Rishi Sunak has unveiled a plan to authorise more than 100 new licences to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea, pledging to “max out”  the UK’s oil and gas reserves, according to a front page Guardian story. [The news stems from a licensing round held in October and is still subject to final approvals from the regulator.] Sunak also indicated he would approve the UK’s “largest untapped reserves” in the Rosebank field, which hold 500m barrels of oil, the paper says. Sunak  “insisted the plan was compatible with net-zero commitments given the anticipated part-reliance on fossil fuels for years to come, saying it was more carbon-intensive to ship oil and gas from other countries”, it adds. According to the Guardian, Sunak told broadcasters that “domestic supplies were significantly more efficient than shipping gas and oil from other countries”. [Most UK gas imports come from Norway via pipeline and have a lower production-phase footprint than domestic resources.] Sunak also said the move is good for the economy, as “200,000 jobs are supported by this industry”, the Press Association reports. The North Sea Transition Authority is expected to grant the first licence in the autumn, Politico says. 

The Press Association reports that Sunak also announced up to £20bn funding for carbon capture and storage projects. [This figure was first mentioned in the spring budget and cannot proceed without legislation setting out where the money will come from.] Separately, the Independent says: “The government believes the carbon capture and storage industry could support 50,000 jobs in Britain by 2030. Sunak said the carbon capture and storage industry would play a ‘crucial’ role in Britain’s energy transition. But critics fear the technology will be used by the oil and gas industry as an excuse to slow the transition away from fossil fuels.” Sky News says the two new sites – the Acorn carbon capture project in North East Scotland and the Viking project in the Humber – are not due to be up and running until 2030. “The government is targeting 20-30m tonnes of carbon capture per year by the end of the decade, and considers the process fundamental to its net-zero ambitions,” CityAM reports. Outlets including the Daily Telegraph, Reuters, the Times and MailOnline have run pieces explaining how carbon capture and storage systems work. “There are very few serious routes to net-zero that do not envisage some use of carbon capture and storage,” the Daily Telegraph says. However, it notes that the industry is still in “relative infancy” with all CCS projects worldwide only capturing around 40m tonnes of CO2 per year – equivalent to 10% of the UK’s annual emissions.

Sunak’s announcement “drew immediate backlash from opposition figures, the renewable energy industry, scientists and climate groups along with former Conservative ministers,” the Independent reports. The paper quotes a critical tweet by former climate minister Zac Goldsmith, adding that former energy minister Chris Skidmore called the announcement “the wrong decision at precisely the wrong time”. The i newspaper also quotes Skidmore. The Daily Mail says that Sunak “threw down the gauntlet to [opposition Labour leader] Sir Keir Starmer over Britain’s energy security” with his announcement, noting that Labour has pledged to ban all new oil and gas licences. The New York Times says: “The announcements were an indication that the North Sea oil and gas industry is becoming an important battleground for Britain’s next general election, in 2024.”

The Times reports that “more than 600 scientists and academics have written to Sunak for a second time, after being ignored in March, reiterating their call for him to commit to blocking new approvals [for oil and gas licences]”. The newspaper quotes the letter: “With searing heat around the world reminding us of the very real danger posed by climate change, we are even more disappointed that the government’s revised Net Zero Strategy did not rule out any new development of onshore and offshore oil and gas fields.” CityAM quotes shadow climate secretary Ed Miliband, who says Sunak’s energy policies are “weak and confused” and will “not take a penny off bills”. New Scientist notes that according to the International Energy Agency, new oil and gas development is incompatible with global goals to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Meanwhile, Politico reports that “an Australian billionaire says he may step back from investing in UK green technologies after the government announced new backing for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.” CityAM reports that “trade bodies” have welcomed Sunak’s announcement, in a piece quoting only one trade body, Offshore Energies UK, the voice of the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Meanwhile, analysis from the Guardian says: “Grant Shapps, the energy security and net-zero secretary, said: ‘New oil and gas licences will drive forward our energy independence and our economy for generations…safeguarding energy bills for British families.’ These claims are simply wrong. The UK is more hooked than most on gas and has the high bills to prove it. Real energy security comes from using less gas. In any case, new UK fields are unlikely to deliver for many years and would be a mere drop in the global oil and gas ocean, having no impact on prices…If Sunak were really interested in freeing the UK from the influence of ‘hostile states’ and Vladimir Putin’s ‘weaponised energy’, which drive the extreme volatility of oil and gas prices, he would be pushing hard on the policies that could free the nation from fossil fuel addiction. These include the cheapest of all power, onshore wind, which Sunak continues to block…Shapps claims that Labour’s energy and climate plans are ‘an existential threat to our national energy security’. In contrast, analysis by the climate website Carbon Brief shows that Labour’s plans, including ending new oil and gas licences, would result in less imported gas, thanks to a push on renewables… Sunak also backed two new carbon capture and storage facilities, where CO2 from gas burning could be captured and buried. CCS will have a small but important role in cutting industrial emissions but, as the IPCC found, renewable energy is by far the bigger and cheaper opportunity.”

