Category Archives: Fossil fuels

‘This isn’t ideological’: reluctant ‘green hero’ behind Exxon coup

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Tiny hedge fund Engine No 1 says a strong climate strategy simply makes good business sense

The activist hedge fund behind ExxonMobil’s boardroom coup last week has claimed another seat from the oil giant’s board, to take the number of new directors who will push for climate action from within the company to three.

The result of last week’s shareholder vote has installed the hedge fund, named Engine No 1 after a San Francisco fire station, as a reluctant hero of the climate movement.

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G7 nations committing billions more to fossil fuel than green energy

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In spite of green rhetoric, money has piled into aviation and car industries since start of pandemic, report finds

The nations that make up the G7 have pumped billions of dollars more into fossil fuels than they have into clean energy since the Covid-19 pandemic, despite their promises of a green recovery.

As the UK prepares to host the G7 summit, new analysis reveals that the countries attending committed $189bn to support oil, coal and gas between January 2020 and March 2021. In comparison, the same countries – the UK, US, Canada, Italy, France, Germany and Japan – spent $147bn on clean forms of energy.

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‘Cataclysmic day’ for oil companies sparks climate hope

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Court and investor defeats over carbon emissions a historic turning point, say campaigners and lawyers

A “cataclysmic day” for three major oil companies in which investors rebelled over climate fears and a court ordered fossil fuel emissions to be slashed has sparked hope among campaigners, investors, lawyers and academics who said the historic decisions marked a turning point in efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered Shell to cut carbon emissions from its oil and gas by 45% by 2030. A tiny activist investor group simultaneously won two places on ExxonMobil’s board and Chevron’s management was defeated when investors voted in favour of forcing the group to cut its carbon emissions.

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Poland defies EU court by refusing to close major brown coalmine

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Shutting Turów lignite mine would cause thousands of job losses, says development minister

Poland’s government has defied an injunction by the top European Union court that ordered the immediate closure of a major brown coalmine, with officials saying it would shake the nation’s energy system and lead to the loss of thousands of jobs.

The country’s development minister, Jarosław Gowin, said Poland would not shut the lignite mine in Turów, on the border with Germany and the Czech Republic, but instead was engaged in “very intensive diplomatic and law-related efforts” to secure undisturbed operation of the mine and connected power plant that generates 7% of Poland‘s energy.

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The Nationals’ victory in Upper Hunter byelection may owe more to Berejiklian and Hanson than John Barilaro | Anne Davies

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More Labor voters prefer the premier than Jodi McKay, while One Nation’s spirited campaign in the NSW seat doomed Shooters, Fishers and Farmers to electoral failure

New South Wales Nationals leader John Barilaro has proclaimed “the Nationals are back” and all but declared victory for Dave Layzell in the coalmining and rural seat of Upper Hunter – but he should probably be thanking One Nation.

For Labor too there will be some soul-searching and pressure on opposition leader, Jodi McKay, to consider her future. Speaking on Sunday afternoon, McKay said she was “devastated” that people did not vote for Labor and that the party was shocked that it had “failed to connect” with the voters of the Upper Hunter.

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Richest nations agree to end support for coal production overseas

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G7 countries reaffirm commitment to limit global heating to 1.5C after nearly two days of wrangling

The world’s richest nations have agreed to end their financial support for coal development overseas, in a major step towards phasing out the dirtiest fossil fuel.

After nearly two days of wrangling at a meeting of the G7 environment and energy ministers, hosted virtually by the UK on Thursday and Friday, all reaffirmed their commitment to limiting global heating to 1.5C, and committed to phasing out coal and fully decarbonising their energy sectors in the 2030s.

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Australia news live: Morrison labels India a ‘dangerous place’; Rex Patrick in court fight for cabinet documents

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Coalition backs $600m gas plant as IEA warns against new fossil fuel use; concerns over speed of vaccine rollout continue with Melbourne hubs below capacity. Follow latest updates

With that I shall depart, leaving the amazing Christopher Knaus in my place to take you through the afternoon.

Just a bit more from that Scott Morrison interview with 2GB earlier today:

The prime minister has brushed off criticism about the red carpet treatment he recently received at an Australian airbase.

We have nothing to do with that, I mean, I just walk out of a plane and whatever is there is there...

I have nothing to do with what the defence forces do when you step out of a plane. So it was nice of them to receive it. It wasn’t the first time that’s happened.

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‘I’m not selling’: what happens when an Australian town is consumed by a US coalminer?

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Col Faulkner, 68, owns the only house in Wollar that hasn’t been bought up by US-based miner Peabody

Bev Smiles usually turns up at least an hour before the start of any functions at Wollar’s community hall – a spot for many a dance and committee meeting over the years.

“We have to get in early with leaf blowers to get an inch of dust off the floor – every surface in the hall is black,” Smiles says. “That’s what people’s kitchens are like.”

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Climate crisis: our children face wars over food and water, EU deputy warns

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Exclusive: Frans Timmermans says older people need to make sacrifices to protect the future

Older people will have to make sacrifices in the fight against climate change or today’s children will face a future of fighting wars for water and food, the EU’s deputy chief has warned.

Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the EU commission, said that if social policy and climate policy are not combined, to share fairly the costs and benefits of creating a low-carbon economy, the world will face a backlash from people who fear losing jobs or income, stoked by populist politicians and fossil fuel interests.

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CEO quit Queensland’s biggest power generator after energy minister complained to board

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Mick de Brenn claimed he was blindsided when Stanwell chief executive Richard van Breda said company was pivoting from coal to renewables

The board of Queensland state-owned power generator Stanwell corporation spent 18 months planning a transition strategy to pivot from coal to renewables, before the unexpected resignation of its chief executive last week.

Guardian Australia understands Richard van Breda quit Stanwell after the state energy minister, Mick de Brenni, complained to board members he was blindsided by an announcement – revealed by the Guardian – that rapidly changing market conditions would probably force the scaled-down operation of its coal plants.

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Global alliance for phasing out coal not fit for purpose, says NGO

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Powering Past Coal Alliance accused of failing to follow up on pledges as many countries expand use of coal

An attempt by the UK government to encourage countries and businesses around the world to quit coal for power generation is failing to make an impact, and in danger of being used as “greenwash”, an assessment has found.

The Powering Past Coal Alliance, led by the UK and Canada, with 111 members including 24 governments, local governments and businesses, is a key plank of Boris Johnson’s strategy for vital UN climate talks to be hosted in Glasgow in November.

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Biden’s pledge to slash US emissions turns spotlight on China

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World leaders will be unable to halt climate breakdown without strong action from biggest emitter

The US, the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is now committed to halving emissions this decade.

Joe Biden’s announcement, at a White House virtual climate summit, has thrown the spotlight clearly on the world’s biggest emitter: China.

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China ‘must shut 600 coal-fired plants’ to hit climate target

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Move towards renewables to hit net zero by 2060 would also pay off with saving of $1.6tn, analysis finds

China must shut down nearly 600 of its coal-fired power plants in the next 10 years, replacing them with renewable electricity generation, to meet its goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2060, a report has said.

But replacing the 364GW of coal generation with renewable power would achieve a net saving of $1.6tn (£1.2tn) over the period, since wind and solar power are now much cheaper than coal, according to the analysis company TransitionZero.

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‘We cannot drink oil’: campaigners condemn east African pipeline

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Activists say the ‘heart of Africa’ line shipping crude from Uganda to Tanzania is unnecessary and poses a huge environmental risk

Activists have accused French and Chinese oil firms of ignoring huge environmental risks after the signing of accords on the controversial construction of a £2.5bn oil pipeline.

Uganda, Tanzania and the oil companies Total and CNOOC signed three key agreements on Sunday that pave the way for construction to start on the planned east African crude oil pipeline (EACOP). But on Tuesday a letter signed by 38 civil society organisations across both east African countries said the parties had failed to address environmental concerns over the pipeline and had steamrollered over court and parliamentary processes.

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John Barilaro attacks Turnbull over ‘war on Coalition’ and says NSW ‘firmly committed’ to coal

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NSW deputy premier says ‘there will be no moratorium on coal in the Upper Hunter or anywhere else in the state’

The New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, has rejected Malcolm Turnbull’s call for a moratorium on new coalmines in the state and demanded the former prime minister “set aside his war on the Coalition”.

Turnbull said on Wednesday he believed coalmine proposals and approvals in the state’s upper Hunter Valley were “out of control”.

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Urgent policies needed to steer countries to net zero, says IEA chief

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Economies are gearing up for return to fossil fuel use instead of forging green recovery, warns Fatih Birol

New energy policies are urgently needed to put countries on the path to net zero greenhouse gas emissions, the world’s leading energy economist has warned, as economies are rapidly gearing up for a return to fossil fuel use instead of forging a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Most of the world’s biggest economies now have long-term goals of reaching net zero by mid-century, but few have the policies required to meet those goals, said Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

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Diversify or risk unrest, oil producers warned in report

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As world shifts to green energy, Iraq and Nigeria among those vulnerable to ‘wave of instability’

Oil-dependent countries that are not preparing to adapt to the global shift away from fossil fuels risk their own stability, warns a new report.

Algeria, Iraq and Nigeria are the most vulnerable to “a slow-motion wave of political instability”, according to the risk analysts Verisk Maplecroft.

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Big banks’ trillion-dollar finance for fossil fuels ‘shocking’, says report

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Coal, oil and gas firms have received $3.8tn in finance since the Paris climate deal in 2015

The world’s biggest 60 banks have provided $3.8tn of financing for fossil fuel companies since the Paris climate deal in 2015, according to a report by a coalition of NGOs.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic cutting energy use, overall funding remains on an upward trend and the finance provided in 2020 was higher than in 2016 or 2017, a fact the report’s authors and others described as “shocking”.

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Yallourn, one of Australia’s last brown coal power stations, to close early in favour of giant battery

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Power station produces 13% of Victoria’s and 3% of national emissions and employs 500 people

One of Australia’s dirtiest coal-fired power stations, Yallourn in Victoria’s Latrobe valley, will close four years earlier than scheduled and be replaced, in part, by a grid-scale battery.

EnergyAustralia announced on Wednesday it would shut the 1970s-built, 1,480-megawatt brown coal plant in mid-2028.

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