Climate change impacts are heading into 'uncharted territory of destruction', UN chief warns
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Climate change impacts are heading into ‘uncharted territory of destruction’, UN chief warns
Climate impacts are heading into “uncharted territories of destruction”, the UN’s secretary general António Guterres has warned as a new report sets out the scale of the impacts resulting from rising emissions, MailOnline reports. It says the United In Science report, which is coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), “compiles the most recent science related to climate change, impacts and responses” and this year reveals that the world is “experiencing increasingly high global temperatures and destructive climate-driven floods, droughts and heatwaves”. The South China Morning Post says that, according to the report, there is a 93% chance that the global average temperature will break a record high set in 2016 in at least one of the next five years. Reuters notes that despite a dip in emissions during coronavirus lockdowns, preliminary data reveal that global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the first half of this year were 1.2% higher than during the same period in 2019 as fossil fuels are still being burned in large volumes. Press Association adds that pledges by countries to curb emissions made last year will not keep global warming to the 1.5C aspirational limit set out by the Paris Agreement. It says that the ambition of those pledges needs to be seven times higher to limit warming to 1.5C and four times higher to meet the less stringent target of 2C. According to the Guardian, which points to flooding in Pakistan, heatwaves in Europe and near-famine conditions in parts of Africa, humanity is in danger of provoking “tipping points” in the climate system that will mean more rapid and in some cases irreversible shifts. It quotes Guterres who says: “There is nothing natural about the new scale of these disasters. They are the price of humanity’s fossil fuel addiction”.
Dawn reports that international agencies the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have “sounded the alarm over the acute food crisis expected to hit Pakistan in the wake of catastrophic floods”. It notes that around 65% of the country’s food basket — crops such as rice and wheat — have been destroyed and that at least 43% of the population were “said to be food insecure even before the floods hit”. An opinion piece by Hamid Mir in the Washington Post is headlined “Pakistan didn’t contribute to climate change – but it’s paying the price”. A piece in New Scientist looks at how floods in the Indian tech hub of Bangalore “highlight how cities must adapt to climate change”.
Africa losing up to 15% of GDP growth to climate change, African Development Bank says
The African Development Bank says Africa is losing 5-15% of its per capita economic growth due the impacts of climate change, Reuters reports. Moreover, the newswire adds that nations across the continent are facing a “gaping” climate finance shortfall of nearly $1.3tn for the 2020-2030 period. The piece notes that African ministers meeting in Cairo, Egypt, last week ahead of November’s COP27 climate summit “decried the lack of support”, after rich nations still failed to meet the $100bn annual finance commitment they pledged to reach by 2020. According to figures reported in Energy Monitor, there are $400bn worth of new gas infrastructure projects on their way across Africa, worth around 15% of the entire continent’s GDP. The outlet reports that various local civil society groups have spoken out against these projects, with renewables being a cheaper source of power in most markets.
Another Reuters piece notes that South African ministers are set to meet in the coming days to discuss an investment plan, consisting of billions of dollars that was pledged by rich nations, to encourage the nation to transition away from coal power. The piece describes South Africa as the world’s “12th biggest carbon emitter” and says the nation still aims to present the plan before COP27 as a “model for other emerging economies to wean themselves off coal”.
A comment piece in Climate Home News, by the authors of a new paper, outlines what they see as key priorities for the next international climate finance target, beyond the existing £100bn goal. “How the new goal is negotiated is critical to rebuilding trust between developed and developing countries,” they write.
European gas prices likely to fall sharply this winter, says Goldman Sachs
The problem of providing gas to Europe amid Russian cuts to supplies over the winter has been “successfully solved”, according to analysis by Goldman Sachs reported by the Guardian. The newspaper says that, according to the major US bank, the price of gas is “likely to more than halve this winter as efforts by EU countries’ to avoid big shortages this winter prove effective”. The Daily Telegraph notes that Goldman Sachs expects gas storage sites in Europe to be more than 90% full by the end of October and says those stocks will help the continent get through the winter despite huge cuts to Russian supplies. It notes that this follows months of high prices that have cut gas usage in Europe and Asia and attracted more shipments of gas to Europe. The bank now expects European gas prices to fall below €86 per megawatt hour (MWh) in the first quarter of 2023, compared to previous forecasts of €94 per MWh, the paper says. It adds that while “the price forecast is about four or five times higher than long-term averages, it is far lower than the current prices of around €200 per MWh”.