Elsewhere, the Guardian reports: “Labour has asked Rishi Sunak to explain why he used an RAF jet to fly to Scotland on Monday when scheduled flights were available, given the ministerial code says private planes should only be used when there is no alternative.” The Daily Telegraph says Sunak is defending his use of private jets to travel around the UK, saying it is the most “efficient” use of his time, and adding that “ban[ning] everything” is “absolutely the wrong approach”.

According to the China Meteorological Administration, it is predicted that in the next three days, certain areas in northern China will face a “high risk of heavy rain disasters”, reports the People’s Daily. The state news agency Xinhua reports that the Haihe River Basin also experienced the “first flood of this year”. BBC News, citing a report by Chinese state broadcaster CGTN, says that after being stuck in his car in a flooded river, a man in central China’s Wu’an city, Hebei, China, was rescued by firefighters.

Meanwhile, according to the National Energy Administration (NEA), China’s top energy regulator, China’s installed renewable energy capacity has reached 1,320 gigawatts (GW) by the end of June, “exceeding the coal-fired power generating capacity”, reports the state news agency Xinhua. Additionally, according to the NEA, in the first half of the year, the domestic energy supply guarantee capacity “steadily improved”, and the “green and low-carbon transformation accelerated”, reports Shanghai Securities News. It adds that the national energy supply and demand situation remained “stable and orderly”, with electricity consumption reaching 4,300 terawatts hours in the first half of the year, up 5% on a year earlier. Hellenic Shipping News writes that, according to the IEA, global coal consumption “climbed to a new all-time high” in 2022 globally, with demand from China and India increasing “over 5%” during the first half of 2023. 

The South China Morning Post has a comment by David Dodwell, the executive director of the Hong Kong-APEC Trade Policy Study Group, a trade policy thinktank, titled “Climate change: is China’s surge in coal consumption just a passing phase?” Chinese financial outlet Yicai writes that, according to the official figures, investment in the “new energy industry” in Inner Mongolia surged by 110% in the first half of the year. Finally, the South China Morning Post carries an article, titled “What have the visits to Beijing by Yellen, Blinken, Kerry and Kissinger done for US-China relations?”

The UK government has announced plans to establish a “nuclear skills taskforce” to coordinate the training of tens of thousands of British workers, the Financial Times reports. The paper continues: “The move follows warnings that the UK lacks the skilled workers needed to deliver on the government’s target of building [up to] 24GW [gigawatts] of new nuclear power-generating capacity by 2050. Over the same period, the defence sector will also need to build up its base of skilled nuclear engineers and technicians as part of an extensive submarine building programme for the British and Australian navies after the signing of the tripartite Aukus pact, which also involves the US, earlier this year.” The Press Association adds that the taskforce will “develop a national skills strategy for jobs across the industry, from technical scientific and engineering roles to logistics, project management, commercial and finance”. The group will be chaired by Sir Simon Bollom – former chief executive officer of the Ministry of Defence’s defence equipment and support – CityAM says.

In other UK news, the Sun launches a “five point plan to protect drivers from the rush to net-zero”, saying it is “backed by MPs, motorists and campaigners”. It says its “give us a brake” campaign is calling for an end to low-emissions zones and low-traffic neighbourhoods, a delay to the 2030 ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars, a continuation of the fuel duty freeze [that has cost the Treasury at least £80bn and raised UK emissions by as much as 7%, according to Carbon Brief analysis] and, finally, it calls for the “zero-emissions vehicle” mandate to be scrapped. The Press Association reports that Rishi Sunak has reaffirmed the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. The newswire says: “Rishi Sunak has been under mounting pressure to row back on the ban after more than 40 Conservative MPs and peers wrote to him calling for the deadline to be pushed back. However, the prime minister said it remains part of his agenda, reiterating his commitment to transition to net-zero in a ‘proportionate and pragmatic way.’” This comes as the Guardian says: “Many Tory MPs are privately very concerned that the prime minister’s desperation to appear on the side of motorists could see him lose sight of the country’s climate commitments. Many have, however, stopped short of publicly criticising him.” The Times reports that while the ban on new petrol and diesel cars remains government policy, “senior figures around Sunak are understood to have discussed watering the policy down or delaying it”. It adds: “In particular, there has been a discussion about whether to follow the European Union in giving smaller manufacturers an exemption, or allowing the sale of cars with internal combustion engines powered exclusively by e-fuels.” Sunak thinks that by portraying himself as “on the side” of motorists, he is “aligning himself with the views of middle Britain”, according to the Financial Times. Politico reports: “Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch is hoping to persuade Cabinet colleagues to soften new rules on electric cars.”

