Akshat Rathi
@AkshatRathi
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- A cog in the cosmic clock - Senior reporter, Bloomberg News - Pod https://t.co/GSEKKUmr5z - Book https://t.co/PULmS1lplB - [email protected]
WhatsApp +447917087924
Joined February 2008
Crazy but true, Climate Capitalism won the award. What a pleasant surprise!
Honored to be shortlisted for the KLF Business Book Award alongside the mighty Raghuram Rajan & @gurcharandas.
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"France will require all parking lots with spaces for at least 80 vehicles – both existing and new – to be covered by solar panels." That would add 10 nuclear reactors worth of solar. How much solar power would be generated if such a law passed in the US?
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Time for a thread about people leaving their jobs to fight climate change. If you have a related story to share, please do so in replies. 🧵.
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CNBC has dismantled its climate desk and will no longer have staff dedicated to covering climate change.
Personal news, as they say: A layoff, heartbreak, and finding my truth wandering through the streets of Istanbul: Please reach out. Thanks.
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2020: Microsoft sets goal to be carbon negative by end of the decade. 2023: Microsoft's emissions are 30% higher than in 2020. Main cause? The relentless push to meet AI demand, which requires carbon-intensive steel, cement, chips. Story with @dinabass:
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I did not see this coming. "Saudi Aramco is being investigated by the United Nations for possible human rights violations tied to fossil-fuel induced climate change."
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Whoever thinks global warming capped at 1.5C or 2C is "saving" the planet hasn't really thought about what the word actually means.
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Something extraordinary is happening in Germany. @martin_marilen & I wrote about it. Free to read:
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Sober up, energy transition nerds. “Consider what’s happening in Norway, where 65% of all vehicles sold in 2021 were electric and yet oil demand has fallen less than 10% since 2013.”.
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“Over four years, we’ve found Cola-Cola to be the world’s top plastic polluter in our annual brand audits. It’s astounding that a company so tied to the fossil fuel industry is allowed to sponsor such a vital climate meeting.”.
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LOL at all the publications falling for Exxon's net-zero goal, which covers only Scope 1 and 2 emissions and thus leaves out more than 80% of their total emissions. No Big Oil company's net zero plan is based on accepted science unless it also include Scope 3 emissions.
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"The first foreign firefighters to reach Quebec amid Canada’s worst wildfire season on record said that some of the blazes were 100 times bigger than any they had ever seen."
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Lula's election promises on climate include:. - Updating Brazil's "insufficient" climate targets - Appointing a climate envoy . - Coalition with Indonesia and Congo to take united approach on rainforests
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This is amazing. If there is a deal, we could see 90 million tons of CO2 eq emissions cut annually. Or about 2x the capacity of all carbon-capture plants in the world. Scoop by @jendlouhyhc @aaronaclark1.
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Google is no longer claiming to be carbon neutral. It has all sorts of implications for how companies go about making climate claims, buying carbon credits, and, generally, contributing to the climate fight. 🧵
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🚨 SCOOP: Two years after Colombia halted new oil and gas licenses, it will announce a $40 billion plan to transition away from fossil fuels. New kind of Just Energy Transition Partnership plan, with as much as $10 billion coming from donors and MDBs.
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India is still going through a heat wave, but apart from a single, minor story on @scroll_in, @htTweets and @DeccanHerald frontpages I can't find a story about it on any of the major publications frontpages. This is what normalizing an extreme weather event looks like.
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Thousands of heartfelt requests to world leaders are tied to the fence of the #COP26 venue. Which world gathering garners this level emotional struggle on part of those on the inside and the outside?
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The total amount of metals needed for the energy transition (that can also be recycled) is far smaller than the total weight of fossil fuels we burn away each year. Net zero means more metals, but less extraction from the Earth. My newsletter this week:
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It's easy to inject sulfur particles to reflect sunlight to cool the Earth. It's not easy to know whether it can be done safely and effectively. Definitely not easy to ensure govts & people are ready for it. A startup has done it anyway🤦. Read @jtemple
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Uh. what!?. "A 306-megawatt wind farm off Shanghai has been officially approved to supply electricity at 27% below the coal power price benchmark.".