In the EU, the Guardian reports that a leaked document suggests the European Commission is backing away from imposing a price cap on Russian gas, but pushing ahead with proposals for a windfall tax on energy company “surplus” profits as part of its plan to deal with high power prices. Bloomberg describes the price cap as “the most controversial idea” being considered, noting that it has been “shelved” and adding that gas prices are “already falling, at least in part because of European action”.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Russia’s energy revenues shrank in August to their lowest level in 14 months “as western sanctions over Ukraine prompted the Kremlin to sell discounted oil and squeeze gas flows to Europe”. This is particularly due to European customers looking elsewhere for oil, forcing Moscow to sell oil at a steep discount in Asian markets, it continues. The Financial Times says Russian president Vladimir Putin has “blown up a once lucrative gas trade with Europe without a clear plan to make up for the loss”, noting that while China may be the best alternative option this is “not likely to happen in a way that makes up for losses in Europe”. The Financial Times also reports on the situation in Moldova, “squeezed precariously between Romania and war-torn Ukraine”, which relies on Russia for all of its gas needs and is expressing concerns over shortages as winter approaches and Moscow may cut supplies.
UK business warned of delay to state energy support
In a frontpage story, the Financial Times reports that companies in the UK will have to wait longer than households for help from the government’s £150bn energy support package. In recent meetings, the newspaper says firms have been informed by government officials that there is a risk the scheme may not be ready until November, despite hundreds of thousands of companies reaching the end of their fixed-price energy contracts at the start of October. Unlike similar plans for households, the paper notes, the strategy for businesses is likely to require legislation, “which could add further delays since parliament is suspended until the Queen’s funeral on Monday and next week breaks for party conference season into October”. Separately, the Press Association reports on analysis by the Resolution Foundation thinktank that concludes richer households will benefit more than poorer ones from prime minister Liz Truss’s plan for an energy bills freeze and “winter will still be tough for many” despite the policy. Meanwhile, the Independent reports the Institute for Government thinktank saying that insulating the UK’s draughty and inefficient homes is a better long-term use of resources. The piece is titled: “UK faces ‘2023 energy crisis if it ignores insulation problem’.” Helena Bennett, head of climate policy at thinktank Green Alliance, agrees with this sentiment in a comment for the Guardian, titled: “The UK needs better insulated homes to free us from Putin and the fossil fuel giants.”
In other UK energy news, the Daily Telegraph has a piece citing fracking companies and a “leading petroleum geologist” calling for the rules on earthquakes caused by fracking to be relaxed “as part of plans to kickstart an energy revolution”. It explains that currently, if tremors exceed 0.5 on the Richter scale, fracking activity must stop, with the rule having limited activity in the past. “Fracking companies want parity with other industries, for example geothermal energy, which is allowed to create earthquakes of higher magnitudes than 0.5,” the piece states. (The moratorium on fracking was imposed after a tremor of magnitude 2.9; Carbon Brief published a factcheck last week looking at the minimal impact fracking would have on the UK’s energy security and prices).
Elsewhere, the Daily Express reports the results of an unweighted, self-selecting poll of its own readers, in which 97% of respondents agreed that prime minister Liz Truss should proceed with her plan to suspend “green levies”. (Carbon Brief analysis has shown that green levies are falling and make up a tiny share of bills.)
Germany plans $68bn loan guarantees for energy firms
Today, German chancellor Olaf Scholz is set to approve the creation of a €67bn fund to help energy companies cope with the energy crisis, reports Bloomberg, citing someone familiar with the plan. The outlet notes that the loan guarantees would be financed with the help of state development bank KfW repurposing Covid funds. It quotes Scholz saying on Tuesday: “We will now push this through with great speed so that we can relieve the burden on consumers as well as on companies when it comes to electricity prices”. The latest loan guarantee plan, which was first reported by Handelsblatt newspaper, is separate from a financial aid package announced in April partly targeted at helping energy firms “overburdened by collateral requirements”, explains the article. The Financial Times also has a story adding that “the new German measure is not the first intervention by chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government to help gas importers”, referring to the state help for the biggest German gas importers – Uniper and VNG. “Many European energy firms have appealed to their governments to help protect them from default or failure”, the newspaper notes, adding that earlier this month, Switzerland’s largest renewable electricity producer Axpo and Finnish utility Fortum secured big new state-backed credit lines. However, Tagesschau reports that climate activists from Fridays for Future have called on the German federal government to provide a special fund of €100bn for climate protection – to accelerate the expansion of renewables and phase-out of all fossil fuels. The organisation’s spokesperson, Luisa Neubauer, is quoted saying the sum “can be collected through a combination of excess profit taxes and a relaxation of the debt brake”.
