If it makes the Earth greener,
you will find it here.

Scientists say the plant enset, an Ethiopian staple, could be a new superfood and a lifesaver in the face of climate change.



False banana: Is Ethiopia's enset 'wondercrop' for climate change?

The Czech Republic is pushing for the European Union to scrap proposed deadlines for investment in nuclear energy, a Czech newspaper reported on Friday, as the EU tries to come up with a plan to transition to fully renewable energy.

Reuters

Czechs want to scrap deadline for nuclear energy in EU plan -report

Democrats' climate agenda actually contains a lot of the kinds of climate policies Republicans say they support

Grist

If Build Back Better fails, federal climate policy may depend on Republican cooperation

Jonathan Pershing, a veteran diplomat, worked to reassert the U.S. role in global negotiations. He said he was optimistic that the world will avert climate catastrophe

The New York Times

No. 2 Climate Diplomat to Leave Post

Officials from Exxon, Shell, Chevron and BP have been summoned to appear before the House oversight committee in February

The Guardian

 Oil industry board members to testify to Congress on climate disinformation

Over the six years between headline-grabbing conferences in the climate calendar, the global economy consumed half a trillion tonnes of virgin materials. This means that between the COP25 in Paris, 2015, where the Paris Agreement was formed and COP26 in Glasgow, 2021, 70% more virgin materials were extracted than what the Earth can safely replenish. This cannot continue—we only have one planet.

Circle Economy

The Circularity Gap Report 2022

Darren woods made some revealing remarks this week about global warming. His ruminations matter in America’s oil industry for he is the boss of Exxon Mobil, the largest Western oil major. His firm has historically been less enthusiastic than rivals about taking climate change seriously.


The Economist

What is ExxonMobil’s new climate strategy worth?

President Biden is unwinding Donald Trump’s environmental legacy while forging his own. The Washington Post is chronicling every step.



The Washington Post

Tracking Biden’s environmental actions

Jonathan Pershing, a veteran diplomat, worked to reassert the U.S. role in global negotiations. He said he was optimistic that the world will avert climate catastrophe.

Jonathan Pershing to Leave Job as  Climate Diplomat 

Both sides have committed to net zero emissions but voters will hopefully reward the one that knows how to get there. Shortly before the 1996 election, Paul Keating warned the country that “when the government changes, the country changes”. With both major parties entering this year with a commitment to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, none of us should be fooled that this means there is barely a crack of daylight between them when it comes to tackling the climate crisis. That is because the climate policies of each of the two parties put us on track for a vastly different country as soon as the end of this decade. And while there is a tendency to only focus on international targets and timelines when it comes to the fight against climate change, the reality is that these fundamentally affect what kind of economy, society, and environment we want to live in. 

Make no mistake – Labor and the Coalition have starkly different climate policies | Thom Woodroofe

Germany has almost finished phasing out nuclear plants, and aging infrastructure is leading neighbors down the same path. But will green energy goals suffer?

Wired

Europe Is in the Middle of a Messy Nuclear Slowdown

Hours before the window for lodging objections closes, EU environment and energy ministers meeting in France Friday differed sharply on a European Commission provision that would classify nuclear and natural gas energy as "sustainable".

Tech Xplore

EU nations quarrel over whether nuclear, gas are 'green'

Renews Ltd provides news-focused coverage through unrivalled insights into the inner workings of offshore and onshore wind, wave and tidal power and other generation technologies.

Renews

New Jersey politician plans wave energy boost

Energy Trend

Siemens and Glory to Accelerate Construction of Taiwan Smart City

For the first time, an international team of researchers has assessed the impact of the cocktail of synthetic chemicals and other “novel entities” flooding the environment on the stability of the Earth system. The 14 scientists conclude in the scientific journal Environmental Science and Technology that humanity has exceeded a planetary boundary related to environmental pollutants, including plastics.

Safe planetary boundary for pollutants, including plastics, exceeded, say researchers

The amount of chemical pollution in the world is dangerous for human health and nature, said scientists this week. Economics and policies should reflect this reality.



New Statesman

Chemical pollution threatens life on Earth. What are the solutions?

An oil spill at a refinery in Peru during high waves caused by the explosion last weekend of a volcano in Tonga is an "ecological disaster," the Peruvian government said on Wednesday.

Peru says oil spill caused by Tonga waves is an 'ecological disaster'

The climate crisis is damaging the health of fetuses, babies, and infants across the world, six new studies have found.

