Green Lights May 19: Top stories this week
Don't miss a single story: The best from Callaway Climate Insights
. . . . Welcome to Green Lights, our weekly roundup of the best of Callaway Climate Insights. This week we have news from northern Italy, where drought has turned to deadly flooding; from California’s central valley, where some hope carbon can be captured; to Norway, where it’s all-electric all the time; and even from the green transformation in China — and last, but not least, from Paris, where there’s an important agreement we all need to understand. Here are the highlights in a simple and convenient format that makes it easy for our readers. It’s also easy to subscribe.
. . . . Northern Italy, home to the just-canceled Italian Grand Prix, is among the regions plagued by deadly floods and other extreme weather events this spring. Amid the tragedies and economic blows, it must be noted that Europe’s sky-high energy prices have finally begun to fulfill the predictions of many who said last year that Russia’s invasion would ultimately yield benefits as it would speed up the transition to renewable energy in Europe.
. . . . Despite the hype, climate capture and storage is nowhere near working at the scale needed to offset the amount of carbon oil and gas companies are putting into the air and water. David Callaway analyzes whether this is the birth of a bold new technology opportunity for investors or a Hail Mary for governments as global warming approaches the point of no return. . . .
. . . . Opposing powers: Shares of EV makers have diverged sharply this year, marking an even stronger contrast with the surge in electric vehicle sales worldwide, with China, Europe and even the U.S. seeing demand that far exceeds expectations. Three of the biggest startup names — Rivian, Fisker, and Lucid — have all continued to struggle as production delays and supply chain problems prevent them from generating the critical mass of new products needed to compete.
. . . . Hanging out to dry: In his weekly insights column, Matthew Diebel weighs the odds of China’s green transformation, explains why Norway’s all-electric future is now, and outlines the emissions-saving potential of your new dishwasher.
. . . . What exactly is the “Paris Agreement”? You could say it’s sort of a hot date. In our feature Explain that, we’ll clear up the whole “limiting the temperature increase to 1.5°C. above pre-industrial levels” bit. And here’s the date to remember: To limit global warming to 1.5°C., greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest, and decline 43% by 2030.
More greenery . . . .
From the Austrian World Summit: Action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger says lives depend on climate change action
Heartbreaking penguin divorces: How climate change is forcing animals that mate for life to break up
From the Financial Times: Can biodiversity funds help investors protect wildlife? Hopefully.
From The Independent: Climate change will cut land available for coffee by more than half, says report
From McKinsey Sustainability: 8 key factors in climate change investing