Fossil Fuels Well-Represented At COP26, Unlike Civil Society: The largest delegation at COP26 represents the fossil fuel industry that profits from the climate crisis, according to an analysis from Global Witness. More than 500 lobbyists from over 100 fossil fuel companies are in Glasgow. There are more fossil fuel lobbyists at COP26 than there are delegates from Puerto Rico, Myanmar, Haiti, the Philippines, Mozambique, the Bahamas, Bangladesh and Pakistan — combined — and more than double the official Indigenous constituency. Meanwhile civil society groups have been largely excluded from the talks. Activists also sharply criticized a leaked decision text draft for failing to mention fossil fuels or the need to stop burning them. (Fossil fuel delegation: Washington Post $, BBC, CNN, Democracy Now, Earther; Civil society exclusion: The Guardian; Draft text: The Hill)
Obama Addresses COP26: Former President Obama received a welcome so warm it verged on metaphor inside COP26 on Monday, though the youth activists outside, to whom he directed much of his speech, gave him a far chillier reception. Obama said it was "particularly discouraging" that China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin did not attend the conference. He also criticized U.S. Republicans for their "express active hostility toward climate science and [decision to] make climate change a partisan issue.” The former leader of the world's wealthiest nation and largest historical contributor to the climate crisis exhorted young activists to "stay angry" but not to be "too pure" for politics because "we will not have more ambitious climate plans coming out of governments unless governments feel some pressure from voters." Obama acknowledged "Those of us who live in big wealthy nations, those of us who helped to precipitate the problem, we have an added burden to make sure that we are working with and helping and assisting those who are less responsible and less able and more vulnerable to this oncoming crisis.” The United States and other wealthy nations have long resisted any agreement that could open them to liability for the losses and damages suffered by more vulnerable countries. "I was 13 when you [Obama] promised $100 billion" in climate aid, Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate said on Twitter — a promise rich countries have repeatedly failed to honor. “The US has broken that promise, it will cost lives in Africa,” she added. “You want to meet #COP26 youth. We want action.” In addition to his plenary address, Obama met with leaders of several island nations, a closed-door meeting with the High Ambition Coalition, and a roundtable of youth organized by his foundation. (New York Times $, Reuters, The Guardian, Forbes, Reuters, BBC, AP, Washington Post $, WBUR, Axios, Politico, AP, The Guardian, Washington Post $, Bloomberg $, The Hill, Business Insider, CNN, E&E News, NBC)
Winter Is Coming, And LNG Exports Are Pushing Home Heating Prices Higher: As winter approaches, American families face the highest prices for methane-based gas in years because exporters are sending more than ever overseas, the Wall Street Journal reports. "This is going to happen. It will be -- it will be more expensive this year than last year," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNN Sunday. Fracking companies are extracting near-record amounts and are reluctant to drill new wells in order to give their shareholders higher returns. Exports via pipelines to Canada and Mexico, or LNG tankers to Europe and Asia are at an all-time high. For American families, this means home heating prices will likely be 54% higher for propane, 43% more for home heating oil, and 30% more for methane-based gas. Those with electric heat will likely see prices rise 6%. (Wall Street Journal $, CNN, Fox News, E&E $, Politico, New York Times $; Commentary: New Republic, Kate Aronoff column)
