Several UK newspapers cover a new report by the right-leaning thinktank Onward which claims, says the Times, that “the UK’s climate change targets threaten almost twice as many jobs in the Midlands and north as in London”. The newspaper adds: “Up to 10m jobs will be disrupted by the UK’s legally binding commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050 and 52% are concentrated in the north, Midlands or Scotland, the research found…The authors said that the results showed the need for a government plan to ‘smooth the transition’ for communities that rely heavily on carbon-intensive industries and face the greatest threat to their livelihoods…The report acknowledges that many ‘green jobs’ will be created around the country in new low-carbon industries.” The Daily Telegraph explains that the report comes “as Onward launche[s] a cross-party commission to tackle the practical and political challenges of achieving the 2050 target, focusing on how to decarbonise existing industries, retrain workers and the regulatory and financial conditions needed to achieve climate goals”. The Sun says “the report by the powerful Onward thinktank makes grim reading for the prime minister about the crucial Red Wall seats that decided last year’s election”.

Meanwhile, in other UK news, the Guardian picks up on a Times story from the weekend and reports that “ministers are facing calls to make the business secretary, Alok Sharma, the full-time president of the COP26 UN climate talks to be hosted in Glasgow in November”. It continues: “Amber Rudd, who as energy and climate secretary led the UK delegation to the successful Paris climate talks in 2015, said: ‘Alok could do this and do it well. But it will take 100% of his time, energy and persuasion to make it a success’…However, government sources insisted no imminent reshuffle was expected because of the seriousness of the coronavirus situation, with changes expected to be delayed to summer or autumn…Several climate experts said a full-time COP26 president could be a help with preparations.” The Financial Times, in an article about how Boris Johnson is preparing to relaunch “Global Britain” following Brexit, says the prime minister “sees [the UK hosting the] G7 summit as a ‘stepping stone’ to the UN climate change conference in Glasgow in November, trying to build momentum on cutting emissions from the big democracies”.

Separately, the i newspaper says that “UK households will be powered by heat stored deep in the ground next year after the country’s first geothermal energy plant signed a deal to supply electricity to a major energy company”. Current reports that “Britain [saw its] first coal-free Christmas Day”. And the Independent says that “Extinction Rebellion activists are to rescue and plant at least 30,000 oak saplings across the country after nursery owners said they could be forced to destroy hundreds of thousands of trees because of delays to government tree planting programmes”.

The Guardian reports that “Australia has formally updated its United Nations climate policy without fanfare and without any improvement to its 2030 target to cut emissions, sparking criticism from Labor, the Greens and climate policy experts and campaigners”. It adds: “Repeating language heard frequently in recent months, the document, submitted to the United Nations on New Year’s Eve, says Australia will ‘meet and beat’ its declared 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels…The document also promises Australia will submit a long-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategy before the next major global climate talks, currently scheduled for November in Glasgow.” The Sydney Morning Herald says that “climate groups welcomed the government’s recognition that Australia likely won’t need to resort to tapping any ‘carbon credits’ generated from the 2012-20 Kyoto Protocol to meet its Paris target, but said its failure to lift its ambition was disappointing”. The newspaper quotes Prof Bill Hare, director of Climate Analytics, who says: “Australia’s re-submission without improvement is a snub and de facto a denial of the urgent need for more action on climate.” Climate Home News also covers how “most countries have missed a UN deadline to strengthen their 2030 climate targets – the first test of the ‘ratchet mechanism’ of the Paris Agreement”. It continues: “The EU, the UK and Argentina were the only large emitters to present tougher climate targets by the UN’s 2020 deadline, with China and the US lagging.” (Carbon Brief has previously published an explainer and timeline about the ratchet mechanism.)

In other Australian news, Reuters says that “regulators [have] flagged plans for new caps to renewable connections to its power grid in a bid to reduce risks associated with network congestion amid the rapid growth of weather-dependent renewable power”. And the Guardian covers the views of Kerry Schott, head of the government’s Energy Security Board, who believes that the current national government “appears to be inching closer to committing to net-zero emissions by 2050 as it comes under growing international pressure over climate policy”.

Associated Press covers a new study, published in Nature Climate Change, which concludes that “the amount of baked-in global warming, from carbon pollution already in the air, is enough to blow past international agreed upon goals to limit climate change”. AP adds: “But it’s not game over because, while that amount of warming may be inevitable, it can be delayed for centuries if the world quickly stops emitting extra greenhouse gases from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, the study’s authors say. For decades, scientists have talked about so-called ‘committed warming’ or the increase in future temperature based on past CO2 emissions that stay in the atmosphere for well over a century. It’s like the distance a speeding car travels after the brakes are applied. But [the new study] calculates that a bit differently and now figures the carbon pollution already put in the air will push global temperatures to about 2.3C of warming since pre-industrial times. Previous estimates, including those accepted by international science panels, were about a degree Celsius less than that amount of committed warming.” The Hill also covers the study noting that, “in a video explaining the paper’s findings, co-author Andrew Dessler said that its findings are not ‘game over for the climate’”.

The Guardian covers a separate study, also published in Nature Climate Change, which shows that “urban regions around the world are likely to see a near-universal decrease in humidity as the climate changes”. The newspaper adds: “The research suggests that building green infrastructure and increasing urban vegetation might be a safe bet for cities looking to mitigate against rising temperatures. Half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, but cities only account for about 3% of global land surface. Lei Zhao, a scientist from the University of Illinois and the lead author, says this has meant that previous climate models have not produced data specific to cities.” The Daily Telegraph also covers the study under the headline: “Cities could warm by more than four degrees by the end of the century.”

