Category Archives: Fossil fuels

Biodiversity declining even faster in ‘protected’ areas, scientists warn Cop16

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Just designating key areas will not meet 30x30 target on nature loss, study says, pointing to oil drilling in parks

Biodiversity is declining more quickly within key protected areas than outside them, according to research that scientists say is a “wake-up call” to global leaders discussing how to stop nature loss at the UN’s Cop16 talks in Colombia.

Protecting 30% of land and water for nature by 2030 was one of the key targets settled on by world leaders in a landmark 2022 agreement to save nature – and this month leaders are gathering again at a summit in the Colombian city of Cali to measure progress and negotiate new agreements to stop biodiversity loss.

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Cop29 host Azerbaijan set for major fossil gas expansion, report says

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Exclusive: Those with ‘interest in keeping world hooked on fossil fuels’ should not oversee climate talks, say report authors

Azerbaijan, the host of the Cop29 global climate summit, will see a large expansion of fossil gas production in the next decade, a new report has revealed. The authors said that the crucial negotiations should not be overseen by “those with a vested interest in keeping the world hooked on fossil fuels”.

Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company, Socar, and its partners are set to raise the country’s annual gas production from 37bn cubic metres (bcm) today to 49bcm by 2033. Socar also recently agreed to increase gas exports to the European Union by 17% by 2026.

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Anti-fossil fuel comic that went viral in France arrives in UK

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World Without End topped bestseller lists but was criticised for embracing nuclear power

In 2019, France’s best known climate expert sat down to work with its most feted graphic novelist. The result? Perhaps the most terrifying comic ever drawn.

Part history, part analysis, part vision for the future, World Without End weaves the story of humanity’s rapacious appetite for fossil fuel energy, how it has made possible the society people take for granted, and its disastrous effects on the climate.

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Lula and Petro have the chance of a lifetime to save the Amazon. Can they unite idealism and realpolitik to pull it off?

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The South American leaders are in the spotlight as they prepare to host this week’s Cop16 biodiversity summit, November’s G20 meeting and next year’s Cop30 climate summit

The rainforest nations of Brazil and Colombia have the best opportunity in a generation to drag the Amazon back from the abyss as they host three of the world’s most important environmental negotiations in the space of little more than a year.

In the process, their leaders – pacesetting Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, and the more cautious and contradictory Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – will offer up overlapping visions for the future of the Amazon, and the world’s path to net zero.

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UK ‘risks repeat of surging energy bills’ amid continued reliance on gas

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Energy crisis panel warns country is ‘dangerously unprepared’ and must shift away from gas quickly

Britain is at risk of experiencing a repeat of the sharp increase in energy costs which has fuelled the continuing cost of living crisis because it relies too heavily on gas, according to an expert panel of industry leaders.

The Energy Crisis Commission has warned that the UK is still “dangerously underprepared” for another crisis because it continues to rely on gas for its power plants and home heating.

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Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers grows despite western sanctions

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Poorly maintained and uninsured vessels transporting up to 70% of country’s seaborne oil, says report

Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers is expanding, according to research, transporting up to 70% of the country’s seaborne oil despite western efforts to curb Moscow’s wartime energy revenues.

The volume of Russian oil being transported by poorly maintained and underinsured tankers has almost doubled in a year to 4.1m barrels a day by June, according to a report published on Monday by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE).

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Hurricanes like Helene twice as likely to happen due to global heating, data finds

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Analysis shows Gulf’s heat that worsened Helene 200-500 times more likely because of human-caused global heating

As Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida, fueled by a record-hot Gulf of Mexico, a new analysis has shown how the Gulf’s heat that worsened last month’s Hurricane Helene was 200 to 500 times more likely because of human-caused global heating.

Helene, one of the deadliest storms in US history, gathered pace over the Gulf before crashing ashore with 140mph winds.

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China to head green energy boom with 60% of new projects in next six years

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IEA says faster clean energy rollout being led by solar power in China with country set to boast half of world’s renewables by 2030

China is expected to account for almost 60% of all renewable energy capacity installed worldwide between now and 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

The IEA’s highly influential renewable energy report found that over the next six years renewable energy projects will roll out at three times the pace of the previous six years, led by the clean energy programmes of China and India.

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Ramos-Horta says $74bn Timor Sea gas project could begin within months if Australia signs treaty

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Timor-Leste president’s trip comes amid mounting pressure for Labor to finalise an agreement

The $74bn Greater Sunrise gas project, which has been decades in the making, could be under way by the end of the year, the Timor-Leste president, José Ramos-Horta, said.

But he also said the pipeline and accompanying processing work must go to his nation, not Darwin.

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Labour to commit almost £22bn to fund carbon capture and storage projects

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Investment will fund two CCS clusters – but environmental campaigners have criticised plans

Rachel Reeves is paving the way for a multibillion-pound increase in public-sector investment at the budget after the government announced plans to commit almost £22bn over 25 years to fund carbon capture and storage projects.

In what is expected to be one of the biggest green spending promises of the parliament, the chancellor, prime minister and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, will unveil the details on a visit to the Liverpool city region on Friday declaring a “new era” for clean energy jobs.

