Connect with us

Published

2 years ago

on

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

This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.

This week

Global stocktake dominates negotiations

SLOW STOCKTAKE: The second week of COP28 starts today, as technical negotiations give way to ministerial talks to iron out politically-sensitive disagreements. That is the theory, at least. In reality, the centrepiece of the summit – the first “global stocktake” of progress towards the Paris Agreement goals – is progressing slowly, the Hindustan Times reported.

TRICKIEST TOPICS: In a Friday morning plenary, COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber said technical discussions would continue, alongside work led by ministerial pairs on the trickiest topics. This includes the stocktake and language on fossil fuels, see below – but also adaptation, mitigation and “means of implementation” (access to finance and technology).

TEXT TRACKER: Carbon Brief’s text tracker has the status of every agenda item at COP28. Most week-one talks handed a draft text over to week two. The stocktake text was unfinished and came with a “compilation” of further views – watch for a new draft later today. No text was agreed on adaptation – and several other agenda items were deferred, without agreement, until talks in Bonn in June 2024, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin reported.

Flurry of fossil-fuel pledges

COAL GOALS: Earlier on in the week saw an avalanche of new fossil-fuel pledges. Nine new countries signed up to the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a large group of nations pledging to phase out “unabated” coal power first founded at COP26 in Glasgow. This included the US, Czech Republic, Kosovo, Cyprus, Norway, the Dominican Republic and Iceland, the Associated Press reported – and later COP28 host UAE and Malta, Edie added.

BEYOND OIL: Elsewhere, Spain, Kenya and Samoa joined a much smaller group of nations pledging to phase out all fossil fuels, known as the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, at an event attended by Carbon Brief. Colombia turned heads by becoming the 10th country to join the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, the Guardian reported.

INDUSTRY CHARTER: In addition, COP28 host UAE and Saudi Arabia launched an “oil and gas decarbonisation charter” signed by 50 fossil-fuel companies, Arab News reported. The group, representing 40% of global production, pledged to end gas flaring by 2030, “zero-out” methane emissions and “align” with net-zero by 2050. However, scientists criticised the initiative for focusing on emissions associated with operations rather than from burning fossil fuels, which account for the majority, the Financial Times said.

Al Jaber under fire

RESURFACED REMARKS: COP28 president and oil executive Al Jaber faced renewed scrutiny this week, after remarks he made regarding the science of phasing out fossil fuels during a live online event in November resurfaced in a story by the Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting. On video, Al Jaber said: “There is no science out there – or no scenario out there – that says the phase-out of fossil fuels is going to achieve 1.5C.” The remark sparked fierce backlash from the scientific and political community.

REACTION: A day after the story and the resulting outcry, Al Jaber faced journalists during a highly unusual COP press conference attended by Carbon Brief. Sat at a table flanked by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chair Prof Jim Skea, he told reporters: “We’re here because we very much believe and respect the science…Everything this presidency works on is centred around the science.”

Around the world

  • RENEWABLES PLEDGE: As part of the Global Pledge on Renewables and Energy Efficiency, 118 governments pledged to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity by 2030 reported Reuters. China and India did not join, Carbon Brief noted.
  • BAKU BID: Azerbaijan’s bid to host COP29 got a boost after being backed by Armenia following peace talks between the two warring nations, reported state news agency Azartac. However, Carbon Brief understands Russia has vetoed the bid.
  • US FUNDS: The US had pledged $3bn for the UN’s Green Climate Fund (GCF), according to Climate Home News. This means the US has pledged more to the GCF than any other country, but the outlet noted that delivering the money will rely on the approval of Congress, which is currently controlled by Republicans.
  • ADAPTATION STALLS: Down to Earth reported that developing countries at COP28 “rejected” the first draft of a new “global goal on adaptation” as it “did not reflect” their priorities – particularly around finance. Reuters noted growing concerns that focus on loss and damage could “threaten” adaptation funds.
  • ‘FORESTS FOREVER’: Brazil unveiled a new “tropical forests forever” fund proposal on Friday, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, France confirmed new forest funding for Papua New Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo, Dubai’s Khaleej Times reported.
  • INDIGENOUS ACHIEVEMENT: Brazil’s Indigenous minister Sônia Guajajara made history this week by becoming the first Indigenous head of delegation at a climate COP, Carbon Brief reported.