Meanwhile, Die Zeit reports that Scholz assumes that Germany will be “completely independent of Russian gas by the end of next year”. The construction of liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals on the north German coast “is progressing”, said the chancellor in his speech to mark German Employers’ Day, adding that the raw material could come from Norway, the US “and many other countries”, according to the article. It adds that “by the end of next year, we will probably have import opportunities in Wilhelmshaven, in Stade, in Brunsbüttel, in Lubmin”, enabling Germany to “import all the gas – independently of Russia”, said the German chancellor. Scholz also said that the gas storage tanks are 85% full and added that as part of Germany’s efforts to diversify its energy sources away from Russian gas, the country wants to “trigger a big boom” in the hydrogen industry, describing it as the gas of the future, reports Reuters.
Finally, Der Spiegel reports the failure of a climate lawsuit against the German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz brought by German Environmental Aid (DUH). In its lawsuit, the group demanded a climate-friendly conversion of the car manufacturer and a ban on selling cars with conventional combustion engines that emit greenhouse gases from November 2030, the outlet says. The federal managing director of the DUH, Jürgen Resch, told the DPA that it was embarrassing “that Mercedes-Benz, the car manufacturer with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per vehicle in Europe, is based in a federal state governed by green law”.
China rust belt province plans $87bn clean energy overhaul
China’s northeastern Liaoning province that was once one of China’s “major coal and industrial hubs” has launched a “600bn yuan ($87bn) plan” to “expand clean energy production”, reports Bloomberg. The outlet writes that, according to a report from state broadcaster CCTV, the province is “planning six different energy bases of 10GW (gigawatts) each”. The different bases will include “nuclear, offshore wind, pumped hydro energy storage, ‘smart energy’ and two renewable energy installations”, Bloomberg adds, citing the report, adding that smart energy “involves virtual power plant networks that can monitor and optimise energy generation”. China Energy News, a state-run industry newspaper, also covers the story, citing the report by CCTV.
Meanwhile, Vice carries an article, titled “Why Climate Change is forcing China to burn more coal”. It writes that besides “sapping hydropower, droughts also deal a blow on crop yields, forcing Chinese authorities to rethink how much agricultural land it could cede to wind turbines and solar panels”. China is “still committed to peaking before 2030”, the article says, adding that “environmental groups are concerned the peak level could be much higher than anticipated”.
Finally, Reuters writes that China’s southwestern province of Yunnan has “ordered producers of electrolytic aluminium to reduce their power usage this week”, citing the companies on Tuesday. The newswire says that Yunnan’s decision is “another sign” that “soaring” energy prices are having a “strong impact on aluminium production across the globe, although domestic prices have seen limited impact for now”.
Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Times reports that in the the southern Chinese province of Sichuan, “historic drought is testing its faith in carbon-free energy”.
Switching to renewable energy could save trillions – study
Several outlets have covered a new study published in the journal Joule which, as BBC News reports, concludes that switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy could save the world as much as $12tn (£10.2tn) by 2050. The research looks at historic price data for renewables and fossil fuels and then models how they are likely to change in the future, the piece notes, concluding that the cost of solar and wind power have fallen rapidly “at a rate approaching 10% a year”.BusinessGreen notes that, according to the authors, there is a “pervasive misconception” that making such a switch would be more costly than remaining dependent on fossil fuels. It says they also state that economic models attempting to chart the move to net-zero emissions have historically “badly overestimated” the future costs of clean energy – “dampening investor and government confidence in the technologies”. MailOnline also covers the study, under the headline “Eco drive to make green energy WON’T cost you more.”
In a separate story, Reuters reports that investors managing $39tn have called on governments to set out plans to phase out fossil fuel use and force companies to set out science-based climate strategies. Organised by the Investor Agenda, a group that counts many of the world’s largest fund managers as members, the “2022 Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis” marks “the most ambitious appeal to officials yet…with additional requests for action on tackling methane pollution and scaling up finance to poorer countries”, the newswire notes.