Meanwhile, both the Daily Mirror and MailOnline publish “a series of shocking satellite images” by Nasa that “reveal the devastating impact of climate change and how it is transforming our planet”. The Daily Mirror explains: “There are 259 photographs taken in the past – some up to 40 years ago – juxtaposed with 259 images taken more recently, and the differences are stark. In one set to photos Iceland’s Ok Glacier has melted away, in another wildfires have scorched the land in the Pampas region of Argentina and in a third monsoon flooding can be seen in Pakistan.”

The Financial Times says that “investors are braced for a green bond rush this year, as policymakers seek a sustainable recovery from the coronavirus crisis”. It continues: “Governments and companies are expected to issue $500bn in green debt in 2021, nearly half the total that has been raised since the asset class’s inception, according to a projection from Swedish bank SEB. In the first 11 months of 2020, global borrowers sold $270bn of the debt. While green bonds still represent a sliver of the overall debt market, they are an increasingly popular tool for companies to fund operations that are more environmentally friendly. Christopher Flensborg, head of climate and sustainable finance at SEB, said the asset class is also important for the finance industry – often targeted by activists – by dragging banks into the climate fight.” Meanwhile, the FT’s Lex column focuses on how “greeniums” – higher prices for environmentally friendly investments – are being driven by investor demand: “Green finance need not involve much more than a favourable nudge from the government. Let markets price in a greener future, not taxpayers.”

An editorial in the Yorkshire Post says that “the news that an ambitious decarbonisation plan for the Humber region has received government backing with the award of £1.7m in funding can only be good news”. It adds: “The so-called Humber Cluster Plan not only aims to set out how net zero carbon emissions could be achieved in the area by 2040 – potentially making it the first in the world to do so – it also importantly involves major private sector partners and local employers such as Drax, British Steel and Centrica. These are the companies that have a central role to play in bringing about a cleaner and greener future for us all. The Humber is at the forefront of the climate change battle for several reasons – from the cliff-side communities witnessing the alarming ongoing impact of coastal erosion that is expected to be made worse by rising sea levels at one end of the spectrum to the area being at the forefront of offshore wind power generation at the other.” [See BusinessGreen’s coverage of the government’s new grants.]

Meanwhile, the Guardian carries a comment piece by Henry D Jacoby, an emeritus professor of management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who argues that “the ‘carbon dividend’ is so elegant that it seems too good to be true – governments should make it a post-pandemic priority”. He continues: “A carbon dividend feels like a novel, unusual idea. There certainly aren’t many directly comparable fiscal mechanisms in place. But if now isn’t the time to try bold new solutions – when we’ve seen that governments can move mountains in the right circumstances – then when is? And though it looks radical, the dividend really is just a rather elegant solution to a major problem, which neatly circumvents many of the usual political objections to increased taxation. It might even be the first highly popular tax.”

Adding to the number of 2021 previews (see yesterday’s Daily Briefing) published by climate journalists, Axios’s Amy Harder lists her 10 “issues to watch” for the year ahead. Unsurprisingly, her first pick is “presidential ambitions/limitations”. She explains: “[Joe Biden will] focus on reversing all the environmental regulatory rollbacks by president Trump, but beyond that Biden is expected to incorporate climate policies into other agencies. Two I’m watching closely are independent but nonetheless traditionally pursue policies the sitting president supports: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates electricity infrastructure and pipelines, could factor climate change more than ever into its decision-making. The Securities and Exchange Commission had begun to consider emission disclosure rules under Barack Obama, and a similar initiative is likely to be revived under Biden.” Harder also highlights “diplomatic dances”, saying: “The Biden administration faces a tricky diplomatic task of reassuring world leaders America is not going to retreat again on the problem while also urging other countries to put even more aggressive goals on the table ahead of the Glasgow conference.”

Separately, in the Financial Times, columnist Michael Skapinker notes that “the environmental pressure against flying grew rather than shrank during last year’s lockdowns”. He continues: “ It was not what I expected. During more than 30 years of reporting I had noticed that bosses tended to jettison corporate responsibility pledges during downturns. I thought Covid-19 would mean a dilution of companies’ recent devotion to green issues. It hasn’t happened. Investors are pushing companies harder on the environment than ever…Companies are not only re-emphasising their environmental goals post-Covid: they are linking them to their travel policies.”

New research proposes a “cost-effective strategy for matching carbon sources and sinks on a global scale” in order to facilitate carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS). The researchers identify more than 3,000 carbon “clusters” and 432 sinks in 85 countries, which would achieve 92bn tonnes of CCUS, with 64% of the CO2 being stored and 36% used for enhanced oil recovery. Of the matched sites of sources and sinks, “80% are distributed within 300 km and are mainly located in China, the US, the EU, Russia and India”, the researchers note.

Renewable energy firms may face a higher cost of debt than non-renewable energy firms while technologies and markets develop, new research suggests. Using “global micro-level data on individual loans matched to firm-level data”, the authors find that renewable energy firms could face a higher cost of debt at first, but a cost advantage “emerges over time”. The study also finds that debt costs for renewable energy firms “are lower in economies with a more developed banking sector and comparatively stringent environmental policies”.

A new study aims to resolve the “near-universal lack” of representation of urban areas in global climate models. The researchers “combine climate modelling and data-driven approaches to provide global multi-model projections of urban climates over the 21st century”. Under a very high emissions scenario, the findings suggest that “cities in the US, Middle East, northern Central Asia, northeastern China and inland South America and Africa are estimated to experience substantial warming of more than 4K – larger than regional warming – by the end of the century”.