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I know this is not the main point, but this startup pumping sulfur into the atmosphere is selling carbon offsets tied to something they know they cannot measure or verify. AND THERE ARE PEOPLE BUYING IT.
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It's such a bummer. Just as we get an entirely new way to look at the universe, we are struggling to see clearly the damages we are causing to the only planet we inhabit.
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China already has nearly half of all solar and wind built. And that means it will reach its own renewable goals in 2025, instead of 2030. This is one reason why analysts are becoming more confident that China's emissions will peak soon.
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What is AI's real carbon footprint? You won't find it in the sustainability reports of tech giants. That's because they claim it's mostly or entirely powered by renewables. @ntashawhite & I dug deeper to find reality to be otherwise. Thanks to use of dodgy credits.
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For all the complaints, there's been huge progress in the past decade. Yes, it's still not enough but it's not nothing. Whatever happens at #COP26, there's at least this.
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When the world burns, the gap between where we are and where we need to be appears unbridgeable. And, yet, it is in these very moments we must recognize how far we have come and how quickly. Climate goals are reachable. It's now about doing the work.
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Solar plant income: $187,000.Agricultural income: $23,000. Same piece of land for both electricity generation and food production:
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"Human-induced climate change and the war on Ukraine have the same roots -- fossil fuels -- and our dependence on them," said Svitlana Krakovska, Ukraine's representative to the IPCC, immediately after her Russian counterpart apologized for the war.
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Still trying to understand the level of privilege needed to casually say "oh 1.5°C was never going to happen" . I wish they had the courage to say it to Tina Stege of Marshall Islands or Seve Paeniu of Tuvalu or countless people for whom 1.5°C means letting their homes disappear.
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Oh wow. I complained last year how no one goes to jail or pays a fine for making up emissions figures. . That changed today!
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I've learned a ton from @amywestervelt's podcast Drilled. With every season, she has carefully detailed the oil industry's playbook to delay climate action through the stories of the people behind it. Such a thrill to have her on the Zero podcast.
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#COP26 warning: There's going to be a LOT of media attention. That's very good. But it also means you're going to get a LOT of takes on what it all means. Going to get a head start and give you THE take. Ok, not really, but here's a framework to put the takes in their place.🧵.
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"The average American consumes 127 kg of meat a year compared with 7 kg in Nigeria and just 3 kilograms in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to FAO data. The Eat-Lancet Commission recommends people consume no more than 15.7 kg of meat a year."
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Indonesia seems to have a more detailed planned to reach net zero than any country except the UK. Really puts every other rich country to shame.
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Solar in China is on a CRAZY trajectory. Speeding past its record 2022 surge. For context, China is set to install 154 GW this year. That's more than the TOTAL solar capacity installed in the US.
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China's renewable push keeps blowing my mind.🤯. Last year, the country built a record 55 GW of solar power. This year, it's going to double that record at 108 GW. DOUBLE. To put it in perspective, India's solar target was to build 100 GW over 7 years.
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Gather round. Let me tell you a tale of how clever marketing can help move trillions of dollars under the guise of saving the planet and its people. 🧵on the investigation for @bw with @CamSimpsonNews & Saijel Kishan.
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If you don't think climate change will hurt capitalism, think again.
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It took 183 years to build 1 terawatt of solar. It will take only 3 years to build the next 1 terawatt of solar. 🌞😎🌞.
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Finally, it's happening. The fuel duty has been frozen since 2011. It's such a long-running scandal that it doesn't even feel like a scandal. Carbon Brief analysis: "duty freezes may have increased UK total greenhouse gas emissions by 7% since 2010.".
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Congratulations, humans. Your planetary experiment is proceeding as predicted.
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This is where we are headed. 3.1C if business as usual.2.6C if countries meet their stated goals.1.5C if we increase spending by 1% global GDP.
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When was the last time the leader of a major economy made a snazzy video about a specific climate solution?.
