The UK government will launch a review into the resilience of the country’s power grid in the wake of the damage caused by Storm Arwen, reports the Press Association. With many communities across the north of England and north east of Scotland without power for more than a week after the storm hit, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng described the delay as “completely unacceptable”, the newswire reports. Launching the review yesterday, Kwarteng said: “While I’m pleased all affected customers are now back online…There is an urgent need to identify and resolve a number of issues which came to light during the Storm Arwen response, and the review I’ve commissioned, alongside [the regulator] Ofgem’s, will ensure any failings are addressed.” Storm Arwen caused the most severe disruption to power supplies since 2005, says the Guardian, as a result of “winds of up to 100mph combined with rain, snow and ice” that left “almost a million households without power”. The outcome of the review will be published by the end of March 2022, notes BBC News, with an interim report expected to be published within eight weeks. The Independent also has the story.

In other UK energy news, Bloomberg reports that the head of Ovo Energy, the UK’s second-largest power provider, has cast doubt over the government’s decision to nationalise Bulb Energy temporarily. In an interview, Ovo chief executive officer Stephen Fitzpatrick describes the move – which will cost £1.7bn ($2.2bn) – as “a bit of a mystery”, adding: “There were very workable solutions on the table.” The Financial Times reports that one of Canada’s largest pension funds is to inject at least $300m into UK energy group Octopus. The Financial Times also reports that the head of the UK’s largest packaging company has “launched a stinging attack on UK government policies that have resulted in significantly higher energy costs than the rest of Europe”. Miles Roberts, chief executive of DS Smith, tells the newspaper that “the fundamental issue is energy costs for heavy industry users are nearly double the average of Europe”, adding: “It’s quite a disadvantage relative to other countries. Government has put more and more taxes on businesses.”

The Guardian and Independent report on Scotland marking the end of its coal-powered history by demolishing the huge chimney at its last remaining coal plant at Longannet in Fife. The Guardian reports that the Norfolk Boreas offshore windfarm “is likely to be approved” today, but “conservationists fear for the safety of endangered birds in the area”. The Daily Telegraph reports on a homeowner that has been left without heating and hot water for four months after delays to installing a heat pump meant a £10,000 government voucher under the green homes grant expired. And the Guardian reports that “e-scooters will be banned from the public transport network in London from Monday for safety reasons after a spate of battery fires”.

In a visit to Europe, US climate envoy John Kerry has said that avoiding the “worst consequences of the climate crisis” means changing economic policy in a small group of large countries that he said were not doing enough to lower their greenhouse gas emissions, reports Politico. Kerry “called them out by name”, the outlet says: “China, Russia, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.” Speaking to Politico from a train leaving Brussels, Kerry said that “trillions can clearly – and will need to – be invested” to help less wealthy nations that rely on fossil fuels or deforestation. He continued: “We are working out the details of these different options right now. We want to be very specific. None of this should be pie in the sky. It needs to be real and economically viable.“ Kerry pointed to the deal with South Africa – where France, Germany, the UK, US and the EU agreed to shift an initial $8.5bn to assist South Africa to retire its fleet of coal-fired power plants and retrain mine workers – as “a pretty damn good template”. However, each country “is going to have its own set of challenges”, he warned, adding: “In Indonesia, for instance, you have a combination of palm oil deforestation challenges and you have coal…We’re prepared to help bring finance and technology to the table and work diligently with them, as we are in these other countries.”

Kerry also spoke to EurActiv, telling the outlet that the EU’s proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism is a “legitimate” instrument to consider, and the US are “exploring it” as well. He added: “It may be a tool that we have no choice but to employ if other countries are not going to be serious enough about reducing carbon.” At the same time, Reuters reports that French president Emmanuel Macron said yesterday that a carbon border adjustment mechanism would be central to the EU’s climate transition strategy. Macron “also told a press conference that France would use its rotating presidency of the European Council in the first half of 2022 to advance work towards banning imports of soya, coffee, timber and cacao that cause deforestation”, the newswire says.

Elsewhere in Europe, “sources” tell Reuters that Germany’s new coalition government will pass a supplementary budget on Monday to enable more public investments in the shift towards a greener and more digital-focused economy. The coalition parties agreed to channel more than 60bn euros ($67.73bn) of unused debt in this year’s federal budget into a climate and transformation fund, the newswire says. Reuters also reports that Poland is to receive a 250m euro ($282.93m) loan from the World Bank to help households replace coal heating and get their homes insulated. And Climate Home News reports that “Europe is torn between the precautionary principle and commercial interests in talks on opening the bottom of the ocean to mining”. The outlet explains: “Scientists have warned of ‘irreversible’ impacts on unique ecosystems should the industry be given a green light, saying there isn’t ‘sufficient and robust’ information to make an informed decision. Proponents of mining say concretions found on the oceans’ floor could provide a huge supply of minerals to build electric cars, solar panels and wind turbines.”