Russia hit with first climate lawsuit
Activists have filed the first-ever climate lawsuit in Russia, demanding that the government of the fourth-largest emitter takes stronger action to address climate change, the Moscow Times reports. It picks up reporting by the Guardian, noting that groups say that Russia’s insufficient measures to curb emissions in line with the Paris Agreement target of 1.5C are “violating the Russian constitution and the European convention on human rights”. The activists note that they face “considerable risks” by filing the case, in light of recent government crackdowns on civil and opposition movements in Russia, especially since the invasion of Ukraine. According to Reuters, two organisations – Ekozashita (Eco-defence) and the Moscow Helsinki Group, Russia’s oldest human rights organisation, originally founded by Soviet dissidents – as well as 18 individuals are listed among the plaintiffs.
Comment
EU must stand together in the energy war against Russia
A Financial Times editorial says that the “stand-off” over energy between Russia and Europe “is reaching high noon”, after last week the Kremlin indefinitely shut down its main westwards gas pipeline, Nord Stream 1. As the EU decides on its joint response, the piece says there is cause for optimism. It notes that Russian gas has fallen from 40% of total EU imports before the war to 9% today and that EU gas storage is 84% full. However, it also says “there can be no false sense of security” and says the plan the EU arrives at will be “critical”. It concludes: “Joint demand and supply management will now be crucial; proposals for common efforts to cut power use and facilitate liquidity to energy companies are laudable. These will need to be combined with efforts to strengthen energy infrastructure to help balance supply and demand, and co-ordination to prevent hoarding of supplies”.
King Charles III’s climate, environment beliefs are messy
Shannon Osaka, The Washington Post
Writing in the Washington Post, climate reporter Shannon Osaka notes that with the ascension of King Charles III to the British throne last week, some commentators have been quick to describe him as the first “climate king” due to his history of environmentalism. “But Charles’s environmental views are complex: He is both a classic environmentalist who loves nature, trees and wild animals, and a traditionalist who has battled against wind energy on his estate, flown around the world in a private jet and once critiqued the growth of population in the developing world,” she writes. Furthermore, she adds that Charles represents “some of the paradoxes of a world coming to grips with climate change: a man with extreme wealth and a significant carbon footprint speaking out against global warming; a political figurehead with very little real political clout”. Nevertheless, Osaka speculates that the new king may have a real influence on some parts of British society, noting that Conservatives in the UK are more likely to support the monarchy. “It’s possible that the example of Charles could sway some members to think more carefully about the environment, climate change and the nature that he holds so dear,” she says.
In her Climate Forward newsletter for the New York Times, climate reporter Somini Sengupta also considers the new king, outlining Britain’s history as an imperial power and what Charles has said about this and about climate action. “The British monarch does not engage in politics. So I don’t expect to hear King Charles publicly comment on his country’s day-to-day politics,” she says.
Science
Forest expansion dominates China’s land carbon sink since 1980
“Previous studies have greatly underestimated the impact of land use and cover change on the terrestrial carbon balance of China,” new research suggests. The authors develop a new land-use and cover-change database for China. They find a “strong carbon sink” in China between 1980 and 2019 of 8.9bn tonnes of carbon, which “was not captured in Food and Agriculture Organisation data-based estimations due to biased land-use and cover-change signals”. The study concludes that land use and cover change in China contributed to nearly 44% of the national terrestrial carbon sink over 1980-2019. It adds: “In contrast, climate changes (22%), increasing nitrogen deposition (13%), and rising carbon dioxide (8%) are less important contributors.”
Other stories
- Comment: Republicans are at war with capitalism because of their stance on climate change (The Independent)
- Comment: Biden freezes oil and gas leases (The Wall Street Journal)
- Bill Gates interview: ‘We’re in a worse place than I expected’ (The New York Times)
- Leading environmentalists decry crackdown on Vietnam climate activists (The Guardian)
- Comment: California: electricity crisis means profits for utilities (Financial Times)
- Displaced by drought, climate migrants clash with Zimbabwe’s timber industry (Climate Home News)
- Quitting coal (Outriders)
- Friedrich Schelling’s philosophy can help us through the climate crisis (The New York Times)
- Queensland energy minister says renewable generation capacity must be tripled by 2035 (The Guardian)
- Middle East faces crisis as temperatures rise ‘twice as fast as global average’ (The Independent)
- Scientists who detected massive Pemex methane leak say ‘no way’ they made a mistake (Reuters)
- Mountain glacier in Chile’s Patagonia collapses amid high temperatures (Reuters)
- Climate change is making people angrier online (Bloomberg)
- Gas companies accused of using hydrogen to ‘greenwash’ boilers (DeSmog)