Heat pumps are an efficient, affordable, and clean way to heat and cool your home. They’re also better for your wallet and for our environment. And that’s exactly why we’re helping you make the switch from home heating oil. More on that here:
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Some climate news I'm seeing today.- Canadian wildfires keep breaking records.- Smoke from the fires carpets northeast US.- NYC has the worst air globally.- China's heatwaves kill livestock.- Bangladesh & Myanmar suffers blackouts .- Dry weather to slash Australian wheat produce.
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🚨 New investigation. Oxy built the world's largest carbon-capture plant by capacity in 2010. It never operated at more than a third of its capacity. In 2022, Oxy quietly sold it for a fraction of the price. Story with @ntashawhite & @CrowleyKev. See🧵.
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🚨 The US made a late intervention that the deal should include a call to *phase out all unabated fossil fuels*, according to people familiar with the matter. Phase OUT not phase down. via @jendlouhyhc @johnainger
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Big global companies have been been buying junk offsets to scrub emissions off their books and claim carbon neutral. We analyzed 215,000 transactions and contacted dozens to understand why they fell for it. 🧵 on investigation with @ntashawhite @pogkas
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We had been warned that climate change is a threat multiplier. "From the Rhine to the Danube, waterways worth $80 billion to the regional economies are failing at the worst possible moment as the climate crisis worsens.".
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US investment in clean energy. 2020: $85 billion.2021: $114 billion .2022: $141 billion.2023: $303 billion. Source: @BloombergNEF.
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"43% of oil and gas workers plan to leave the industry within five years, and 56% want to leave to work on renewables.". ht @TimMLatimer.
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Solar with tracking is now cheaper than onshore wind power globally.
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Who are the best people to have on a climate podcast for a long conversation at COP27 and why?.
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Big news for a developing country: Nepal commits to economy wide net-zero emissions by 2045. Five years sooner than its previous goal! #COP26.
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1882: The UK opens the world's first coal power plant. 2024: The UK shuts the country's last coal power plant. It will replaced with a green hydrogen facility.
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The rise of wind power in Denmark's electricity mix. 1990: 2%.2000: 12%.2010: 20%.2020: 57%.
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Who wants one? Repost and will pick 5 randomly to give away a copy each. 💚. Can't wait? The book is out tomorrow. Get yours
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Excited to share the cover of my first book. It lays out a framework for scaling climate solutions through success stories from around the world. 🚨 If you pre-order, send the receipt and an address (akshat.rathi@proton.me), I'll mail a signed bookplate
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Hear that noise? It's the sound of press releases in my inbox of companies falling over each other trying to set a net-zero goal before COP26.
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China's cement boom is over. That's like "if France, or Taiwan, or the United Arab Emirates eliminated their carbon dioxide emissions in a couple of years," writes @davidfickling
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Well well well. "Saudi Aramco abandoned a plan to boost its oil output capacity in a huge reversal that will raise questions about the kingdom’s view on future oil demand."
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As a side, here's a Slack channel if you need help quitting your job to fight climate change
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"If car-choked Brussels can transform itself in less than a generation, it’s unclear why Boston or Seattle cannot do the same."
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Why are electric vehicles such a big deal? They consume one-fourth the energy of a fossil-fuel cousin. And then cleaner the electricity mix, the lower their total energy use. by @karinkirk_mt
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Most countries want to fix regulations holding back the deployment of renewables. Germany is actually doing it.
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The 21st century will be the century when humans will electrify the vast majority of all energy consumption. That's why this is one of the most underappreciated trends in the energy transition:
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Boy oh boy, this is interesting. Activist hedge fund has $750 million worth of shares in Shell and wants to break the company up into old energy (oil) and new energy (gas, renewables, power).
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“Estimates show that 30 years from now, basically 50% of coffee lands as we know them today will not be viable for coffee production anymore.”. What's happening to Vietnam's hardy robusta is a case in point.
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🎧 NEWS. @climate is launching a podcast, and I'll get to host it!. If you've enjoyed what Bloomberg Green has done with climate journalism on online, print and video, come help us imagine what it could be like using audio. We're hiring two producers. Links below. DMs open.
