Climate scientists say fossil fuel use needs to fall rapidly – but oil-rich kingdom is working to drive up demand
Saudi Arabia is driving a huge global investment plan to create demand for its oil and gas in developing countries, an undercover investigation has revealed. Critics said the plan was designed to get countries “hooked on its harmful products”.
Little was known about the oil demand sustainability programme (ODSP) but the investigation obtained detailed information on plans to drive up the use of fossil fuel-powered cars, buses and planes in Africa and elsewhere, as rich countries increasingly switch to clean energy.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/27/2023 - 13:24
Nearly a third of the world's mine tailings are stored within or near protected conservation areas, new research has found.
11/27/2023 - 09:35
Three-year pause in fishing is the only way to prevent disappearance, researchers say
It is one of Sicily’s most popular dishes: spaghetti ai ricci di mare, or sea urchin spaghetti. Prepared with a simple base of oil and garlic, plates of the stuff are demolished every summer, particularly by the hundreds of thousands of tourists who descend on the island every year.
But sea urchins’ status as a culinary delicacy is leading to their gradual disappearance from local waters, and last week researchers said the Sicilian sea urchin, which resides on the sea floor and feeds primarily on algae, could soon become extinct if urgent conservation policies were not implemented.
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11/27/2023 - 09:16
Leaked briefing documents for meetings with governments contained ‘asks’ from state oil firm
The host of the UN Cop28 summit, the United Arab Emirates, planned to use climate meetings with other countries to promote deals for its national oil and gas companies, according to leaked documents.
Cop28 begins on Thursday and will be run by Sultan Al Jaber, who is the chief executive of the national oil company Adnoc as well as the UAE’s climate envoy. This dual role has been criticised as a conflict of interest, and climate summit veterans said the new revelations undermined trust in Al Jaber’s presidency of Cop28, potentially threatening a successful outcome.
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11/27/2023 - 09:00
How does a species survive hundreds of millions of years unfazed? You must live in a shell – and it must grow with you, chamber by chamber
Where to start with the nautilus: at the centre of the spiral or its culmination? Its eye works slowly, like a pinhole camera. It swims like a bellows. It can live for two decades, and its eggs take a year to hatch. It is a cephalopod in a shell, a spiral no wider than the length of a ruler, ending in 70 tentacle-like wavy bits. The tentacle-like bits are called cirri and they are very good at touch and smell.
One scientist describes it like this: “Right now everything’s in bloom, and, you know, you can smell the azaleas. But can you imagine if you could also say, ‘That azalea bush has 3,002 blossoms on it.’” (Their favourite things to touch and smell are not flowers but anything rotting.)
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11/27/2023 - 07:00
Major wildfires in 2014 and 2015 killed a multitudinous number and destroyed vast swaths of their natural territory
A rare species of gray squirrel has been placed on the endangered list by wildlife officials in Washington state as escalating climate emergency and land overdevelopment rob the rodents of their habitat.
Only three isolated pockets of western gray squirrels survive, the officials say, acknowledging the failure of recovery efforts since unprecedented major wildfires in 2014 and 2015 killed a multitudinous number and destroyed vast swaths of their natural territory.
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11/27/2023 - 06:43
UK lines up Middle East investor for stake in £20bn-£44bn project despite growing row over other Emirati investment plans
A United Arab Emirates investor has been approached to take a stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power plant project in Suffolk, it has emerged.
Ministers are searching for new investors in the project, which could cost between £20bn and £44bn, after removing the Chinese state-owned CGN last year due to security concerns over UK infrastructure amid poor Anglo-Sino relations.
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11/27/2023 - 06:00
United States projected to extract 12.9m barrels of crude oil as countries at Cop28 to push for agreed fossil fuels ‘phaseout’
The United States is poised to extract more oil and gas than ever before in 2023, a year that is certain to be the hottest ever recorded, providing a daunting backdrop to crucial United Nations climate talks that hold the hope of an agreement to end the era of fossil fuels.
The US’s status as the world’s leading oil and gas behemoth has only strengthened this year, even amid warnings from Joe Biden himself over the unfolding climate crisis, with the latest federal government forecast showing a record 12.9m barrels of crude oil, more than double what was produced a decade ago, will be extracted in 2023.
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11/27/2023 - 02:00
A termite-snatching drongo, cows wading through flood water and a coral glowing like a Christmas tree are among this year’s winners. From CIWEM and WaterBear, and presented by Nikon in association with MPB and supported by Arup, the 16th year of the contest showcases global environmental photography to inspire change and climate action. The six winners primarily come from climate-vulnerable countries, including Bangladesh, India, and Argentina
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11/27/2023 - 01:00
Adapting business laws to include benefits other than profit in decision-making could add £149bn to UK economy, says Demos thinktank
Britain’s economy could receive a £149bn boost from a change to UK business laws that would ensure companies put social, economic and environmental benefits at the heart of their decision-making, according to a report.
With the UK on course for the second lowest growth rate in the G7 group of leading economies in 2023, the study by the thinktank Demos said it was clear that cutting taxes or raising public spending had not been effective at driving economic growth.
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