In European energy news, Bloomberg reports that “corporate agreements to buy solar and wind energy in Europe have risen about 70% to a record in 2021 as rocketing gas and coal costs drive up power bills”. Reuters says Italy will allocate almost 2bn euros ($2.26bn) in additional funds to help households overcome rising energy prices next year. And Reuters also reports that Poland’s prime minister said yesterday he would call on Germany’s newly appointed chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is expected to visit Warsaw on Sunday, to oppose the start-up of the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has warned that climate change is “an aggravating factor” for instability, conflict and terrorism, reports Associated Press. Speaking to a UN Security Council meeting yesterday, Guterres said the regions that are most vulnerable to rising temperatures “also suffer from insecurity, poverty, weak governance and the scourge of terrorism”. He said that when people lose their livelihoods after extreme weather events, “the promises of protection, income and justice – behind which terrorists sometimes hide their truce designs – become more attractive”, the newswire reports. Guterres highlighted the case of extremist group Boko Haram, which has been able to gain new recruits, “particularly from local communities disillusioned by a lack of economic opportunities and access to essential resources”. He added: “In central Mali, terrorist groups have exploited the growing tensions between herders and farmers to recruit new members from pastoralist communities, who often feel excluded and stigmatised.“ Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, whose country holds the Security Council presidency this month and chaired the meeting, expressed hope the council would adopt a resolution – co-sponsored by Niger and Ireland – that would recognise a link between ensuring international peace and security and the fight against terrorism and the effects of climate change, AP says. However, the newswire notes, Russia’s ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia – whose country has veto power in the council – said: “For us, the connection between terrorism and climate change is not clear.”

In other security news, the Times reports that UK defence secretary Ben Wallace has warned of “growing threats and competition” in the Arctic as he pledged to build up a force of troops that could rapidly deploy to the region in the event of conflict. During a visit to Arvidsjaur in Swedish Lapland, Wallace said the Arctic was “incredibly important” and that climate change had created increasing opportunities but also the potential for disputes. He said: “Russia makes lots of territorial claims in the Arctic, some legitimate, some disputed, and everyone in the Arctic has a duty to uphold international laws…It is an area that allows people to transit in certain times of the year through the sea. There are some people who would seek to restrict that.”

New research suggests that tropical forests can re-establish themselves quickly on land that was originally deforested for agriculture and then abandoned, reports the New Scientist. The finding “suggests that so-called recovered forests, also known as secondary forests, could play a key role in restoring ecosystems and tackling climate change”, the outlet says. It explains that researchers “analysed 77 secondary forest sites across the tropical regions of central and south America, and in west Africa”, finding that “after 20 years, the average secondary forest that had grown from farmland that was used with low-to-medium intensity had recovered 78% of old-growth forest attributes”. This was “way faster than we thought”, lead author Prof Lourens Poorter tells the outlet. He tells the Guardian that the findings could be crucial for climate mitigation: “For example, the secondary forests are like teenagers. They soak up carbon like crazy and they empty your fridge…If you look at old people, they consume very little, and it’s the same as the old growth forest.” He added that his “plea” was to “use natural regrowth where you can and plant actively and restore actively where you need to”. He warned that a lot of the promises that have been made about planting trees in order to restore forests across the world are unrealistic, the Guardian says: “Most of the time, 30%-50% of those trees die, and they only pertain to a couple of species that cannot mimic the natural biodiversity of forests, according to Poorter.” The research, which is also covered by the Independent, is published in the journal Science.

Elsewhere, the i newspaper looks at why “we can’t plant our way out of a climate crisis”. The Independent reports that “thousands of trees” will need to be felled in the UK this winter “as climate change helps diseases spread”. The New Scientist looks at the risk of the Amazon rainforest passing a tipping point that sees it shift to savannah. (See Carbon Brief’s tipping point explainer and guest post on the Amazon for more.) And the Thomson Reuters Foundation reports that a UN nature summit, scheduled for late April in the Chinese city of Kunming next year, “could be thwarted by stricter travel restrictions imposed to contain the Omicron coronavirus variant”. The talks have “already been postponed three times due to the pandemic”, the outlet notes.

An investigation by the website DeSmog reveals that agrochemical and pesticide corporations are “pushing for weaker action on harmful chemicals and climate goals”. DeSmog reporters Daniela De Lorenzo and Rachel Sherrington analysed corporate reports, lobbying records, official position papers and spoke to sources from within the EU and related civil society groups. They found that “industry giants such as Bayer, BASF and Corteva have made significant efforts to lobby the EU and its decision-makers in the wake of announcements about the Green Deal and other policies”. The article notes that “these companies have had input in the policy-making process through a wide range of means, including through their membership of expert and advisory groups that give input on new European policies, sponsorship of events attended by EU officials and other decision-makers, meetings with EU officials, and sponsorship of EU focused-media and events”. The article maps the connections between agribusiness and the European Parliament and Commission. In a second article, DeSmog has also mapped “Europe’s fossil fuel-backed hydrogen lobby”.

A new study finds that the incidence of crop-damaging pests and diseases in China has increased four-fold since 1970 – and will continue to grow as the climate continues to warm. Using national statistics of crop pests and disease, researchers determine long-term increasing trends in the occurrence of both. Then, by combining these statistics with climate data, they analyse how changes in temperature and other climatic variables – as well as other factors, such as the use of pesticides and fertilisers – may be affecting the prevalence of pests and disease. They find that around one-fifth of the observed change since 1970 can be attributed to climate change and conclude that there is an “urgent need” to better account for how these changes will impact future food production.