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Chinese scientists say they've cracked the code to produce rice in seawater. Could open up vast tracts of land considered too barren to produce food. Commercial production is expected to begin soon. If it works, could be a game changer. by @karolinecqkan.
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Chances may be low, but at any moment, Russia can stop selling fossil fuels to Europe. If it happens, it could be the equivalent of the Arab embargo of 1973 that created a global oil shock. What did the US president do then in response? A thread. 🧵.
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It would have be SO much easier had we started even just a few years ago.
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It is a sad day when a major news publication decides to cut jobs that provide essential coverage of a planetary crisis. The science is clear, the impacts are here, and many world leaders are taking it seriously. So why does a media publication not see a business case?.
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Steel is the backbone of the world. It also causes 7% of global greenhouse-gas emissions—more than shipping and aviation combined. This summer, I visited Electra that's been in stealth mode and developed a process to cut 90% of steel's carbon problem. 🧵
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Out this week on Oct 12. 😬 .Anticipation is driving me nuts. 🤪 .Piling them neatly is relaxing. 📚. Get yours
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China tripled renewable energy between 2019 and 2024. As a result, it has already met its self-set 2030 goal of 1,200 GW of solar and wind power.
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So this is crazy. But. do you have any burning questions for the Prime Minister?.
📢New speaker! Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau will attend tomorrow's conference, 2030 in Focus, hosted by @climateinstit and @NZAB_Canada. He will be live in conversation with @AkshatRathi, Senior Climate Reporter at Bloomberg News @business. How to register ⬇️ #cdnpoli
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It's 2023 and these firms are still buying junk carbon offsets to make "carbon neutral" claims. @climate analyzed 45,000 offset transactions to find some of the biggest buyers of renewable-energy offsets that experts have written off. Free to read:
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It'd be fun to watch the reaction of an alien who is told that the main source of energy for Earthlings is black goo drawn from beneath the surface and not the giant star that bathes the planet in abundant heat and light.
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We worry there's enough fossil fuels to blow past climate goals. But we don't worry enough about how to redirect the money spent on extracting those fuels to spending it on sustainability goals. 🧵on investigation with @priazrocha & @_ToddGillespie.
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But all this FAILURE narrative is likely to obscure a very important point: AVOIDING EVERY 0.1°C OF WARMING IS A VICTORY. We've delayed climate action for so long that there are lots of low-hanging fruit wins, within the larger failure of humanity.
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It's not just a Microsoft problem. All tech giants chasing AI dreams are seeing rapid increase in electricity use. Spot Slovenia:
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SCOOP with @johnainger. India wants "phase down" of all fossil fuels in the draft agreement of #COP27 . Not just coal. If it appears in the draft when it's published, expect a fight with the Saudis.
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In a pretty extraordinary intervention last night at #COP28, Norway representative said "We do carbon capture and I can testify it's not the solution to everything.". You can read why:.
While we wait for news from #COP28, expect there to be "unabated" in the text. It's code for carbon capture technologies. The US is the leader in deploying the tech, and its experience serves as a warning. Story with @jendlouhyhc: .
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Indeed. We are not as addicted to fossil fuels as some might want you to think.
A common confusion is that to decarbonise, the world will need to produce the equivalent of coal, oil & gas in the form of low-carbon energy. That's not true. Most fossil energy gets wasted. In the US, just one-third gets turned into useful services. The rest is wasted as heat.
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Ouch. "Almost 90% of planned hydrogen plants have no buyers with contracts to use the fuel."
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Lula's senior advisors are pushing for a Green New Deal style reforms:. - plans to grant new protected status to half a million square km of the Amazon rainforest.- subsidize sustainable farming.- reform Brazil's tax code to usher in a green economy
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Global average temperature.
Oasis are trending. What else from the '90s should make a comeback?.
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This is a big deal: New data just released shows China's emissions are now in structural decline, says @laurimyllyvirta. That could mean the country's emissions peaked in 2023, but we can only be sure years afterwards.
My key finding is that China’s emissions are currently in a structural decline and if the key drivers of that decline continue, emissions should keep falling. This means that with the right policy choices, China can peak emissions now.
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