Focus on Arts and Ecology

January 13, 2023 

Good afternoon one and all, Emma here this week – come for the efficient round-up of the news, stay for the seal who found his way into Waitrose. 

We’re reading

Oil chief to lead climate summit 

Yes, you read that correctly and no it’s not a spoof. This year’s climate summit was already facing controversy as it will be based in the United Arab Emirates, a major oil and gas producer. Now the CEO of one of the world’s biggest oil companies – the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company – has been announced as the man to lead it. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber is also UAE’s minister for industry and advanced technologies so campaigners are demanding he stand down from his oil business role to avoid a clear conflict of interest. Others are not so concerned, pointing out that he also set up Masdar – the government’s renewable energy company – and that he has significant investments in renewables overseas too. Let’s hope he saw this week’s announcement by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service: the last eight years have been the hottest on record.

The winter energy crisis

Three million people in Britain ran out of credit on their prepayment energy meter last year – more than in the last ten years combined – as the cost of living crisis hits many households hard. Around 18% of these spent at least two days in the cold and dark, including for example one single parent with a young baby. Citizens Advice, which has produced the figures, said it was especially concerned about disabled people and those with long term health conditions, with some left unable even to refrigerate their medication. Meanwhile the government has announced cuts to its subsidies for “non-domestic” energy bills from April, which will affect businesses, schools, hospitals and charities. The Federation of Small Businesses predicted that one in four small businesses could be forced to shut, downsize or restructure as a result, while a leading energy consultancy warned that it will affect the ability of businesses to decarbonise. The crisis shows no sign of letting up as the World Economic Forum reported this week that it expects the high price of energy and food to continue for another two years. 

Exxon knew

Exxon’s own science predicted global warming with “breathtaking” accuracy, according to researchers who have analysed its internal documents and research papers from the 1970s and 80s. Geoffrey Supran, who led the analysis by Harvard University and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said that: “We now have the smoking gun showing that they accurately predicted warming years before they started attacking the science. These graphs confirm the complicity of what Exxon knew and how they misled.” In an Unearthed undercover investigation in 2021, a senior lobbyist for Exxon said that the oil giant had “aggressively” fought against early climate science and had worked to weaken key aspects of US President Joe Biden’s climate plans. Exxon has claimed publicly that it supports the Paris deal. 

The fundamental problem with carbon offsetting

Over the last few years, businesses and countries around the world have announced net zero targets  – many of which are dependent on tree-planting offsets. Now new research has revealed the extent of the fundamental flaw in this strategy: there isn’t enough land. The pledges made by 6,500 businesses analysed by data firm Trove Research would require 380 millions hectares of land – an area larger than India. But they calculate that there are only 350 million hectares of land available for reforestation projects, without infringing on land needed for crop production. When you add pledges made by countries to those made by the businesses, the figure for the land required is more than double that limit. This explainer is well worth your time, and contains some pretty eye-opening graphs. 

The plan to save the ozone layer is working

A global agreement made in 1987 to save the ozone layer by banning harmful chemicals has been successful, the UN has said. Almost 99% of banned ozone-depleting substances have now been phased out and the ozone layer will be restored to its 1980-level state – before the ozone hole appeared – within two decades in most of the world and by 2066 over the Antarctic, where the problem was the worst. 

For those people in need of more good news (all of us, then), this week a South Korean firm that manufactures equipment for the solar power industry announced a $2.5 billion investment in the US – a sign that Biden’s recent huge new climate law is having an effect. And on this side of the pond, England is set to follow in the steps of Scotland and Wales with a new (admittedly, limited) ban on single-use plastic cutlery and plates. 

This week we loved

There was no competition this week — all hail the seal who has gained access to “one of the best park angling lakes for all types of anglers” and is munching its way through the substantial fish stocks, to the consternation of the local angling community. Although marine medic Simon Dennis insisted that it needs to be relocated for its own welfare, he did admit that the seal has effectively “landed in a branch of Waitrose and is working its way down the aisles”. The hero of the story has now evaded capture for a month. Watch this space for the latest updates. 

P.S We were also pretty chuffed this week to spot BBC News Arabic's film on BP's damaging operations in Iraq in the Global Investigative Journalism Network's top picks of investigations in the Arab world. The documentary featured work from Unearthed, including an analysis of BP's sky-high flaring emissions in the country.

(Sources: Unearthed)