There is widespread coverage of the Lancet’s annual Countdown on Health and Climate Change report, which concludes that world governments are putting the health of “all people alive today and future generations” at risk by locking in dependence on fossil fuels, according to the Independent. The health impacts linked to burning fossil fuels and the resulting climate change include increased risk of food insecurity, infectious disease transmission, heat-related disease, energy poverty and deaths from exposure to air pollution, the news outlet continues. It quotes the authors of the report, who point out that the “vast majority of countries analysed still collectively allocate hundreds of billions of US dollars to subsidising fossil fuels” even though “the current strategies of fossil fuel giants threaten a liveable future”. NBC News describes the report as “doctors…taking aim at the fossil fuels industry”, accusing such companies of subverting “efforts to deliver a low carbon, healthy, liveable future”. BBC News notes that the report includes the work of 99 experts from organisations including the World Health Organization (WHO) and led by University College London. BBC News climate editor Justin Rowlatt describes the findings as “a call to arms” ahead of the COP27 climate summit next month in Egypt. The Guardian notes that climate change is “compounding the food, energy and cost of living crises” with almost half a trillion hours of work lost in 2021 due to extreme heat, according to the report. The Associated Press says doctors in the report warn of the world’s “fossil fuel addiction”, which degrades public health each year, warning of soaring deaths in vulnerable populations due to extreme heat.

The report estimates that “over 3,30,000 people died in India due to exposure to particulate matter from fossil fuel combustion in 2020”, the Hindu reports, while “adding that from 2000-2004 to 2017-2021, heat-related deaths increased by 55% in India.” The report states that, in 2021, “Indians lost 16,720 crore (167.2bn) potential labour hours due to heat exposure with income losses equivalent to about 5.4% of national GDP”, the articles notes, while also pointing to a 2% drop in the growth period of maize and 1% for rice and winter wheat compared to a 1981-2010 baseline. From 1951-1960 to 2012-2021, months conducive to dengue transmission by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes rose by 1.69% and reached 5.6 months each year, the Indian Express reports, quoting from the study’s factsheet on India. According to Dr Sundeep Salvi, chairperson of Global Burden of Diseases-India for respiratory diseases who is quoted in the story, “burning of dirty fuels needs to be minimised as soon as possible to reduce the accompanying health impacts” and that “climate change is intricately related to human health; India needs to do something seriously in this space”.

Separately, a new report by Unicef finds that by 2050 virtually every child in every region will face more frequent heatwaves, the Guardian reports. It concludes that 559 million children currently endure at least four to five dangerous heatwaves each year, but the number will quadruple to 2 billion by 2050 – even if global heating is restricted to 1.7C.

A further climate-related report, also reported on by the Guardian, concludes that eat consumption should be cut to the equivalent of about two burgers a week in the developed world, and public transport expanded about six times faster than its current rate, “to avoid the worst ravages of the climate crisis”. The newspaper notes that the State of Climate Action 2022 report – put together by several thintanks and research groups – examines global progress on 40 indicators that would be key to halving global emissions by 2030.

The UK government must “explain and demonstrate” how new oil-and-gas exploration is in line with its climate target, COP26 President Alok Sharma has told MPs, according to the Press Association. Sharma pointed to a warning from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that new fossil fuel projects are not in line with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C, the report states. The statements, made in a parliamentary committee session yesterday, came shortly after the news was announced that the COP26 president will not have a position in the new prime minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet, the article notes. Reuters reports that despite losing the cabinet role, Sharma will stay on as COP26 president until the end of his tenure at the upcoming COP27 event.

According to BusinessGreen, Sunak has touted environmental protection and the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto commitments – which include a pledge not to re-start fracking in England – as “key lodestars for his prime ministership”. It notes that Thérèse Coffey, has been appointed environment secretary, “giving her key influence over post-Brexit farming subsidy changes and environmental protection regulations” – issues that were considered under threat during Liz Truss’s brief spell as prime minister. Energy Voice reports that Grant Shapps, the former transport secretary, has been named business and energy secretary in Sunak’s cabinet. It notes that during his previous leadership race against Truss, Sunak proposed reinstating a separate Department for Energy, something that was originally abolished in 2016. Shapps replaces Jacob Rees-Mogg, who resigned amid expectations that Sunak would fire him, according to the Sun. Rees-Mogg, who in the past has expressed climate-sceptic views, had previously declared that he would never serve in Sunak’s government, describing the new prime minister as a “socialist”. Rees-Mogg apparently had a sudden change of heart, telling the Daily Telegraph yesterday that he no longer considered Sunak a socialist, but seemingly this was not enough to retain him in his role. A full list of who is in and out of the cabinet is reported by Sky News.

