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Civil servants warn bold action needed to meet target – but painful decisions need to be made

Rishi Sunak risks damaging trust in the UK among developing countries and reducing the country’s standing in negotiations, because of a failure to meet climate spending pledges, civil servants have warned ministers.

They said that under current policies the only way to meet the £11.6bn international climate funding target agreed at Cop26 was to take a drastic combination of “hugely reputationally damaging” measures including delaying meeting the target, redefining already committed spending as climate funding, and cutting money for research and development, biodiversity and plastic pollution mitigation.

Delay the target. Officials said they could move it to the end of the 2026 calendar year instead of the financial year 2025/26, giving another three-quarters of a year to spend money. They warned this would “be hugely reputationally damaging at a time when the Global South mistrusts wealthy countries”. They added: “The geopolitical ramifications are likely to extend beyond climate, damaging our standing with a wide range of developing countries, SIDs, Commonwealth and middle-ground nations, further undermining trust in the UK as a donor.”

Count other already-committed amounts to climate payments as part of the £11.6bn. Civil servants warned: “This would be seen as the UK ‘moving the goalposts’ and would be seen as a backwards step, reducing UK standing and influence in climate negotiations.”

Eat into Defra and net zero department budgets. Currently half of the international funding paid by these departments is part of the £11.6bn commitment. Civil servants said it would be helpful for this to be closer to 75%, but this would eat into research and development funding as well as non-climate biodiversity protection programmes and other areas such as preventing plastic pollution.

Obtain a one-off sum from the Treasury. Officials admitted this would be “strongly resisted” by the chancellor but said if the Treasury directly funded loss and damage options, it “would be a strong signal of climate leadership by the UK”.

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EUA prices extended their losses for a third day amid low-key trading, staying between two key technical levels as numerous participants headed to an industry conference, while energy markets were little changed as renewables output was forecast to rise.

Japan’s latest auction of government-issued  J-Credits cleared above the 3,000 yen ($20.79) level again, as demand for domestic offsets continued to outpace supply given the limited number of credits available.

The operator of Japan's largest energy trading marketplace has become the latest in the country to initiate trading of environmental credits, including offsets under the domestic J-Credit scheme.

Fugitive methane emissions from Australian fossil fuel projects are nearly twice as high as national estimates, according to new analysis, meaning facilities covered under the Safeguard Mechanism will likely have to double their decarbonisation efforts to be in line with the country’s climate goals.

Australia’s reformed Safeguard Mechanism has come into force this week, but those expecting facilities to begin generating below baseline credits straight away will be left waiting.  

The El Niño is a reminder that bushfires are part of Australian life. But whether or not this fire season is a bad one, Australia must find a better way to manage bushfires. Kevin Tolhurst AM, Hon. Assoc. Prof., Fire Ecology and Management, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Listing would allow the market to be admirably brutal – inflicting pain on the owners and forcing management changes

• Henley regatta complains of sewage pollution from Thames Water
• Water firms discharged raw sewage 300,000 times last year, court hears

As we wait for Thames Water’s crew of international investors to decide if they want to inject more capital into their ailing and over-borrowed asset, it is hard to escape the thought that a recapitalisation – if it’s doable – would have happened by now if only the company were listed on the stock market. In essence, what’s needed at Thames, if the owners wish to save it, is a large rights issue or debt-for-equity swap. The stock market tends to be good at such exercises. It cuts to the chase.

Recall the crisis in the outsourcing sector a decade ago, which has parallels with water in terms of scandal (with overcharging, rather than the sewage) and loss of confidence on the part of government and the outside world. The stock market was admirably brutal with companies such as Serco: it whacked the share price down 90%, thereby inflicting necessary pain on owners; it forced management change; then it became possible to raise funds.

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July 3 marked the hottest average temperature since measurements began in the 1970s.

The post Hottest average day cooks Earth on Monday, as El Nino looms appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Wind and solar developers say delays in NSW planning applications could derail the state's plans to replace coal with renewables in a decade.

The post Wind and solar face planning brick wall that threatens to derail switch from coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Potentially gigawatts of energy consumption is flying under the radar in Australia's energy system. And no one knows if the data centres are green.

The post Data centres a black box of energy use, despite being major grid consumers appeared first on RenewEconomy.

ACEnergy is setting its sights on a portfolio of distribution scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) as it seeks to expand its project range and support regional communities.

The post ACEnergy seeks to collaborate with industry to unlock true potential of Distribution BESS appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Japan wants to release Fukushima's waste water into the ocean - and a lot of people are not happy.

South-west Australia relies on groundwater for three-quarters of its water use. But a new study of the region’s caves has found a drying climate is having a dramatic impact on this precious resource. Stacey Priestley, Research Scientist, Environment Business Unit, CSIRO Andy Baker, Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney Pauline Treble, Research Scientist, Environment Research Group, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

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The government says it remains committed to spending £11.6bn of its overseas aid budget on climate.

A former commercial and marketing director with an agribusiness company has joined soil carbon project developer AgriProve Solutions as its first Australia general manager.

Bowen responds to calls by independents by appointing Andrew Dyer to head new Community Engagement Review for renewable and transmission projects.

The post Bowen names Dyer to head community engagement review after deal with independents appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Ocean Winds says it is undaunted by the challenges posed by Australia's as yet unformed industry, saying it's worked in greenfield geographies before.

The post Ocean Winds confident it can launch offshore wind from scratch in Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Nearly a year after the public comment period for Canada's Clean Electricity Regulations were wrapped up, a poll published Tuesday has found a majority of Canadians support the federal plan to reach a net zero power grid by 2035.