For starters, climate dangers aren’t far off in the future but “right here, wherever you live.” With attention fixed on the war raging in Ukraine just days after an invasion by Russia, there’s a greater-than-normal risk that the latest report from the coalition of top scientists on the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will go overlooked. Which is, in a way, something that the hundreds of authors worried about in compiling this 3,500-page report: Among the worst case scenarios analyzed for future warming is a world where “a resurgent nationalism, concerns about competitiveness and security, and regional conflicts” make global collaboration nearly impossible.  

African countries are being forced to spend billions of dollars a year coping with the effects of the climate crisis, which is diverting potential investment from schools and hospitals and threatens to drive countries into ever deeper poverty. Report says average 4% of GDP will be spent on adapting to climate breakdown.

Well before Russia started to wage war on Ukraine , Germany’s government began to decide on a wide-ranging renewables reform that should make the country’s power supply almost 100 percent renewable by 2035. In a draft paper, the economy and climate ministry proposes higher renewable capacity targets for 2030, aligning the German clean energy path with the 1.5 degree warming limit. In a more immediate reaction to the possible reduction or stop of Russian gas deliveries to Germany, minister Robert Habeck said that Germany’s gas reserves will last for this winter and summer - but securing supply for next winter would demand new procurement sources and weaning the German economy from its appetite for gas, he added.

BP Plc’s exit from Russia may cause tens of billions of dollars of financial pain, but it could have a longer-term upside for the company’s environmental credentials. The company pledged in 2020 to slash its greenhouse gas emissions and shrink fossil fuel production by 40% by 2030. But Rosneft, which remains staunchly committed to oil and gas, didn’t factor into these calculations, raising questions about their veracity. 

Daniel Yergin, the author of several books about geopolitics and oil, talked with DealBook about the complicated relationship between renewable energy and energy security.

As February comes to a close, edie and innovation partner Springwise have rounded up six of the best breakthrough technologies that could help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient and resilient future. Check them out here.

HSBC aims to cut emissions associated with loans made to its oil and gas clients by 34% this decade, marking the first time that Britain’s biggest lender has committed to such a target.