There is extensive continuing coverage of the rising gas prices across Europe and the impact of the resulting CO2 shortage on food stocks in the UK. “A harsh winter could force the UK to restrict business’ energy supplies shutting down factories in a throw-back to the three-day week of the 1970s, according to sector experts,” the Independent reports. It adds that a severe winter would trigger a “Europe-wide supply crunch”, causing the UK’s gas storage to “run low within weeks”. The Guardian covers warnings from senior Tory MPs that rising gas costs and food shortages could lead to a “very, very difficult” winter for hundreds of thousands of Britons. It adds that energy bills are due to rise by an average of £139 in October. According to a separate Guardian piece, energy companies “could get state-backed loans to take on customers”. The piece adds that business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng “spent the weekend locked in talks with energy leaders and the regulator, Ofgem, to understand the scale of the crisis facing the industry”, and on Monday confirmed that the government’s energy price cap would remain in place to limit the spike in energy prices. The Financial Times reports that Kwarteng “has insisted there is “no question of the lights going out” this winter as ministers struggle to contain a growing crisis sparked by spiralling gas prices”, saying that it is “alarmist” to suggest people would struggle to heat their homes in the colder months. The Press Association and the Scotsman also highlight this claim. Kwarteng added that the UK has enough gas capacity to meet demand, according to Reuters. He also said that the UK government “is in constant contact with companies who produce the gas and is monitoring the situation ‘minute by minute’”, another Reuters piece. The newswire adds that, according to Kwarteng, the UK’s government will not bail out failing energy companies and, separately, it covers his acknowledgement that “Britain may see other suppliers exit the gas market but this is not surprising”. An additional Reuters piece notes that “British Gas has been appointed to take on the nearly 350,000 customers of small supplier People’s Energy which ceased trading last week.” And a further piece by the newswire notes: “The UK government may have to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to help rescue customers of failing power suppliers. The drama is partly self-inflicted and happening at the worst possible time”.

The Conversation carries a piece entitled: “Gas price spike: how UK government failures made a global crisis worse.” Meanwhile, the Evening Standard reports that four energy providers have already closed this month, adding that one insider said the sector is braced for a “bloodbath”. The Financial Times reports that five small energy suppliers have collapsed in the past six weeks, with for or five more expected to join them in the next ten years. Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that the government could have lessened the energy crisis by shifting to renewable energy sooner. And the Daily Mail reports that Boris Johnson “faced fury after refusing to axe a green ‘steal tax’ on family energy bills to avoid the gas price crisis triggering a wave of fuel poverty this winter”.

The Times notes that rising natural gas prices have driven British fertiliser manufactures to close, causing a shortage in CO2 – a byproduct of fertiliser production. It highlights warnings to ministers that that shortages of carbon dioxide – which is used to stun animals before slaughter, as well as in the food packing process – could mean “ more gaps on supermarket shelves within a week”. The Daily Telegraph highlights warnings from supermarket bosses and producers that there could be food shortages “by end of week”. It continues: “The British Retail Consortium, which represents the major chains, said it expected to see food shortages by the end of the week, while pork suppliers warned of “farmageddon” within 10 days.“ The Guardian carries a piece entitled: “CO2 crisis could hit UK food stocks well before Christmas, says Iceland boss.” Reuters adds: “The CO2 crisis has compounded an acute shortage of truck drivers in the UK, which has been blamed on the impact of Covid-19 and Brexit.” The Guardian reports that UK food producers are calling for the government to subsidise the fertiliser plants to improve CO2 supplies: “The Food & Drink Federation (FDF), which represents hundreds of food processors and manufacturers, joined retailers and meat producers in calling for urgent action as they warned of serious disruption in food supply chains”. According to Reuters, Britain “could look at providing some kind of economic support for the US company that provides 60% of its carbon dioxide, CF Industries”. A separate Reuters article quotes UK meat processor Cranswick, who urged the government to “act immediately to avert ‘a major crisis in the food industry’”. Meanwhile, the Scotsman calls the CO2 shortage a “perfect storm” for the Scottish hospitality sector.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that “EU energy ministers will meet this week to discuss national responses to a surge in wholesale gas price” and outlines measures taken by European governments so far. Reuters notes that German households face an 11.5% increase in gas bills, adds that Spain wants a “menu” of measures, and reports, separately, that Norway has agreed to increase its natural gas exports to the rest of Europe. Meanwhile, it adds that Ireland will help those struggling with fuel bills as part of their budget. The Financial Times reports that “Asian buyers are winning a bidding war for American natural gas, undercutting hopes in Europe that US exports will be a quick fix for the continent’s fuel supply crisis”. And Reuters adds that the “market chaos “has driven prices 280% higher in Europe this year and led to a 100%-plus surge in the US”. The Financial Times carries a piece entitled, “tight supplies have created record prices ahead of heating demand increases in colder months”, and the Times and Guardian discuss the reasons for the energy shortage. And New Scientist says: “Blame fossil fuels, not renewables, for the UK’s winter energy crisis.” Meanwhile, the Financial Times carries a warning from British Steel. The Daily Express carries an opinion piece entitled, “Crisis shows its vital to be energy self-sufficient”. And the Times and the Guardian carry pieces directed at household consumers, discussing the price rise, the possibility of changing energy suppliers, and what to do if their supplier goes bust.

