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Report On Climate Crisis Stories From The Last Week | |
| Sumita Pawar |
A report has revealed the top climate crisis and environment news stories of this week, which include: renewables growth moves power emissions towards a "tipping point"; millions at risk from glacial meltwater flooding; and Chile experiencing its worst drought in 50 years.
According to the report, millions of people worldwide are at risk of catastrophic flooding from glacial lakes, the BBC reports. A new study has mapped potential flooding hotspots from the lakes, which are formed as glaciers melt due to global warming.
The European Parliament's energy committee has backed plans to renovate millions of European buildings to cut emissions and save energy, despite pushback against the new rules from some member states. Buildings account for roughly 40% of the EU’s energy use, and most are heated by fossil fuels, it added.
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Chile’s far south is experiencing its worst drought in half a century, leaving the earth so dry in some areas that grass cannot grow for grazing.
The South American nation has faced a more than decade-long drought that is posing a challenge to agriculture, biodiversity, and its mining industry.
The introduction of London's ultra-low emissions zone four years ago has cut pollutants from vehicles by more than a quarter, the UK newspaper The Guardian reports.
A study found that emissions of toxic nitrogen oxides were 26% lower within the zone compared with their estimated level if the scheme had not been introduced.
Greenpeace says it will take the European Commission to court over its decision to include gas and nuclear energy in the EU's list of investments that can be labelled "green." A Commission spokesperson says its green finance rules do not contravene environmental law and that it designated gas and nuclear investments as green under "strict conditions" that will be reviewed every three years, according to the report.
Renewables growth is pushing power emissions towards ‘tipping point’, says IEA
A rise in wind and solar energy production—together with more nuclear electricity—will dominate growth in global power supply over the next three years and curb the emissions impact of greater energy use, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
"The good news is that renewables and nuclear power are growing quickly enough to meet almost all this additional appetite, suggesting we are close to a tipping point for power sector emissions," IEA Director Faith Birol says.
Global emissions of power generation, 2015–2025
According to the report, global emissions from power generation are predicted to plateau from 2023 through 2025.
The IEA says the share of wind and solar in the power generation mix is expected to rise to 35% in 2025 from 29% in 2022. The largest gains in renewable power are expected in Asia-Pacific, with average yearly growth of 11.6%, followed by Europe with 9.4% growth and the Americas with 5%.
Nuclear supply is seen rising by 3.6% per year on average to 2025, with the largest growth rate in the Middle East, followed by Asia-Pacific and Europe. Production from gas-fired power plants in Europe is forecast to fall, but significant growth in gas-fired production in the Middle East is likely to limit the global decrease, the report says.
Vehicle industry risks missing climate goals, says report
The automotive industry is likely to miss climate goals by 75%, according to a study backed by EV makers Polestar and Rivian.
The report says the industry will dramatically overshoot the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's target to try to limit the average global temperature increase to 1.5°C by 2050 unless vehicle makers take action.
"Electrification alone is not the solution—even if every car sold in the world tomorrow were electric, we'd still be on track to overshoot," Polestar and Rivian say.
The report suggests three "levers" could give the world a chance of achieving the target by 2050. These are: setting a firm end date for sales of fossil-fuel cars and investing more in EV manufacturing capabilities; creating more green charging options by investing in renewable energy supplies to global grids; and focusing on more sustainable supply chains.
Climate goals have been at the forefront of carmakers' priorities for the past decade as customers become increasingly sustainability conscious. Despite automotive makers looking to invest in the green energy shift, geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions have continued to make life difficult for the industry, with higher costs, component shortages, and supply chain issues continuing, the report concluded.
Partnership To Increase Sustainability Access In MENA
Partnership between Clarity Al and Suadi Tadawal Group.
Clarity AI, the leading global sustainability tech platform, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Tadawul Group, the largest stock exchange in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
With a market capitalization nearing $3 trillion, the report aims to facilitate the education of companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the broader MENA region on relevant sustainability topics.
"Our mission is to bring societal impact to markets, and we are thrilled to be in an agreement to do that with the Saudi Tadawul Group, which sits at the centre of company communication for trillions of dollars of market capitalization trading in MENA," said Rebeca Minguela, Founder and CEO of Clarity AI.
"This position represents a strong opportunity for us to help bring additional tech-powered sustainability capabilities to these global corporations."
Eng. Khalid Al Hussan, CEO of the Saudi Tadawul Group, said, "With investors around the world using ESG metrics to inform their decisions, the Saudi Tadawul Group has an important role to play in driving the adoption of transparent and purposeful ESG reporting." This MoU will help us embed innovation within our ESG infrastructure and introduce dynamic new platforms that provide investors and issuers more granular access to data and benchmarking in ESG practices. In turn, this will support our ambitions for the Saudi capital market to become a global destination in line with the Financial Sector Development programme and Saudi Vision 2030.
Clarity AI will provide its tools and services to help companies and investors better understand, track, and make sense of their sustainability performance across international and national frameworks and benchmark their data across peers.
According to the report, Clarity AI’s platform will serve both larger companies and those earlier in their sustainability journey, including small and medium enterprises.
This collaboration between Clarity AI and the Saudi Tadawul Group, home to more than 300 listed securities with a market capitalization of more than $2.7 trillion (SAR 10.2 trillion), will enable international investors to screen and report based on current and upcoming national requirements.
"Clarity AI's tools and services will help companies enhance their disclosure and understanding of ESG and sustainability, supporting a transition to a more sustainable future for the region and the world," stated the report.
The MoU will also leverage both parties' relationships with other key stakeholders, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP), with which Clarity AI signed an MoU in early January of this year.
Clarity AI is a platform for sustainability technology that uses machine learning and big data to give investors, organizations, and consumers insights about the environment and society.
According to the report, as of February 2023, Clarity AI’s platform analyses more than 70,000 companies, 360,000 funds, 198 countries, and 199 local governments—which represents the broadest data coverage in the market with up to 13 times more than other leading players—and delivers data and analytics for investing, consumer research, corporate research, and reporting for sustainability regulations worldwide.
Clarity AI has offices in North America, Europe, and the Middle East, and its investor client network manages tens of trillions in assets under management.
Report added: Clarity AI capabilities are delivered directly into clients' workflows through integrations with partners like BlackRock's Aladdin, Refinitiv, an LSEG business, BNP Manaos, Allfunds, and SimCorp.
Its consumer partnerships and client network allow it to be part of millions of daily e-commerce transactions and to reach hundreds of millions of consumers at over 400,000 merchants