Financial services and other businesses in London are
increasingly vulnerable to climate change through their investments
and supply chains that stretch across the globe, a new report from
the London Assembly warns.

The UK government has unveiled a package of measures to
reduce subsidies to renewable energy in what it says is an effort
to keep down household bills. Carbon Brief looks at the reforms and
collects reaction, including from Ed Davey, the former secretary of
state for energy and climate change, who says the changes are
“based on ideology, not on evidence”.

Subsidies for many new solar farms are to end under plans
being published by the government. The Department of Energy and
Climate Change (DECC) is consulting on plans that would see
subsidies for some new solar farms close by 2016. Wood chip power
generators are also targeted in the latest effort to rein in
renewable energy support, says The Financial Times. The move comes as
“officials are grappling with a projected overspend of £1.5billion
by 2020 on green energy”, says The MailOnline, but it also points out
that the saving to household energy bills would be just £1.20 a
year – or 50p, according to The Guardian. Green Party MP Caroline
Lucas said the move was “utterly short-sighted”,
reports The Express. While BBC Newssays that MPs were not
consulted on the decision. The Guardiantakes a look at how
the proposed changes will affect homeowners with solar panels on
their roofs, and The Timessays households can
expect cuts in “feed-in tariffs” for new solar panels.
BusinessGreen, Reutersand The Independentalso cover the
story, and Carbon Briefcollected reaction –
including from Ed Davey, the former secretary of state for energy
and climate change.

Warming temperatures are expected to have significant impact
on plants and animals in coming decades, with those living in the
South faring much better than northern counterparts. The warning
comes in a new report from Natural England, the Government’s nature
specialists, on the impacts of climate change over the next 60
years. Much-loved birds including curlews, cuckoos, golden plovers
and lapwings will be under increasing threat, reports
BBC News. While bitterns, nightjars and
cirl buntings are among several threatened bird species that could
benefit, says The Times. Overall, of the 155 species
at risk of dying out in Britain, 39% would benefit from climate
change, but 38% would face increased pressures, says
The Telegraph.

Royal Dutch Shell has been granted two final permits for oil
exploration in the Arctic this summer, but the US has banned the
company from drilling for oil until emergency equipment arrives in
the region. The permits allow Shell to drill into the seabed, but
before drilling into the oil reserves themselves, Shell must have
emergency equipment to contain a potential spill that can be
deployed within 24 hours, reports The New York Times. That equipment is
aboard a damaged icebreaker en route to Oregon for repairs,
says The Guardian. The story is covered
widely in US media, with The Washington Postdeclaring
“Obama administration greenlights Shell drilling off Alaska’s
Arctic coast” and The Hillsaying “The Obama
administration gave its final stamp of approval” to the drilling
plans.

A new report warns that London’s economy is increasingly
vulnerable to climate change because of the city’s status as a
global financial centre and the international connections of its
businesses. The capital’s financial sector is exposed to risks
internationally, including through its investment in fossil fuels.
The report, by the London Assembly’s Economy Committee, urges more
action to prepare the city for climate risks from mayor Boris
Johnson. BusinessGreenalso covers the
story, and Carbon Briefhas delved into the
report as well.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has unveiled his new plans
to make London the ultra-low emission vehicle capital of Europe.
The plans include lowering the congestion charge further for
low-emission vehicles, increasing the number of electric vehicle
charging points, and giving decommissioning grants to taxis that
are more than 10 years old, in an effort to encourage drivers to
take up zero emission vehicles. The measures are aimed to clean up
London’s air and reduce the 9,500 premature deaths attributed to
air pollution each year, says BusinessGreen.

A senior United Nations official has warned the world is
‘playing with fire’ unless an agreement can be reached on climate
change at an international summit. Christiana Figueres said that
‘science is telling us that time is running out’ and an upcoming
conference in Paris could be the last chance for a meaningful
agreement. She also said that Americans who doubt scientific
evidence of global warming should look at the economic advantages
of renewable energy, including for growth, jobs and exports.

“The government’s energy policy is chaotic”, says The
Guardian’s lead editorial. While being committed to a tough
international target on climate change, it is cutting subsidies for
renewable energy and backing off from schemes promoting energy
efficiency. With a potential third runway at Heathrow, and “the
greenest of lights” for fracking, the foundations of a green
economy are being undermined one by one. But just like fracking and
nuclear, greening the energy supply needs intervention, The
Guardian says: “It will not be cheap. But for future generations,
not doing it will cost far more.”

As we see more examples of extreme weather, and the evidence
for a climate connection strengthens, more people may begin to
consider climate action a higher priority, argues Dana Nuccitelli.
With the Paris international climate conference coming up in four
months, momentum seems to be building rapidly in support of serious
climate action, and climate denial may soon make it onto the
endangered species list, he says.

Rice paddy fields produce 7-17% of atmospheric methane,
making them the largest anthropogenic source of the greenhouse gas.
A new paper explores ways to increase rice yields to meet global
food demand, while at the same time reducing emissions. At the end
of a three-year field trial in China, the results look promising.

The acquisition of large tracts of land in developing
countries by governments and corporations has become known as the
Global Land Rush. What drives these land deals varies form place to
place but climate change plays an important yet under-appreciated
role, argues a new paper. The study – drawing on a new global
database of reported land deals – finds both historical and
anticipated climate change interacts substantially with other
drivers, and has implications for the resilience of communities in
targeted areas.