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Daily Briefing |

TODAY'S CLIMATE AND ENERGY HEADLINES

Briefing date 26.05.2016
Exxon shareholders take ‘small step forward’ on climate, Lord Bourne on Brexit and renewables, & more

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News.

Exxon shareholders take 'small step forward' on climate
BBC News Read Article

At the company’s AGM in Dallas yesterday, Exxon Mobil shareholders rejected most proposals to increase reporting on climate change, reports the BBC. But it adds that the oil giant accepted a resolution that could see a “climate activist” elected to the board in the future. Despite opposition from the board, just over 60% of investors backed the motion that would allow small shareholders to nominate anyone to join the board. Exxon said it would re-evaluate its policies. It was the first shareholder decision accepted by Exxon in 10 years. Reuters says this year’s meeting was “arguably the tensest ever”, coming so soon after the Paris Agreement and as the New York’s attorney general investigates allegations from environmentalists that Exxon misled the public about climate change risks. The New York Times spoke to protestors both outside and inside the AGM: “Outside, several dozen protesters waved signs reading ‘ARREST EXXON’ and ‘KEEP IT IN THE GROUND,’ and chanted slogans like ‘Exxon lies, oceans rise!’ and ‘Windmills, not toxic spills!'” The Financial Times and the Hill are among the many other publications to report from the AGM. Associated Press reports that the shareholders rejected a resolution to support the Paris Agreement’s pledge to keep global temperatures below 2C, adding that CEO Rex Tillerson said that to “turn the taps off [fossil fuels] is not acceptable to humanity”. The Guardian, which Exxon barred from reporting inside the meeting due to a “lack of objectivity on climate change reporting”, has an exclusive saying that in 2001 the company had “tried to censor climate scientists to Congress during Bush era”. Meanwhile, DeSmog reports the views of the granddaughter of former Exxon climate scientist James Black, who has “berated the company for bankrolling climate change denial despite her grandfather’s attempts to inform the company of the risks of burning fossil fuels for the global climate”.

Lord Bourne: Uncertainty from Brexit would be 'massively damaging' to renewables industry
BusinessGreen Read Article

The uncertainty that would arise from having to renegotiate the UK’s position within Europe would be massively damaging to the renewables industry, energy and climate change minister Lord Bourne has warned. Speaking to BusinessGreen, Lord Bourne said he “can’t conceive” of any major points where the UK would be better off in the case of Brexit. He cautioned that while the benefits of leaving the European Union are uncertain, the UK’s energy industry risks substantial disruption from a vote to leave. In particular, he warned the UK’s wind industry – which is dominated by large European energy firms such as DONG and Siemens – would be thrown into flux by Brexit. BusinessGreen has also published a report on a parliamentary debate about what a vote for Brexit would mean for the UK’s climate and energy policies. In another report, BusinessGreen says a new survey of sustainability professionals reveals two-thirds believe Brexit could reduce or remove altogether the role environmental concerns play in infrastructure decisions.

Global clean energy employment rose 5% in 2015, figures show
The Guardian Read Article

A boom in solar and wind power jobs in the US led the way to a global increase in renewable energy employment to more than 8 million people in 2015, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena). More than 769,000 people were employed in renewable energy in the US in 2015, dwarfing the 187,000 employed in the oil and gas sector and the 68,000 in coal mining. The gap is set to grow further, with jobs in solar and wind growing by more than 20% in 2015, while oil and gas jobs fell by 18% as the fossil fuel industry struggled with low prices. The Financial Times also carries the story.

Exclusive: Effect of CO2 on warming is worse than we thought
New Scientist Read Article

“We may be in for more global warming than we hoped,” says the New Scientist, which has returned to a number of papers published over the past few years which suggested the climate’s sensitivity to rising emissions might be lower than previously thought. What would happen if the record warming of 2014, 2015 and 2016 was plugged into their models, it asks? A number of scientists it speaks to say the numbers for climate sensitivity would now be nudged up.

Cloud-seeding surprise could improve climate predictions
Nature News Read Article

Molecules released by trees can seed clouds, two experiments have revealed, reports Nature News. The findings, published in Nature and Science, “run contrary to an assumption that the pollutant sulphuric acid is required for a certain type of cloud formation — and suggest that climate predictions may have underestimated the role that clouds had in shaping the pre-industrial climate”. If the results of the experiments hold up, predictions of future climate change should take them into account, says Reto Knutti, a climate modeller at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Clouds have long been the largest source of uncertainty in understanding how manmade emissions affect the atmosphere, he says. Jasper Kirkby, the lead author of one of the papers, who is based at CERN, near Geneva, tells Associated Press: “What this will do is slightly reduce and sharpen the projections for temperature during the 21st century…[Nonetheless] we are definitely warming the planet.” Science also carries a news story.