Climate change linked to early birth and damage to babies’ health, scientists find

Barren hillsides broken up by thin strips of white snow are a familiar sight for regular visitors to ski resorts near Beijing. The 2022 Winter Olympics host, which is under 150 miles from the rapidly expanding Gobi Desert, is famous for cold and dry winters.

In parched Beijing, claims of a 'green' Olympics may not hold water

The COP28 climate summit slated to be held in Abu Dhabi in 2023 should include input from experts and professionals from the oil and gas industry because the world cannot simply unplug from the energy system as it is today, Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, the UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said on Wednesday.



Oil Price

UAE Says Climate Talks Should Include Input From Oil & Gas Sector

Net zero transition will be characterised by competition as much as cooperation, and as such insurers should gear up to underwrite 'systematically important assets' that could be foundation of cooperation between countries, report warns.

Business Green

'Green Cold War': Why insurers and businesses should prepare for net zero geopolitical tensions

The top two contenders to replace Johnson as prime minister have been less enthusiastic about investing in clean energy and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Bloomberg Green

What a Boris Johnson Exit Could Mean for U.K. Climate Action

Bruegel's analysis highlights that the current national energy and climate plans (NECPs) of EU countries are insufficient to achieve a cost-efficient pathway to EU-wide climate neutrality by 2050.



Bruegel

Decarbonisation of the energy system

If carbon emissions stay at current levels, just 0.02% of the desert tree would survive. Volunteers are now banding together to plant seedlings. The trees are not exactly imposing. Slim and spiny, with limbs that grip small poms of sharp leaves, they look like something a child might dream up. Or maybe Salvador Dalí. Even the name, Joshua tree, sounds kind of awkward. On a wet and chilly December morning, I stood at a makeshift encampment in the Mojave national preserve in San Bernardino county, California, listening as a group of strangers fretted over the trees’ precarious future. Within the preserve is Cima Dome, a broad-sloping mound that, until recently, contained the densest Joshua tree forest in the world. The August 2020 Dome Fire in the Mojave national preserve burned more than 1m Joshua trees to varying degrees. 

‘Like witnessing a birth in a morgue’: the volunteers working to save the Joshua trees

Some rightwingers claim renewables have increased costs, but Energy UK blames over-reliance on gas. Energy companies want the government to implement policies to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions, the industry’s leader has said, despite claims from some on the political right that high energy prices should spark a rethink. Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive of Energy UK, which represents the industry, said: “The government should press on with net zero policies. That’s something they still need to do. We are missing the carbon budgets.” 

UK energy industry urges ministers to stick with net zero plan

Some Democrats want to forge ahead with a stand-alone climate bill, but their solution could mean abandoning other parts of President Biden’s agenda.

‘Build Back Better’ Hit A Wall But Climate Action Could Move Forward

To build on climate commitment progress in 2022, banks will need to take an even more robust stance on climate, becoming proactive environmental stewards rather than reactive market participants.

Forbes

3 Climate Actions Banks Must Take To Fast-Track Net Zero In 2022

Country’s commitments ‘significantly less ambitious’ than those of England, Scotland and Wales

Northern Ireland could become ‘dirty corner of Europe’, say campaigners

In this video, we take a look at what Elon Musk is up to when it comes to his next venture of funding new carbon capture technology. We will explain a bit of the science behind capturing carbon and storage, the different ways it can be done from mass scale to DIY. And we will take a look at some of the companies who are already working on innovations to capture carbon on a grand scale.

VentureX - Future Tech

Elon Musk’s Carbon Tech Explained

Cognitive dissonance, carbon pricing and what a sustainable economy would look like

Financial Times

We are all complicit in climate change — so we should all pay to fix it

China will force key industrial sectors and regions to take action to measure greenhouse gas emissions as part of a new initiative to improve data quality and oversight, according to an environment ministry document reviewed by Reuters.



China launches campaign to plug greenhouse gas monitoring gap

A new report identifies 500 companies and financial institutions that have failed to protect the world's forests.

The majority of the world promised to end deforestation. But businesses are standing in the way.

The plan is an expensive one, but it is only partially funded.



Biden Administration Announces Plan to Spend Billions to Prevent Wildfires

‘Urgent’ coordinated action to tackle overconsumption, farming subsidies and the climate crisis also needed to halt biodiversity loss

 Expanding national parks not enough to protect nature, say scientists

When RMI launched the Center for Climate-Aligned Finance in 2020, the concept of climate-aligned finance was in its infancy. In 2021, it matured rapidly as net-zero pledges became the new norm in the financial sector, particularly in the West.



