Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Drought in southern Africa
NATIONAL DISASTERS: An ongoing extreme drought in southern Africa is threatening millions of people with hunger, Sky News reported. According to Reuters, Zimbabwe has declared the drought a national disaster. The drought has also reached crisis levels in neighbouring Zambia and Malawi, with both countries declaring national disasters, the Associated Press said. Botswana, Angola, Mozambique and Madagascar are also affected, it added.
EL-NIÑO: Dry weather conditions linked to the El Niño weather pattern have worsened the drought, which emerged in its latest phase in mid-2023, Deutsche Welle reported. El Niño reached a peak in December, according to the World Meteorological Organization, but is still expected to result in above-normal temperatures until May, the outlet added. Scientists told Sky News that El Niño could be “amplifying the existing impacts of climate change”.
CALL FOR AID: Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa said the country needs more than $2bn in aid to feed the millions of people facing hunger, the Associated Press reported. It added that the United Nations’ World Food Programme has already rolled out a food assistance programme targeting 2.7 million people.
Electric car sales slump
POOR QUARTER: The world’s top sellers of electric vehicles (EV), Elon Musk’s Tesla and Chinese rival BYD, reported sharp falls in sales in the first financial quarter of this year, adding to “concerns over the slowing shifts towards EVs”, the Financial Times reported. It added that both carmakers have repeatedly cut prices since the start of the year in a bid to stimulate demand.
DIRE FUTURE?: Tesla’s shares fell following the news, extending their 2024 slide to 33%, the second-worst showing in the S&P 500 stock market index, Bloomberg reported. The dip in sales comes amid a “sharp deterioration in growth” for US EVs, the New York Times said. However, Musk is mulling over the possibility of building a £3bn Tesla EV factory in India, the Daily Telegraph reported.
ELECTRIC SUBSIDIES: Only seven out of 500,000 EV charging stations have been built under a $7.5bn US government subsidy programme launched in 2021 and scheduled for completion by 2030, the Independent reported. The Federal Highway Administration told the Independent that “the slow pace has been deliberate, to avoid costly mistakes while navigating a brand-new law and building a network from scratch”.
Around the world
- SEARING HEAT: India’s national weather service has forecast “hotter-than-usual” temperatures for April to June, raising the risk of water shortages and crop damages, Bloomberg reported.
- UNUSUAL FIRES: Venezuela is battling a record number of wildfires – with satellites detecting more than 30,200 fires between January and March – as a climate change-driven drought consumes the Amazon rainforest region, according to Reuters.
- CLIMATE JUSTICE: Shell began its appeal against a ruling at The Hague that compelled it to slash its emissions by 45% by 2030, relative to 2019, the Financial Times reported. A judgement is expected in the second half of this year, the paper added.
- AID BY FOSSIL: White House officials have suggested that they are open to ending president Joe Biden’s pause on approvals of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals in order to get a Ukraine aid package through Congress, Reuters reported. A White House spokesperson denied the story.
- WARNING BELLS: According to a new study reported by the Guardian, a boom in mining projects for minerals needed in renewable energy technologies is now threatening up to a third of apes in Africa.
- STANDING TALL: A new analysis found that the number of trees lost in Brazil and Colombia was down “dramatically” in 2023 – falling by 39% – largely due to changes in political leadership in these nations, according to BBC News.
57
The number of fossil fuel and cement producers responsible for 80% of the world’s CO2 emissions from 2016-2022, according to the Carbon Majors project by non-profit thinktank InfluenceMap.
Latest climate research
- A study in npj Climate Action evaluated the perceptions of climate change among a selection of academics at a local university in Cameroon and suggested a framework to support educators as they help to foster critical thinking.
- The optimal location for North American birds has shifted northward by an average rate of 1.5km each year in response to climate change, a new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found, representing a total distance moved of 82.5km over the past 55 years.
- A new study in Climate and Development investigated the “policy blind spots” around the contribution of women to rangeland cultivation in Tunisia and the effects of climate change on their livelihoods.
