DeBriefed 31 May 2024: 52C in South Asia; Biden’s carbon offsets overhaul; Tell us what you think

Daisy Dunne

Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.

§ This week

More than halfway to boiling

ASIAN HEAT: Extreme temperatures hit south Asia this week, with Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh reaching 52.2C, according to Bangladesh’s Somoy News, and India’s capital Delhi hitting 52.3C, according to the Times of India. Authorities in India are investigating whether the Delhi record was caused by a faulty sensor in Mungeshpur in the north of the city, as other neighbourhoods consistently recorded deadly temperatures of around 49-50C, the Guardian reported.

LANDSLIDES: Elsewhere in India, at least 25 people were killed in “rain-related incidents and landslides” as cyclonic storm Remal struck four northeastern states, according to Scroll. In Papua New Guinea, more than 2,000 people may have been buried in a landslide triggered by “weeks of heavy rain and other wet conditions in the area”, BBC News reported.

ONGOING EXTREMES: Meanwhile, in North America, more than one million people were left without power in Texas amid severe storms, Le Monde reported. Reuters said that Mexico’s electricity demand hit a new record amid scorching heat in the country. Deutsche Welle had an explainer on how 2024’s widespread extremes are linked to climate change.

§ Around the world

  • OFFSET REFORM: US president Joe Biden’s administration announced first-of-its-kind federal guidelines for the voluntary carbon market, where firms buy credits from carbon-cutting schemes to claim they have reduced their own emissions, the New York Times reported.
  • EU VISION: Ahead of European elections, French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz co-wrote in the Financial Times that Europe can be an “industrial and technological leader” and the “first climate-neutral continent” by pursuing “green and digital transitions”.
  • MORE 4-BY-4S: Sales of SUVs reached a record last year, accounting for half of all new cars globally, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) data reported on by the Guardian. If SUVs were a country, they would be the fifth largest CO2 emitter.
  • ‘V20’ LAUNCH: The Philippines will lead 19 other countries to establish a group to raise funds for the most climate-vulnerable nations, known as the “Vulnerable 20” or “V20”, Reuters reported.
  • RIGHTS TRIAL: An ongoing “historic” trial by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights into whether countries should be held culpable over the impact of climate change on human rights this week heard from Indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon, Common Dreams reported.
  • AFRICAN FORECASTING: The African Union Commission and the European Satellite Agency have signed a new deal aimed at improving Africa’s “obsolete” weather forecasting system, the Independent Uganda reported. Carbon Brief analysis found Africa has the lowest density of weather stations globally.

§ $115.9bn

The amount of climate finance paid by developed nations in 2022 – meeting a target to provide $100bn two years after the deadline, according to OECD data.

§ $88.9bn

The amount when funding sourced from existing development aid is subtracted, according to new analysis shared with Carbon Brief.

§ Latest climate research

  • By the end of the century, the surface area of lakes on the Tibetan Plateau will increase by more than 50% (around 20,000km2) and water levels will rise by around 10 metres, even under a low-emissions scenario, new Nature Geoscience research found.
  • A “policy forum” article in Science argued that “a social-moral norm against new fossil fuel projects has strong potential to contribute to achieving global climate goals”.
  • Research in the Journal of Environmental Psychology examined how the public reacts to the term “climate anxiety”, with most viewing it neutrally yet a minority finding it to be “unfounded, irrational or excessive”. 

(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)

§ Captured

Image - China’s CO2 emissions fell by 3% in March 2024, ending a 14-month surge that began when the economy reopened after the nation’s “zero-Covid” controls were lifted in December 2022, according to new analysis for Carbon Brief, which has been covered by the New York Times, Economist and Bloomberg, among others. The drivers of the CO2 drop in March 2024 were expanding solar and wind generation, which covered 90% of the growth in electricity demand, as well as declining construction activity, the analysis said. The dip in emissions reinforces the view that China’s emissions could have peaked in 2023, it added. - China's C02 emissions fell 3% in March 2024, ending a 14-month surge (note)

§ Spotlight

One year of DeBriefed

Image - Daisy Dunne for DeBriefed (note)

This week, DeBriefed’s editor Daisy Dunne reflects on the past year of Carbon Brief’s weekly climate newsletter – and outlines how readers can help shape its future.

One year ago we published the first edition of DeBriefed, Carbon Brief’s weekly newsletter aimed at summarising key climate developments around the world.

We wanted to provide readers with a “one-stop shop” of the latest in climate news, journalistic investigations and scientific research, as well as key dates for the diary and a hand-picked selection of interesting job vacancies.

It was a key aim of ours to try to cover all corners of the globe, including not only the UK and the US, but emerging Asian economies and typically underrepresented regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

Another goal was to showcase the work of Carbon Brief’s brilliant and diverse team of journalists, which have been based in countries including India, Nigeria, Mexico, the US and the UK.

Thanks to this, we have published everything from a first-hand report on the impacts of coal mining in India’s elephant country and an exclusive interview with a Just Stop Oil prisoner through to reports on how Palestine has struggled to access climate funding, the origins of Donald Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” slogan and how K-pop fans are campaigning for climate action in East Asia.

I am pleased that DeBriefed has been able to provide an outlet for original climate reporting that may otherwise have not been published.

As we look forward to our next 12 months, we would like to invite readers to send their thoughts on the newsletter: What do you like and dislike? What would you like to see more of? Do you have any suggestions for where DeBriefed could go next – say with a podcast or webinars, for example? Please email any thoughts to: [email protected]

Finally, a small request, if you have enjoyed reading this newsletter, please consider forwarding it on to a friend or colleague who may also be interested in receiving a free climate roundup each week. We would be eternally grateful.

§ Watch, read, listen

‘NOTHING GROWS FOREVER’: A documentary by Al Jazeera examined how Costa Rica has been able to protect its environment and achieve “high levels of wellbeing that have very little to do with money”.

SMALL ISLANDS: Amid the fourth International Conference for Small Island Developing States, Maldives president Mohamed Muizzu called in the Guardian for climate finance to be “unlocked”, adding that small islands seek “not charity but equity and justice”.

ETHIOPIAN DAM: A feature in African Arguments examined how a dam mega-project in Ethiopia affected the ability of Indigenous people to grow food and herd animals.

§ Coming up

Pick of the jobs

  • Guardian Australia, climate and environment reporter. Salary: Unknown. Location: Australia
  • Conservative Environment Network, climate programme manager. Salary: £30,000-£39,000. Location: London Bridge
  • WaterAid, climate and environment lead. Salary: £56,249-£59,602. Location: One of the following countries: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, UK or Zambia
  • Friends of the Earth Ireland, climate policy campaigner. Salary: €37,857-€46,588. Location: Dublin

DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to [email protected].
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