GreenBiz

5 trends to watch in climate-aligned finance in 2022

Climate change is happening now. It is one of the biggest challenges of our generation and has already begun to cause irreversible damage to our planet and way of life. We have clear evidence demonstrating the pace of warming in recent decades and the impacts we will face should this continue. As we redouble our efforts to achieve net zero, we must also continue to raise ambitions on adaptation to ensure the UK is resilient to the challenges of a warming world.

UK Government

UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022 

One of the world’s most powerful investors is again urging that chief executives rapidly and boldly embrace the green economy or be swept aside by a wave of faster, smarter competitors.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Decarbonise or die, world’s biggest investor warns business chiefs

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in an annual letter said he will not seek divestment of fossil fuel firms and does not see businesses as "climate police." The letter will disappoint shareholder activists who were hoping that BlackRock, which frequently controls the largest block of shares in public companies, would use its clout to press companies to take steps to slow down climate change.



BlackRock’s Larry Fink tells fellow CEOs that businesses are not ‘climate police’

Sadiq Khan’s pledge to cut traffic by 27% is welcome, but more must be done – not least to protect residents’ health. Last Friday, everyone living in London was told to avoid strenuous physical activity. An intense area of high pressure meant pollutants were caught in the air, rather than being blown away as usual. The government forecast the highest level of pollution – band 10 – would be reached, with air pollution at its highest recorded level since March 2018. The advice to avoid intense exercise put the onus on the most vulnerable in society – children, elderly people, those living with lung and heart conditions – rather than encouraging drivers to move to more sustainable transport options or limit their journeys. But, as a report published on Tuesday shows, we will not effectively tackle the climate crisis without real traffic reduction. If London is to be a city that works for everyone – drivers included – it needs to move seriously towards a future with fewer private cars on its streets. That’s why I was so heartened to see the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, acknowledging that traffic needs to go down by at least 27% in the capital to meet our climate targets. While I would argue that we could be more ambitious, Khan’s target is impressive, compared with the 2018 mayoral transport strategy, and marks real progress. Around the world, cities that have reduced cars have become better places to live and work: cleaner, safer, with healthier residents who have the option to move around in different ways, rather than relying on private cars.. Hirra Khan Adeogun is head of car-free cities at the climate charity Possible 

A car-free London is within our reach | Hirra Khan Adeogun

The first nationwide study on rising temperatures and younger Americans found that hotter days were associated with more visits to emergency rooms.

New Research Shows How Health Risks to Children Mount as Temperatures Rise

Around the world, energy systems are increasingly impacted by the effects of a changing climate. Energy systems, especially the electric-power system, are vulnerable to natural stressors such as wildfires, severe storms, extreme temperatures and long-term disruptions of the hydrological cycle.

Integrated modeling of climate impacts on electricity demand and cost

The iconic graphic of a timepiece originated as a nuclear warning. It updates its time on Thursday amid threats like climate change and pandemics.

75 Years On, the Doomsday Clock Keeps Ticking

Young leaders from around the world issued a clear call for action at the 2022 IRENA Youth Forum.

IRENA

2022 IRENA Youth Forum: Global Youth Gather to Spur Action on Energy Transition

Global climate action is gaining momentum, with governments and businesses setting targets unthinkable even three to four years ago. An accelerating net-zero transition will challenge heritage business models, but also create opportunities for early movers. This report illustrates how climate leaders can seize significant advantage and shows how their leadership can have an outsized impact. 

World Economic Forum

Winning the Race to Net Zero: The CEO Guide to Climate Advantage

The award-winning writer on philosophy, mythology and the connections between racial injustice and ecological crisis.

Ben Okri: climate change and oppression are born of the same “devouring instincts"

President López Obrador wants to halt most oil exports and imports of gasoline and other fuels. Critics say he is reneging on Mexico’s climate change commitments.

In Quest for Energy Independence, Mexico Is Buying a Texas Oil Refinery

It was one of the most unusual agreements to come from the frenzy of climate activity at COP26 in Glasgow. A tiny blockchain crypto company with the odd name of Chia announced a partnership with the World Bank, one of the largest and most influential financial institutions on the planet. Under a non-exclusive, open-source and no-cost agreement, Chia is working with the Bank’s Climate Change Group to support the development of the world’s first "Climate Warehouse," an ambitious effort toward establishing a global carbon marketplace.

Can crypto create the world’s first authentic global carbon marketplace?

Masdar aims to be the world’s largest renewable energy company in the world, with a 100 GW target by 2030.


