Updates from the news #4 – 9 September 2023

Private equity firms are using climate catastrophes to profit from companies that provide clean up. Typically, these firms shortchange their clients, pay low wages, and generally fund shoddy work. There are times when it seems that there is simply no bottom to the evil of neoliberal capitalism. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/07/private-equity-climate-crisis-disaster-cleanup

Climate denial is making a strong comeback in advance of the COP28. Of course, the COP28 already lacks any credibility because it is being held in Dubai and run by the CEO of a leading oil company. This time climate denial is taking the form of extreme distrust of science and scientists. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08092023/experts-warn-of-denialism-comeback-ahead-of-cop28-global-climate-talks/

This article in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS Climate explores the lack of public trust in university researchers. This is well worth your time. https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000147

Climate Central is a clearing house for the latest analyses of climate change. This group is renown for making complex data interpretable by the public. Here, Climate Central shows that carbon pollution boosted heat for billions of people during the Earth’s hottest summer. Bookmark this site and explore the reports. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/global-review-June-August-2023

The first UN Stocktake since the Paris Agreement in December 2015 is grim reading.
https://unfccc.int/news/implementation-must-accelerate-to-increase-ambition-across-all-fronts-taking-an-all-of-society

From the 3^rd through 6^th of September the people of Africa including people from social movements and civil society, trade unions, women, indigenous peoples, young people, men, people living with disabilities, media organizations, faith-based groups, and many others, gathered in Nairobi, Kenya and committed to the declaration on African climate and development priorities and demands. The countries of the Global South have done the least to cause climate change and they are suffering the most impacts of the moral hazard created by the Global North. https://www.realafricaclimatesummit.org/declaration

Hotter ocean temperatures likely increase Idalia power by 40-50%. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/08/hotter-ocean-temperatures-from-global-warming-likely-increased-idalias-destructive-power-by-at-least-40-50/

A meta-analysis of studies of the fatalities caused by climate impacts has found that a
“future person” is killed every time 1000 tons of fossil carbon are burned. The authors refer to this as “negligent manslaughter” and estimate that by the end of the century nearly 1 billion mostly poor people could die due to climate change if the wealthy nations do not dramatically reduce emissions. https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/16/6074

No surprise here: Major global banks are financing deadly US coal plants. https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2023/08/new-report-major-global-banks-are-financing-deadly-us-coal-plants-thanks

Global banks are pouring trillions into fossil fuel expansion in the Global South. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/04/banks-pour-trillions-fossil-fuel-expansion-global-south-report-says

Climate Action Plans by governments in the Global South are often pro forma and limited in scope. These governments simply lack resources to adequately finance and execute such plans. Zimbabwe is apparently an exception. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-zimbabwe-climate-action-environment-health.html

Kenya has a plan to introduce 1 million electric motorbikes nationwide to curb pollution and address rising fuel costs. https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/kenya-to-introduce-1-million-electric-motorbikes-nationwide-amid-pollution-rising/sbz44ez

Green growth will not be effective and decoupling the global economy from carbon emissions is nonsense. The only path forward is to kill fossil emissions as fast as possible and to strategically manage global resource consumption. https://theecologist.org/2023/sep/04/post-growth-offers-climate-hope

Andrew Dessler at UT Austin provides a critical analysis of GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s climate claims. This is an important analysis because his claims appear credible to those who don’t understand the science. https://www.theclimatebrink.com/p/debunking-vivek-ramaswamys-climate

IEA data show that renewables will be the world’s top electricity source within three years. It is hard to reconcile this report with the massive investment that global banks are making in fossil fuel development in the Global South.  Obviously, most of renewables development will not include the Global South. https://www.carbonbrief.org/renewables-will-be-worlds-top-electricity-source-within-three-years-iea-data-reveals/