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
The UN climate change body, the UNFCCC, is largely funded by industrialised nations, such as the US, China, Japan, UK and France. However, these nations have not yet paid anything towards the UNFCCC’s core budget for this year, according to Carbon Brief analysis of UN data. This shortfall could be impacting the body’s functioning. For example, the UNFCCC recently cancelled this year’s Regional Climate Weeks, which are a “vital platform to express the concerns of people and communities most affected by climate change,” according to a comment piece by WaterAid’s Dulce Marrumbe published on Climate Home News. “The suspension of the Regional Climate Weeks is hugely disappointing news,” Marrumbe said.
Spotlight
How is Nigeria coping with extreme heat fuelled by climate change?
This week, Carbon Brief zooms in on how Nigerians are responding to the extreme heat affecting west Africa.
Since the start of this year, Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria has faced prolonged stretches of severe heat.
A recent quick-fire analysis found that the conditions in February, when temperatures exceeded 40C, were made 10 times more likely by human-caused climate change.
But the heat is still ongoing, with temperatures reaching a record 44.8C in Sokoto, a city in north-western Nigeria, on 1 April.
With comprehensive record-keeping of heat and its impacts lacking in Nigeria, Carbon Brief spoke to doctors, farmers and meteorologists about how this episode of extreme weather is affecting the country.
Health impacts
The impact of the heat is “catastrophic”, Dr Ugo Uguwanyi, a doctor in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, told Carbon Brief:
“Don’t even bother to step out from 10am to 6pm. And make sure you burn the diesel to power the air conditioning to be able to sleep at night.”
Information about the heatwave’s impact is limited, but this does not mean the weather conditions are not dangerous, according to the authors of the recent analysis into the role of climate change in Nigeria’s extreme heat. Rather, a lack of systematic reporting may obscure what they described as a “silent killer”.
In mid-February, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) issued a public forecast warning on the prolonged heatwave.
The agency advised citizens to stay hydrated, wear light clothing and avoid direct exposure to high temperatures during peak periods. A group of Nigerian doctors also issued safety tips.
NiMet’s director of Weather Forecast Services, Vincent Weli, had advised that a state of emergency be declared in states most affected by the heatwave and workers be allowed to take breaks between noon and 3pm. Speaking to Nigeria’s Channels Television, Weli said:
“Of course, you know, with high temperature, cognitive development will be affected and productivity will be affected. There will be a loss of concentration.”
However, no such directive has yet been issued by state governments.
Agricultural and workforce impacts
Meanwhile, in Lagos, Nigeria’s most populated city, ride-hailing drivers are operating under melting conditions, stuck between preserving their health or livelihood, according to a Rest of World report.
The heatwave is also expected to reduce agricultural productivity, a sector that contributes about 22% to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) and accounts for more than a third of total employment.
Wasiu Adeniyi Ibrahim, a meteorologist from NiMet, told Carbon Brief:
“Heatwaves can reduce agricultural productivity by causing heat stress to crops and livestock.”
There is not a lot of data on how the current heat is affecting agriculture in Nigeria.
However, the national secretary of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Yunusa Halidu, told Carbon Brief that its members expect the heatwave to affect productivity yield this year. He said:
“The heat is extreme this year, although we have been expecting it, as we work with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency. We know it is global warming and we are working to see how we can mitigate the effects.”
Watch, read, listen
STRATEGIC DOMINANCE: Eric Olander and Cobus van Staden of the China-Global South Podcast interviewed automotive analyst Lei Xing on Chinese EV brands’ plans to dominate global-south car markets.
CLIMATE FUTURES: The New York Times investigated whether Guyana’s oil is a “blessing or a curse”.
CARBON POLITICS: In a new episode of Political Heat, environmental campaigner Amy Mount spoke to Prof Rebecca Willis about democracy and the challenge of responding to climate change.