The Press Association reports that two Just Stop Oil protesters have sprayed orange paint across the facade of 55 Tufton Street in Westminster, the headquarters of, among other lobbyists, the climate-sceptic “educational charity” called the Global Warming Policy Foundation. The protesters said that politics had been broken “by shady, opaquely funded lobbyists who now stalk the corridors of power thanks to [recently departed prime minister] Liz Truss”.

The UK is currently on track to miss its legal climate targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the mid 2030s “by a huge margin”, according to the Press Association.  Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) figures show that “with existing and near-fully planned policies”, the UK is set to produce nearly double the amount of emissions as it should do under its 2030s goals. A climate lawyer quoted in the piece notes that the “cost of current chaos in Westminster is inaction”.

Meanwhile, the Independent reports that the Retained EU Law Bill – dubbed the “Brexit Freedoms Bill” – which will remove EU-derived laws that include 570 environmental regulations “will cause serious ecological harm”, according to various charities and MPs.

Separately, another Press Association story reports that the Welsh government plans to set up its own state-owned renewable energy company “to tackle energy insecurity, the cost-of-living crisis and the climate emergency”. The company, which is expected to launch in 2024, will initially look at developing onshore wind farms on the country’s woodland estate, and would be the only government-run company of its kind in the UK.

US climate envoy John Kerry has stated that his nation wants to seek a middle ground on the issue of loss and damage, described by the Associated Press as “a growing demand from poorer countries that the US and other richer countries pay compensation as the culprits most responsible for wrecking the Earth’s climate”. Speaking to reporters at the Council on Foreign Relations, Kerry said: “We believe we have to step up, and we have a responsibility. We accept that.” The Associated Press article notes concerns by some about the sincerity of US and EU commitments to acting on loss and damage, but quotes Kerry saying they want to see progress on something that “actually produces money, gets a system in place”, adding that “we will not be, you know, obstructing”. Abu Dhabi-based newspaper the National quotes Egyptian ambassador Wael Aboulmagd, special representative of COP27 president, setting the scene ahead of COP27. “Well-meaning words are not enough; we need concrete steps towards cutting emissions, adapting to climate impacts already locked in and responding to loss and damage,” he said.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that on a new World Bank report that concludes extreme weather events and rising temperatures could see 13.6% of the Philippines’ economic output lost by 2040. It says that without action, climate change will drive “substantial economic and human costs” as temperatures rise and rainfall becomes more intense.

John Kerry, the US special envoy on climate change, has “urged China to return to the negotiating table” with the US in order to “kickstart stalled global progress” on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, reports the Guardian. Kerry is quoted saying: “China is 30% of all emissions. We need to get China.” He adds that “China’s cooling on climate talks would not destroy progress at COP27”.

Meanwhile, the South China Morning Post reports that the world “needs $100tn in investments” to decarbonise and reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with China requiring “nearly a quarter of the green investments”, according to a report of BNY Mellon Investment Management and Fathom Consulting released on Tuesday. Al Jazeera says that carbon dioxide emissions from China-invested power plants overseas now stand at an “estimated 245m tonnes per year, about the same as the annual energy-related CO2 emissions from countries the size of Spain or Thailand”, according to the research. It also shows that Chinese companies and government-run investment banks have financed a “total of 171.6GW gigawatts of overseas power generation capacity, representing a total of 648 power plants in 92 countries”, the article notes.

Separately, the state-run newspaper Guangming Daily has published an article with infographics, showing that, since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, with the “advance of the structural reform” on the supply side of energy, China’s energy security has been “strengthened thanks to a diversified channel of energy supply and accelerated low-carbon transformation”. Bloomberg reports that China imported “record quantities” of Russian liquefied natural gas and steelmaking coal in September, as total purchases of energy products “topped $50bn” since the invasion of Ukraine “pushed Moscow to expand sales to its strategic ally”.

Finally, the Shanghai-based financial outlet Yicai writes that Chinese battery companies have been “hiking investment in European countries, such as Germany, Hungary and Poland, as well as in the US, amid soaring demand”.