15

The number of female heads of state attending COP28 out of a total of 133, according to the NGO CARE International. Just 38% of COP delegates are female.

Latest climate research

  • The annual Global Carbon Budget, published in Earth System Science Data and covered by Carbon Brief, found that global fossil-fuel emissions will once more reach record highs in 2023 – a projected 1.1% increase from 2022 levels.
  • The World Meteorological Organization’s decadal climate report said that 2011-20 was a “decade of accelerating climate change” and laid out the “concrete connections” between extreme weather events and slower progress towards ending poverty.
  • The Global Tipping Points report stated that the world is “already at risk of crossing” five tipping points in the Earth system, including both the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets and warm-water coral reefs.

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

Captured

COP27 was the second-longest to date

During a speech on Wednesday night, Al Jaber urged negotiators to “maintain momentum and achieve a punctual finish” to COP28. The talks are scheduled to end on Tuesday 12 December and Al Jaber said he intends to close them by “11am at the latest”. But seasoned COP goers like Al Jaber will know that COPs rarely finish on time. In fact, analysis by Carbon Brief’s Joe Goodman shows that eight of the last 10 climate summits have run over by more than 24 hours, with COP27 being the second-longest summit to date. The last COP to finish near-enough on time was COP12 in Nairobi in 2006.

Spotlight

The fight over fossil fuels

Negotiations at COP28 have entered their crucial second week and the fight over what to say about fossil fuels in the “global stocktake” text is moving out into the open.

Ahead of the talks, 106 countries including the EU and the 79-member Organisation of African Caribbean and Pacific States backed language on a “global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels”. A separate group of 26 countries called for “a global phase-out of fossil fuels”.

While the scientific evidence is clear on the need for swift and significant cuts in fossil-fuel use if warming is to stay below 1.5C, the wording being discussed at COP28 is anything but.

As Carbon Brief’s in-depth Q&A explained on Wednesday, many of the words and phrases being put forward are contentious or are ambiguous. There is currently no agreed definition for what constitutes “abated” or “unabated” fossil fuels. Some disagree that phase “out” means getting to zero, while phase “down” is also imprecise.

The latest draft of the global stocktake text “calls upon” countries to work “towards” one of five options:

  • “A phase-out of fossil fuels in line with best available science”.
  • Option one plus alignment to “the IPCC’s 1.5C pathways” and Paris principles.
  • “A phase-out of unabated fossil fuels…a peak in their consumption this decade” and an “energy sector…predominantly free of fossil fuels well ahead of 2050”.
  • “Phasing out unabated fossil fuels and to rapidly reducing their use so as to achieve net-zero CO2 in energy systems by or around mid-century”.
  • “No text.” (China, India and the Arab Group currently oppose the inclusion of any fossil-fuel language.)

Carbon Brief understands that parties began floating alternative language on fossil fuels on the first day of COP28. New formulations are still emerging, with elements such as timelines, differentiated targets or wording that avoids “phase-out” or “phase-down” altogether.

The list below shows options posited by countries and international alliances so far:

  • UAE in May: “Phasing out of fossil fuel emissions.” This implies ongoing fossil fuel use, with carbon capture and storage (CCS) theoretically avoiding emissions.
  • UAE in October: To “work towards a future energy system that is free of unabated fossil fuels by mid-century including by scaling…all available solutions and technologies”. This centres on unabated fossil fuels, again implying a role for “technologies” such as CCS. It adds the vague “work towards”.
  • UAE with the International Energy Agency in December:
    • “A huge increase in energy efficiency and of renewables this decade must come alongside and support a significant phase-down in fossil fuel supply and demand”. This links supply and demand cuts to the scaling up of alternatives.
    • “Renewable capacity must be trebled by 2030 to increasingly substitute…for fossil fuels”. This mentions the idea of “substitution” of fossil fuel demand.
    • “Fossil fuels must phase down significantly this decade to keep 1.5C within reach”. This uses the weaker “phase down” but adds urgency with “significantly”, “this decade” and a direct link to the 1.5C limit.
  • US-China Sunnylands statement: To “sufficiently accelerate renewable energy…through 2030…so as to accelerate the substitution for coal, oil and gas generation…[giving] meaningful absolute power sector emission reduction, in this critical decade of the 2020s”. This centres substitution and action this decade, but only addresses the power sector.
  • EU in October: A “global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels and a peak in their consumption…this decade”, aiming for an “energy sector…predominantly free of fossil fuels well ahead of 2050”. This adds timing, while the latter sentence avoids “phase-out” and “unabated”, but adds ambiguity with “predominantly”, which could mean almost all or more than half.
  • High-level committee at COP28: The “phase-out of unabated fossil fuels, in particular coal…with developed countries taking the lead”. This adds differentiation and spotlights coal.
  • Alliance of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC) on 6 December: A “just and equitable phase-out of fossil fuels in the context of a just transition, with developed countries taking the lead” and with renewables “strategically implemented…to displace fossil fuel[s]”. This centres equity and substitution.
  • Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) on 8 December: A “phasing out of fossil fuels in line with 1.5C, the best available science, and principles and provisions of the Paris Agreement”, as well as “no new investments in fossil fuel infrastructure”. This gives definition via the science, links to 1.5C and adds an additional marker on ending fossil fuel investments.
  • World Climate Research Programme scientists: “[M]oving towards the phase-out of fossil fuel combustion is necessary to keep the 1.5C goal…within reach.” This has the rider “towards”, but puts the focus on fossil fuel “combustion” and links to 1.5C.
  • Group of 800+ leaders from business, civil society, politics and academia: “An orderly phase-out of all fossil fuels in a just and equitable way, in line with a 1.5C trajectory.”

If COP28 is to agree language on fossil fuels, it is likely to include several of these elements around timing, pace, differentiation and equity – as well as additional adverbs and adjectives. It may also tie fossil-fuel cuts to access to finance and technology.

Carbon Brief’s text tracker and deputy editor Dr Simon Evans’ Twitter account will continue to bring updates on the latest drafts for the global stocktake and other areas.

The search for agreed language is a key test for the summit. If it can be found, it would send a signal about the future path of the global economy to consumers, regulators and investors.

Crucially, the stocktake also informs the next round of national climate pledges out to 2035 – or even 2040. This matters because by the time of the next global stocktake in 2028, the already-tiny carbon budget for 1.5C will have been almost completely used up.

Watch, read, listen

SURVIVAL MODE: Grist detailed the Marshall Islands’ “life-or-death” climate adaptation plan, which calls for billions in funding and says that many islanders will likely need to leave as “climate impacts worsen”.

OFFSETTING: The Financial Times looked at the “looming land grab in Africa for carbon credits” in the context of ongoing COP28 talks on the rules for a new global carbon market.

FIGUERES ON COP28: The Rest is Politics podcast, hosted by the UK Labour party’s former PR man Alastair Campbell and former Conservative minister Rory Stewart, spoke to former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres on all things COP28.

Coming up at COP28

Pick of the jobs

DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org

The post COP28 DeBriefed 8 December: The fight over fossil fuels; Al Jaber defends ‘respect’ for science; Has COP ever finished on time? appeared first on Carbon Brief.

COP28 DeBriefed 8 December: The fight over fossil fuels; Al Jaber defends ‘respect’ for science; Has COP ever finished on time?

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Climate Change

Efforts to green lithium extraction face scrutiny over water use 

Published

3 days ago

on

October 13, 2025

By

Mining companies are showcasing new technologies which they say could extract more lithium – a key ingredient for electric vehicle (EV) batteries – from South America’s vast, dry salt flats with lower environmental impacts.

But environmentalists question whether the expensive technology is ready to be rolled out at scale, while scientists warn it could worsen the depletion of scarce freshwater resources in the region and say more research is needed.

