by Anne MacLennan
Skye may not have been overly warm this summer, but the world hit its hottest day ever recorded, in July as we hear of yet more wildfires, heatwaves, floods and damaging storms. So we should be pulling out all the stops to stop the warming? Well, that’s not happening just yet.
The world’s wealthiest nations, including the UK, are actually “leading a stampede of fossil fuel expansion” with a surge in new oil and gas production this year threatening to unleash nearly 12bn tonnes of planet-heating emissions – roughly equivalent to China’s annual carbon pollution. See the Planet Wreckers’ report on the UK here.
Although less economically dependent on fossil fuels than the classic petro-states (e.g. Saudi Arabia), and despite reserves becoming more difficult (therefore more expensive) to exploit, these purported climate leaders are responsible for more than two-thirds of all new oil and gas licences issued globally since 2020.
Petrochemical companies spend hugely on political lobbying. Perhaps that’s why the Biden administration comes top for the year with 1,453 new oil and gas licences, 20% more than during Trump’s time in office, while the UK issued more licences than any other country in May. It’s not yet clear if the new Labour Government will be able to cancel any of these.
Since 2006, methane emissions have risen rapidly, and faster than predicted. Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 but also much shorter acting, so that’s bad and potentially good news. It accelerates climate change and as a volatile organic compound (VOC) causes harmful air pollution by forming ground-level ozone. The good news is that emissions reduction slows the global warming impact much more quickly than CO2 cuts.
Recent methane rises mostly come from fossil fuel production and transport, intensive farming of livestock and rice, and from warming natural wetlands. Emissions reductions will require technological solutions, systemic changes and policy measures as explained in the paper cited above and also in a free online symposium by the authors in October.
Meantime, we’ll need to continue with ground-level efforts to achieve a low emissions future. That includes personal lifestyle, community actions, keeping informed and ensuring that politicians and other decision-makers ‘get it’ asap.