The LAND BACK Movement Is At COP, Vigil Honors Murdered Land Defenders: The devastation caused by climate change and the extractive forces that drive it were close at hand in Glasgow, Monday, even if the events are far away. "My dad, he was born in a village that doesn't exist anymore," Emtithal Mahmoud, a Sudanese-American poet and UNHCR goodwill ambassador, told world leaders Monday. For Claudelice Silva dos Santos, a delegate from the Brazilian Amazon, it was a phone call last week telling her 30 pickup trucks of armed men had attacked the 80 families who live in her community fighting to protect their land from ranching and logging interests. “For more than 10 years, these workers have been there, resisting for their land rights and … ranchers simply arrive here and want to kill everyone,” Dos Santos, whose brother and sister-in-law were murdered for their activism, told The Guardian. “Police and local authorities know about the threats but have done nothing to protect the community.” Activists held a vigil in Glasgow for the 1,005 environmental defenders murdered since the 2015 Paris agreement — one-third of whom were Indigenous. “We do not just want to be observers,” Andrea Ixchíu, a Maya K’iche’ leader, journalist and human rights defender based in Guatemala, said at the memorial. “If you want to create more solutions to the climate crisis, it’s really important to give land back to Indigenous communities.” (Mahmoud: Reuters; Amazon attack: The Guardian; Family murdered: The Guardian; Murders since Paris: Democracy Now) |
RECAPS AND PREVIEWS: What happened at COP26 – day eight at a glance (The Guardian, CNN), COP26 will turn its focus to science and innovation. Here's what you need to know about the theme. (Washington Post $), deal to end car emissions by 2040 idles as motor giants refuse to sign (FT $), on gender day at UN climate talks, a call for action that empowers women and girls (Washington Post $), under pressure—how will political realities influence the outcome of COP26? (Economist), can Glasgow deliver on a global climate deal? (New York Times $), what’s still to be resolved in the week ahead (The Guardian, NPR)
PARIS AMBITIONS AND PROGRESS: Halfway through COP26, where do climate negotiations stand? (Reuters Factbox), the psychological game behind a successful negotiation (Phys.org), pledges, progress and PR spin? what you need to know as the COP26 climate talks enter the final week (CNBC), revisiting a climate pledge made more than a decade ago that has fallen short (NPR), EU: climate talks must achieve key Paris goal (AP, Reuters)
LOSS & DAMAGE: Climate change brings irreversible harm to poor countries. at COP26, rich ones face pressure to foot the bill (Washington Post $), 'don't make them wait': pressure grows at COP26 for new funding for climate damage (Thomson Reuters Foundation), hit $100bn target or poor countries face climate disaster, the Gambia tells COP26 (The Guardian), the case for climate reparations (WBUR)
(INEQUITABLE) ACCESS: The Weather Channel’s Paul Goodloe says Black people ‘need to have a seat at the table’ at COP26 (The Grio)
FOSSILS: The world needs to quit oil and gas. Africa has an idea: rich countries first (New York Times $), Saudi Arabia’s climate plan relies on more oil (E&E News), why the US didn’t join 40 other countries to end coal (E&E News), can Egypt, host of next year’s COP27, break its gas addiction? (Quartz)
METHANE PLEDGE: The new Global Methane Pledge can buy time while the world drastically reduces fossil fuel use (The Conversation)
PACIFIC ISLANDS: Pacific Island minister films climate speech knee-deep in the ocean (CNBC, Reuters, The Guardian), flooding paradise: Island nations' climate threat (Axios)
EU: All aboard: Austrian minister takes train to climate talks (AP)
UK: Anatomy of spin: how UK is trying to frame COP26 as a success (The Guardian), corruption claims roiling UK govt put Johnson under pressure (AP), Brazil backs UK’s warming limits to mend climate reputation (Bloomberg $)
CHINA: China calls for concrete action not distant targets in last week of COP26 (The Guardian)
AUSTRALIA: Australia announces policy to boost electric car sales (AP)
RUSSIA: Russia comes in from cold on climate, launches forest plan (AP)
DAYS LATE, DOLLARS SHORT: Republicans at COP26 have a message: we care about climate change, too (Wall Street Journal $), Republicans’ COP26 hopes undermined by colleagues’ climate disdain (The Guardian)
