Sunny climate, stormy climate | Weekly digest #9
Welcome to a new edition of Sunny climate, Stormy climate - your weekly dose of climate news
Hello, we are back after a break last week. Welcome to the 9th edition of Sunny climate, Stormy climate! Here, every week I bring to you 5 stories about the climate
3 stormy ones - concerning stories that are a source of alarm
2 sunny ones - green shoots that tell you that all is not yet lost
So let’s look at what we have this week!
Stormy news
What is the TL:DR?
UP saw heat wave like conditions with temperatures ranging between 42 and 47 deg C from 18th to 21st of May.
Ballia and Deoria were some of the worst affected districts.
68 deaths were reported in Ballia and 82 deaths were reported in Deoria due to heat related issues.
The controversy in UP began after Diwakar Singh, chief of Ballia district hospital, told reporters that around 25 people had died, and that heat may have been a factor.
"Most of the patients were above 60 and had pre-existing ailments. These were exacerbated by the heat and they were brought to the hospital in serious condition. They died despite being given adequate treatment and medicines," Dr Singh said.
A day later, he was transferred from the post. Brajesh Pathak, the state's deputy chief minister, said that Dr Singh's statement was "careless" but added that the government was taking the situation "very seriously"
Why should we be concerned?
We are seeing an increase in extreme heat waves in different parts of India. They have become more frequent and last longer and can be attributed to broader climate change. This is not an isolated event and we need to be better prepared to tackle such events.
Just 2 months back in April, a dozen people died from heat strokes after attending an event in an open outdoor venue in Mumbai.
The government’s denial in attributing these deaths to heat is also concerning, as it allows them to absolve themselves of responsibility and take adequate steps for mitigation.
Heat waves everywhere: Divided by borders, united by heat waves
What are we talking about?
India is not the only country seeing debilitating heat waves at the moment. Across the world, China, Spain, UK, US, and many other countries are seeing extremely high temperatures with records being breached.
Let’s take a look at China
Beijing temperatures reached a record of 41.8 dec C, with the govt issuing a red warning - highest level in their color-coded alert system. It signals risks for senior citizens and people with pre-existing health conditions, and asks people to avoid outdoor activities.
What’s happening in Texas
A brutal heat wave has persisted in the US state of Texas for a few weeks.
Electricity demand saw a new record with power use reaching 80,828 MW on June 27, breaking the previous record of 80,148 MW (set just last year in July 2022).
Health: Rate of emergency department visits attributed to heat last week were about 30% higher compared to the same time last year.
Cartoon published in the Hindu by Rohan C about the outcomes of the Paris Global climate finance summit What is the Paris climate finance summit?
It was a 2 day global summit held in Paris in the third week of June
It was organised by the French govt. and co-hosted by Emanuel Macron (French president) and Mia Mottley (Prime minister of Barabados) with the objective to find consensus on changes that should be made to the global financial system to enable countries to better respond to the crisis of poverty, financial debt and climate change
It was attended by almost 50 countries including many from the Global south
What were the key highlights?
The IMF has created a new USD 100 bn fund called the SDR (special drawing rights). This is money that can be used by developing countries in case of climate emergencies without adding to their debt burden. This additional fund has been created by rich countries reallocating their portion of SDRs for developing countries and this total is adding up to USD 100 bn.
Debt repayment pause: Multi lateral institutions (like theWorld bank) and the UK export agency will test a debt repayment pause for countries that have faced climate disasters
Derisking currency exchange for investments made in developing countries: IMF, World bank and TCX are going to start to work on this area which aims to encourage more private investment in developing countries.
French President Macaron spoke about a global tax on shipping, aviation and financial transactions that can be used to fund the fight against climate change (however this was only talk, there was no agreement from any country on imposing such a tax and experts believe such a a tax is very unlikely)
There was no talk on fossil fuels. The need of the hour is to cut down on investments in fossil fuel, and reduce fossil fuel usage. The summit had no take-aways or actions on this topic. Greta Thuberg said “If your house is on fire, the first thing you do is to stop pouring oil and gas on to the fire. If you keep adding fossil fuels and fund more oil and gas, you are only fuelling the flames.”
The summit did not deliver adequate measures for developing countries in debt distress. While the summit saw the world bank saying it will ‘pilot’ a debt repayment pause program, but that is applicable only on new loans.
Overall, there were a lot of announcements and felt like a movement in the right direction but very few concrete actions, decisions or actual allocation of finances that would help developing countries bearing the brunt of climate change.
Sunny news
China’s operating solar and wind capacity from large scale utilities; Source: Global Energy monitor What do we know?
The Global energy monitor (a non profit research organization that published information about energy projects across the world) has published a report on China’s renewable energy journey and projections
Key findings in the report:
China currently has 228 GW of operating large utility scale solar capacity. It has a total of 392 GW of installed solar capacity (~40% of the global installed capacity) including rooftop, commercial/industrial, and smaller-scale utility in addition to the 228 GW of large utility-scale capacity.
China’s combined onshore and offshore wind capacity is now 310 GW (almost doubled from 2017)
For context, China’s total installed power generation capacity was 2564 GW at the end of 2022 according to data from the National bureau of statistics (NBS)
What are estimates for the future?
Approximately 379 GW of prospective large utility-scale solar capacity and the bulk of the 371 GW of prospective wind capacity identified are scheduled for installation by the end of 2025.
This will get the total installed solar capacity to 610 GW and total installed wind capacity to 670 GW
It is therefore highly likely that the provincial targets (approximately 1300 GW for wind and solar) will be achieved, surpassing the central government’s target of 1,200 GW well ahead of 2030.
With this, China is expected to be able to supply 1/3rd of its power consumption through renewable sources.
Is this adequate?
Unfortunately, no. While this is great progress, China is still building an almost equal amount electricity capacity through new coal fired stations.
“China is making strides,” said Martin Weil, a researcher at Global Energy Monitor and an author of the report. “But with coal still holding sway as the dominant power source, the country needs bolder advancements in energy storage and green technologies for a secure energy future.”
China is the world’s biggest user of coal for energy generation, hence it is key that it stops adding new coal fired capacity.
Swiss citizens vote in favour of new climate law that binds the country to reach net zero by 2050
What are we talking about?
The Climate and Innovation Act - otherwise known as the Climate Protection Law - will bind Switzerland to climate neutrality by 2050.
The new law was accepted by parliament in September last year, but opposition from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party meant that it was put to a referendum.
In the citizens referendum on June 18, a majority of 59 per cent of voters approved the law.
What impact is the law expected to have?
Switzerland currently imports around three quarters of its energy, including all fossil gas, from abroad. The new law will financially incentivize replacing oil and gas with clean energy, with the government pledging 2 billion francs (around €2 billion) over 10 years towards the transition.
People who replace their fossil fuel dependent heating systems will benefit from financial assistance, as well as companies investing in “climate-friendly technologies”.
Switzerland is really paving the way for how citizens can influence governments to take urgent actions to address the climate crisis. In the last issue, we spoke about the Swiss grannies who are crusading against climate change and now this!
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The highlights reel of climate news you share in this newsletter is amazing! Thank you and keep them coming!