In an interview with Climate Home News, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol says the Covid-19 pandemic could provide political and financial leaders with “a historic opportunity” to drive global climate action by way of economic stimulus packages. As well as promoting economic recovery, Birol says they could also “reduce dirty investments” and accelerate the transition to cleaner energy sources. “This is the reason I am telling them that we can use the current situation to step up our ambition to tackle climate change,“ the IEA chief says.

The Independent notes that while the Covid-19 outbreak may lead to a drop in emissions in 2020 “as flights are grounded, fewer people hit the road and industry slows” at the same time plummeting oil prices will likely increase fossil-fuel consumption as the global economy recovers, “negatively impacting investment in renewables and the electric vehicle industry”. A piece in Bloomberg piece, meanwhile, says that while the virus-induced economic crash will slow down the “electric vehicle revolution”, it will not change the industry’s longer term upward trajectory.

The Financial Times reports the world could run out of oil storage capacity “within months” as coronavirus “crushes demand for fuel at the same time as the Saudi-Russia price war boosts supplies”. The Hill reports that Democrats in the US are “voicing concern” that the White House is bailing out the oil industry amidst the pandemic.

In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that a “near-total halt” to the country’s travel sector will likely cut millions of tonnes its emissions. The Independent reports on testimony given to the UK’s Environmental Audit Committee by Katherine Kramer, global head of climate change policy at Christian Aid, who suggested airlines may have to comply with this year’s “very low baseline” for future emissions.

Bloomberg reports that coronavirus “may well complicate and overshadow” the EU’s effort “to set tighter environment targets and channel of billions euros into green projects this year”. The effort under the proposed “Green Deal” to make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent would require massive economic changes which may not be possible at a time when recession is a real risk, it notes. EurActiv reports that this is being put to the test by Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš, “whose country depends on nuclear energy and coal”, and who has stated the EU “should ditch its landmark green law seeking carbon neutrality as it battles the novel coronavirus”. Reuters also reports that a senior Polish official has called for an end to the EU emissions trading system, or exemption for this country, to free up resources to tackle the outbreak.

Elsewhere, speculation continues about the fate of the COP26 UN climate summit set to take place in Glasgow in November. The Financial Times reports that government officials said it was “increasingly likely” that COP26 would be postponed given the current situation. A government spokesperson told the paper the situation was being monitored and the nation will “continue to work towards hosting the event”. The Financial Times also notes the UNFCCC has postponed all meetings scheduled before the end of April. The Independent reports on comments made by Sir David King, a former chief scientific advisor to the UK government, on Radio 4’s Today programme, stating there is a “possibility” COP26 could be conducted via video conference. This idea was dismissed by Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, as “not feasible”.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reports on comments from scientists that air pollution in cities across Covid-19-inflicted nations, such as Italy and China, could exacerbate the viral infection and increase death rates. On the other hand, MailOnline notes comments from another researcher that the number of lives saved due to air pollution cuts across nations struck by the virus “exceeds the death toll from the virus itself”. Finally, a piece in Axios considers climate activism during the coronavirus outbreak.

In non-coronavirus news, Eco-Business reports that South Korea, “the world’s seventh-largest carbon emitter” and “third-biggest public coal financier”, has signalled it may target net-zero emissions by 2050. The story is based the manifesto for upcoming legislative elections laid out by the ruling Democratic Party. If the plan goes ahead, the news site notes South Korea “will be the first in East Asia to set a timeframe to end its contribution to climate change”. The story quotes Daul Jang, government relations and advocacy specialist at Greenpeace Korea, who says “reaching net-zero carbon emissions is very ambitious in a highly industrialised country where climate change has never been high on the political agenda” and calls the party’s pledge “a significant change”. Eco-Business notes Climate Action Tracker has rated the nation’s current ambitions as “highly insufficient”.

More than £2.2tn has been channelled into fossil fuels by the world’s major investment banks since the Paris Agreement in 2015, according to new figures reported by the Guardian. The analysis focused on 35 leading banks and found JP Morgan Chase has been the largest fossil-fuel financier over the past four years, pumping more than £220bn into oil, gas and coal extraction. The paper also notes that only last month JP Morgan’s economists “warned that the climate crisis threatens the survival of humanity”. The Hill also reports on the work, which was undertaken by a coalition of environmental groups including BankTrack, Indigenous Environmental Network, Oil Change International, Reclaim Finance and the Sierra Club.

An opinion piece by Ben Santer, a climate researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who has been quarantined due to coronavirus, reflects on the similarities between the US response to the outbreak and climate change. “While sequestered in my apartment, I’ve thought a lot about how complex systems respond to big perturbations. That’s part of my job,” he writes. Specifically, he considers the dangers of scientific ignorance in response to a major threat, as well as the inability of the US president to accept any responsibility to these crises. “A leader accepts responsibility for personal and organisational failures…And a leader cares more about saving lives than winning reelection.” he concludes: “Pandemics are not the only existential problem we face. Climate change endangers every present and future citizen of this planet. If we truly care about the health of our communities, countries and global commons, we must find ways of powering the planet without relying on fossil fuels. It would be a tragedy to survive the coronavirus but succumb to human-caused climate disruption.”

A study reinforces the idea that reforestation may be able to lessen the impacts of warming by cooling daytime air temperatures. The research finds that reforested land has surface temperatures that are 4-6C cooler than those over grasslands. The aerodynamic temperature – a metric less sensitive to confounding effects – was 2-3C cooler in forests than in grasslands, the research adds. The authors say: “Overall, reforestation appears to provide a meaningful opportunity for adaption to warmer daytime air temperatures in the Southeastern US, especially during the growing season.”

A study compares drivers of the 2003, 2010 and 2018 European heatwaves. Strong associations between soil moisture and temperature played a role in the 2018 heatwave, but not in the 2003 or 2010 heatwaves, the authors find. The 2018 heatwave’s high temperatures were mainly down to a lack of rainfall, the authors add, which left skies clear, allowing heat to build up in the atmosphere.