Speaking at a UN gathering of world leaders in New York, UK prime minister Boris Johnson said he was was “increasingly frustrated” at the lack of support offered to poorer countries, BBC News reports. According to the outlet, he said “history will judge” countries who “lacked the courage to step up” after COP26. It notes that the $100bn pledged per year to poor countries has not been met, adding: “On his way to New York, Mr Johnson had downplayed the chances of the $100bn target being hit by the Glasgow summit, saying it was ‘six out of 10’.” Johnson’s comments are transcribed on the UK government website. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Johnson has called on wealthy countries to meet the pledge, in what the Press Association describes as a “rebuke” and BusinessGreen as a “castigation”. The Financial Times and Guardian also carry Johnson’s comments. BusinessGreen carries, in a separate piece, a quote from Johnson that “COP simply must succeed”. Reuters reports separately that US climate envoy John Kerry “said Washington would deliver more climate aid” ahead of COP26, and a further piece in Reuters adds that, United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he heard “encouraging declarations” from the meeting about. However, the Hill reports that, according to predictions from Oxfam, “richer nations will continue to miss the target over the next four years” and a separate Hill article carries quotes Guterres stating: “I’m not desperate, but I’m tremendously worried. We are on the verge of the abyss and we cannot afford a step in the wrong direction.” According to the Wall Street Journal, Guterres says COP26 faces “high risk of failure”. India’s minister for environment forest and climate change, Bhupendra Yadav, also called on governments to meet the pledge, according to the Business Standard.

Meanwhile, the New York Times notes that President Joe Biden will make “his debut speech as president” at the summit. It claims that Biden’s credibility is “challenged” following the “hastily organised” withdrawal from Afghanistan and domestic covid problems. It also discusses the order of speakers and highlights the countries that will be skipping the meeting – stating that “perhaps the most prominent” of these is President Xi Jinping of China. “Joe Biden is on the verge of announcing a multibillion-dollar increase in America’s contribution to tackling global carbon emissions”, the Times reports. Al Jazeera also previews the “good news”. Politico carries an article entitled: “US, China and India snub Boris Johnson’s climate meeting.” Elsewhere, the Guardian reports that Johnson is defending trade secretary Anne-Marie following her “climate crisis denial tweets”. Meanwhile, the Independent carries an analysis entitled: “Does Boris Johnson’s plan to persuade rich countries to help poorer nations reach net zero go far enough?”

Finally, the Wall Street Journal reports that some “big” oil companies “say they want to play a key role in reducing carbon emissions, but they are set to be sidelined” at COP26.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson has accused the protesters who are disrupting motorways of taking attention away from the “moral mission” of fighting climate change, reports the Times. Yesterday another 29 people were arrested after protests on roads around London by “Insulate Britain”, a breakaway group of activists from Extinction Rebellion (XR), the paper explains: “Hertfordshire police, who said that they had been told what time protests would take place but not where, said that 13 people were arrested at the M25 and 16 at the A1(M). Parts of both roads were closed for several hours.” Johnson said of the protestors: “I don’t think these people do any favours to their cause. I think what they do is distract from a very important moral mission that is widely shared by the people of this country.” The Daily Telegraph says these are Johnson’s “strongest comments to date on the protests”, adding that he “also indicated he would favour the police physically moving protesters on in such a circumstance by noting he was trying to change the law to legalise such powers”. The Press Association adds that home secretary Priti Patel is said to have told police to take “decisive” action to crack down on the “selfish” protests which brought traffic to a halt.

