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Attracta Mooney and Pilita Clark, Financial Times
Several outlets preview the meeting taking place in Colombia this week where, according to the Financial Times, “more than 50 countries including Germany, the UK, Brazil, Nigeria and Australia are due…for the first international meeting dedicated to phasing out fossil fuels, despite the absence of the world’s top three carbon-emitting nations”. Irene Veléz Torres, environment minister of Colombia, which is co-hosting the event with the Netherlands, tells the newspaper that the talks will be “difficult”, but the energy crisis has “made them more relevant”. Wopke Hoekstra, the European Union’s climate commissioner, tells Politico. “What unites this group is the need to find an alternative. And if anything, world events of the last six weeks have proven them right.” The Association Press says: “The meeting reflects growing frustration among some governments and advocates that decades of UN climate negotiations have failed to directly address fossil-fuel production – the main driver of global warming – prompting the Santa Marta summit to push the issue outside formal talks.”
The Guardian has an explainer on “how frustration at COP stalemates inspires first global talks on phasing out fossil fuels”. Bloomberg, BBC News, Inside Climate News and Forbes also have coverage of the talks. The Guardian and Climate Home News both focus on the new science panel launched at the summit, which will help countries develop plans to reduce dependence on oil, gas and coal. [A preliminary scientific “synthesis report” circulated to governments attending the talks, revealed by Carbon Brief earlier this month, offers 12 “action insights” for countries to consider, along with a wide range of “action recommendations”.]
MORE ON CLIMATE TALKS
The Guardian interviews Chris Bowen, the Australian climate change minister and “president of negotiations” at the COP31 talks in Turkey in November. He says the fallout from the Iran war is driving countries to boost homegrown energy reliability and “opens an opportunity for progress on clean generation” at the meeting. The Financial Times: “Historic climate shipping deal faces ‘real fight’ as talks restart.” Euractiv: “Global net-zero shipping deal hangs in the balance as London IMO talks kick off.”
Chelsey Dulaney and Jason Douglas, The Wall Street Journal
The war in the Middle East has “bolstered America’s status as an energy-exporting powerhouse, with Asia and Europe clamouring for every shipment of US crude, natural gas and jet fuel they can get”, reports the Wall Street Journal. It adds: “US exports of crude and petroleum products rose to a record last week, nearly 12.9m barrels a day, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Shipments of liquefied natural gas have also jumped, according to ship-tracking firm Kpler, with exports setting an all-time high last month.” The Financial Times has an interactive feature which begins: “A record number of tankers is instead heading for the US, tilting the global energy system further towards the world’s largest oil and gas producer.” It adds: “The US stands to benefit as war in Iran reshapes oil and gas flows, but Europe and Asia are wary of becoming too reliant on American supply.”
MORE ON US
The Associated Press: “Trump's rejection of wind projects scrambles GOP politics before midterms.” The New York Times reports that “more used electric cars are coming at more affordable prices”. The Financial Times reports that “shares of an Amazon-backed small modular nuclear reactor company X-energy jumped 27% on its Wall Street debut as investors flocked to the latest stock offering tied to a revival in atomic energy”.
David Gura and Christina Ruffini, Bloomberg
There continues to be widespread media coverage of how the Iran war is affecting global energy supplies. Bloomberg carries an interview with S&P Global vice chair Daniel Yergin who warns that the crisis represents the “biggest energy disruption we’ve ever seen”, despite oil prices not yet reaching the inflation-adjusted equivalent of previous highs. Yergin predicts the crisis will ultimately lead to a “bigger focus on energy security” among Gulf countries and accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, noting that “20% of the cars built in the world this year will be electric vehicles, and that’s going to get a tick up from this, certainly”.
In an interview with the Guardian, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), says: “Governments will review their energy strategies. There will be a significant boost to renewables and nuclear power and a further shift towards a more electrified future. And this will cut into the main markets for oil.” Asked about the UK’s policy towards North Sea extraction, he says: “It is up to the government, but these fields would not change much for the UK’s energy security, nor would they change the price of oil and gas. They would not make any significant difference to this crisis.”
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong has said she will visit Japan, China, and South Korea this week for talks on energy security. Bloomberg says: “The war in the Middle East is putting pressure on the Japanese government to consider energy-saving measures, a challenge for prime minister Sanae Takaichi as she seeks to calm public anxiety over potential shortages.”
MORE ON ENERGY CRISIS
The Guardian: “The great energy pivot: US oil and Chinese solar are the winners in Trump’s war on Iran.” Agence France-Presse: “Renewable energy is booming again. The Iran war has scrambled markets.” Financial Times: “EV ownership at ‘tipping point’ in many parts of the world, experts say.” Bloomberg: “This $6,000 EV should be winning the energy shock.” CNN: “The Iran war has the world buying more clean energy. China stands to benefit the most.” Bloomberg: “Solar panels and batteries are changing life in Brazil's Amazon
Ajith Athrady, Deccan Herald
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has used his monthly “Mann ki Baat” radio address to announce that the nation has, according to the Deccan Herald, “reached a significant milestone in its renewable energy journey, with the country’s wind power generation capacity now exceeding 56GW [gigawatts]”. The newspaper quotes Modi saying: “India has recently achieved a major milestone in wind energy. Our wind energy generation capacity has now crossed 56GW. In just the past year, nearly 6GW of new capacity has been added.” The Hindu notes that Modi also used the radio address to “hail the achievement of criticality in the nuclear fast breeder reactor in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, as a ‘historic milestone in India’s nuclear energy journey’”.
Meanwhile, the Times of India reports that, “riding on the growing contribution of solar energy to the power generation mix, India comfortably met the peak power demand of 256GW on Saturday, the highest ever recorded on a single day, amid soaring temperatures across the country”.
MORE ON INDIA
India Today: “Killer heatwave in April: Does India need to rethink summer vacation timing for schools?” BBC News: “In photos: North India braces for heatwaves as temperatures cross 40C.” Reuters: “India's Adani Green reins in renewable additions due to transmission limits.” Separately, Reuters reports from Australia that “large protests were held across Australia on Saturday against Indian mining giant Adani Enterprises' proposed Carmichael coal mine”.
Damien Gayle, The Guardian
The UK government “vastly underestimated the climate impact of artificial intelligence, it has emerged, after officials raised their estimate of carbon emissions from AI by a factor of more than 100”, reports the Guardian. The adjustment – which was triggered by Carbon Brief’s Josh Gabbatiss raising questions about the estimate last month – now means that the “energy use by AI datacentres in the UK could cause the emission of up to 123m tonnes of carbon dioxide – about as much as generated by 2.7 million people – over the next 10 years”. A separate Guardian article claims that two UK departments are now “at odds over energy demands of AI datacentres” and that the “discrepancy in the forecasts raises questions over government planning for net-zero”. The story is also covered by the Financial Times, Daily Telegraph and Politico.
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