FINANCE: Emerging markets need climate cash. How will they get it? (Reuters explainer), business leaders optimistic COP26 visions will become reality (Reuters), Dutch join COP26 deal to end financing of fossil fuels abroad (Reuters), US climate change spending overseas: does the public support it? (PolitiFact)
CARBON: COP26 carbon-market talks 'difficult' - but hopes for breakthrough, says Norway minister (Thomson Reuters Foundation), money for carbon cuts is missing the mark in the developing world (New York Times, Jeffrey Ball op-ed $)
GRETA: COP background chatter supports Greta’s bad vibes (Reuters)
OUTSIDE THE CENTER: Police criticised over raid on Glasgow squat housing COP26 activists (The Guardian), 'we are not responsible': youth climate activists rally in Glasgow to demand world leaders act now (Democracy Now), frontline climate activists Vanessa Nakate and Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner urge global action in Glasgow (Democracy Now, interview), photos of the furious, sardonic protests surrounding COP26 (Grist), an insider’s look at the Glasgow climate summit – talks intensify, amid grandstanding and anger outside (The Conversation)
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(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: Soot's toll in D.C. spread unevenly — study (E&E $), the 1619 Project and the long battle over US history (New York Times $)
(ENVIRONMENTAL) SEXISM: How climate change is disproportionately affecting girls in low-income countries (Washington Post $)
DENIAL & DISINFORMATION: Six months of record cold temperatures at the South Pole Amundsen-Scott station does not discredit climate change (Reuters fact check), Anti-vaxxers threaten to jam up White House regulatory process (E&E News), Virgin Media O2, British Gas and Sky demand world leaders tackle climate misinformation (Marketing Week)
EMISSIONS REPORTING: Report exposes the shaky data undermining the world’s progress on climate change (Grist, The Hill), blocked from UN climate talks, Taiwan’s emissions go uncounted (Washington Post $)
EXCEPTIONAL LOCAL REPORTING: The sea is rising faster now than any time in the last 3,000 years, experts say, slowly swallowing the Texas Gulf Coast (WFAA)
NERDY AND IMPORTANT: Wall Street banks must disclose climate threats by next year, [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] says (Bloomberg $, Reuters, Politico Pro $)
AGENCIES: The infrastructure bill allows the US to 'get in the game', says Energy secretary (MSNBC), Energy Sec. Granholm on how infrastructure bill will ease inflation, supply jam (PBS NewsHour), Haaland names new chief of staff (E&E News)
LAWSUITS: Lawsuit: Biden oil leasing pause in ANWR illegal (E&E $)
HOUSE: Bill to help displaced fossil fuel workers gets House support (E&E $)
SENATE: America’s swing senator can save or scorch planet (Reuters)
WHITE HOUSE: White House: US will discuss Michigan pipeline with Canada (AP, Politico Pro $), Biden celebrates infrastructure victory (ABC, NBC)
SUPREME COURT: Supreme Court’s unusual decision to hear a coal case could deal president Biden’s climate plans another setback (InsideClimate News, Yale Climate Connections)
INFRASTRUCTURE BILL(S): On Chicago’s west side, urgent needs collide with Washington compromises (New York Times $), what the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill means for climate change (Axios), US infrastructure bill spending on power grid and electrification (Reuters Factbox), Congress approves $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill with funding for transmission, hydrogen and EVs (Utility Dive), how the infrastructure bill happened and what it will do (E&E News), how the infrastructure bill will fight climate change and advance clean energy (Canary Media), infrastructure bill allots billions to enhance grid's cyber defenses, creates new authority for Homeland Security (Utility Dive), White House eyes US House vote on spending bill next week -Deese (Reuters)
POLITICS: GOP green groups want climate action. But not reconciliation (E&E News)
CITIES AND STATES: Reimagining coastal cities as sponges to help protect them from the ravages of climate change (InsideClimate News), Hawaii governor urges bolder climate action: Net zero is 'not good enough' (The Hill), as UN tackles twin climate threats, California struggles with them, too (CAL Matters), To fight off a California dust bowl, the state will pay farmers to reimagine idle land (San Francisco Chronicle)