The “lithium triangle” – an area spanning Argentina, Bolivia and Chile – holds more than half of the world’s known lithium reserves. Here, lithium is found in salty brine beneath the region’s salt flats, which are among some of the driest places on Earth.

Lithium mining in the region has soared, driven by booming demand to manufacture batteries for EVs and large-scale energy storage.

Mining companies drill into the flats and pump the mineral-rich brine to the surface, where it is left under the sun in giant evaporation pools for 18 months until the lithium is concentrated enough to be extracted.

The technique is relatively cheap but requires vast amounts of land and water. More than 90% of the brine’s original water content is lost to evaporation and freshwater is needed at different stages of the process.

One study suggested that the Atacama Salt Flat in Chile is sinking by up to 2 centimetres a year because lithium-rich brine is being pumped at a faster rate than aquifers are being recharged.

    Lithium extraction in the region has led to repeated conflicts with local communities, who fear the impact of the industry on local water supplies and the region’s fragile ecosystem.

    The lithium industry’s answer is direct lithium extraction (DLE), a group of technologies that selectively extracts the silvery metal from brine without the need for vast open-air evaporation ponds. DLE, it argues, can reduce both land and water use.

    Direct lithium extraction investment is growing

    The technology is gaining considerable attention from mining companies, investors and governments as a way to reduce the industry’s environmental impacts while recovering more lithium from brine.

    DLE investment is expected to grow at twice the pace of the lithium market at large, according to research firm IDTechX.

    There are around a dozen DLE projects at different stages of development across South America. The Chilean government has made it a central pillar of its latest National Lithium Strategy, mandating its use in new mining projects.

    Last year, French company Eramet opened Centenario Ratones in northern Argentina, the first plant in the world to attempt to extract lithium solely using DLE.

    Eramet’s lithium extraction plant is widely seen as a major test of the technology. “Everyone is on the edge of their seats to see how this progresses,” said Federico Gay, a lithium analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. “If they prove to be successful, I’m sure more capital will venture into the DLE space,” he said.

    More than 70 different technologies are classified as DLE. Brine is still extracted from the salt flats but is separated from the lithium using chemical compounds or sieve-like membranes before being reinjected underground.

    DLE techniques have been used commercially since 1996, but only as part of a hybrid model still involving evaporation pools. Of the four plants in production making partial use of DLE, one is in Argentina and three are in China.

    Reduced environmental footprint

    New-generation DLE technologies have been hailed as “potentially game-changing” for addressing some of the issues of traditional brine extraction.

    “DLE could potentially have a transformative impact on lithium production,” the International Lithium Association found in a recent report on the technology.

    Firstly, there is no need for evaporation pools – some of which cover an area equivalent to the size of 3,000 football pitches.

    “The land impact is minimal, compared to evaporation where it’s huge,” said Gay.

    A drone view shows Eramet’s lithium production plant at Salar Centenario in Salta, Argentina, July 4, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Matias Baglietto)

    A drone view shows Eramet’s lithium production plant at Salar Centenario in Salta, Argentina, July 4, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Matias Baglietto)

    The process is also significantly quicker and increases lithium recovery. Roughly half of the lithium is lost during evaporation, whereas DLE can recover more than 90% of the metal in the brine.

    In addition, the brine can be reinjected into the salt flats, although this is a complicated process that needs to be carefully handled to avoid damaging their hydrological balance.

    However, Gay said the commissioning of a DLE plant is currently several times more expensive than a traditional lithium brine extraction plant.

    “In theory it works, but in practice we only have a few examples,” Gay said. “Most of these companies are promising to break the cost curve and ramp up indefinitely. I think in the next two years it’s time to actually fulfill some of those promises.”

    Freshwater concerns

    However, concerns over the use of freshwater persist.

    Although DLE doesn’t require the evaporation of brine water, it often needs more freshwater to clean or cool equipment.

    A 2023 study published in the journal Nature reviewed 57 articles on DLE that analysed freshwater consumption. A quarter of the articles reported significantly higher use of freshwater than conventional lithium brine mining – more than 10 times higher in some cases.

