G20 countries provided a record $1.4tn in public money for fossil fuels in 2022, according to a new study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) thinktank, covered by the Indian Express. It adds that the amount, which includes  $1tn in fossil fuel subsidies, $322bn in investments by state-owned enterprises and $50bn in lending from public financial institutions, is “more than double the pre-Covid-19 and pre-energy crisis levels of 2019”. The article notes that the report comes ahead of a G20 leaders’ summit when the nations will meet in New Delhi on 9-10 September and “attempt to gain consensus on climate change”. The Times of India says the study concludes that India, the current G20 president, has made “good progress” by cutting fossil fuel subsidies by 76% between 2014 and 2022, putting it in a “strong position to lead”. The Guardian also reports on the new study, noting that the uptick comes in spite of world leaders agreeing to phase out “inefficient” fossil-fuel subsidies at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow two years ago. The authors of the study say there is great potential to repurpose subsidies for other uses, the newspaper notes, with three-quarters of all the subsidies to the energy sector currently going to fossil fuels.

BusinessGreen reports on the FAIRR network, a group of leading investors responsible for £5.7tn in assets, urging G20 countries to align their agricultural subsidies with global climate and biodiversity goals by 2030. It cites the 2021 Dasgupta Review, commissioned by the UK government, which estimated such subsidies caused $4-6tn in damage to global nature every year. Elsewhere, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, chief executive of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), has said countries providing funding for nature will not work unless they also “stop investing in those activities that destroy nature”, such as fossil fuels, Politico reports. In more investment news, the Independent covers new research carried out for Greenpeace that accuses 12 oil firms of greenwashing over the amount of renewable and low-carbon energy they produce. It concludes that 97% of BP’s investment went towards fossil fuels, while it reduced investments in renewables compared to 2021, and 91% of Shell’s investment went towards fossil fuels. 

Finally, Joseph Ng’ang’a, chief executive for the Africa Climate Summit’s secretariat, tells Reuters that deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars for nature-based investments, clean energy production and climate adaptation are expected to be agreed at the summit next month.

“Record-setting” wildfires that hit Quebec in eastern Canada earlier this summer were made “more likely and more intense” by climate change, according to a new analysis by an international team of scientists, which has been widely covered by news outlets including CBC News. In summary, it says the UK-based World Weather Attribution initiative concluded that the fire weather in Quebec was twice as likely to occur and around 20% more intense because of climate change. Specifically, Canada’s Globe and Mail says that studying weather conditions across seven days revealed that climate change had increased the likelihood of “record-breaking high temperatures, low humidity and the rapid disappearance of snow cover” – all conditions that contribute to wildfires. According to the New York Times, “so far this year, fires have ravaged 37 million acres across nearly every Canadian province and territory. That’s more than twice as large as the amount of Canadian land that burned in any other year on record”. It adds that eastern Canada now has a 4-5% chance, in any given year, of “experiencing high-fire-risk conditions as severe or worse than this year’s”. The Guardian says that the results mean such conditions are “no longer unexpected and will become more commonplace as the world continues to heat up”. Carbon Brief also covers the study’s finding.

Elsewhere, 18 people have been found dead in a Greek forest “as wildfires that have swept parts of the country during a ferocious heat wave turned deadly”, Politico reports. The Financial Times says the people “may be migrants as there have been no reports of disappearances or missing residents amid a large-scale evacuation of the region”. In Australia, the Australasian Fire Authorities Council has warned that people should “prepare for what is likely to be the most significant bushfire season since the 2019-20 black summer fires”, the Guardian reports. According to the Washington Post, prior to the recent fires in Hawaii, the West Maui fires of 2018 burned through 21 houses, displaced a few dozen people and caused $4.3m in damage – the most destructive fires to hit the state until now. The investigation reveals that while Maui officials promised to improve fire safety “following the near-deadly blaze”, they “didn’t broadly act”. Meanwhile, the Hill reports that “southern Californians are surfacing from a historic weekend of weather extremes after what may have been the first tropical storm to hit California’s coast in 84 years”. Finally, another New York Times piece reports that Texas officials shipped a busload of Latin American migrants who had crossed the border from Mexico into Los Angeles “as it was struggling to keep residents safe from Tropical Storm Hilary”.

The current issue of New Scientist is a “special issue” on climate change titled: “How worried should we be? Your guide to a year of extreme weather.” It includes a feature that goes “inside the expedition to find out how humans can adapt” to extreme heat and an editorial titled: “Fighting climate change means avoiding doomism as well as denial.” The New York Times has a piece looking at the extreme weather seen in the US and elsewhere in August and warns to “expect more”. It says “a mix of devastating wildfires, tropical storms, mudslides and heatwaves foreshadows a future of intensified extremes as the world warms”. 

