This weekly round-up brings you key climate news from the past seven days, including the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro and a new study on the influence of ocean warming on Atlantic hurricanes.
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1. G20 Backs New Climate Finance Goal at COP29 But Falls Short of Explicitly Mentioning Fossil Fuels
The leaders of the world’s largest economies met at Rio de Janeiro’s Modern Art Museum earlier this week. The two-day meeting tackled an agenda ranging from ongoing conflicts to climate change, poverty reduction and tax policy.
They agreed to step up multilateralism and increase climate finance “from billions to trillions” during a meeting in Brazil but fell short of explicitly addressing planet-warming fossil fuels.
Issued Tuesday, the final G20 declaration said countries “welcome and fully subscribe to the ambitious and balanced outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai (COP28), in particular the UAE Consensus,” without explicitly addressing the pledge made at the UN climate summit last year to “transition away” from fossil fuels.
They pledged a “strong commitment to multilateralism,” particularly with regards to the progress made on the Paris Agreement, which US President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to leave again.
G20 nations account are largely responsible for global warming, accounting for some 85% of the world economy and more than three-quarters of climate-warming emissions.
2. Five Chemical and Oil Firms Behind Alliance to End Plastic Have Produced 1,000 Times More Plastic Than They Cleaned Up, Analysis Finds
Members of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, which include the world’s largest oil and gas companies, have produced more than 1,000 times the plastic than the scheme has cleaned up since its inception, a Greenpeace analysis has revealed.
As shown on the alliance’s website, the program has saved some 118,580 tonnes of unmanaged plastic waste since 2019. What it does not reveal is that just five companies part of the alliance’s executive committee produced 132 million tonnes of plastic over the same period. They include chemical company Dow and Chevron Phillips and oil companies ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies.
“It’s hard to imagine a clearer example of greenwashing in this world,” the environmental campaigner Bill McKibben told Unearthed, Greenpeace’s investigative journalism publication. “The oil and gas industry – which is pretty much the same thing as the plastics industry – has been at this for decades.”
3. Ocean Warming Intensified Wind Speed for All Atlantic Hurricanes in 2024, Analysis Reveals
Published Wednesday, the study concluded that higher-than-usual ocean temperatures boosted the intensity of all eleven storms recorded between June and November, increasing their highest sustained wind speeds by 9 to 28 mph (14.5 to 45 km/h). This resulted in seven hurricanes reaching a higher category on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and two tropical storms – Debby and Oscar – strengthening into hurricanes.
Ocean warming made major hurricanes like Helene (Category 4) and Milton (Category 5), which killed at least 260 people, were made 16 mph and 24 mph stronger, respectively.
4. Environmentalists Weigh In on Trump Cabinet Picks
Climate experts, environmental organizations and advocacy groups are reacting to Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, which include climate deniers, fossil fuel advocates and people with no political experience.
The president-elect on Friday announced he is nominating Republican governor Doug Burgum as the interior secretary and “energy czar.” The new position was created to carry out the administration’s sweeping plans to scale back energy and climate rules implemented under President Joe Biden and boost oil and gas production on millions of acres of federal lands nationwide, including national parks and wildlife refuges.
Trump on Saturday announced oil and gas industry executive and campaign donor Chris Wright as his pick to lead the US Department of Energy. In a statement, Wright said he was “honored and grateful” to be picked to lead the energy department.
Wright, a staunch defender of fossil fuel use and vocal critic of climate alarmism, is expected to fulfil Trump’s campaign promise to “drill, baby, drill” and undo many of his predecessor’s biggest clean energy achievements, steering the department back to America’s roots in oil and gas production.
On Monday, Trump said he will appoint Republican former congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA works to protect the environment in the country, particularly as it relates to human health.
During his time in Congress between 2015 and 2023, Zeldin supported just 14% of key pieces of environmental legislation, according to a scorecard by environmental group the League of Conservation Voters.
