Green finance is an opportunity to boost financial stability while also tackling climate change, says Bank of England governor Mark Carney. In a speech given in Berlin yesterday, entitled “Resolving the climate paradox”, Carney said more of the £76tn held by big global investment firms could be channelled into green bonds to help finance initiatives such as renewable power projects. “The development of this new global asset class is an opportunity to advance a low carbon future while raising global investment and spurring growth,” he said, reports the BBC. However, he cautioned that “too rapid a movement” towards climate-friendly reforms could catch markets unprepared, reports the Press Association in the MailOnline: “Smooth adjustment is crucial because transition risks are how success could turn into failure.” Carney also warned that the changing climate threatens to leave increasing areas of countries’ economies “uninsurable”, notes the Financial Times. Reuters also has the story.

EDF’s credit rating has been downgraded after the UK government’s decision to approve a new £18bn nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. Standard & Poor’s, the US ratings agency, has cut EDF’s rating from A/A-1 to A-/A-2 – leaving it four notches above junk status. S&P said it had made the decision due to both the high risk of the Hinkley project and the heavy investment needed from EDF, which will put strain on its already stretched balance sheet, reports BusinessGreen. However, S&P issued a “stable” outlook on the company, reflecting the French government’s decision to help to stabilise its finances – an improvement on a previous “negative” outlook.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has promised widespread deregulation of US gas, oil and coal production as part of an “America-first energy” plan. In a speech to members of the gas industry, Trump said he would lift restrictions on America’s “untapped energy – some $50tn in shale energy, oil reserves and natural gas on federal lands, in addition to hundreds of years of coal energy reserves.” Trump also promised to end “all unnecessary regulations, and a temporary moratorium on new regulations not compelled by Congress or public safety.” However, economists “seriously doubt [Trump’s] numbers,” reports CNBC. The Hill has a full transcript of Trump’s speech.

In a front page story, the Times reports on a warning from the Institute of Directors that “an £11bn scheme to install smart energy meters in every home is flawed and a waste of money.” Smart meters, which show in real time how much electricity and gas is being used, are being rolled out to millions of UK households over the coming years. However, the Institute says Theresa May should open an “urgent review” into the programme, because of “excessive costs, complex technology and a muddled introduction.” In response, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “Smart meters put households and businesses in control of their energy…This will end estimated billing and deliver £17 billion in savings.”

Scientists may have been overestimating the extent to which the Earth’s soils take up CO2, a new study suggests. Using carbon dating techniques, researchers estimated how quickly carbon can be stored in the ground and how long it stays there. The results suggest soils could be much slower at taking up carbon than previously thought. This means it will take much longer for soils to take up large amounts of the extra CO2 emitted by human activity, says the Guardian. “It will take a very long time for soil to soak up the carbon, there is a timescale mismatch in terms of climate change,” says lead autho Yujie He. “The soil will eventually be a large carbon sink, but it won’t be present in the next century.”

The first shipment of gas fracked from US shale is set to arrive in Britain next week. Chemicals giant Ineos will be importing ethane in a foretaste of larger deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from shale set to reach Europe in 2018. The shipment will arrive in Scotland’s Firth of Forth on Tuesday, accompanied by a lone Scots piper at sunrise, Ineos said. Ineos has access to more than 1m acres of land across England and Scotland containing shale gas deposits, notes Reuters, but it has yet to apply for a planning permit.

Le Page discusses the decision by the Royal Society to hire its premises to the climate sceptic lobby group the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). While sceptical views on climate change have the right to be expressed, says Le Page, “they should certainly not be allowed to hold events at prestigious scientific venues, as it helps give their views a veneer of respectability.” In a statement, the Royal Society said “there is scope for debate on the policy responses”. “Of course this is true,” says Le Page, “but if, like [chairman of GWPF, Nigel] Lawson and his so-called Global Warming Policy Foundation, you think climate change is not a serious problem, you cannot seriously discuss the policy response to its threats.”

Previous estimates of the carbon sequestration potential of soils throughout this century have been overestimated by nearly two-fold, a new study suggests. Using carbon dating of soil samples from 157 locations around the world, the researchers find that earth system models typically underestimated the average age of soil carbon by a factor of more than six. The results suggest that Earth system models should be adjusted and that carbon mitigation strategies may need to be boosted in the 21st century as there will be less uptake of CO2 than expected.