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Daily Briefing |

TODAY'S CLIMATE AND ENERGY HEADLINES

Briefing date 18.01.2017
Barack Obama transfers $500m to Green Climate Fund in attempt to protect Paris deal, Study forecasts balmier England, even hotter Mumbai, & more

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News.

Barack Obama transfers $500m to Green Climate Fund in attempt to protect Paris deal
The Guardian Read Article

Just days before leaving the presidency, Barack Obama has transferred another $500m into the Green Climate Fund, designed to tackle climate change. The US has promised $3bn in total, and has already paid one $500m instalment. Trump is likely to end all payments into the fund. Obama made the payment through the State Department, which meant it could be done without congressional support. The Independent, the Washington Post, Bloomberg and the Hill also cover the story.

Study forecasts balmier England, even hotter Mumbai
AFP via Mail Online Read Article

Thanks to climate change, the average number of mild days is set to decline globally, with 10 fewer mild days per year by 2100, according to researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Princeton University. But there will be large regional differences, and some areas will see their mild weather days increase. The biggest winner is London, which will gain an additional 24 mild weather days, followed by Amsterdam, Puerto Montt in Chile, and Melbourne, with 19 each. Associated Press also covered the story, as did Carbon Brief.

Xi warns Trump against quitting UN climate deal
Climate Home Read Article

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, China’s president Xi Jinping defended the Paris Agreement, which incoming president Donald Trump has threatened to scrap. He said: “The Paris Agreement is a hard-won agreement… all signatories should stick to it instead of walking away – it is a responsibility we must assume for future generations.” BusinessGreen also covered his comments.

Trump interior secretary pick on climate change: 'I don’t believe it’s a hoax'
The Guardian Read Article

Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of interior, Ryan Zinke, has had his nomination hearing, in which he broke with Donald Trump by saying that he doesn’t believe climate change is a hoax. According to the Washington Post, he told senators: “I think where there’s debate on it is what that influence is, what can we do about it.” He also said that he is against the sale of public land, reports the Hill. Climate Central, meanwhile, reports his comments on coal: “Coal is a great part of that energy mix. I’m also a great believer that we should invest in research and development on coal — because we know we have the asset — to make it cleaner and better.”

ExxonMobil doubles US shale assets in £5.32bn deal
The Telegraph Read Article

ExxonMobil has struck a $6.6bn deal to buy a string of family-owned oil companies, taking its total shale reserves to more than six billion barrels of oil. This means the company will double its presence in the Permian oil basin in Texas, and mark a major vote of confidence the US shale sector, the Telegraph says. The Financial Times points out that this is the first big decision for Darren Woods, its new chief executive who took over from Rex Tillerson at the end of last year. Separately, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Saudi energy minister has downplayed the threat of the US shale industry, saying that production is unlikely to rise substantially in the near future, reports the Financial Times. The Telegraph also covers this story.

Drivers of Rift Valley fever epidemics in Madagascar
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Read Article

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne viral disease widespread in Africa, which affects both animals and humans. While research shows RVF epidemics can be triggered by rainfall patterns in East Africa, a new study finds they can influence – but don’t cause – outbreaks in Madagascar. Instead, RVF epidemics tend to be triggered by the trade and movement of infected cattle, the researchers say.

Comment.

In Pruitt's hearing for EPA chief, his fossil fuel ties will take center stage
Marianne Lavelle, Inside Climate News Read Article

At his nomination hearing in the Senate today, Scott Pruitt will face tough questions concerning his conflicts of interests, says Marianne Lavelle, previewing the event. Pruitt is Trump’s candidate to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, and an unpopular choice with environmentalists thanks to his ties to the fossil fuel industry. Lavelle runs through some of these links in detail.

On climate change, even states in forefront are falling short
Eduardo Porter, The New York Times Read Article

As Trump prepares to take over as president, ushering in a period of uncertainty on climate change, states including California have spoken out to say that they will not let him impede their own efforts. But Eduardo Porter in the New York Times points out that even the states at the forefront of the effort are not doing enough. Emissions in California fell by only 26.6% between 2000 and 2014, putting it in 28th place, while only North Dakota and District of Columbia are decarbonising at a fast enough rate to meet carbon intensity goals that PwC has said are necessary for meeting the 2C limit to climate change.

Science.

Diversity and carbon storage across the tropical forest biome
Scientific Reports Read Article

Protecting forests based on how much carbon they store may overlook some of the world’s most biologically rich tropical forests, a new study says. Researchers created a dataset of how carbon storage relates to the number of tree species in 360 different plots in old growth forests across the tropics. The results show that the relationship is weak or non-existent, the study says, which means there’s a risk that conservation policies focusing on climate change mitigation could miss highly diverse ecosystems.

Mitigation implications of an ice‐free summer in the Arctic Ocean
Earth's Future Read Article

The warming impact of declining Arctic sea ice could make limiting global temperature rise to 2C much harder, a new study suggests. Using an integrated assessment model, researchers explored how an ice-free Arctic in the summer by 2050 would affect efforts to meet the 2C limit. They find that global CO2 emissions would need to reach zero levels 5–15 years earlier to offset the additional source of warming.

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