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TODAY'S CLIMATE AND ENERGY HEADLINES

Briefing date 16.10.2018
Trouble brewing: climate change to cause ‘dramatic’ beer shortages

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News.

Trouble brewing: climate change to cause 'dramatic' beer shortages
The Guardian Read Article

A large number of publications report on a new study finding that climate change could threaten the global beer supply and cause price hikes in many countries. The Guardian reports that, according to the research, an increase in extreme heatwaves and droughts as the climate warms could damage global yields of barley, a key ingredient in beer. Key brewing nations are forecast to be among the worst hit, including Belgium, the Czech Republic and Ireland, it says. The Times says that barley yields could fall by between 3 and 17%, depending on the severity of future climate change. “However, in the worst years, global beer consumption would decline by 16%, or 51bn pints,” the Times reports. “In the UK, prices could double and consumption could fall by up to 30%, or 2.3bn fewer pints per year.” Press Association adds that, according to the economic model used by the scientists, the price of a six-pack of beer could go up by an extra 20 dollars (£15) in Ireland, if no measures are taken to offset the impacts of climate change. The New York Times reports that one of the study authors, Dabo Guan, from Tsinghua University in Beijing and the University of East Anglia, said the report was directed at the richer countries of the world to suggest that climate change will hit everyone, not just the poor. The Sun and the Daily Express also cover the new study. The Metro covers the news with the headline: “Horror of climate change hits home as beer could soar to £10 a pint.” The New Scientist, meanwhile, goes with the headline: “Will there be beer shortages as the world warms? Well, maybe.” ReutersBuzzfeed and Scientific American also cover the research.

Banks will not be forced to reveal climate change risks they face
The Guardian Read Article

The Guardian reports that the Bank of England has “stopped short” of making financial firms disclose the risks they face from climate change, despite pressure from campaign groups. Instead, the central bank’s prudential regulation authority (PRA), which is tasked with ensuring UK financial sector stability, asked companies to “consider the relevance” of disclosing their climate-related risks. The Financial Times adds that the Bank of England asked companies to make “climate change risks a core part of their long term business planning,” adding that “they need to deal with both immediate physical risks and the challenges posed by transitioning to a low-carbon economy.” The regulations paper, which includes a draft Supervisory Statement, added: “A ‘too little too late’ scenario, where significant action is taken but too late to achieve climate goals, could result in the most severe financial risks crystallising in the banking and insurance sectors.” Press Association and City AM also have the story. Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph reports that banking firm HSBC has unveiled plans to invest around £250m in wind and solar power parks.

Fracking starts at landmark Lancashire site
BBC News Read Article

Several publications report on the news that fracking has begun in the UK for the first time since 2011. BBC News reports that energy firm Cuadrilla confirmed the controversial process had started at its site in Little Plumpton, Lancashire following a failed legal challenge on Friday. The energy firm said yesterday that it would spend at least three months fracking two horizontal wells, and then it would test to see if the gas flow was commercially viable, BBC News reports. If it is, up to 20 wells could be built on the site. The Financial Times reports that protests are set to continue at the site. “Fashion designer and high-profile campaigner Dame Vivienne Westwood has said she will break dance to Abba’s Dancing Queen outside the gates of the site on Tuesday in protest,” the FT reads. The Guardian says that campaign group Reclaim the Power used a van to block the entrance to a site on Preston New Road near Blackpool for 12 hours from 4.30am on Monday, but Cuadrilla said all the equipment it needed to frack was already there and it had started the process by 1pm. Sky News also covers the story. Climate Home News reports that, as drilling began, the energy and clean growth minister Claire Perry said that fracking was “part of a low carbon future” at a Chatham House conference in London. Carbon Brief recently updated its Q&A on fracking.

'Unacceptable': Scotland and Wales reject post-Brexit carbon tax plan
Climate Home News Read Article

Climate Home News reports that the UK’s plan to bring in a national carbon tax if it leaves the EU without a Brexit deal has been labelled “plainly unacceptable” by Scottish and Welsh governments. On Friday, the government quietly released a note saying that if no deal is reached with Europe, the UK would initially replace the bloc-wide emissions trading system (ETS) with a country-wide tax, beginning in 2019, according to Climate Home News. “But environment policy, including measures to reduce carbon emissions, is devolved to the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments – and so would require their approval,” Climate Home News says. “The concern for Edinburgh and Cardiff is a tax would shift accountability for emissions reductions to the treasury in London.” “This replaces a devolved mechanism, collectively agreed by all four administrations, with a tax reserved to HM Treasury in which all devolved administrations have no involvement,” Roseanna Cunningham, Scotland’s environment secretary, and Lesley Griffiths, Wales’ cabinet secretary for energy, said in a letter sent on Friday evening to British chancellor Philip Hammond and energy and clean growth minister Claire Perry, according to Climate Home News.

Comment.

This government does not practise what it preaches on fossil fuels
Barry Gardiner, The Times Read Article

Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, has written an article for the Times saying that the government “does not practise what it preaches on fossil fuels”. Gardiner says that, despite the government launching Great Green Britain week yesterday, the government continues to offer funds to fossil fuel companies overseas, including in Argentina.

New tools enable farmers to cut cows’ greenhouse gas emissions
Sara Stefanini, Financial Times Read Article

The Financial Times has published several features exploring how food could be grown as the climate warms. The first, by Sara Stefanini, explores tools that are being tested in order to reduce methane emissions from beef and dairy farming, including “seaweed diets, anti-methane vaccines and selective breeding”. The second, by Jamie Smyth, looks at how Australian farmers are learning to cope with extreme drought conditions. The third, by Joshua Jacobs, explores the potential of urban farming in the world’s busiest cities.

There’s one key takeaway from last week’s IPCC report
Dana Nuccitelli, The Guardian Read Article

Scientist and writer Dana Nuccitelli says in the Guardian that there is one key take home message from the recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on 1.5C of global warming: “Cut carbon pollution as much as possible, as fast as possible.” His analysis draws on a recent Carbon Brief article which explains why the IPCC has expanded the remaining “carbon budget” to reach 1.5C.

Science.

Decreases in global beer supply due to extreme drought and heat
Nature Plants Read Article

Increasing frequency and severity of drought and heat extremes in a changing climate could hit the price and availability of beer, a new study warns. The research finds that yields of barley – a key ingredient of beer – could decline by an average of 3–17% because of drought and heat events. Using crop and economic models, the researchers find that “decreases in the global supply of barley lead to proportionally larger decreases in barley used to make beer”. Ultimately, this results in “dramatic regional decreases in beer consumption (for example, -32% in Argentina) and increases in beer prices (for example, +193% in Ireland)”, the study says.

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