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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
Climate journalist
@Channel4News
| DMs open - message me for Signal contact | he/him
Glasgowchannel4.com/news/by/simon-…Joined August 2011
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
Oil and gas companies say they’re going green. Yesterday I looked through some of their accounts to see if it’s true. In the first half of this year, 4 companies made £74.4bn and reinvested £3.4bn in low carbon energy. On average, that’s equivalent to 5% of their profits. 🧵
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
At #BP AGM today ~17% of shareholders voted for a resolution to overhaul its climate targets. BP says its strategy is aligned with the Paris climate agreement, but hasn't set targets for lowering its total emissions by 2030. A growing number of investors want that to change.
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
Of course
@antonioguterres
is less anodyne. He says that the world should "phase out fossil fuels and scale up renewable energy." But his comments aren't signed off by governments. The report itself is, and has a different message which leaves the door to some fossil fuels open.
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
A key term to look out for here is "unabated". It means fossil fuels which don't have some kind of emission-lowering tech add-on, like Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). If only "unabated fossil fuels" are condemned, then abated fossil fuels are fine. Abatement, anyone?
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
Today's #IPCC report is the most comprehensive yet on the science of climate change. It's likely to be the final guide for what scientists say is a last-chance decade. It's very clear on the main cause of the climate crisis — fossil fuels — but less so on what happens next. 🧵
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
Interesting if vague small print in the #Budget2023 Appears there may be future tax incentives for oil and gas companies that can put captured carbon back underground. ie. take oil and gas out, then get tax breaks for tech that allows for more oil and gas to be burnt.
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
In response to the findings, ExxonMobil told me that this issue has come up “several times in recent years” and that "those who talk about how “Exxon Knew” are wrong in their conclusions." See link for the company's full statement:
channel4.com
New research reveals the extent of ExxonMobil’s secret knowledge of climate change nearly 50 years...
The findings are the latest in a series of revelations about the company's historic awareness of the links between climate change and fossil fuels.
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
Commenting on today's report,
@BenFranta
told me it "reinforces the notion that corporate malfeasance and political obstruction — not a lack of scientific knowledge — have been the main roadblocks to solving climate change."
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
By analysing data in internal company documents, the research found that decades ago ExxonMobil's own scientists projected with immense accuracy how much the planet would heat due to climate change.
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
It was in 2015 that leaked documents first revealed how fossil fuel giant ExxonMobil knew way back in the 1970s about the “potentially catastrophic” science of climate change. New analysis published today details just how much it knew.
channel4.com
New research reveals the extent of ExxonMobil’s secret knowledge of climate change nearly 50 years...
The findings are the latest in a series of revelations about the company's historic awareness of the links between climate change and fossil fuels.
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
The world's fairly agreed that renewables, not coal, are the future. But how to get there in the next few years is more tricky - not least in an energy crisis spurred by Russia's war in Ukraine. That's the debate in Germany right now.
channel4.com
Why is Germany turning back to coal for energy?
As climate activists in Germany occupy the village of Lützerath to protest the expansion of a coal mine, politicians and the public are posed a question by the dirtiest fossil fuel: is it OK to use...
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Simon Roach Retweeted
Josh Gabbatiss
@Josh_Gabbatiss
If you've ever wondered why carbon offsets or nature-based solutions are controversial, this sums it up: Oil giant uses land taken from people in one of the world's poorest countries to grow trees, hoping to cancel out some of its fossil fuel emissions
unearthed.greenpeace.org
'How are we going to live?' Families dispossessed of their land to make way for Total’s Congo...
Local farmers say they cannot afford to send children to school after the oil giant’s offsetting plantation barred them from their fields
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
Good thread on heat pumps and their contribution to climate action 👇 One key point being that the IEA says hydrogen should have a negligible role in heating buildings…
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Josh Gabbatiss
@Josh_Gabbatiss
Heat pumps: “the central technology in the global transition to secure and sustainable heating” according to @IEA ♨️ Global sales up 13% in 2021 🌍 and 35% in EU 🇪🇺 ♨️ On track for a record year in 2022 ♨️ Very high penetration in cold nations 🇳🇴🇫🇮 carbonbrief.org/heat-pumps-are 1/
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Simon Roach Retweeted
Chloé Farand
@ChloeFarand
Here it is: Vanuatu's draft resolution to the UN requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice about states' legal obligation for climate action and the legal consequences for causing harm. Context 👇climatechangenews.com/2022/05/24/isl
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Vanuatu UN
@VanuatuUN
Today, @VanuatuUN on behalf of a group of states, circulated to the broader @UN membership a draft #UNGA resolution to request an ICJ Advisory Opinion from the @CIJ_ICJ on climate change. Over the next few weeks consultation with member states will begin.
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
One of the #COP27 outcomes that worried observers was on 'low emissions' energy, mentioned alongside renewables, that many interpret as diplospeak for gas. It means deals like the below - 27 years of LNG between Qatar + China - won't be stopped by climate agreements (for now).
Quote Tweet
Faisal Islam
@faisalislam
As World Cup gets going, Qatar (worlds top exporter) signs longest LNG contract in history… with China, nearly 3 decades… Japan (top importer) reports LNG “sold out” for next 3 years. Qataris have told European nations wanting the gas they need to sign similar long term deals
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Simon Roach Retweeted
Channel 4 News
@Channel4News
After two weeks of talks and 24-hours of last minute haggling, a deal was reached at COP27. It will see developed countries pay into a “loss and damage” fund to compensate poorer countries suffering the worst effects of climate change.
@RoachSN
reports.
channel4.com
COP27: Historic ‘loss and damage’ deal reached at climate talks
Exhausted after two weeks of talks and 24 hours of last-ditch haggling, negotiators emerged with a deal… of sorts.
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Simon Roach
@RoachSN
As #COP27 moves to final stages, all eyes are on US and China. The EU now says it may support a new fund for loss and damage (aid for climate disasters). But the US is holding its cards close. Both it and EU would want China to pay into any new fund. So far, China's said no.
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