April 24-25, 2022

Press summary and analysis by Mathew Carr

See this link: apple.news/AsXu6vWndTp2Dc8o6TG15wA

From the Independent:

Siberian wildfires burning unchecked because Russian military units which usually fight them are at war

Vast blazes are a major contributor to the climate crisis – but no-one’s putting them out

CarrZee: Here are other ways the war is hurting the climate fight. It’s:

1. Distracting politicians;

2. Soaking up capital for weapons that might have been used for clean energy;

3. Splitting the world into non-collaborative camps, though it has arguably helped with some collaboration;

4. Boosted inflation which has caused interest rates to rise (making multi-year borrowing more expensive)

5. Caused a focus on near-term commodity futures contracts rather than longer-dated contracts; the world is going for net-zero emissions by 2050 so futures markets need to be extended out 30 years

6. Boosted crude oil and natgas exploration as buyers seek supplies that aren’t Russian. Once the money is spent, investors expect a return. So every time money is spent on fossil fuels, the energy transition gets that much harder.

(Updates with sixth way. Please send some more ways to mathew@carrzee.net)