The US has decided to support formal UN negotiations over possible compensation and assistance for “loss and damage” at the COP27 summit in Egypt next month, reports Bloomberg. Quoting “senior administration officials”, the newswire explains that “while the US is supporting dialogue on the issue, the officials said US negotiators at next month’s UN climate summit in Egypt are discouraging any explicit push for new aid or funding in an agenda item framing the talks”. This “would put the US at odds with a large group of vulnerable nations which will be led at the talks by Pakistan, where floods have left more than 1,700 dead and caused some $30bn in losses”, the newswire says. It adds: “Long-simmering fights over how, or even if, wealthy nations should pay for the devastation will likely dominate at COP27…Members of the largest negotiating bloc, known as G-77+China, have been insisting on a formal discussion of loss and damage. And the emerging US position would make good on promises of a ‘dialogue’ made as part of last year’s climate negotiations in Glasgow. The US favours language on addressing financial arrangements for averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage, according to senior administration officials, with a chance to hash out possible options. That falls short of the demands of some vulnerable countries for a more concrete result.”

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that Germany has positioned itself ahead of COP27 “to lead G7 countries on the issue of ‘loss and damage’”. The paper continues: “The federal ministry for economic development [yesterday] committed to an increase in funding through a G7-backed financial agreement between Germany and the V20 group of vulnerable nations…Germany’s agreement with the V20 group, dubbed the Global Shield, akin to an insurance fund, is distinct from longstanding calls by the world’s poorest countries for compensation for the effects of greenhouse gas emissions by the rich, through a global loss and damage financing facility.” Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s climate envoy, told an FT Energy Transition conference this week that the Global Shield plan was tailored to provide a quick financial response after disasters, to allow assistance “on the ground immediately”. Yale Environment 360 looks at how a “showdown” on loss and damage “looms” at COP27.

In other COP27 news, the Independent reports that “Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are promising action on climate change” ahead of the summit. The article – by “Independent reporters” rather than a named byline – says: “The Saudi Green Initiative, with the backing of £1.65bn of the state’s resources, will host its own summit-within-a-summit on 11-12 November. That will be preceded by a Middle East Green Initiative conference on 7 November.” The chairman of the “higher committee” for the SGI is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is quoted in the article as saying the conference and the wider COP effort will inspire “joint activity at the local, regional, and international levels”. And, in India, the Wire runs an article under the headline: “After tall speeches, UK defaults on $288m committed to Green Climate Fund.”

Spain, Portugal and France yesterday announced plans to build a sea-based pipeline to carry hydrogen and gas between Barcelona and Marseille, reports Reuters, substituting plans to extend the so-called MidCat pipeline across the Pyrenees that France opposed. The newswire continues: “The route, dubbed BarMar, will mainly be used to pump green hydrogen and other renewable gases, but will also temporarily allow for the transportation of a ‘limited amount’ of natural gas to help alleviate Europe’s energy crisis, Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa said…The BarMar resolves a stand-off between Spain and Portugal, which wanted to extend the MidCat pipeline so that they could sell gas to central Europe, and France, which argued that the pipeline would take too long to build to resolve short-term supply issues.” Spain and France also agreed to speed up an electricity interconnection through the Bay of Biscay and identify and work on other connections between the two national grids, the outlet says. The leaders of the three countries agreed to meet again in Alicante, Spain, on 9 December to decide on a construction timeline and how the pipeline will be financed. One energy expert tells the Financial Times that countries are casting the undersea pipeline as a green project by saying it would primarily transport hydrogen in order to make it eligible for EU funding. The expert adds: “This would only get built if the EU kicks in the money.” AFP via Le Monde and the Associated Press also have the story.