Insulate Britain is calling on the government to urgently bring forward a legally binding plan to fund insulation retrofitting across the UK by 2030, says the Independent. It adds: “Founder Roger Hallam, a former XR activist, has said he intends to humiliate Mr Johnson at the COP26 global warming summit, which he is hosting in Glasgow in November, by showing that he is ready to jail hundreds of climate campaigners at the same time as urging world leaders to cut emissions.” In a comment piece in the Daily Express, Hallam says that “Insulate Britain will be off the road in a flash” once their demands are met. He adds: “People are mad and quite right too. Who wants to get delayed going about their rightful business? I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that every person sitting in the road hates sitting there and hates getting arrested. So why are they doing it? Because we have been asking the government to get on with the job of dealing with the climate crisis for 30 years.” A piece in the Conversation by two academics says that “blocking roads will alienate some people – but it’s still likely to be effective”. The Sun and Reuters also cover the protests, while the Daily Express has breaking news that “more than 30 environmental activists from Insulate Britain targeted the busy motorway in Surrey” this morning.

In related news, the Independent reports that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg yesterday told a press briefing that young people will return to the streets this Friday because world leaders “don’t care about the future”. The demonstrations this Friday will see young people in more than 1,000 locations across the globe demand more urgent action from world leaders, the paper explains: “It comes as leaders gather in New York for a UN General Assembly meeting where the climate crisis is high on the agenda.” Thunberg described the protests as “even more urgent now than it was before”, adding: “And time and time again, the leaders today show that they do not care about the future – at least it doesn’t seem like it…They say they listen to us young people, but they are obviously not…And that’s why we will be back on the streets.” Finally, the Independent reports on a survey by telecoms company BT, which shows that “almost two thirds of parents would like their children to follow in the footsteps of Greta Thunberg by becoming a passionate eco-warrior”.

The US “Occupational Safety and Health Administration” will draft its first rules to protect workers in sectors such as agriculture and construction from extreme heat, the New York Times reports. According to the newspaper, this is “the first ever heat-specific workplace standard” and reflects “a growing recognition of the dangers posed by warming temperatures caused by climate change.” The Washington Post adds that in a statement, Biden said that six federal agencies would coordinate to protect vulnerable populations from extreme heat. The standards would apply to both indoor and outdoor workers, according to a separate Washington Post piece: “The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is in charge of workplace safety, was tasked by the White House with developing the new safety standard, which would be targeted to workers outside who face the most severe effects of extreme heat, such as agricultural, construction and delivery workers, as well as those indoors in environments without air conditioning, such as many warehouse workers.” However, the Hill notes the announcement of the new workplace standard “did not specify what exactly the rule would entail”. The action was “sparked in part by record-breaking heat and wildfires this summer that resulted in hundreds of deaths and illnesses”, according to Politico. And Reuters notes that public health and environmental groups had been pressuring Biden to create enforceable standards for outdoor workers exposed to extreme heat prior to his announcement.

Meanwhile, Climate Home News reports that “seven countries have joined the US and EU in committing to cut their methane emissions by 30% over the next decade. ” It notes that the US and EU made a joint-pledge to cut their emissions on Friday, and have been encouraging other nations to do the same. It adds: “ The countries that have signed up include six of the top 15 methane emitters and account for one-fifth of global methane emissions, the White House said in a statement.” EurActiv and Inside Climate News also report on the methane initiative.

In other US news, the Washington Post reports that 13 climate protestors have been arrested outside two Senate office buildings, charged with “crowding, obstructing, or incommoding”. Meanwhile, outlets including the Washington Post, CNBC, Forbes, the New York Times, Reuters, cover a $1bn pledge from Jeff Bezos towards protecting 30% of the Earth’s land and sea. And Bloomberg and CNBC report that Bill Gates has raised more than $1bn towards fighting climate change.

