A group of 27 investors is calling for Shell to align its “medium-term” greenhouse gas emissions target with the Paris Agreement, the Financial Times reports. According to the paper, the shareholder resolution is coordinated by the activist group “Follow This”. It continues: “Shell has claimed its targets are already Paris-aligned but the activist group wanted the company to do better. This would include accounting for all the emissions of its products sold to its customers, known as scope 3. The activist group has organised similar motions at Shell meetings since 2016 but support for the upcoming resolution has drawn the largest number of investment managers, said Follow This founder Mark van Baal.” The Guardian notes that the investor coalition together owns around 5% of Shell’s shares and assets. It adds that shareholders will be asked to vote on the resolution at the company’s annual general meeting in May. Van Baal expects support for the resolution to grow as the meeting approaches, it says. It continues: “The company’s AGM in London last year descended into chaos as climate protests delayed the start of the meeting by an hour, after the board rejected shareholder calls for new targets for carbon emissions cuts. A Shell spokesperson said: ‘The 2024 resolution from Follow This is broadly unchanged from their 2023 submission, which was rejected by shareholders (as its variations have been every year since first being submitted in 2016).’” Reuters says “the effort to ratchet up pressure on Shell’s climate strategy comes as CEO Wael Sawan seeks to boost the company’s profits, partly by slowing down investments in renewables and growing fossil fuel production”. Bloomberg also covers the news.

The European Union’s 27 environment ministers gathered in Brussels yesterday to discuss the bloc’s climate target for 2040, EurActiv reports. The outlet says the European Commission is due to publish a proposal on the EU’s 2040 target on 6 February. The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change recommended a 90-95% cut, it adds. It continues: “Several EU countries have expressed support for plans to target a 90% emissions cut relative to 1990 levels by 2040, and while Hungary is sceptical, France and Germany have yet to take a stance…While the bloc has already committed to reduce emissions by at least 55% relative to 1990 levels by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050, the intermediate target will be the EU executive’s climate ‘legacy,’ activists have said.” Politico reports that Urszula Zielińska – a senior official in Poland’s new government – supported the 90% target. It continues: “The comments were the latest – and, to date, most significant – sign that pressure is ratcheting up on the EU to deliver on the 90% recommendation. Thus far, only Denmark has publicly backed the 90% target, while Bulgaria has said the EU should at least ‘seriously discuss’ the goal. So having coal-dependent Poland joining the chorus is a key addition.”. Elsewhere, Reuters reports that Zielińska has announced that Poland plans to set an end date for coal-fueled power.

The organising committee for COP29, which will be held in Azerbaijan next year, is made up of 28 men and no women, the Guardian reports. The newspaper notes that in contrast, 63% of the members of the organising committee for the COP28 climate summit, held in the United Arab Emirates last month, were women. It continues: “Almost all members of the COP29 committee are government ministers or officials, including the head of the state security service. The head of Azerbaijan’s state gas distribution network is also on the committee.”

Britain’s last active coal plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, generated 3.4% of all electricity produced in the UK at the start of the week amid plummeting temperatures, the Daily Telegraph reports. (As Carbon Brief reported earlier this month, coal averaged 1% of UK supplies in 2023 as a whole. The fuel has also averaged 1% over the past month.) The paper notes that temperatures in the UK could hit -10C in the coming days, driving up electricity demand. It continues: “While pressure on the grid has been lessened by good wind power generation on Monday, the coming days could prove more challenging if this changes.” It adds: “The National Grid ESO had five coal plants on standby last winter to add extra capacity at times of peak demand. This winter, only Ratcliffe has remained online after the four other units closed…The government plans to close Ratcliffe-on-Soar, which is owned by Germany’s Uniper, in September.” Separately, the Daily Telegraph reports that energy secretary Claire Coutinho will decide this week whether or not the power station Drax can retrofit carbon capture plants onto its wood-burning units. According to the paper, “three Tory MPs have criticised plans to continue subsidies for Drax as they argue that the clear-cutting of forests in North America destroys the environment”. Drax has published research commissioned by consultancy Baringa suggesting the plant would remove 8m tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere annually, the paper says. This comes as the Times reports that installing carbon capture technology at the plant “could cost bill-payers an average £1bn extra each year, according to estimates from a leading energy thinktank”. Meanwhile, the Times reports that “plans for the construction of a second new nuclear power plant in Britain [at Sizewell in Suffolk] have moved a step closer after a development consent order was officially triggered”. 