Frans Timmermans has stepped down from his role as head of the EU’s climate policy in order to make a run for Dutch prime minister, according to Politico. He has been replaced by Slovak centre-left Social Democrat Maroš Šefčovič in the role of executive vice president, commissioner in charge of the Green Deal and, on a temporary basis, commissioner in charge of the EU’s climate department, the news website says. It notes that the latter role will be reassigned when the Netherlands proposes a new Dutch commissioner. The article adds that all of this is “familiar territory for the Slovak”, who has previously been called on to manage cross-Channel relations with the UK following Brexit and has also led the European Commission’s energy department and an alliance of EU countries cooperating on the manufacture of batteries. Nevertheless, another Politico piece says Timmermans’ departure comes at a “crucial time for climate action both in the EU and abroad, as political resistance stiffens in the bloc and diplomatic talks gather pace”. It lists five “green problems” caused by his resignation. According to Euronews, the news “left a hole in one of the EU’s most critical portfolios”, which Timmermans had led since 2019, and “jeopardised the last stretch in EU policy making for the Green Deal before the European elections take place in 2024”. The Associated Press says Timmermans is aiming to lead a broad centre-left coalition of social democrats and greens going into the Dutch elections in November. DutchNews reports from the first party meeting of the new GreenLeft/Labour group addressed by Timmermans, where he “argued that climate justice and social justice should go hand in hand to avoid some people losing out in a period of great change”.

Germany will likely exceed one of its key EU climate targets by 150m tonnes of CO2-equivalent (MtCO2e) of greenhouse gases, likely resulting in a “hefty penalty payment” of up to €30bn, EurActiv reports. Under the bloc’s Effort Sharing Regulation, the five richest EU countries – including Germany – must cut their emissions by 50% by 2030 from most sectors outside of electricity generation, the news website notes. It adds that to make up the shortfall in emissions from its housing and transport sectors, Germany will have to purchase emissions allowances from other nations, and cheap allowances will not be readily available due to all member states now having tougher climate goals under the EU’s “Fit for 55” package. Clean Energy Wire says this news comes from a report by the Council of Experts on Climate Change. The government advisers said Germany’s 2023 climate policy package presented in June is not enough to reach its national emissions reduction targets – not just the EU ones – and that the ruling coalition overestimates its potential to lower emissions. It adds that the government already stated itself back in June that Germany would emit about 200MtCO2e more than allowed under its climate action law by 2030. Germany is aiming to cut its overall emissions by 65% by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2045, according to Reuters. A further report by the Federal Environment Agency, released at the same time as the other report and covered by the news wire, concludes that “Germany cannot become climate neutral by 2045 on the basis of planned and existing government climate policy”.

The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa convened in Johannesburg yesterday for the 15th BRICS summit, reports Xinhua, in a feature highlighting cooperation between China and Africa on “green energy” cooperation. The state news agency adds that, in recent years, China has “continuously strengthened energy cooperation” with African countries, “effectively promoting Africa’s green and low-carbon transformation and sustainable development while ensuring its energy supply security”. Separately, the state-run newspaper China Daily highlights plans by Saudi Aramco, the Saudi oil giant, to expand its downstream presence in China “to support the country’s energy security while facilitating its green transition”, according to the company’s downstream president, Mohammed Y Al Qahtani. 

Meanwhile, the state-owned newspaper Economic Daily reports that the foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday that “China strongly urges Japan to correct the erroneous decision and revoke the plan to release nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean…China will take all necessary measures to safeguard the marine environment, ensure food safety, and protect public health”. (Western media, such as the Guardian, focused on the sudden unexpected absence of Chinese president Xi Jinping, who was due to give a speech at the BRICS summit.) Chinese outlet Jiemian carries views of nuclear experts on Japan’s decision to move to release treated radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. State-run newspaper China Daily has published an editorial, calling Japan’s decision “a crime against humanity is within sight”. 

Separately, People’s Daily covers a report by the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences and Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, evaluating the progress on achieving the “dual carbon” goals across 110 Chinese cities. The Communist party-backed newspaper says that the results show progress in urban “dual carbon” actions compared to previous years. The report says that the “accelerated development of solar powers” has become a “new highlight in energy transformation” of eastern and central China. 

In other China news, Al Jazeera, citing a report by state broadcaster CCTV, writes that at least 11 people were killed following an explosion in a coal mine in northern China. The article adds that Chinese officials, including president Xi Jinping, have “urged enhanced safety measures” in the past, although this appears to have had “have had a limited effect on mining operations that frequently cut corners while local officials turn a blind eye”. Reuters says that oil prices on Tuesday remained “relatively stable”, with investors keeping their attention on the possibility that China’’s economic “challenges” could “reduce demand” from the leading global crude importer. Finally, the Communist party-backed ideology-focused magazine Qiushi has issued an editorial, based on an earlier article by president Xi on “ecological civilisation” published by the same outlet.