The Australian Labor government has released its first budget, with the Guardian reporting that it has “revamped Australia’s response to climate change and environmental degradation”. The budget includes redirecting nearly $750m ($489m) in commitments from the last government, including some measures that the newspaper revealed yesterday that were previously set to support new gas power plants and carbon capture and storage (CCS). Instead, it says some CCS funding – $141m ($90m) over a decade – will be targeted away from the fossil fuel sector and instead at “hard-to-abate” industries in which there are few alternatives to cut emissions, such as cement manufacturing. The newspaper adds that the government also confirmed previously announced commitments, notably $20bn ($12.8bn) over 10 years for its “rewiring the nation” programme to provide low-cost finance for new electricity transmission links. The Sydney Morning Herald describes a “record $25bn ($16bn)investment to tackle climate change and cut emissions” that will “provide a roadmap for the Albanese government to deliver on its election pledge to cut emissions by 43% by 2030”. The article notes that there are also measures meant to provide affordable energy to Australians, including an expansion of the “gas trigger” that enables the government to redirect gas exports into the local market. Separately, New Scientist reports that eastern Australia is currently battling its fifth major wave of floods in 19 months, amid “abnormally wet conditions” that are expected to last until 2023.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times has an interview with Luis Carlos Reyes, the director of Colombia’s tax and customs agency, who defends the nation’s plan to raise levies on oil and coal companies “in order to fund the new leftist government’s socially ambitious agenda”.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has decided that climate change now threatens Antarctica’s iconic emperor penguin with extinction, according to the Washington Post. The service has decided to give the bird protection under the Endangered Species Act, owing to arguments that the loss of sea ice driven by climate change will put the penguin’s long-term survival at risk, the newspaper notes. The newspaper notes that although sea ice around Antarctica has been more durable than Arctic sea ice so far, scientific projections suggest that “nearly all” emperor penguin colonies would be pushed to the brink of extinction by the end of the century without dramatic cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. The Hill says there are currently 625,000-650,000 emperor penguins, but by 2050 the population could recede by between 26-47% depending on whether the world experiences a low-emissions or high-emissions scenario. According to Reuters, the penguin’s endangered status will “promote international cooperation for conservation strategies, increase funding for conservation programs and require federal agencies in the US to act to reduce threats”.

The UK’s financial regulator has moved to clamp down on “greenwashing”, to avoid investment managers make environmental claims about their products that are not justified, the Financial Times reports. The move by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) comes amid rising complaints that unsuitable fossil fuel investments are often included in funds that are branded as sustainable, the newspaper continues. It says the proposed restrictions cover investment managers using terms such as “green” and “ESG”(environmental, social and governance investing) , and a new set of consumer-friendly labels for sustainable investments. The Daily Telegraph reports that the FCA has previously warned fund managers that it had concerns about the number of “poor-quality” fund applications out there, noting one case of a “sustainable investment fund” that contained two “high-carbon emissions” energy companies in its top 10 holdings. Meanwhile, a Financial Times podcast explores how US Republicans are “picking a fight with some major financial institutions over ESG”.

Finally, the Guardian reports that more than 300 businesses, including H&M, Sainsbury’s and Nestlé, have called on world leaders at the upcoming COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal to make it mandatory for companies to assess and reveal their impact on nature by 2030.

A Guardian editorial lays out the current state of play ahead of the COP27 climate negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. It says that climate-vulnerable nations are “justifiably angry and determined to ensure that past failures are confronted”, after developed countries failed to mobilise $100bn in climate finance by the 2020 deadline. The editorial also reflects on “chilled” relations between the US and China, amid wider geopolitical tensions. “While [US climate envoy John] Kerry used an interview in the Guardian on Tuesday [see above] to appeal for renewed cooperation, the war in Ukraine, combined with the China-US standoff, have significantly raised tensions and lowered expectations,” the piece states. It adds that in asking for international support for loss and damage caused by climate change, “global south countries have right on their side – as rich countries knew when they agreed to the original climate finance package”. (For more on the issue of loss and damage, see Carbon Brief’s recent special series on the topic.) “Governments left Glasgow last year knowing that they had fallen short of what is required if humanitarian disasters of unimaginable severity are to be prevented. The window of opportunity for policies that will deliver on the headline commitment to keep global temperature rises below 1.5C gets smaller every year,” the editorial concludes.

Nick Molho, executive director of business coalition the Aldersgate Group, writes for BusinessGreen about how the UK’s new prime minister, Rishi Sunak, should prioritise addressing climate change. He says that it is clear from his organisation’s work that most businesses see the net-zero transition and the UK’s broader environmental goals as “a major – if not the major – investment opportunity of the next three decades”. He continues: “If they genuinely want to revitalise the economy and tackle the UK’s economic woes, Rishi Sunak and his ministers should listen to the advice of business and throw their full weight behind the net zero transition”. Various articles, including in Grist and the Independent, contain analysis of what Sunak’s leadership might mean for climate and the environment.

An editorial in the Times discusses the newspaper’s recent “investigation” that claimed to find that the advantages of low-traffic neighbourhoods are “illusory”. However, Carbon Brief’s Simon Evans has tweeted a factcheck debunking these claims.

On land, five countries contribute to nearly half of food’s cumulative greenhouse gas, freshwater use, habitat disturbance and nutrient pollution “footprint”, according to new research. The authors “present global geospatial analyses detailing greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater use, habitat disturbance and nutrient pollution generated by 99% of total reported production of aquatic and terrestrial foods in 2017”. They find that aquatic systems produce only 1.1% of food, but are responsible for 9.9% of the cumulative footprint. “Which pressures drive these footprints vary substantially by food and country,” the study notes.