Royal Dutch Shell announced yesterday that it has agreed to sell its oil and gas production in the Permian Basin, the biggest American oil field, to ConocoPhillips for $9.5bn in cash, reports the New York Times. Shell’s sale of its West Texas Permian holdings – which provided an estimated 6% of the company’s global oil and gas production last year – had been expected for months, the paper notes, adding: “The sale is the latest sign that Shell, like other European oil companies, is under pressure to sell off oil and gas production and move toward producing cleaner energy in response to growing concerns about climate change among investors and the general public.” The deal “would mark Shell’s complete withdrawal from onshore production in Texas”, says CNBC, which notes that Shell “will maintain its offshore production in Texas”. For ConocoPhillips, “it is the second sizeable acquisition in a year in the heart of the US shale industry”, says Reuters, “as American and European producers diverge in whether to focus on hydrocarbons going forward”. Shell has pledged to return more than £5bn to shareholders as a result of the deal, says the Times. The Wall Street Journal also has the story, while Reuters reports that Shell – the largest US Gulf of Mexico oil producer – has said that damage to offshore transfer facilities from Hurricane Ida will cut production into early next year. The Financial Times also covers the story.

China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment has released a draft scheme that orders more than 60 cities to cut pollution and reduce emissions during autumn and winter. The document – which is awaiting feedback from “relevant parties” – directs those cities to “comb through and investigate” all “dual high” projects which are under construction, to be constructed and already existing in key industries, including petrochemical, chemical, coal chemical, coking, iron and steel, the outlet says. It adds that the draft orders the cities to set up an inventory for the “dual high” projects, put them into different categories and monitor them in a real-time, “dynamic” manner. The publication adds that the draft also stipulates that the iron and steel industry should continue to operate in off-peak electricity hours in autumn and winter.

A separate report from China Energy News reports that coal power companies in various regions have said that they are facing “intensified pressure” in ensuring electricity supply due to a shortage of thermal coal. The article says that high coal prices and a supply shortfall have caused coal power companies to suffer low coal stock and face “immense difficulties” in maintaining normal operation. The piece adds: “Thermal coal is not only low in quantity but also high in price, but energy demand has been boosting continuously”.

Elsewhere, China News Service, a state-run newswire, reports that 218 officials have been held accountable in the latest central environmental inspection. Seven sub-teams from the Central Ecological and Environmental Inspection Team (CEEIT) have been carrying out investigations in five provinces and two enterprises directly run by China’s Communist Party since the end of August, the outlet says. One of the teams has deemed the “dual control” work in Liaoyuan of Jilin province “ineffective” during the probe. (Read yesterday’s Daily Briefing for more details. Carbon Brief’s Q&A has explained the significance of such an inspection. ) Meanwhile, the South China Morning Post focuses on a tram line powered by “blue” hydrogen in Foshan. The publication writes: “The project, installed at a cost of 1.07 billion yuan (US$166 million), is a showcase of China’s capability and determination to place bets on technological endeavours on the nation’s path towards peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2060.”

Poland’s government has decided to continue to mine coal on its border with the Czech Republic – despite facing a €500,000 fine for every day that it “defies a European court of justice order to stop” – the Guardian reports. According to the newspaper, the fine was issued by the EU’s highest court on Monday. “The mine, which produces lignite, or brown coal, has been operating for more than a century, but has recently expanded further towards the Czech border”, Reuters notes. Politico adds that the Polish government have called the fine “disproportionate” and said that closing it “would have negative consequences for the energy security of millions of Poles”.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that as the “knife-edge race” of Germany’s election enters its final stages, climate change is “top of the agenda”. And in other European news, Reuters covers a warning from the European Court of Auditors that “The European Union is not doing enough to steer its own spending away from polluting activities or to mobilise private funds for green investments”.

The ongoing energy crisis in the UK and across Europe prompted a rush of editorials and comment pieces over the weekend, which is continuing into this week. An editorial in the Guardian says there is “a level of government complacency about energy price shocks” and highlights that “if the energy crunch continues, industry warns, a 1970s-style three-day week might have to be introduced”. The government response to the rising gas prices has been “deny the problem, deflect responsibility for failure and delay taking action”, the piece continues, adding: “This strategy is a reminder of the importance of perceptions in a crisis. If something feels like a crisis, it is effectively a crisis. That is why perhaps Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, says there is ‘no question of the lights going out, of people being unable to heat their homes’… The Conservative party has been in power for a decade, and it shows no sign of engineering, via industrial policy, a green transformation of the economy. Every move, rather, is in the opposite direction. Ministers are, in effect, saying that the climate emergency will be solved by the market and its institutions. There’s no sign of that happening… A climate emergency is no place for the rigid application of free-market principles. A pity no one has told ministers.” An editorial in the Times says: “There is little the government can do to bring down wholesale prices in the near-term. Nonetheless it needs to recognise that this crisis did not appear out a clear blue windless sky. It also reflects a lack of long-term government action on three fronts, all of which need to be addressed now.”

