Transport

British Airways plans to offset rising emissions by sprinkling crushed rocks

The airline will pay a UK company to carry out enhanced rock weathering, which speeds up natural carbon-absorbing processes

Belém’s electric bus controversy: a cautionary tale for COP30

A plan for new buses in the Brazilian city hosting the 2025 UN climate summit was held up by a political row that suggests the road to COP30 could get rocky

London airport expansion spotlights danger of “false hope” Jet Zero strategy

The UK government decided expansion is compatible with its plan to cut aviation emissions, raising questions about its reliance on unproven techno-fixes over reducing flights

Key UN report lends weight to Pacific plan for shipping emissions levy

The report was seized upon by the Marshall Islands but branded “unacceptable” and “nonsensical” by Argentina and Brazil

As first airline drops goal, are aviation’s 2030 targets achievable without carbon offsets?

Air New Zealand has dropped its 2030 emissions reductions targets, validated by the Science-Based Targets Initiative

Lessons from trade tensions targeting “overcapacity” in China’s cleantech industry

Clean technology is turning into the next global climate spat. The debate over China’s dominance is highly politicized, but there are ways forward

Shipping sector pushes to keep emissions-tax cash for itself

The industry and governments’ maritime ministries want a proposed levy on emissions spent on cleaning up shipping, not used for wider climate goals like loss and damage

The EU must take the driver’s seat in fossil fuel-free transport

Transport accounts for a growing share of global emissions. The EU should lead a push for clean travel at home and internationally

The cruise industry says LNG is a climate solution. It’s not

Some of the world’s biggest cruise companies are claiming to be green, while continuing to use weakly regulated fossil fuels

Dozens of oil & industry lobbyists attended secretive shipping emissions talks

Oil and gas companies like Shell, BP and Equinor were represented at shipping climate talks

Transport

Aviation

Airlines plot fight-back against France’s short-haul flights ban

The aviation industry plans to argue that banning short-haul flights is ineffective and impinges on EU citizens’ right to travel between countries

International air travel set for ‘aspirational’ 2050 net zero goal

The International Civil Aviation Organization has agreed a 2050 net zero emissions goal for aviation but its credibility is in doubt

UK government touts ‘guilt-free flying’ on country’s hottest day on record

The “jet zero” strategy relies on future technology breakthroughs and rejects options to curb demand

Dutch government issues world-first cap on flights from European hub

Schiphol airport, the third busiest in Europe, will be required to limit traffic to below its pre-pandemic peak, to reduce pollution

Nigerian airlines win jet fuel subsidy after shutdown threat

After domestic airlines threatened to ground their planes, the government agreed to cover some of their rising fuel costs

Turkey opens laboratory to grow algae for jet fuel, in EU-backed clean aviation push

Ministers hope Turkish Airlines will make its first biofuelled flight by the end of 2022, but experts are sceptical algae can make much of a dent in aviation emissions

US spending on airport expansion flies under the radar for climate activists

Public funding of $25 billion to airports generated little controversy despite flying’s outsized climate impact, in contrast to the European discourse

UK Supreme Court lifts ban on Heathrow airport third runway 

Heathrow still faces major obstacles to carry out its expansion plans, in light of the UK’s 2050 net zero target and uncertain future demand

Aviation

Shipping

The EU lacks ambition on Cop28 renewable targets

The EU’s interpretation of a global renewables target is less ambitious than the Cop28 presidency’s and incompatible with the Paris agreement

Shipping catches up – Climate Weekly

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Pacific “mixed feelings” after compromise on shipping’s climate goals

Climate vulnerable Pacific islands struck a deal with emerging economies worried about the targets’ impact on economic development

Governments set to fail to plot shipping industry course for 1.5C

Despite a strong push from Pacific islands, the latest draft does not improve on targets criticised as not ambitious enough

Shipping set to boost climate targets

A draft agreement, which is subject to change, would target net zero near 2050 and set goals for 2030 and 2040

Latin America leads resistance to global shipping emission tax

Brazil, Argentina and others have opposed a levy on global shipping emissions at behind-closed-door talks in London

US ‘still on the fence’ as nations debate global shipping emission tax

The US’s treasury secretary would not commit to backing a shipping tax and the US was not on a list of 22 countries who support the measure.

Momentum grows towards 2050 zero carbon shipping target

Nigeria, Chile and Vietnam are among countries now backing a stronger climate goal for international shipping, but cost concerns remain

Shipping

Road

As Cop26 car pledge underwhelms, delegates ask: where are the bikes?

At transport day in Glasgow EVs were given centre stage, in what campaigners said was a missed opportunity to promote public transport and active travel

With Indonesia’s answer to Elon Musk in jail, electric vehicles are going nowhere

Electric vehicle pioneer Dasep Ahmadi was imprisoned over a failed experiment, with a chilling effect on innovation

European battery gigafactories boom despite Covid slowdown

The region is on schedule to meet rising demand for electric vehicles, with five major battery factories in operation and at least 11 more expected by 2030

Norway sets electric car record as battery autos least dented by Covid-19 crisis

Electric car sales worldwide are suffering less from the Covid-19 crisis than petrol and diesel rivals, in sign of hope for a shift to cleaner transport

It will take more than a few cycle lanes to make green, pandemic-proof cities

The coronavirus lockdown gave a glimpse of what cleaner cities can look like, but as people turn to private cars for safety from infection, pollution could soar

Green bailouts? – Climate Weekly

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Electric cars help limit climate change despite blackspots in India, Poland

Study shows it makes sense to drive an electric car in most of the world including in China and the US rather than stick to petrol, diesel engines

Former German vice chancellor Gabriel tipped to head car industry lobby

Gabriel’s appointment would further strengthen the close ties between Germany’s political class and the automobile sector

Road

New Ideas

Addis Ababa riverside project gives priority to development over residents

Ethiopia wants $900 million riverside project to be a model of green development – yet one resident says shelters were demolished ‘without warning’

One million solar panels! If only we knew where they were…

Pinpointing solar panels and knowing exactly where the sun is shining can cut carbon emissions by reducing the need to keep fossil-fueled generators on standby

Cleantech patent applications plummet, sparking fears for innovation

The number of carbon-cutting inventions filed globally has plummeted this decade, despite growing awareness of the urgency of climate action

Switzerland puts geoengineering governance on UN environment agenda

No longer the preserve of science fiction, climate-hacking technologies may need international oversight, say backers of draft resolution

EU should target carbon dioxide removal as part of net-zero emissions strategy

Only an ambitious policy, backed by technologies that remove carbon from the air, can bring the EU in line with the Paris Agreement temperature goals

Elon Musk’s disaster capitalism

The entreprenuer has made a habit of intervening in crises, particularly climate-related ones, but it’s a high wire act

‘We have brought swallows into Milan’, says father of the vertical forest

Stefano Boeri dreamed up the idea of a living building from a childhood story, now he is exporting them around the world

Europe’s coming gigafactory boom, mapped

Across Europe a wave of gigafactories are coming online, ready to meet the battery demands of a continent-wide switch to electric cars

New Ideas