Coming up
- 10 April: South Korea parliamentary elections
- 12 April: Launch of the International Energy Agency (IEA) oil market report
- 12-13 April: Second G20 environment and climate sustainability working group, Brasilia
Pick of the jobs
- Politico, sustainability editor | Salary: Unknown. Location: Brussels
- Climate Action Network International, finance and grants officer | Salary: €36,000-48,000. Location: Flexible
- International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), senior cryosphere specialist | Salary: Unknown. Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
- Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, senior researcher, just energy transition and natural resources | Salary: £37,500-40,000. Location: UK, Germany or remote
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
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The post DeBriefed 5 April 2024: Southern Africa’s drought ‘disaster’; Top electric car sales slump; Is Nigeria coping with extreme heat? appeared first on Carbon Brief.
SYDNEY, Thursday 30 October 2026 — In response to reports that the Albanese government is set to introduce draft legislation this year that would seek to ban data centres in Australia’s suburbs, Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:
“These reports are a testament to the growing community opposition to these completely inappropriate AI factories that have sprung up across our suburbs, and Big Tech corporations should take heed — the data centre build-out must not happen without the endorsement of the Australian people.
“But the government can’t simply ship this problem out to regional Australia without addressing the fundamental issues with this extractive new industry.
“We’re already seeing a trend of AI data centre proposals moving to the regions, in areas that are more water-scarce, more environmentally sensitive, and next to sources of fracked and coal seam gas to support their massive BYO gas-fired power plans — a pattern we’ve seen play out in the United States.
“From the Beetaloo Basin in the NT to the Western Downs in Qld, we’re seeing a wave of AI data centre proposals that would see new gas fast-tracked to support their massive energy demand, and threaten to completely derail Australia’s energy transition.
“Just as suburban Australians are asking, “what for?”, regional communities like Berry Springs and Dalby do not want dirty data centres setting up shop with absolutely no benefit to their communities. Greenpeace is calling for a moratorium on AI data centre developments until strict and enforceable safeguards are in place to protect our climate and our communities.”
-ENDS-
Media contact
Kate O’Callaghan on +61 406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org
AI data centre ban in suburbs would not address fundamental issues: Greenpeace
In the thick of the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in 2024, the UN climate talks were rattled by what can only be described as a major PR disaster. The BBC, Reuters and The Guardian all carried headlines, attributed to leading climate policy experts, that the COPs were “no longer fit for purpose”.
The articles outlined a series of reforms called for in an open letter signed by 22 eminent scientists and politicians, including a former UN secretary-general and previous UN climate chief, with a further 150 lending their support. The headlines shook confidence in the COP process, just as governments were wrestling over a new climate finance goal.
The Club of Rome – which handled the media relations for the letter – hurried to say that its “constructive, supportive ideas” had been “misinterpreted”. Negotiators kept calm(ish) and carried on, in the end landing the finance goal after some high-stakes drama on the final day.
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Early speakers’ list suggests few powerful leaders will attend COP31
Just 77 heads of state or government are scheduled to address the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, a third less than the COP28 peak -
Africa wants adaptation finance on COP31 agenda, raising risk of a fight
The African Group wants dedicated space on tripling adaptation finance, the Green Climate Fund and trade, setting up a possible clash
To my surprise, when I went back this week to read the letter again, I could not find the offending line about the COPs not being fit for purpose. The Club of Rome has yet to respond to my query about its disappearance.
Whatever happened to the wording, that sentiment has been widely shared. COPs have ballooned in size while the importance of their outcomes seems to have diminished since the 2015 Paris Agreement (with the exception of the 2023 COP in Dubai where countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems).
The same on the surface
Two years on from those painful headlines in Baku, has anything changed for the better? You might be forgiven for thinking not. Official decisions are still made by consensus rather than the majority voting some have called for to stop blockers.
Tens of thousands of officials, activists and business execs still scurry around the halls to an ever-growing list of side events, roundtables and dialogues, while deals still come down to rows, all-nighters and jargon-filled texts adopted to rounds of applause.
But it would not be true to say that COPs have completely failed to respond to the very real need to translate the words of the Paris Agreement into action in the outside world.