A “concession from Germany” allowed EU leaders meeting yesterday in Brussels to make tentative progress on measures to tackle the energy crisis, reports Politico, “as countries gave the European Commission the green light to work on proposals for a temporary price cap”. Germany has “been one of the strongest opponents of a price cap”, the outlet says, but “finally bowed to pressure deep into leaders’ talks and gave its backing to briefly control gas costs until a new pricing system is devised”. However, “much of the detail has yet to be worked out”, it adds: “Leaders kicked further conversations to an energy ministers’ meeting next week. And German chancellor Olaf Scholz even said an emergency EU leaders’ summit may be needed next month – effectively giving Germany and others a veto on the final proposal if needed.” Bloomberg says: “After hours of intense negotiations, the leaders asked the EU’s executive arm to propose a ‘temporary dynamic price corridor on natural gas transactions to immediately limit episodes of excessive gas prices’, they said in their joint summit conclusions. They also said they would pursue a temporary framework to cap the price of gas in electricity generation, including a cost and benefit analysis.” Reuters says that “15 countries, including France and Poland, are pushing for some form of a cap”. However, the Financial Times says that “they differ on the exact mechanism to achieve this”. It adds: “Some are also calling for Brussels to propose extra EU-level funding to ease the crisis and accelerate the bloc’s bid for energy independence from Russia, a push that is now being backed by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.” Le Monde says Germany’s resistance to the price cap is based on a fear “that gas supplies could end up shifting to more lucrative markets in Asia”. Reuters reports that Hungary has said it would not agree to an EU price cap on imported gas because it would end Russian deliveries. The article quotes a senior aide to Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, who said that if the EU decides on a cap it would have to exempt Hungary, as it did for oil.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Germany has called for EU states to work with countries that can develop new gas fields, “prompting concern from campaigners over the climate change commitments of Europe’s biggest economy as it scrambles to replace Russian gas”. In a draft document seen by the newswire, Germany said EU countries should agree at the summit to “work together with countries that have the capacity to develop new gas fields, as part of the Paris Climate Agreement commitments”. Politico also has the story. At the same time, German chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a speech that Russia’s war in Ukraine must not lead to a “worldwide renaissance” for coal, reports the Associated Press. Reuters reports that Italy is invoking the need for energy security in the face of Russian supply cuts to rush through in a matter of months a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal – “a process that would normally take years due to local objections and permitting”.

In other European news, Namibia has “provisionally agreed on a deal with the EU to sell its rare-earth minerals, critical to the renewable energy sectors”, Reuters reports. Greece has proposed building a cable that will carry electricity produced by renewables to Austria and southern Germany, the newswire says. And a third Reuters article reports that “two sources” have warned that the German government needs to pump tens of billions of euros of additional funding into Uniper to weather a European gas crisis after a previous scheme to help the stricken gas importer was scrapped”. The Financial Times Lex column warns that while “Europe’s gas price has retreated to saner levels…[t]hat doesn’t mean we are out of the energy-crisis woods yet”. A Reuters “factbox” looks at the options available to Europe if Russia shuts off its gas supply. And Martin Sandbu, the Financial Times European economics commentator, assesses the different ways that European governments are intervening on high energy prices.

The National Grid has significantly increased the financial incentive for its demand flexibility scheme, which aims to pay households that shift their power usage away from peak times as part of efforts to prevent rolling power cuts, the Guardian reports. The paper continues: “Its electricity system operator (ESO) has increased the incentive sixfold to £3 per kilowatt hour (kW/h) to encourage households to use their washing machines and appliances late at night.” The ESO had originally planned to pay households with smart meters about 52p per kW/h, the article says, but “the introduction of support for businesses and households announced by Liz Truss last month made the scheme less attractive, at the equivalent of 34p per kW/h”. The ESO said feedback on the scheme suggests the increase to £3 “will unlock the majority of the available volume”. Writing in the Guardian, ESO’s director Fintan Slye says: “Businesses and homes can become virtual power plants and, crucially, get paid like one too. For a consumer that could mean a typical household could save approximately £100, and industrial and commercial businesses with larger energy usage could save multiples of this.” BBC News and Daily Telegraph also have the story, while the Financial Times reports that the boss of ScottishPower has proposed that all energy companies, including oil and gas producers, should pay into a multibillion pound fund to subsidise electricity and gas bills from April, when blanket UK government support ends.