Energy Voice

Masdar sets 100 GW renewable energy target for 2030

For usage of green hydrogen there is another problem that needs resolution. This is to enable grid capacity at scale for sourcing solar energy to power electrolysers that can generate hydrogen at scale and replace coal to a significant extent. Experiments are also underway for carbon capture and sequestration, which can supplement the use of green hydrogen.

Economic Times

Going Green: How India can gradually shift to renewable energy

Sustainability | Climate Change

Emissions at one of the only sites in the world that uses carbon capture and storage alongside hydrogen production raises questions about so-called ‘blue hydrogen’, according to a new report

Sky News

Climate change: Shell carbon capture facility 'secures just 48% of hydrogen production emissions'

Serbian politicians on Friday blasted environmentalists for forcing them to scuttle Rio Tinto Plc's (RIO.AX), (RIO.L) proposed $2.4 billion lithium project, warning the move could hurt efforts to grow and diversify the Balkan country's economy.

Serbian government blasts green groups for scuttling Rio's lithium project

For the first time since 1994, the government must update energy-efficiency standards for manufactured houses. Some, however, have already been finding workarounds.

After decades, Biden plans to make mobile homes greener, sparking a fierce debate.

More than a quarter of the UK's car market is now electrified in some form, with the sale of new petrol and diesel cars scheduled to end by 2030.



Energy Monitor

Record year as EVs rise to one-sixth of all new UK car sales

Acknowledging that a 2014 directive failed to spur development of alternative fuel infrastructure, the European Commission has proposed a more prescriptive regulation – but political wrangling could once again result in a law with no teeth.



Take two: An EU recharging and refuelling network for net zero

Morrison government hails engineering milestone but researchers raise concerns and say it could increase emissionsGet our free news app; get our morning email briefingAustralia will export its first load of liquefied hydrogen made from coal in an engineering milestone which researchers say could also lock in a new fossil fuel industry and increase the country’s carbon emissions. Under the $500m Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) pilot project, hydrogen will be made in Victoria’s LaTrobe valley from brown coal and transported aboard a purpose-built ship to Japan, where it will be burned in coal-fired power plants. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning 

‘Just a new fossil fuel industry’: Australia to send first shipment of liquefied hydrogen to Japan

Spain saw the largest increase in citizens at risk of energy poverty in the EU in 2020. Now, with soaring gas and electricity prices, Madrid is increasingly worried about the impact of climate policies on its most vulnerable citizens.

Spain’s rising energy poverty: A cautionary tale for Europe

As I entered the construction site in England a decade ago, I was filled with excitement. This was a new state of the art housing development. I was there to provide independent evidence as to whether the development stood up to its claims of superior energy performance—the construction company promised that the finished buildings would consume far less energy than the norm. As I put my high visibility jacket and helmet on, I noticed a TV crew unloading their equipment. This was clearly a high profile site.

Radical overhaul of construction industry needed if UK to have any chance of net zero by 2050

America’s largest oil firm claims its history of publicly denying the climate crisis is protected by the first amendment

How Exxon is using an unusual law to intimidate critics over its climate denial

Customers saddled with paying 600 times the usual price for energy as regulators are accused of being too close to the industry they monitor. When Neil Crittenden heard that an extreme winter storm was about to hit Oklahoma last winter, he did what officials advised him to do and kept his heat on and water running so that his pipes wouldn’t freeze. The 40-year-old Oklahoma City resident even used hair dryers to keep them thawed. What Crittenden didn’t know at the time was that the energy he used was going to cost him significantly. As winter storm Uri swept across the south central US last February, utilities that weren’t prepared scrambled. The storm caused blackouts in several states and resulted in the deaths of at least 223 people. 

Winter gas bill from hell: Oklahomans face paying $1.4bn over snowstorm

Tightening regulations and a growing eco-conscious workforce are major factors in heralding green office campuses. Around 40 miles south of San Francisco, three futuristic structures rise from the earth. With sloping roofs clad in thousands of overlapping tiles, the buildings could be mistaken for the world’s most architecturally advanced circus tent. They are, in fact, part of Google’s new Bay View campus, which is due to welcome employees this year – pandemic allowing – and is situated a few miles east of its existing HQ campus in Mountain View. 

Google’s ‘dragonscale’ solar-powered roof signals growing demand for sustainable workspaces

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has been named the most sustainable company in the […]

Offshore Wind

Vestas Named World’s Most Sustainable Company

Italy, the eurozone's third-largest economy, expects double-digit growth in the value of renewables industry components that Italian companies export to the UAE over the next five to 10 years, driven by the Emirates' push to achieve its net-zero ambitions.