Global warming is projected to be around 1.3C lower this century than it would have been if the world had not committed to tackle the climate crisis under that accord. Developing countries have a valued space at COPs in which their voices have equal weight in decision-making, unlike in many other international fora. And most importantly, perhaps, there has been a subtle shift, tipping the balance away from negotiating towards doing.
Brazil branded last year’s summit in Belém as the “COP of Implementation”, corralling the sprawling Action Agenda into six axes. This was a bid to impose some structure on the mushrooming efforts between governments, UN agencies, cities, businesses and civil society to set targets and spur faster results on their pet issues, from methane emissions to health and adaptation in conflict zones. COP30 alone saw the launch of 120 “plans to accelerate solutions”.
COP30 roadmaps off the cuff
Meanwhile, as the formal negotiations drew to a close, it was clear that consensus decision-making was evolving into something a little more improvised.
With only around half of all countries on board with the idea of a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels, COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago announced his team would put one together over the coming year, along with another on how to meet a global goal to halt deforestation by 2030. Those roadmaps will be launched next week, presented and discussed at COP31, though it’s still unclear whether or how they’ll be incorporated into the formal negotiating agenda.
Some leading policy-makers don’t think that matters too much. Speaking to journalists before the Antalya summit, COP30 CEO Ana Toni and Dutch climate minister Stientje van Veldhoven said “coalitions of the willing” can move ahead without needing consensus from the COPs. This, they said, was evident this year at the first global conference on TAFF, co-chaired by van Veldhoven and attended by 60 countries.
“Consensus or no-consensus in the general COP doesn’t make a difference for the choices I have to make in my country to get my country to phase out fossil fuels,” said the Dutch minister. The Netherlands recently became one of the first to publish a national TAFF plan.
COP31 banks on flagship voluntary initiatives
This thinking has permeated the management and expected outcomes of this year’s COP too. Earlier this year, Türkiye, supported by international energy agencies, floated the idea of a voluntary goal to boost electrification to 35% of the world’s final energy consumption by 2035 – and this is now being touted as one of the main results to be expected from Antalya.
Türkiye is also championing a pledge on AI and climate, while co-host Australia is pushing to ease access to climate finance for least developed countries and small island states.
COP31 presidency announces AI pledge as UN climate chief says Big Tech ‘on thin ice’
None of these needs consensus. But with a political cover decision already in the works, as trailed by the COP presidents, they – and perhaps the fossil fuel roadmap – may find a home in the official text if language acceptable to most can be found, giving them them additional weight.
UNFCCC reform process in the shadows
Formal reform is underway too, if quietly. UN climate chief Simon Stiell is leading a review informed by ongoing consultations with a group of 15 well-respected climate policy experts, three of whom signed the open letter in 2024.
Among them is leading Swedish climate and sustainability scientist Johan Rockström who has strong ideas about how to make COPs function better, including a switch to majority voting. He told the same press briefing nothing stands in the way of this, because the rules of procedure for making decisions at COPs have never been formally agreed.
Still, to get away from the default setting of consensus would require agreement on a new system that may be impossible to achieve given the rise in bullying tactics by fossil fuel heavyweights.
Comment: The UN climate process was built for negotiation – now it must support implementation
The deliberations with the high-level policy gurus, as reflected in a summary of June’s session in Bonn, largely echo what’s already happening organically, calling for stronger partnerships and accountability both in and between the Action Agenda and negotiations. It doesn’t mention voting.
A general overview of the reform exercise says that “improving and optimizing the [UN climate] process over the medium to long term… will be critical to fostering trust, enhancing collaboration, and catalyzing increased ambition”.
In the short term, don’t hold your breath for anything concrete on reform at COP31 but watch for signs in what ends up dominating the headlines from Türkiye.
The post Editor’s Desk: COP reform is happening quietly, behind the headlines appeared first on Climate Home News.
Editor’s Desk: COP reform is happening quietly, behind the headlines