Meanwhile, two Just Stop Oil protesters who scaled the bridge at the Dartford crossing “have been refused permission to appeal against their sentences”, the Guardian reports. “The judges said that while the jail terms handed down by the original trial judge in April were ‘severe’, they ‘were not manifestly excessive’,” the Times reports. MailOnline adds: “Daniel Friedman KC, representing the activists, said in written arguments their jail terms were ‘the longest ever handed down in a case of non-violent protest in this country in modern times’.” Finally, a new poll for DeSmog shows that a higher proportion of voters support ultra low emission zone-style schemes to cut air pollution than don’t.

A record streak of days with temperatures above 110F (43C) in the US city of Phoenix ended on Monday as cooling rains “slightly tempered” the intense heat, the Guardian reports. The city recorded 31 days in a row with temperatures above 110F this summer, breaking the previous record of 18 straight days that was set in 1974, the newspaper says. However, the Hill says the reprieve will be “short-lived”, as forecasts predict temperatures above 110F for several days later in the week. The Independent reports that “more than 46 million people in the US were under heat advisories and alerts on Monday with warnings of excessive temperatures in parts of Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas and Louisiana”. This comes as the Guardian reports that “a huge wildfire burning out of control in California’s Mojave national preserve is spreading rapidly amid erratic winds and high temperatures”. According to Axios, this is California’s largest wildfire this year. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports on efforts to “save” rapidly bleaching coral reefs around Florida by moving them onshore.

Reuters reports that Texas power usage has hit a record high for the sixth time this summer due to air conditioner use, while Energy Monitor says “extreme weather could cripple the US electrical grid”.  The Guardian reports that inside Texas prisons, “temperatures are estimated to rise regularly above 115F (46C), and have even been recorded to reach as high as 149F, pushing individuals to the point of mental or physical breakdown, or even death”. The Independent adds: “At least 32 people died in Texas prisons during the month of June, nine of whom died of heart attacks in cells without air conditioning.” The Guardian reports that “big-business lobbyists, including big agricultural and construction groups, are pushing to water down or stymie efforts at the federal and state levels to implement workplace heat protection standards”. And Axios reports that food-insecure households are among the most at-risk during extreme heat.

The UK’s Conservative government is “easing up on its green commitments” in the hope it can “revive Tory fortunes in the general election”, says a Guardian editorial, adding that the shift is due to “pressure from the rightwing press and the party grassroots”. Announcements regarding carbon capture and storage (CCS), the editorial continues, while, “partly designed to show that the government continues to treat its clean technology and net-zero targets seriously” are “marginal initiatives” that amount to “letting energy companies off the hook”. An editorial in the Daily Mirror says: “Rishi Sunak is more interested in creating culture wars than battling climate crisis”.

An editorial in the Times says plans for more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea are “a sensible step” which “will not prevent the attainment of the legal target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050”. [In 2021, the world’s most influential energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency, said there was no room for new oil and gas expansion anywhere in the world if the global energy system is to reach net-zero by 2050.] A Daily Mail editorial says: “The fact Labour and other eco-zealots are up in arms with the government for issuing hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas drilling licences proves it is a smart move. The reality is that green technology might well be the future, but while it’s under development it can’t be the only option.” An editorial in the Sun uses Rishi Sunak’s North Sea announcement to continue its campaign against the 2030 petrol car ban, setting out “five key demands”. A second Sun editorial welcomes the new oil and gas licences. Meanwhile the Times market reporter, Jessica Newman reports rising share prices for Shell, BP and Ithaca, among others, writing: “Almost as soon as the government had committed to awarding hundreds of new oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea, London’s investors rushed to get on board.” 

Several editorials link Sunak’s announcement of more than a hundred new oil and gas licences in the North Sea with the recent Uxbridge by-election. The Evening Standard writes: “Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party appear to have concluded, on the basis of a solitary and surprise by-election victory, to trash the government’s record on the environment. It is a curious decision – and one that threatens not only Britain’s ability to combat catastrophic climate change, but also ignores the far more nuanced views of voters up and down the country.” An editorial in the Independent writes: “The PM is taking all the wrong lessons from his narrow squeak of a win at the Uxbridge by-election, and is posturing as the protector of hard-pressed families against the supposed excesses of environmentalism. In doing so, he is playing a dangerous game.” 