In other UK news, the Guardian reports that “up to 150 public swimming pools in the UK could be offered an innovative way to cut their energy bills by recycling heat from computer data processing centres after a £200m investment by Octopus Energy into a green tech firm”. Separately, the Times reports: “The growth in sales of petrol and diesel cars has ended, BMW has claimed as it moves ahead with converting its business to becoming majority-all-electric by 2030.” It quotes BMW’s finance director saying: “The tipping point for the combustion engine is already there.” Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph says new polling from the Better Homes Alliance finds that only 33% of all homeowners supported plans for a complete phase-out of gas boilers, while 55% opposed a deadline. Around 33% backed the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2035 while 56% were against it, the paper says. The Times reports on “recent developments in heat pump technology” that “could make heat pumps more attractive”. And an Environment Agency assessment obtained by Unearthed shows that “South West Water was inadequately prepared for the record-breaking heatwave that hit England in 2022 and was ‘not honest’ with regulators about the risk a drought posed to the company’s water supplies”. 

The first national data product created in response to the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) “has completed offline transactions at the Tianjin Climate Exchange”, reports China Energy Net. It adds that the company undertaking the transaction is required to provide a “comprehensive carbon emissions report” when exporting screws, bolts and other products to the EU, including “upstream steel manufacturing data”. Chinese energy outlet IN-EN.com reports that, guided by a series of policies, an increasing number of Chinese energy companies are “intensifying green energy transactions” and are actively applying for “green certificates”. The Communist Party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily reports that the Chinese state administration for market regulation (SAMR) has recently released the “implementation rules” for project approvals and emission reduction verification for the voluntary greenhouse gas trading market (also known as the China Certified Emission Reduction scheme). BJX News says that the approval of the “draft interim measures for the administration of carbon emission rights trading” will contribute to the “future expansion of the carbon market and enhance China’s international influence in the carbon discourse”.

Meanwhile, Jiemian reports that the export value of the “new three” – electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar cells – exceeded 1tn yuan ($140.7bn) in 2023. Lithium-ion batteries accounted for 42% of sales, the newspaper adds. The state-run newspaper Global Times reports that Chinese officials, including premier Li Qiang, and firms, including battery manufacturer CATL and solar company LONGi, are “among the key participants” at the World Economic Forum being held in Davos, Switzerland this week. Bloomberg reports that the Chinese state-owned electricity utility company State Grid will keep its “annual investment budget at over 500bn yuan ($70bn) in 2024”, following record highs in 2023. The state-run industry newspaper China Energy News reports that the ministry of ecology and environment (MEE) has selected the first batch of 21 pilot cities and 43 industrial parks to conduct “collaborative innovation in pollution reduction and carbon reduction”. The pilot projects will span various industries such as “steel, non-ferrous metals, petrochemicals, automobiles, equipment manufacturing and new energy”, the newspaper adds. 

In China-related comment, Bloomberg columnist David Fickling writes that China’s “series of stricter regulations on particulates” have yielded “remarkable success in clearing up the skies”. China Daily carries a commentary by Liu Xinhua, distinguished professor at Tongji University and director of the Center for Chinese Economic Studies of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy. He says that the government “plans to shift national dual control from ‘single control’ to ‘system control’, notably by easing restrictions on clean energy consumption”.  Finally, Reuters publishes a commentary arguing that China’s record-high imports of oil in 2023 were still below predicted levels and may be going into “stockpiles” or being processed and re-exported rather than being consumed, while high coal imports are due to “temporary” challenges posed by hydropower shortages.