The UK government received advice that water companies might be forced to break the law to keep water supplies flowing last summer as parts of England nearly ran dry during the drought, the Times reports. In a briefing given last September to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency (EA) warned that half of reservoirs were “exceptionally low”, and five were at their lowest level on record and close to “dead storage”, where it is unclear whether the remaining water is treatable, the article notes. It draws on an investigation by Unearthed, the investigative journalism unit of Greenpeace. The documents, obtained by freedom of information requests, show how ill-prepared water companies were for climate change, according to environmental groups cited in the coverage.

The UK government has been blocked from overruling London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) expansion after lawyers warned the attempt would be rejected by the courts, the Daily Telegraph reports. It says ministers were considering using a “little-known legal power” under the 1999 Greater London Authority Act that allows them to reject a London mayor’s transport strategy if it is “inconsistent with national policies”. The scheme means the worst-polluting cars in Greater London will incur a £12.50 daily charge from 29 August, it adds. BBC News notes that the expansion of the scheme, first introduced in 2019 to tackle air pollution, was ruled lawful in the High Court last month after five Conservative-led councils challenged Labour mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan.

The UK’s energy security and net-zero secretary Grant Shapps has an article in the Daily Telegraph in which he reflects on the time he has spent housing Ukrainian refugees and emphasises the importance of supporting energy security efforts to cut reliance on Russia. He says the UK’s £192m nuclear fuel financing agreement with Ukraine will bolster the nation’s energy security “by supplying vital fuel for the country’s plants over the coming winter”. This will “further isolate Putin, ending their dependence on Russian supplies”, he adds. Shapps says the UK is “working with countries around the world to shore up critical energy supplies and rewire global energy resilience”. He also uses the piece to push his own domestic energy policies for both renewables and fossil fuels, writing: “Russia has used energy as a weapon of war. We have felt this in the UK, where energy bills soared as Putin attempted to blackmail us. To stop this ever happening again, we are boosting our homegrown energy supply. We are home to the world’s four largest offshore wind farms and have recently announced a new round of oil and gas licences in the North Sea.”

In his Daily Telegraph column, world economy editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes that, while the UK is currently “rock bottom in the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] league for heat pump installations”, this is “not such a bad thing”. He says “better, cleaner, hotter heat pumps are on the way” that uses carbon dioxide (CO2) or helium “as the working medium instead of F-gases”. Reflecting on the approaching ban on the sale of new gas boilers, Evans-Pritchard concludes: “The government in turn should stop trying to ban things. It should instead make the polluter pay for CO2 emissions. It should tax the sale of gas for home heating beyond 2030 to reflect the cost of direct air capture and storage of carbon. If people still want a new gas boiler knowing that the free ride will be over, let them enjoy the privilege.”

Reflecting on the mounting death toll as migrants drown crossing the Mediterranean and the Channel, writer Gaia Vince makes the links with the rising threat of climate change. She notes that, despite more than 110 armed conflicts going on around the world, the UK actually receives a “tiny proportion of asylum seekers per citizen compared with EU nations, let alone internationally”. She continues: “This is not an immigration crisis – but in the coming decades, it very much could be if we don’t plan today. This year, we’ve seen a taste of the climate chaos that will only worsen, with fires, floods, hurricanes and heat affecting nations on every continent displacing millions of people. In six years, some 2 billion people could be living in places where average temperatures exceed 29C; by the end of the century, this number approaches 4 billion.” Vince says that “if we want fewer people to move, we need to fund places to adapt, and to rapidly speed our decarbonisation so the push factors aren’t worse”. Even so, she says people inevitably will move, and “we need an honest discussion about how we manage this movement”.

Pacific island nations are more likely to meet their nationally determined contributions (NDC) targets under the Paris Agreement “if the transition is fostered through cultural practices for deliberative decision making”, a new study says. Pacific islands advocate for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, but face many barriers in transitioning from fossil fuels, the study says, including limitations of “state and regulatory capacity, market structures and access to finance”. The authors argue that “discussions remain overly focused on technical solutions”, while another hindrance comes from “international actors conducting programme and project development in the Pacific that insufficiently reflect local context”. The study recommends “Talanoa, Talanga and community-based approaches”, noting that “such practices will deliver maximum benefits to communities and ensure a just and sustainable transition”. The paper is part of a special collection on “geographies of climate justice in Oceania”.