout is coming at a monumental pace, but that speed comes with a trade-off – the biodiversity impact on the land flattened for such developments. Finding the balance is not easy – compromises must be made on both sides.
Texas, despite its right-wing rhetoric, is increasingly fuelling its massive power draw (particularly in the current heat wave) through renewables and energy storage.
Breakthroughs
New inventions to inspire hope
A team of scientists have found a way to generate electricity from humid air, which could pave the way for a new form of renewable energy.
Climate Inequity
A hard look at the inequities of the climate crisis
Whilst the EU’s upcoming carbon border tax is generally a positive measure, a new study suggests that it will have an outsize impact on Africa, which depends heavily upon imports to the bloc.
Africa is also feeling the brunt of extreme heat, with some regions of the Sahel likely to be virtually uninhabitable unless the world’s warming trajectory changes. Impacts are especially severe for children, and further exacerbated by poverty, lack of electricity and climate change-induced droughts.
A massive boom in Antarctic tourism, almost entirely from a few rich nations in the global north, is having a major impact on one of the world’s most delicate ecosystems.
Speaking truths
Efforts in activism and awareness
Firms in the UK are using injunctions to stop activists from protesting, and then, due to a legal quirk, are also passing their legal costs onto those activists, all without trial or legal judgement.
Knowledge is Power
Fuelling awareness of the climate crisis
A Vermont soccer team has built its entire mission and ethos around climate justice, and is finding it a recipe for success both on and off the pitch.
Long Reads
Interesting deep-dives into climate-related topics
Tuvalu is a tiny Pacific island nation that is likely to be one of the first to completely disappear due to sea level rise. However, the country is fighting tooth and nail to protect both their remaining lands as well as their identity and culture.
AI is garnering a lot of attention in many areas, but its impact on the climate is often overlooked – from the cost of model training and the biases inherent in many models, to their use as a tool for misinformation and malice.
American bison are being reintroduced to northern Mexico, 100 years after they were hunted to extinction, in order to rehabilitate grasslands and boost natural carbon storage.