    “These volumes of freshwater are not available in the vicinity of [salt flats] and would even pose problems around less-arid geothermal resources,” the study found.

    The company tracking energy transition minerals back to the mines

    Dan Corkran, a hydrologist at the University of Massachusetts, recently published research showing that the pumping of freshwater from the salt flats had a much higher impact on local wetland ecosystems than the pumping of salty brine. “The two cannot be considered equivalent in a water footprint calculation,” he said, explaining that doing so would “obscure the true impact” of lithium extraction.

    Newer DLE processes are “claiming to require little-to-no freshwater”, he added, but the impact of these technologies is yet to be thoroughly analysed.

    Dried-up rivers

    Last week, Indigenous communities from across South America held a summit to discuss their concerns over ongoing lithium extraction.

    The meeting, organised by the Andean Wetlands Alliance, coincided with the 14th International Lithium Seminar, which brought together industry players and politicians from Argentina and beyond.

    Indigenous representatives visited the nearby Hombre Muerto Salt Flat, which has borne the brunt of nearly three decades of lithium extraction. Today, a lithium plant there uses a hybrid approach including DLE and evaporation pools.

    Local people say the river “dried up” in the years after the mine opened. Corkran’s study linked a 90% reduction in wetland vegetation to the lithium’s plant freshwater extraction.

    Pia Marchegiani, of Argentine environmental NGO FARN, said that while DLE is being promoted by companies as a “better” technique for extraction, freshwater use remained unclear. “There are many open questions,” she said.

    AI and satellite data help researchers map world’s transition minerals rush

    Stronger regulations

    Analysts speaking to Climate Home News have also questioned the commercial readiness of the technology.

    Eramet was forced to downgrade its production projections at its DLE plant earlier this year, blaming the late commissioning of a crucial component.

    Climate Home News asked Eramet for the water footprint of its DLE plant and whether its calculations excluded brine, but it did not respond.

    For Eduardo Gigante, an Argentina-based lithium consultant, DLE is a “very promising technology”. But beyond the hype, it is not yet ready for large-scale deployment, he said.

    Strong regulations are needed to ensure that the environmental impact of the lithium rush is taken seriously, Gigante added.

    In Argentina alone, there are currently 38 proposals for new lithium mines. At least two-thirds are expected to use DLE. “If you extract a lot of water without control, this is a problem,” said Gigante. “You need strong regulations, a strong government in order to control this.”

    The post Efforts to green lithium extraction face scrutiny over water use  appeared first on Climate Home News.

    Efforts to green lithium extraction face scrutiny over water use 

    Continue Reading

    Climate Change

    Maryland’s Conowingo Dam Settlement Reasserts State’s Clean Water Act Authority but Revives Dredging Debate

    Published

    3 days ago

    on

    October 12, 2025

    By

    The new agreement commits $340 million in environmental investments tied to the Conowingo Dam’s long-term operation, setting an example of successful citizen advocacy.

    By Aman Azhar

    Maryland this month finalized a $340 million deal with Constellation Energy to relicense the Conowingo Dam in Cecil County, ending years of litigation and regulatory uncertainty. The agreement restores the state’s authority to enforce water quality standards under the Clean Water Act and sets a possible precedent for dozens of hydroelectric relicensing cases nationwide expected in coming years.

    Maryland’s Conowingo Dam Settlement Reasserts State’s Clean Water Act Authority but Revives Dredging Debate

    Continue Reading

    Climate Change

    A Michigan Town Hopes to Stop a Data Center With a 2026 Ballot Initiative

    Published

    5 days ago

    on

    October 10, 2025

    By

    Local officials see millions of dollars in tax revenue, but more than 950 residents who signed ballot petitions fear endless noise, pollution and higher electric rates.

    By Tom Perkins

    This is the second of three articles about Michigan communities organizing to stop the construction of energy-intensive computing facilities.

    A Michigan Town Hopes to Stop a Data Center With a 2026 Ballot Initiative

    Continue Reading

    Trending

    Copyright © 2022 BreakingClimateChange.com