FtF News #202 – 5th May 2024
Floods, big oil caught red-handed and a possible climate tax on extreme wealth
This week saw local elections here in the UK, and many are looking to the result as a prediction for how the upcoming general election will turn out. To the relief of many, the Conservative Party saw one of their worst results in recent memory, with the Labour Party making strong gains. Whilst I certainly will be very glad to see the back of the Tories, who have decimated public services before their more recent spiral into ever more extreme right wing positions, I can’t help feeling disappointed that there isn’t a more inspiring alternative.
With just how unpopular the Tories have become, Labour have effectively been handed a free win, and yet their main selling point currently seems to be ‘we’re not the Tories’ – refusing to make a stand even against some of their opponent’s more obnoxious policies. It feels like a missed opportunity to double down on climate action, on regeneration, on boosting public services and bringing people together. Isn’t that more enticing than ‘same as before, but maybe a bit less so’?
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Wild Weather
Mother nature’s reactions to the ever-warming world
Bangladesh has been sweltering as temperatures rose past 40°C, with schools shut across the country in response to the heat.
Much of southern Asia has seen intense heat, with the heat index expected to rise above 52°C in Bangkok, and Myanmar recording temperatures of nearly 46°C.
Last year was the EU’s joint hottest year on record, and the continent is warming at a rate of 0.4°C per decade, twice the global average.
At least 80% of Mexico is under drought conditions, with 10 states seeing every single area experiencing drought.
More than 110,000 people have been relocated after heavy rain caused major flooding in the Chinese province of Guangdong. The rains also caused part of a highway to collapse, killing at least 24 people.
East Africa has been experiencing relentless downpours in recent weeks, with Nairobi waist-deep in water in places. The floods have affected Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi, with at least 100 people killed by flooding.
A hydroelectric dam has collapsed in southern Brazil following days of heavy rain, killing more than 30 people.
It’s Science!
The latest from in climate research and analysis
A satellite study has found that nearly half of the world’s estuaries have been altered by humans, with 20% of this loss happening in just the past 35 years.
Mosquito-borne diseases are now spreading across Europe, North America and elsewhere thanks to climate change-induced warming.
Party Political Broadcast
Climate politics are a special creature indeed
The EU has voted overwhelmingly to leave the Energy Charter Treaty, a controversial treaty that allowed energy companies to sue governments that enacted climate legislation.
The G7 have agreed to end the use of unabated coal power plants by 2035, although they left room for those heavily reliant on coal to breach this deadline.
The UK government continues to push back on climate measures, with the Energy Secretary saying that net-zero ‘risks crushing businesses’. The country also delayed a much anticipated bottle deposit scheme and reduced its scope, and then decided to open up offshore wind sites to oil and gas exploration.
Money makes the world go around
The machinations of climate finance
Nobel prize-winning economist Esther Duflo has presented a concept for a wealth tax to the G20 group of nations. The strategy would increase corporation tax from 15-18%, and put a 2% wealth tax on the richest 3,000 billionaires, together raising $500bn a year to help those most affected by climate change.
Brazil is also pushing for a wealth tax, in a move supported by France as well as the head of the IMF.
President Biden announced $9bn in funding for solar projects on Earth Day, in what some are seeing as a bid to win over younger climate voters disillusioned with his climate policies as well as the administration’s stance on Gaza.
Haha, Business!
Climate happenings in the corporate world
A survey has found that less than 60 multinationals are responsible for more than half of the world’s plastic pollution, with just six firms responsible for a quarter of that.
With negotiators meeting for the penultimate round of negotiations for a global treaty on plastic waste, Exxon is leading a major pushback by the petrochemicals industry against any plans to limit or cap plastic production.
A US government investigation into fossil fuel companies’ role in downplaying the climate crisis has revealed large numbers of documents that showed firms acknowledging that climate efforts were incompatible with their own goals, and lobbying against them in private, even as they paid lip service to them.
Airlines are lobbying against EU plans to force them to monitor and disclose non-CO2 warming impacts, such as vapour trails, nitrous oxides and more.
Research has shown that Amazon’s plastic waste footprint in the US continues to climb, even as the firm has reduced plastic waste in other regions in response to legislation.
The Future is Electric
EVs and all things electrification
Singapore is to ban non-EVs from 2030, but the rollout of electric vehicles, especially charging infrastructure, is proving tricky.
Clean Green Energy Machine
Renewables versus coal – a look at the changing energy system
Wind power has been booming in the UK, with wind power producing more electricity than all fossil fuels combined in the past two quarters.
Breakthroughs
New inventions to inspire hope
New techniques are being trialled in Vietnam to reduce the methane emissions of rice farming. The approaches include only partially flooding fields, and using drones to fertilise the crops.
Speaking truths
Efforts in activism and awareness
An Iraqi man is suing BP over the death of his son, alleging that flaring of gas at a BP-run oil field in Iraq caused his son’s leukaemia – the case is believed to be the first time an individual has started legal action against a major oil firm over its flaring practices.
A judge has thrown out the case against a UK climate activist who held a sign up reminding jurors of their right to acquit on conscience outside a climate trial.
Long Reads
Interesting deep-dives into climate-related topics
With negotiations for a global plastics treaty under way this week in Ottawa, Grist took a look at the history of the treaty, and how negotiations have stalled of late.