FtF News #205 – 16th June 2024

EU EV tariffs, record heat continues, and the ‘godfathers of climate chaos’

This week has seen a host of major election results, from Mexico to India and the EU. Despite climate being an ever more pressing issue in all these regions, it seems like voters are rejecting this at the polls, with the global move to the political right continuing apace. Many commentators noted that it is less that people don’t care about the climate crisis, but more that economic and other concerns are more pressing currently.

To me, this feels like a messaging issue – as regular readers will know, economic issues, cost of living, immigration, and much more are all very linked to climate. But so far, few politicians seem willing to make that link, making tackling the climate seem like an expensive luxury, rather than a necessary cost to (at least partly) tackle the myriad of issues on the minds of most voters. I’d like to say the UK is different here, but at least so far, the major parties are following this same pattern, which means that sadly, I suspect climate will play less of a role in the upcoming general election than arguably it should.

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Wild Weather

Mother nature’s reactions to the ever-warming world

• May was the 12th consecutive month of record high temperatures, with the average surface air temperature reaching 15.91°C.

• India continues to suffer under what has become the longest heatwave in the country since records began, as temperatures reach 50°C in some areas.

• Wildfires are raging in Brazil’s Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland, with fires up 935% versus the same period last year.

• Southern Germany has been hit hard by heavy rainfall, causing flooding that has disrupted rail and river transport, with some areas receiving over a month of rainfall in a day.

It’s Science!

The latest from in climate research and analysis

• Agriculture has driven almost ¾ of human-caused nitrous oxide emissions in the last 40 years – emissions of the potent greenhouse gas have risen 40% in that time.

• More consistent refrigeration of foods could avoid nearly 2bn tonnes of GHG emissions each year from food loss, particularly in south and south-east Asia.

• A rapid attribution study has found that extreme rainfall this year in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan was made twice as likely by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

• Russia’s war on Ukraine has caused a larger climate impact than the annual emissions of 175 different countries.

• In a rare piece of good news, ozone-destroying HCFCs have fallen far faster than predicted, with levels peaking in 2021 – five years earlier than projected.

Party Political Broadcast

Climate politics are a special creature indeed

• Mexico has elected a climate scientist for its new leader, though some are unsure whether she will deliver on her promises to embrace clean energy.

• India has re-elected Narendra Modi, although by a narrower margin than some expected, in an election beset by a massive heatwave.

• Green parties took a sizeable hit in the EU elections, though most commentators put this down to increased economic pressures rather than a lack of interest in the climate.

• The head of the UN, António Guterres, has called for a ban on fossil fuel ads, as well as a tax on oil companies’ profits, calling them ‘godfathers of climate chaos’.

• UN leaders also bemoaned the lack of progress at talks in Bonn meant to pave the way for COP29, with little agreement on the key issue of climate finance.

• Azerbaijan has been accused of a media crackdown in the run-up to COP29, with numerous journalists and activists arrested and sentenced in recent months.

Haha, Business!

Climate happenings in the corporate world

• Europe’s steelmakers are at risk of missing ambitious climate goals despite being pledged billions in state aid from governments.

The Future is Electric

EVs and all things electrification

• The EU has unveiled steep tariffs on Chinese EVs, imposing penalties of up to 48% on some brands, to which China has threatened to retaliate with its own fees on EU goods.

• Turkey has also imposed 40% tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports, hoping to protect its domestic car industry.

• Thanks to recent price wars in the EV market, long range EVs have now dipped below the average car price in the US.

• And now for something a bit different – a review of the Microlino, a tiny EV trying to offer an alternative to the seemingly unstoppable rise of SUVs.

Clean Green Energy Machine

Renewables versus coal – a look at the changing energy system

• The IEA has found that the world is currently off-track for its target to triple renewables capacity by 2030, with current trends pointing to just over a doubling of generation.

• They have also found that thanks to vast investment in increased oil production, the world is set to over-produce oil to the tune of 8m barrels per day by 2030.

• Lower rain and snow levels has meant that Canada has now started importing electricity from the US, reversing a trend that has held for years.

• Electric scooter and battery-swap company Gogoro has been trialling using its battery stations as a virtual power plant to increase grid stability, helping manage power frequency during a recent earthquake in Taiwan.

Climate Inequity

A hard look at the inequities of the climate crisis

• The UN predicts that around 2.9m refugees will need to be resettled next year, a 20% jump year-on-year, due to conflict, economic crises and climate change impacts.

• One of the architects of the Paris Agreement, Laurence Tubiana, has called for the globally wealthy to contribute more to tackle the climate crisis.

• The annual emissions of the world’s superyachts is now estimated to exceed that of the entire nation of Tonga, and more and more of them are being built each year.

Long Reads

Interesting deep-dives into climate-related topics

• Bogotá has shut its streets to cars every Sunday since 1974, in a move that has seen cycling boom in the city, and shown the reality of car-free life for many.

• The Arctic boreal is shifting rapidly, and scientists are struggling to accept that there is likely no way to preserve these ecosystems in the way they once were.

• São Paulo is increasingly struggling with extreme rainfall, and in response is embracing ‘rain gardens’ – green spaces anywhere and everywhere to try and absorb water and reduce the possibility of flooding.

• Namibia is looking to capitalise on its abundant land, sun and wind and become a clean hydrogen hub for Europe, but with massive investment needed, it remains to be seen if its ambitions can be realised.