Meanwhile, Sky News reports that Ovo Energy has launched an 11th-hour bid to prevent rival Octopus Energy from taking over the nationalised supplier Bulb. The outlet says it “has learnt” that Ovo has written to Bulb’s special administrator to inform it that it is renewing its interest in buying its failed rival, which collapsed into insolvency a year ago. The Financial Times notes that Octopus Energy had been the only company left in the running for Bulb after British Gas owner Centrica and Middle East energy group Masdar pulled out. It adds that “Ovo first made an approach for Bulb soon after it collapsed last November but did not make a formal offer during the sales process this summer”. Bloomberg notes that, unlike Octopus, which has requested £1bn from the government to cover costs, Ovo could take on the customers without such support. However, the Times quotes a “senior industry source”, who warned that an Ovo takeover of Bulb was “not credible” and would be highly risky for the government, given that Ovo’s own future had been in doubt. The Daily Telegraph and Guardian also have the story.

And in other UK news, the Independent reports on analysis commissioned by thinktank the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) that shows “climate change and soaring fossil fuel prices have pushed up the average household food bill by more than £400 this year”. The findings suggests that these two factors “could account for as much as 88% of food price inflation”, notes the Times. And the Times also has an article on how bad insulation is “a plague on all our houses”.

Finally, BusinessGreen reports on how the resignation of prime minister Liz Truss yesterday “throw[s] UK net-zero plans into chaos once again”. And DeSmog reports from “sustainable development” conference organised by Climate Change (CC) Forum, which “gave a platform to two prominent climate science deniers, who used the event to claim that coal-fired power is ‘clean’ and call global warming a ‘religion’”. UK climate minister Graham Stuart had agreed to give a keynote speech at the event, before pulling out on Friday, claiming that he was not told who else would be on the bill when he agreed to speak, DeSmog notes.

South Africa’s cabinet has approved an investment plan for an $8.5bn package to accelerate the country’s transition away from coal and towards clean energy, reports Climate Home News. In a short statement, the cabinet said the plan “outlines the investments required to achieve the decarbonisation commitments made by the government of South Africa while promoting sustainable development, and ensuring a just transition for affected workers and communities”. The plan, expected to be published at next month’s COP27, “follows nearly a year of negotiations between the governments of South Africa and the UK, EU, US, France and Germany, which are contributing funds”, the outlet says. Bloomberg adds that “the plan envisages the closure and re-purposing of coal-fired power plants owned by Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, the state power utility, so additional renewable energy can be produced. It also covers expanding the transmission grid and fostering the development of electric-vehicle and green hydrogen industries”.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans yesterday to further cut emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in what the Washington Post describes as “the latest step in America’s effort to phase down the potent greenhouse gases”. The federal agency’s new proposed rule would set guidelines to lower the number of available allowances for the production and use of HFCs – widely used in air conditioning and refrigeration – to 40% below historical levels, starting in 2024. “This is a really strong step forward,“ EPA administrator Michael S Regan told the paper. Because the production and consumption of these powerful chemicals need to be phased down, Regan added that the Biden administration is pushing to create “the next generation of chemical compounds that don’t sacrifice the comforts or the needs that we have, but makes significant inroads in staving off the climate crisis while boosting American manufacturing”. The paper notes that the new proposal “comes about a month” after the US Senate voted to ratify a global treaty known as the Kigali Amendment to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which “calls for a gradual reduction in the use and production of the chemicals”.

Elsewhere, the New York Times has an interactive article unpacking the legislative successes and failures of the Biden administration – including climate and environment, where the government “got much of what it wanted”.

China’s environmental protection has “undergone a historic, watershed and overall transformation” since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, the Global Times writes. The state-run newspaper adds that China will “remain committed to green and low-carbon development”, quoting Wang Wenbin, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson. Wang said yesterday that China hopes that the “countries can overcome difficulties as soon as possible and return to the right track of low-carbon and green development, so as to jointly achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement”.

In other news about the congress, CNBC has published an article, titled: “What China’s big party congress this week means for the economy.” It quotes Natixis analysts who say “real estate will still feel pressure since any relaxation was hardly mentioned in the [Xi’s] speech.” Analysts from the French investment bank are quoted saying that “the congress’ implications for different sectors ‘are a big boost for industrial policy’”, pointing to Xi’s “frequent mention of the need for innovation” in his speech. Separately, China Dialogue writes that “ensuring the security of energy, food and other key supplies powering the Chinese economy”, in an era of “great uncertainty”, has been a “central message coming out of top-level speeches and press conferences over the past few days”.