As the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos gets underway, the Financial Times reports on the “green issues to watch”. The newspaper says: “Yesterday the traffic to Davos was stopped by angry protests from environmental and social activists, who accuse the WEF elite of being dangerously complacent about the climate risks and inequalities…It is easy to see why those protesters are angry: the acronym ‘ESG’ has all but disappeared from the agenda this year amid a right-wing backlash. But there will still be plenty of debate about renewable energy, ethical issues around AI, human rights and development challenges.” According to the paper, “green tech will be a top issue for debate at Davos this week”. Separately, the newspaper reports that heavy snowfall has been seen in Davos. However, it notes that the number of snow days in the Alps has fallen more in the past 20 years than over the previous 600. Bloomberg notes that the WEF theme for this year’s discussions is “building trust”. It adds: “What leaders do to tackle climate change can help regain confidence in governments and institutions.” The Hindu reports that the opening concert last night was “dedicated to the Sahara desert and Amazon rainforest amid growing concerns among world leaders over climate change, conflicts and misinformation”. And the Associated Press has published the results of a survey of more than 4,700 CEOs, which finds that “more executives are feeling better about the global economy, but a growing number don’t think their companies will survive the coming decade without a major overhaul because of pressure from climate change and technology like artificial intelligence”.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas writes for BusinessGreen that the government’s new North Sea oil legislation is “a political stunt that will harm the UK’s ability to push for high climate ambition on an international stage”. Lucas calls the bill “one of the last nails in the coffin of the UK’s much-trumpeted ‘climate leadership’”, and says “the fact that its second reading in parliament is due barely two months after Rishi Sunak turned up at the COP28 climate summit boasting of Britain ‘leading by example’ makes it even more shameful”. She continues: “First, annual licensing rounds can already happen – and often have – with even the North Sea Transition Authority itself saying the bill isn’t needed to meet their obscene duty to maximise economic recovery of petroleum from the North Sea. And the idea that it would somehow deliver energy security to the UK, help the millions of people struggling with soaring energy bills and boost the transition to net-zero, as the government claims, is simply untrue…Not to mention the fact that any oil or gas which is extracted will be sold on the global market to the highest bidder.” She concludes: “The weaker his position, the more the prime minister flays around looking for red meat to throw to the various right-wing factions in his party in a desperate effort to save his own skin and stay in power. It won’t work. But the collateral damage as this government disintegrates is the harm to the UK’s climate reputation and the undermining of global efforts to address an accelerating climate crisis…This bill has to go, and so does this government.”

In other UK comment, chief business commentator Alistair Osborne writes in the Times that “the chances of Rishi Sunak being around to deliver his reheated ‘civil nuclear road map’ are close to net-zero”. Osborne continues: “He may want 24 gigawatts of new nuclear power by 2050, with plans to ‘explore’ another mega-nuke in addition to Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C. But financing any rollout is likely to be someone else’s problem.” He concludes: “Labour’s union backers are typically pro-nuclear. But should Sir Keir Starmer come to power, he must still tackle key questions. Are pricey mega nukes, largely funded by the taxpayer and consumers, the right strategic bet for 2040? Or do battery power, say, or modular nuclear reactors make more sense? The government is yet to make a conclusive financial case for Sizewell C – let alone any more.” Separately, an editorial in the Yorkshire Times criticises government plans to continue North Sea licensing but says of plans for carbon capture at the biomass-powered Drax plant in the region: “Yes, there are questions over the sustainability of burning wood, despite Drax’s insistence that by-products are used from other industries. But carbon capture as a technology needs to be seriously explored.” It argues that “we cannot afford to turn our backs on new technologies in drive to net-zero”. Bloomberg columnist David Fickling writes under the headline: “EVs are cheaper than ever. That’s bad news for EV owners.” Finally, Financial Times Asia Lex editor, June Yoon, asks “Has BYD already peaked?” Yoon notes that sales of BYD electric vehicles keep hitting fresh records, but shares in the Chinese EV maker are falling. 

Technology advancements are unlikely to reduce household carbon footprints enough to be in line with limiting global warming to 1.5C on their own, according to a modelling study encompassing 49 countries and regions. The research examines how household carbon footprints from EU27 countries could change in the future assuming extensive “supply-side” technological transformations, but few lifestyle changes. It finds that, by 2050, no countries included in the study are projected to be 1.5C-compatible by pursuing technological changes alone. “Our results highlight the critical role of household lifestyle transformation in climate change mitigation,” the researchers say.