Reuters - Sustainable Switch - Climate Focus by Sharon Kimathi - February 21, 2025

 

Sustainable Switch

Climate Focus

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello! This week ends with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration stopping the participation of the country’s scientists in key U.N. climate change assessments, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. The move is part of the United States’ broader withdrawal from climate change mitigation efforts and multilateral cooperation. The stop-work order affects staff members of the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who engage with a key working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It means the United States will not attend a major IPCC plenary meeting in Hangzhou, China, next week, to plan the seventh global climate assessment, said one of the sources. "The power of the IPCC is that governments, businesses and global institutions can operate with shared conclusions. The U.S. being completely removed from that process is concerning," said Delta Merner of the Union of Concerned Scientists. The White House declined to comment and the State Department did not respond to a request for comment. Staying with developments in the United States, oil and biofuel groups in the country banded together to urge the Trump administration to increase volumes of renewable fuels that must be blended into the nation's fuel mix in 2026 and beyond, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The move is unusual because the oil and biofuels industries are frequently at odds with each other on issues related to the Renewable Fuel Standard program.  Both industries' interests, however, align in opposition to electric vehicles, which pose a threat to any form of liquid fuel. "While our organizations have not always agreed on every detail, we have joined together in recognition of the critical role liquid fuels serve in the American economy, to advance liquid fuels, and ensure consumers have a choice of how they fuel their vehicles," the groups said in a letter to Lee Zeldin, the new administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Climate Buzz 1. Parched southern Greece reveals EU's giant challenge to conserve water This month, the European Union launched a campaign to combat a climate change-driven water crisis that it says already affects 38% of its population. One example is in the Argolida region of southern Greece, where water escapes through cracks in an irrigation canal feeding a plain of orange trees. In summer, when reservoir levels tumble, authorities in the regional capital Nafplion advise residents not to drink the contaminated brackish water that is pumped from backup sources into their homes. Click here for the full Reuters report.   A drone view of the facilities at the Anavalos submarine spring in the Argolida region, near Kiveri, Greece. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki 2. IMF, Pakistan to open $1 billion climate finance talks next week, says adviser   Next week, an International Monetary Fund mission will arrive in Islamabad to discuss around $1 billion in climate financing for Pakistan, an adviser to the country's finance minister said. The disbursement will take place under the Fund's Resilience and Sustainability Trust, created in 2022 to provide long-term concessional cash for climate-related spending, such as adaptation and transitioning to cleaner energy. 3. Six UK water companies lodge appeals against regulator's pricing regime British water regulator Ofwat said six companies – Thames Water, Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, Southern Water, South East Water and Wessex Water – have appealed its pricing regime, amid rising tension over consumer bills and a decline in services. The country's water sector has been criticised for polluting rivers and for prioritising profits and dividends over the environment and maintenance of infrastructure. 4. Turkey's ruling party submits climate change bill to parliament Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party submitted a climate change-related bill to parliament envisaging the establishment of a carbon market board and an emissions trading system, or ETS. The text of the draft law said it would regulate planning and implementation tools used to reach net-zero by 2053. 5. Trump seeks to reshape Asia's energy supplies with US gas Reuters interviews with more than a dozen people, including current and former U.S. and Asian officials, show how the Trump administration is moving to recast economic relations with East Asia by binding regional allies to Washington through increased investment in American fossil fuels, particularly liquified natural gas. Click here for the full story.

What to Watch     Palestinian fishermen gather at Gaza City’s coastline, hoping to catch enough fish to feed their families. But after more than 15 months of war, most say they have lost their boats, and their income. Click here or the image for the full Reuters video.

Climate Commentary Bioenergy as a clean power source has fuelled its expanded deployment in global power systems in recent years, often as a replacement for coal in countries committed to cutting fossil fuel use in power production, writes Reuters global energy transition columnist Gavin Maguire. Click here to find out what that means for the UK and Japan’s climate goals. Clyde Russell, Asia commodities and energy columnist at Reuters, writes about the challenges of decarbonizing steel, especially given that consumers across the world show little appetite or capacity to pay more for green steel products. Click here to find out the dangers of ditching Europe’s Green Deal in a piece by We Mean Business CEO María Mendiluce and Lindsay Hooper CEO of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership for Ethical Corp Magazine.

Climate Lens     Recently, U.S. proxy adviser Glass Lewis told clients it was reviewing its stance on diversity, equity and inclusion policies, which could further erode support for  environmental, social or governance (ESG) matters in the spring shareholder meeting season, continuing the downward trend for ESG measures at the ballot in the industry.

Number of the Week

35%

The figure shows that deforestation in Colombia rose by 35% in 2024 from a 23-year low the previous year, fueled by an uptick in the Amazon region, Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said.

Sustainable Switch Climate Focus was edited by Emelia Sithole-Matarise.