THE BRIEF [Jan 1-7'24]
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Weekly Climate 🎉
References: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] and [6].
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Happy new year! I hope you had a great one! In true toddler style New Years our New Years was cancelled due to sickness 😅 but oh well I still got to cook some good food and drink some good wine as I was the only one who weren’t sick. Fewer hangovers is also a plus.
In this New Years edition everything is back to normal from our previous COP28 special editions except that for this issue only I’ve included an “2023 review” article section since there were a couple of those that didn’t really fit in anywhere else. Apart from this is was a quite silent first week as I only sifted through about 24 articles as opposed to my usual 50-70.
‼️News you can’t miss
Here’s one important scary/bad (🙀), good (😻), interesting (😼) and fossil (💩) news item.
🙀 Fossil fuel industry continued 2023 by doubling down on their plans to heat the planet
😻 Despite much crap, there were some signs of hope last year
😼 Banks green investments perform better than fossil investments
💩 The fossil fuel industry continue owning the COP, with COP29 president being another (although ex-) fossil fuel exec.
This week’s highlights
[#hopeful] — Despite the challenges and negative climate news in 2023, there were several signs of climate progress. Global renewable energy deployments surged, with the U.S. adding a record-breaking amount of solar capacity and China on track to meet its 2030 renewable goal early. EV sales continued to grow, with the U.S. reaching one million annual EV sales for the first time. Clean energy prices started falling again, and states passed landmark climate bills. Transmission lines cleared red tape, companies invested in the U.S. clean energy supply chain, and the EPA finalized a new methane rule. Deforestation rates declined in the Amazon, and the EU launched its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.
[#waystodecarbonize] — Just in time for your New Years resolutions this article provides five ways to decarbonize your life in 2024. It suggests setting goals, visualizing an electrified home, taking advantage of incentives, scheduling a home energy audit, making an electrification plan, and seeking help from online resources and communities. The article emphasizes the importance of making a plan and taking action to achieve a more energy-efficient and lower carbon footprint lifestyle.
[#bigfossilvillains] — In 2023, fossil fuel companies disregarded their promises to reduce emissions and instead doubled down on planet-heating business models. This behavior demonstrates that they are unfit to participate in the energy transition. Major oil and gas deals, reneged climate promises, and increased investments in fossil fuels despite scientific consensus on the need to phase them out all contributed to this conclusion. The industry's actions highlight the necessity for more significant measures to manage its decline and address the climate crisis.
[#cop29] — Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, has been appointed as the president of this year's global climate talks. Babayev, who previously worked at Socar, Azerbaijan's state oil company, will be leading the negotiations on climate change. This appointment has raised concerns due to Azerbaijan's heavy reliance on fossil fuels. However, previous climate summits led by individuals with oil industry backgrounds have resulted in significant agreements to transition away from fossil fuels. Yeah.. I’m keeping the policy section off this newsletter…
That’s it for this week folks!
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Remember if you’re feeling down, angry or sad from some of the news in this newsletter one cure is to act. And one way you can always act that also happens to be one of the most powerful things you can do is to talk about it. That also works if what you just read made you hopeful or happy btw.
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See you all next week 👋