The National

Italy expects green energy exports to UAE to grow over 10 years

Fragmentation of the energy-hungry industry threatens its ability to respond to environmental rules

Ceramic makers face up to dangers of EU carbon challenge

By Rachel A. Meidl, Mathilde Saada With the pressures of climate change and the urgency to incorporate alternative energy resources like wind and solar, the fixation on the purported benefits of energy transition technologies overshadows the glaring reality—an absence of strategy around identifyi...

Solar’s Bright Future Faces A Cloudy Reality: What About All The Waste?

Supply chain resilience and meeting environmental targets top many business agendas

Industry steels itself for challenge of ‘net zero’ manufacturing

Bloomberg Philanthropies is supporting the innovative solutions of 15 cities to try to get others to use them as blueprints to battle the world's urban problems.

Bloomberg funds city programs to build new urban solutions

Australian researchers have developed a smart and super-efficient new way of capturing carbon dioxide and converting it to solid carbon, to help advance the decarbonisation of heavy industries.

Decarbonisation tech instantly converts CO2 to solid carbon

The United States and Canada have a lot to collaborate on in the nuclear energy field, and they seem to be doing a good job of it. Each country is considering each other’s reactor designs and each has funded or chosen to review some of those from both countries.

Canada And The United States CrissCross Support For Nuclear Energy's Bright Future

Contracts for difference would be a dangerous exercise in kicking the can down the road

UK energy crisis: Super-CFD would put government in a hole

As climate change pushes states in the U.S. to dramatically cut their use of fossil fuels, many are coming to the conclusion that solar, wind and other renewable power sources might not be enough to keep the lights on.

Race to cut carbon emissions splits U.S. states on nuclear

A timely new report from the National Academy of Sciences offers recommendations that can help DOE improve how it approaches its standard-setting task by better using available data and focusing on social welfare.

When Regulating An Appliance . . . Follow The Science!

Sustainability | Policy & Regulation

Advanced technologies are critical to stopping climate change—and the drive to develop and scale them is accelerating. Here are five themes that could attract $2 trillion of annual investment by 2025.

McKinsey & Company

Innovating to net zero: An executive’s guide to climate technology

Rice bran oil can potentially replace the petroleum-based oils currently used for cooling and lubricating lathes and other cutting machinery, says a study.

Rice bran oil 'a green solution for industry'

Larry Fink, chief executive of the world's biggest asset manager BlackRock Inc (BLK.N), has defended a shareholder movement that pushes companies to focus on the interests of society as well as profits.

BlackRock's Fink defends push for companies to value more than profits

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever and Ikea were among over 70 brands on Monday to issue a joint statement calling for a global treaty to fight plastic pollution that would include reducing production of the material.

Axios

Leading brands demand global treaty to cut plastic production

The EU must not let populists and nationalists derail the plan.

Foreign Affairs

The Green Deal Could Make—or Break—the European Project

This report aims to enhance the legal community’s understanding of climate-related ‘greenwashing’ litigation – the use of unsubstantiated or misleading claims about, or selective disclosure of, environmental performance or best practice for commercial or political gain.

Grantham Research Institute

Climate-washing litigation: legal liability for misleading climate communications

The EU had to swallow a bitter pill by backing down in its steel and aluminium trade war with the US. The resulting ‘green deal’ is a way for the EU to save face, but it could deliver real results.



The US-EU green steel deal: Climate breakthrough or lipstick on a pig?

The procurement activities of national, state and local governments are directly or indirectly responsible for 15% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Abating these emissions will help considerably in reaching the goal of the Paris Agreement to slow global warming to well below 2°C.

Green Public Procurement: Catalysing the Net-Zero Economy

Corporations have been grappling with the Business Roundtable’s all-important 2019 statement of intent — to move from financial shareholder primacy to broader stakeholder capitalism — and how to translate these goals into practical, measurable, and trackable ESG efforts in their businesses

Harvard Business Review

10 ESG Questions Companies Need to Answer

In November, inflation hit a 39-year high in the United States. The consumer price index was up 6.8 percent from the previous year due to major increases in the cost of rent, food, motor vehicles, gasoline, and other common household expenses. While inflation impacts the entire country, its effects are not felt equally. At greatest risk are low- and middle-income Americans who may lack sufficient financial reserves to absorb such economic shocks.

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