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Australia’s ‘immoral’ coalmine decision akin to drowning Pacific neighbours, Tuvalu climate minister declares

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Labor government has undermined case to co-host 2026 UN climate summit with island nations, Dr Maina Talia declares

Tuvalu’s climate minister says Australia’s decision to approve three coalmine expansions calls into question the country’s claim to be a “member of the Pacific family” and undermines the Australian case to co-host the 2026 UN climate summit with island nations.

Dr Maina Talia said last week’s mine approvals, which analysts say could generate more than 1.3bn tonnes of carbon dioxide across their lifetime once the coal is shipped and burned overseas, was “a direct threat to our collective future”.

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The deep history of British coal – from the Romans to the Ratcliffe shutdown

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With the last coal-fired plant closing today, we chart the rise and fall of the once-indispensable fuel which powered modern Britain

Britain’s transition to a low-carbon future has reached a milestone with the closure of its last remaining coal-fired power plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire.

The shutdown of the 57-year-old power plant on Monday ends more than 140 years of coal power generation in the UK – an industrial story closely interwoven with Britain’s socioeconomic and political history.

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If Trump wins the election, US parks and wildlife will face a new age of mining

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Intense heat in the north, epic rains in Miami, fires in New Mexico and California. Trump plans for ‘energy dominance’, removing protection from mining and drilling on public lands



This article was produced in partnership with the non-profit newsroom Type Investigations, with support from the Wayne Barrett Project.

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Kerry gives scathing rating on climate action: ‘Is there a letter underneath Z?’

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Former secretary of state accuses oil and gas companies of ‘business as usual’ at major climate summit in New York

Countries are ignoring commitments they made less than a year ago to shift away from fossil fuels and to provide aid to those most vulnerable to the climate crisis, a host of leading figures have admitted during a gloomy start to a major climate summit in New York.

Al Gore, the former US vice-president, and John Kerry, the former US secretary of state and climate envoy, have led the condemnation of the largest greenhouse gas emitters, led by China and the US, for failing to follow a UN pact signed in Dubai by nearly 200 countries in December to “transition away” from oil, coal and gas.

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Mineral Resources and Woodside donated to WA Labor while it mulled gas policy changes

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A ban on exporting offshore gas was lifted in WA this week, and the Greens say two of the ‘biggest winners’ were the massive resources companies

Western Australian gas companies Mineral Resources and Woodside gave more than $20,000 to WA Labor while it was considering changes to its domestic gas policy that allowed more gas to be exported from the state.

On Thursday the state government lifted a ban on onshore gas being exported, allowing 20% to go overseas until 2031, in a change the premier, Roger Cook, said would boost the state’s gas industry.

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More than £494bn subsidies a year are harmful to the climate, says report

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ActionAid says ‘parasitic behaviour’ is fuelling the climate crisis and represents ‘corporate capture’ of public finance

More than $650bn (£494bn) a year in public subsidies goes to fossil fuel companies, intensive agriculture and other harmful industries in the developing world, new data has shown.

The subsidies entrench high greenhouse gas emissions and are fuelling the destruction of the natural world, according to a report from the charity ActionAid.

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UK’s methane hotspots include landfills and last coalmine

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Greenpeace urges Labour to ‘fulfil international obligations’ as critics question accuracy of official data

The UK’s worst methane hotspots include the last coalmine, livestock farm clusters, landfills, power plants and North Sea oil and gas wells, according to an analysis.

The process has also thrown up serious doubts over the UK’s ability to calculate its methane emissions.

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‘Hyper-violent’ Typhoon Gaemi was made fiercer by climate crisis, say scientists

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Researchers warn Asia will become an increasingly dangerous place to live until fossil fuels are replaced

The “hyper-violent” Typhoon Gaemi was made fiercer and more likely to strike by the climate crisis, scientists have found. They said “Asia will become an increasingly dangerous place to live until fossil fuels are replaced”.

The typhoon hit the Philippines, Taiwan and Hunan province in China in late July, with floods and landslides destroying homes, killing at least 100 people and affecting millions. Winds reaching 145mph (233 km/h) sank two large ships, while floods in Manila were as deep as a one-storey building.

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Australia’s electricity grid to remain reliable if renewable projects delivered ‘on time and in full’, Aemo says

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Investments in solar, wind, batteries, pumped hydro and transmission links must be delivered ‘on time and in full’

Australia’s electricity authority has declared the country’s main power grid will remain reliable as it shifts from coal domination to running overwhelmingly on renewable energy – but only if investments in new generation are delivered “on time and in full”.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) reached its conclusion in a report that considered what needs to be built over the next decade to maintain the National Electricity Market, which links the five eastern states and the ACT.

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Lego plans to make half the plastic in bricks from renewable materials by 2026

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Toymaker hopes to bring down oil-based plastic it uses by paying up to 70% more for certified renewable resin to encourage production

Lego plans to make half the plastic in its bricks from renewable or recycled material rather than fossil fuels by 2026, in its latest effort to ensure its toys are more environmentally friendly.

The Danish company last year ditched efforts to make bricks entirely from recycled bottles because of cost and production issues. At the moment, 22% of the material in its colourful bricks is not made from fossil fuels.

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