The Financial Times Lex column identifies that the fledgling CCS industry has “suffered many false starts over the past 16 years”. Thanks in part to Sunak’s announcement yesterday, it writes, the industry is “gaining momentum in the UK”, but warns “many hurdles remain.” In an editorial on “the government’s assault on net zero”, BusinessGreen editor James Murray, writes: “[I]f these [CCS] projects are so critical to achieving net zero why has the government spent over a decade failing to deliver a functioning carbon capture project in the UK? Why is the expanding pipeline of new projects still waiting on clarity on the regulatory and subsidy framework in which they will operate? And does the government really think it can build this industry with just £20bn of funding over 20 years, especially when it has just moved to reduce the cost of carbon?” Murray also cautions readers against jumping too readily to conclusions: “If you look beyond all the spin of the past few days, the government has repeatedly reiterated its commitment to meeting the UK’s net-zero goals and in the past month alone announced new measures to boost investment in nuclear, EV batteries and now carbon capture and storage projects…it was notable to see Sunak refusing to budge on the target date for phasing out petrol and diesel cars. Decarbonisation will continue and the clean tech roll out will keep on accelerating, regardless of the increasingly vocal noises off.” 

The Daily Telegraph questions the tenability of Sunak’s proposals on CCS, writing in an editorial: “Will any of this actually happen? Carbon capture and storage technology has been available for decades, yet no government has taken it up because it is expensive…Above all, which energy companies are going to invest in the North Sea if a Labour government is going to shut them down?” 

On their comment pages, the UK’s right-leaning papers continue to give space to attacks on climate policy, with the Daily Mail hosting climate-sceptic commentator Daniel Hannan, who writes: “Virtue-signalling doesn’t get more pointless than the idea that we should halt the extraction of oil and gas here, even if that means importing it from overseas at higher environmental cost.” [An analysis published in 2022 found that, on average, UK production in the North Sea was nearly three times more emissions intensive than Norwegian production – the country the UK currently sources most of its oil and gas from – and has become more emissions intensive in recent years.] The Daily Express political editor, Sam Lister, writes: “Either we invest in our own [fossil fuels] or we import them.” Also in the Daily Express, political commentator Stephen Pollard writes: “If we refuse to use North Sea oil and gas anymore, we have to import it from somewhere else.” [Once a licence is awarded, North Sea oil and gas belongs to the licence holder. These are mostly multinational or state-owned fossil fuel companies, including firms fully or partly owned by the Russian, Iranian, Chinese, Norwegian and other governments. Around 80% of oil produced in UK waters is currently exported. Similarly, during the global energy crisis last year, UK gas exports rose.] Daily Telegraph columnist Sherelle Jacobs writes under the headline: “Starmer is about to be humiliated by the global retreat from net-zero.” She suggests the “tide is turning on net-zero” around the world. [Net-zero targets cover 88% of the world’s emissions.] A comment for the Sun by climate-sceptic columnist Ross Clark misquotes Michael Gove calling net-zero a “religious crusade”. [In fact Gove called for a “thoughtful environmentalism” and warned of the “dangers…if people think you are treating the cause of the environment as a religious crusade”.] 

Author Christian Wolmar has penned an opinion piece in the Guardian criticising Rishi Sunak’s decision to review low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) in England. Wolmar says: “Let’s be clear. There is precious little blood to be drawn in LTNs. This is a niche concern, affecting a very small percentage of the population, of whom only a minority are opposed.” He continues: “It is a measure of Rishi Sunak’s desperation that he has been sucked into the battle over the ‘war on motorists’. There is, of course, no war on motorists. It is an invention of the Daily Mail and other rightwing newspapers that argue against any restriction on the freedom of motorists to act exactly as they wish.” Opposition leader Keir Starmer “should sit on his hands and watch as the prime minister launches himself into a war he cannot win”, Wolmar says. Elsewhere, associate editor of the Independent, Sean O’Grady, has penned a comment piece on “how motorists became the new front in Sunak’s culture wars”. And Daily Telegraph columnist Suzanne Moore writes: “For all the huffing and puffing, Ulez does not affect that many people. More than 95% of cars comply with the rules and don’t have to pay and the compliance rate is well over 90%.”

In other UK comment, Conservative ex-chancellor Philip Hammond has penned a piece in the Times under the headline “Politicians have to come clean about full net-zero costs.” He says: “The truth is that the huge investment required to decarbonise the economy, whether it is made by the public purse or private capital, has to come from somewhere: a pound spent on decarbonisation cannot be spent on something else.” [The government’s official advisors the Climate Change Committee has estimated that reaching net-zero would require investments of £1.4tn, with this total substantially offset by savings – largely in reduced fossil fuel imports – amounting to £1.1tn. This is before taking account of avoided climate impacts and other benefits such as cleaner air.]

A new study finds that up to half of China’s drylands may be “unsuitable” for grazing by the end of the century due to climate-change-induced drying. Researchers use remote-sensing data to determine how 20 different ecological variables, such as plant productivity and soil fertility, change in response to changes in grazing pressure and aridity. They find that increased pressure from grazing lowers most ecosystems’ aridity threshold, “showing how ecological thresholds can be amplified by the joint effects” of grazing pressure and climate change. They also find that almost 9% of current grazing areas are exceeding their “maximum allowable grazing pressure”.