Pollution From Canadian Oil Sands Vapor Is Substantial, Study Finds
The New York Times Read Article

The amount of pollution created by vapour from Canada’s oil sands, which contributes to climate change, ranks on par with most major cities in North America, according to a new study by the country’s environmental regulator. The New York Times says: “While the connection between the oil sands’ carbon emissions and climate change is well documented, the study, which was funded by the regulator, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and appeared in Nature, is the first to track the vapour produced in the process and the extent of the pollution that results.”

HS2 rail link 'over-priced' say transport experts
BBC News Read Article

HS2 – the proposed highspeed railway running between London and cities to the north – is an over-priced, gold-plated project and will fail in many of its objectives, a group of transport experts has warned. The BBC reports that “they say the benefits of HS2 can be achieved much more cheaply, with lower CO2 emissions, and they want their analysis examined by government”. It adds: “HS2 has been designed to increase capacity and connections, regenerate the North and reduce climate impacts change. Yet the critics say it will only achieve one of these – capacity…The group says the ultra-fast trains will push up the carbon emissions the government is committed to reducing. They say the extra speed from ultra-fast services requires 23% more energy, but saves just 3.5 minutes from London to Birmingham.”

Britain should make more energy from poo, says Ofwat
The Daily Telegraph Read Article

The UK should generate more energy from sewage in order to cut water bills and help save the planet, says water regulator Ofwat. It has unveiled plans to encourage water companies to make greater use of “bioresources”, or treated sewage. The Telegraph says analysis by Veolia suggests that only half the potential for energy from sewage is currently being exploited. It calculates that the UK generated 846 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of power for sewage in 2015, enough to provide electricity for about 260,000 homes – more than than the size of Manchester. The Financial Times also carries the story.

Fracking: Ministers 'Sitting On' Climate Change Report On Shale Industry
Huffington Post UK Read Article

Ministers have been accused of “sitting on” a long-awaited report on fracking and climate change in a bid to help the oil industry. HuffPost UK has learned that the independent Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) study of the environmental impact of the shale gas technology has still not been published despite a legal requirement to do so. The CCC’s new report was submitted it to Energy Secretary Amber Rudd more than 6 weeks ago on 30th March. And under the Act, Ministers are meant to present that report to Parliament “as soon as practicable” after April 1st 2016 – yet it still remains unpublished.

Trump unlikely to be able to renegotiate climate deal: U.N. climate chief
Reuters Read Article

Donald Trump would be “highly unlikely” to be able to renegotiate the global accord on climate change if elected US president, according to Christian Figueres, the UN’s climate chief. Trump told Reuters earlier this month that he was “not a big fan” of the Paris Agreement and would seek to renegotiate elements of the deal. “As we all know, Donald Trump relishes making very dramatic statements on many issues, so it is not surprising, but it is highly unlikely that that would be possible,” said Figueres, Meanwhile, the Hill reports that Trump will seek to “court” the fossil fuel industry today with a speech at a North Dakota petroleum convention, where he is expected to provide more details about his energy policies.

Comment.

Exxon and climate change: Why it's better to engage than divest
Julian Poulter, Climate Home Read Article

Poulter, the CEO of the Asset Owner’s Disclosure Project, argues that the divestment campaign is “a valid argument that has gained traction in recent years, but one I think is flawed on a number of levels”. He adds that engaging with fossil fuel companies is more constructive that shunning them: “Engagement is as much about big finance learning to take on a whole sector as it is about oil and gas itself. Once investors learn new tricks, they don’t go backwards and with 136 resolutions raised against the oil and gas sector in the last two years against 64 in the previous 3 years there are signs they want to learn and act.”

Science.

Oil sands operations as a large source of secondary organic aerosols
Nature Read Article

Emissions from the Canadian oil sands are making them one of the largest sources of anthropogenic aerosols in North America, according to a new study. Scientists used airborne measurements, laboratory experiments and a box-model study to show that organic vapours emitted when producing and refining heavy oil and bitumen are responsible for producing 45-84 tonnes of secondary organic aerosols per day, with consequences for air quality and climate.

Ion-induced nucleation of pure biogenic particles
Nature Read Article

A new study looking at how clouds form could have implications for how sensitive the Earth is assumed to be to greenhouse gases. Scientists found that, contrary to the longstanding belief, sulphuric acid is not essential in the atmosphere to initiate the particles on which clouds form. New observations and experiments show such particles can form from organic molecules emitted by natural vegetation. If aerosols are responsible for less cooling over the industrial period, this suggests the global effort to clean up sulphur dioxide emissions may not trigger as much warming as feared, the authors explain.

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