Elsewhere, Bloomberg says that “efforts by China to control air pollution” by “reining in industrial output” could “help ease an energy crunch and tame a bull run in thermal coal”, according to the China Coal Transport and Distribution Association. The outlet adds that the “pinch” on coal supplies is “unlikely to trigger shortages, given the country’s intense push to boost inventories ahead of the winter”. Finally, the state-run industry newspaper China Electric Power News carries an overview of 10 years of “high-quality” development in the oil and gas industry in China, highlighting innovation and efficiency to ensure the “core domestic oil and gas needs”.

The UK’s biggest domestic bank Lloyds said yesterday it would not support direct financing to develop new oil and gas fields, reports Reuters, joining a small number of lenders to push back on funding expansion of the industry. The newswire explains: “Lloyds updated its climate policy to make the change, which bars project financing or reserve-based lending to greenfield oil and gas projects, although the policy would still mean it could provide general lending to companies in the industry…The bank provided about £1bn ($1.1bn) of finance to commercial oil and gas customers last year, according to its latest climate disclosures report, and the sector accounted for just 0.2% of its overall lending.” The Independent notes that a statement from the bank says that it will exit relationships with customers who do not meet these new requirements at the earliest opportunity. BusinessGreen also has the story.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Ukrainians to start conserving electricity in the wake of Russian missile and drone attacks targeting critical infrastructure, as planned power rationing began across the country yesterday, reports the Financial Times. It continues: “The president said 30% of Ukraine’s power stations had been destroyed, while state energy company Ukrenergo said Russian barrages had caused more damage to the power infrastructure in the past 10 days than in the first seven months of Moscow’s full-blown invasion. Zelenskyy called on consumers to reduce their energy consumption between 7am and 11pm daily and to refrain from using energy-guzzling home appliances such as water boilers and electric heaters. Ukrenergo told Ukrainians to keep charged phones, power banks, water, flashlights, and batteries to hand.” Reuters and the Hill also have the story, while Reuters also reports that “Russia’s defence ministry said [yesterday] its forces continued to hit military and energy targets in Ukraine over the last 24 hours”.

In an editorial and accompanying briefing, the Economist says that the early stages of India’s “green boom led by the private sector” provides “hope that India can make the green leap”. India has “immense energy needs” and relies “heavily” on coal, the editorial says, yet it has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2070. The “big surprise” is that major changes are happening on the ground, it continues: “In the past decade India has seen a 50-fold increase in installed solar power. In 2021 its renewables accounted for 5% of its primary-energy consumption, and 5% of global renewable primary-energy consumption. Private firms have plans to invest perhaps $200bn in the coming years in everything from generation facilities to green hydrogen plants (by comparison, global investment in wind and solar last year was about $300bn, and India’s was roughly $15bn). The government wants to triple non-fossil-fuel capacity by 2030.” Behind the boom are “a number of forces”, the article says, including “sun-drenched India ha[ving] some of the cheapest solar power in the world” and that “India’s big local conglomerates (including Reliance Industries, Adani Group and Tata Group) are deploying capital at scale”. However, India’s surge ‘faces several hurdles”, the outlet says: “One is financing. Experts reckon it will take over $500bn of investment by 2030 in clean energy, transmission lines, grid-scale batteries and related kit to achieve the government’s 500GW. That is at least twice the present investment plans of the big firms, so India will have to attract new sources of capital at a time when interest rates are rising.” And the “biggest hurdle of all relates to government policy, which needs to be predictable enough to provide certainty to investors, it adds: “It also needs to anticipate challenges –redesigning electricity grids, for example, as the share of intermittent power rises. India’s officials have a good sense of what to do. But they face resistance from a coal lobby which controls vast budgets and employs millions.”

Framing climate policies in a positive light or in terms of positive health impacts increases support for those policies among people who are “unconcerned about climate change”, a new study finds. Surveying 7,500 adults across five countries, researchers examine how different factors change how much people support policies addressing climate change. They find that framing policies as opportunities elicited higher support than framing them as threats did. Additionally, framing climate policies in terms of their health or environmental impacts resulted in higher support than economic framing.