Elsewhere, a Financial Times editorial entitled, “net zero goals cannot fall victim to the energy crisis”, states that the spiking prices have “left politicians scrambling to be seen to do something.” However, it says that a bigger challenge will be “to convince voters to back ambitious policy packages to deal with climate change — which will inevitably include making fossil energy costlier for users — just as they are smarting from soaring utility bills.” It continues: “If consumers’ current pain makes climate action politically more daunting, however, it does not make it any less necessary. The challenge for world leaders — with the COP26 climate conference just weeks away — is to find ways to address the immediate energy price shock without losing sight of the longer-term imperative of climate change.” An Evening Standard editorial also mentions the prospect of a three-day week as a “worst-case scenario” to the energy crisis. It notes that wholesale gas pries have risen 250% since January, and calls Boris Johnson’s assertion that the problem is temporary “optimistic”. And an editorial in the Daily Mail says it is “worried that [Kwarteng’s] boss has drawn the wrong conclusion from this emergency”, adding: “Yes, we all want to reach net zero. But what preoccupies millions of voters is feeding their families and heating their homes.” Meanwhile, Matt Ridley, the Conservative climate sceptic who has earned an income from coal-mining of his family’s estate, has penned a lengthy opinion piece in the Daily Mail, stating that the root of the energy crisis is governments’ pursuit of decarbonisation. “Coal – the cheapest option and the only energy source with low-cost storage in the shape of a big heap of the stuff – was ruled out as too carbon-rich, even though countries such as China are currently building scores of new coal-fired plants.”

Philip Aldrick, the economics editor for the Times, writes that “net zero has nothing to do with the energy crisis. Bad policy is the real culprit.” And Times columnist Hugo Rifkind says that governments need to “stop burbling” and “help us go green”. Meanwhile, the climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph commentator Ross Clark writes that “governments blame energy companies for high bills because it deflects attention from one main cause of of them: environmental subsidies”. And the Guardian‘s Nils Pratley writes that “Kwarteng’s energy crisis assurance ignores cost of small suppliers failing”. Meanwhile, the Financial Times has run several opinion pieces on the energy crisis. The Financial Times’ Lex column notes “the vulnerability of modern supply chains to disruption”, while separate Lex column notes that “in the past, US producers responded to big price jumps by ramping up output. This time around, the law of supply and demand may not apply so smoothly”. The paper carries a final Lex piece entitled, “SSE/Elliott: break-up at the mercy of renewables derating”. Meanwhile, Financial Times business columnist Helen Thomas writes that :“The energy retail market is facing a wave of failures, thanks in part of inadequate hedging of pricing risk.”

In other UK comment, MSP Paul McLennan writes in the Scotsman that “Hydrogen and carbon-capture can play a key part in Scotland’s transition to a green economy”. The Scotsman carries an editorial entitled, “Rich countries must help poor countries tackle global warming or whole world will suffer”. And the Sun has an editorial entitled “We should have got cracking with fracking to keep Britain powered and not surrender to eco protesters.”

Laurence Tubiana, a key architect of the Paris Agreement and chief executive of the European Climate Foundation (which funds Carbon Brief), has penned an opinion piece in the Financial Times. “We are living in a climate altered by humans that is starting to unleash hell across the planet”, Tubiana states. She continues: “This is a moment for leaders to step up – especially those of the world’s two superpowers, the US and China – both ravaged by the effects of the climate crisis in the past year…If China fails to move away from coal then global emission targets will be impossible to meet and impacts on China itself will be dire. China can’t cut global emissions enough on its own, but the rest of the world can’t cut global emissions enough without China. If the US does not deliver on its promises to poorer nations to provide financial support for their net-zero transitions, its credibility as an international leader will be diminished.” She adds that “signals do not currently look good”, concluding: “Climate change is not a deal, a transaction between big powers; it is about everyone’s security.”

A new study investigates why many of the latest climate models show less warming than observations around the 1960–2000 period. The authors identify two main reasons: the latest models simulate a lower forcing from greenhouse gases and aerosols than older models, and the newer models are more sensitive and therefore project a greater temperature change for a given amount of forcing. The authors conclude: “The higher sensitivity is found to result in more cooling from aerosols in the new models, but it opposes the lower forcing from greenhouse gases. The aerosol effects win out, causing suppressed warming in the late 20th century.”