FERC: FERC orders GreenHat, traders to pay $243M for alleged PJM market manipulation (Utility Dive)
IMPACTS: This is what the world looks like if we pass the crucial 1.5-degree climate threshold (NPR, Reuters explainer), a new effort to help communities adapt to climate change (PBS NewsHour), how climate change shapes the community of Kivalina, Alaska (WBUR), Good Morning America heads to Antarctica to report on the Earth's changing climate (ABC), photos show Senegal neighborhood disappearing as sea levels rise (Washington Post $), the 10 weirdest ways climate change is screwing with our world (Earther), tree pollen season in California’s Bay Area is getting half a week longer each year (Yale Climate Connections)
HEAT: 1 billion people will suffer extreme heat at just 2°C heating, say scientists (The Guardian, Axios)
FLOODING: German railway resumes service to valley devastated by flood (AP)
WILDFIRES: ‘We’ve been abandoned’: the long road to recovery for [Australian] black summer bushfire survivors (The Guardian)
HURRICANES: Athletes in a ravaged Louisiana town try to run back to normalcy (New York Times $)
RENEWABLES: Renewable energy in the US nearly quadrupled in the past decade, report finds (Washington Post $), cost of largest US offshore wind farm spikes by $2B (E&E News), French couple who said windfarm affected health win legal fight (The Guardian), report: the renewable future is being built on exploitation, too (Grist), solar power is a huge success story. A longtime solar champion explains how it happened (Canary Media), harnessing the energy of the ocean to power homes, planes and whisky distilleries (Washington Post $)
BATTERIES: A lithium mine in my backyard? (E&E News)
LNG: Morocco prepares port infrastructure for LNG imports –energy minister (Reuters)
METHANE: What it's like to hunt methane (Earther)
OIL & GAS: Oil companies talk about low-carbon projects. How much do they spend on them? (PolitiFact), BP won't quit controversial US oil lobby [API]. Its CEO explains why (CNN), Oil has staying power for years to come. Why does it matter and where does it come from? (Houston Chronicle)
NUKE: Rolls-Royce secures £450m for mini nuclear reactors venture (The Guardian)
UTILITIES: Power shutoffs deepened pandemic toll while utilities collected millions in relief (Energy News Network), Duke Energy eyes offshore wind, advanced nuclear, to meet NC decarbonization goals (Utility Dive), Elon Musk is officially in the Texas electricity business (Earther), Hawaiian electric to deploy 50,000 rooftop PV systems in bid to reach 2030 target (PV Tech)
WATER: The Dalles OKs contentious water deal to cool Google’s data centers (The Oregonian)
GRID: 'Imagine the unimaginable': How the Pacific Northwest is trying to build a reliable grid in a changing climate (Utility Dive), legal battles cast shadow over $500M Midwest power line (E&E $), US power grid is becoming less reliable, thanks to extreme weather (Bloomberg $)
EVs: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down (New York Times $), fund manager says EV startup Rivian's response on human rights falls short (Reuters), greens mount pressure over Toyota's EV shortcomings (E&E $)
THEATER & FILM: ‘Burning’ filmmaker’s call to climate action (Bloomberg $), nature takes centre-stage as theatres emerge from darkness (Reuters)
BUSINESS: Food company Mars commits to accelerating action against climate change (NPR), meat industry groups pledge to meet Paris Agreement emissions targets by 2030 (The Hill)
CARBON REMOVAL: Air-scrubbing machines gain momentum, but long way to go (AP), can Moomba live up to the hype? Santos’ $220m carbon capture and storage project (The Guardian), could turning carbon dioxide into rock help solve the climate crisis? (WBUR)
FINANCE: 3 climate finance developments you may have missed (E&E $), US hedge fund makes $400m from natural gas price volatility (FT $), Kimmeridge demands oil companies do more for carbon neutrality (Axios)
RICH GUYS: How Bezos’ latest plan to protect forests could backfire (The Verge)
WILDLIFE: The gentle giant storing carbon (Atmos) |
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