Ahead of a summit in Paris to discuss global development finance, world leaders have written an open letter stating that private finance must play a significant role in supporting global development and reducing poverty by offering cheaper and more flexible loans, the Guardian reports. The letter, which the newspaper has also published in full, is signed by a number of high-profile leaders including the summit’s host, French president Emmanuel Macron, and Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley, who has convened the summit with him. Other major figures include Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and US president Joe Biden, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and South African president Cyril Ramaphosa. As the Guardian notes, the letter says the billions of dollars needed to invest in green technologies and address climate change will depend on “innovative and sustainable sources of finance, such as debt buybacks” that allow governments to reduce historically high interest payments. It says the letter is “likely to dismay many anti-poverty campaigners”, as it says government loans and grants will not be enough to spur development across low- and middle-income countries. The letter also states the importance of delivering on existing financial commitments. “Collective climate-finance goals must be met in 2023. Our total global ambition of $100bn (£78bn) of voluntary contributions for countries most in need, through a rechannelling of special drawing rights or equivalent budget contributions, should also be reached.” [The latter £100bn is distinct from the “collective climate-finance” target for developed countries to provide £100bn in climate finance annually by 2020.] Separately, Down To Earth reports on a letter signed by more than 140 economists, addressed to world leaders, calling for a “special tax on the wealth of the world’s richest people” to raise funds to tackle climate change in the global south. The Paris summit, which begins on Thursday, “seeks new life for global finance agenda”, according to Reuters. The Economist reports that 16 African presidents will be in attendance, reflecting “a fear that the continent is being short-changed as priorities shift towards helping Ukraine and dealing with climate change”.

Mafalda Duarte, the new head of the UN-backed $12bn Green Climate Fund, has warned that “it doesn’t matter what we do in developed countries” if “the Indias, the Africas, the Indonesias, the Chinas” do not transition to low-carbon economies, the Financial Times reports. It adds that she “questioned whether leaders in the developed world were doing enough to create the political conditions for money to be invested overseas”. In an “exclusive” interview, Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, tells the Guardian that poor countries hit by climate disasters should not be forced to make crippling debt payments. The Financial Times also reports on a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) which concludes investment in clean energy in developing economies “needs to rise seven-fold by the end of the decade” to meet climate and energy-supply targets. The Hill reports that Barbadian singer Rihanna has tweeted a message for US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen and World Bank president Ajay Banga, calling on them to support prime minister Mottley’s programme of climate-finance reforms.

In more climate finance-related news, Portugal plans to swap the entire €140m ($152.91m) debt it is owed by Cape Verde for investments in the island nation’s environmental and climate fund, Reuters reports. CNBC reports that even though Singapore has invested billions in public funds to prepare the country for climate change, “experts say diverse sources of capital are also needed from private banks, insurance players and financial markets”. Politico reports that Spain is hoping to capitalise on its ties with Latin America during its EU Council presidency, noting that “the region has vast mineral reserves needed for Europe’s green and digital agendas”.

The UK government lacks a coherent strategy to meet its commitment to decarbonise the power system within the next 12 years, according to an influential group of cross party MPs on the public accounts committee (PAC), Sky News reports. The committee thinks expansion plans for nuclear, solar and wind are not credible, and says the private sector does not have enough clarity to provide investment, the news website says. According to the article, “the inquiry heard that the government’s focus on providing energy bill support to manage high gas prices distracted it from longer-term activities on decarbonisation”. Energy Live News says the PAC has called for more integration between the government’s different strategies and noted that a delivery plan should clearly outline “when and how the costs associated with decarbonising the power sector will impact energy bill payers and taxpayers”. In its coverage, the Daily Telegraph leads on the statement that “net-zero goals to turn the electricity system green risk the lights going off”. The newspaper also reports that PAC warned that the government is “relying on untested technology in its plans, including small nuclear reactors”.

In related news, the Daily Telegraph reports that Tufan Erginbilgic, the chief executive of Rolls-Royce, has told attendees at the Paris Air Show that he does not think the EU can reach its net-zero emissions by 2050 target unless it embraces nuclear power. Specifically, the newspaper says Erginbilgic recommended small modular reactors (SMRs) – the kind that his company makes. Back in the UK, a former adviser to Gordon Brown, Nick Butler, has urged Labour to end its support for the £20bn Sizewell C nuclear power station “because of concerns the French design is unreliable”, the Daily Telegraph reports.

BBC News reports that a woman in Surrey, Sarah Finch, is about to take her fight over a local oil drilling permit to the Supreme Court in “a challenge that could spell the end of new fossil-fuel projects in the UK”. The case over the Horse Hill site is based on the suggestion that Surrey County Council did not consider some climate impacts of burning oil from the project when it was granted planning permission. Environmental lawyers say the landmark case could affect projects nationwide, the article explains. Meanwhile, City AM reports that Rosebank, the UK’s largest undeveloped oil-and-gas field, is set to be approved by regulators within the next two weeks. The Guardian reports that Joe Lycett and various other prominent figures have withdrawn from the British LGBT Awards “after climate campaigners warned of sponsorship deals with oil giants”.

Scotland has failed to meet its climate targets, with greenhouse gas emissions rising by 1m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in a year after dropping during Covid lockdowns, the Scotsman reports. BBC News notes that total emissions were 49.9% lower in 2021 than in 1990, just short of the 51.1% target. It adds that this is the eighth time in 12 years that Scotland’s legally binding targets have been missed. The article says domestic transport was still the biggest emissions source and was responsible for 26.2% of the total. Scottish newspaper the Herald reports that the Scottish National Party-Green government has been accused of “empty rhetoric and broken promises” by rival Conservative and Labour politicians over the missed goal. In response to criticism, Màiri McAllan, the Scottish net-zero secretary, said that the results showed a post-Covid rebound that was expected as society returned to normal, according to the Times.

German and Chinese politicians “likely discussed bilateral cooperation, including efforts to mitigate climate change” at a meeting in Berlin on Tuesday, reports public media outlet Japan Broadcasting Corporation. German media outlet Deutsche Welle writes that the meeting, led by German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Chinese premier Li Qiang, “primarily revolved around the conflict in Ukraine, trade relations, and the fight against climate change”. Clean Energy Wire reports that Scholoz said that Germany and China will start a new “climate and transformation dialogue” to accelerate the “climate-friendly transition through dialogue and concrete cooperation”. Chinese state news agency Xinhua reports that Li Qiang talked with German business leaders from Siemens, Volkswagen, and others about “de-risking” and “reducing dependency” on China at a separate meeting. German media outlet Spiegel writes that Scholz said: “Derisking: Yes. Decoupling: No.” He urged Beijing to “not forcefully change the status quo in the East and South China Seas” and to “abide by international rules”, the outlet adds. 

Meanwhile, China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) on Tuesday released Jan-May statistics for the national electricity industry, reports China Energy News. It says that cumulative installed power generation capacity reached approximately 2,670 gigawatts (GW) at the end of May, with a year-on-year growth of 10%. Solar capacity reached 450GW, marking year-on-year growth of 38%, while wind power reached 380GW, up 13%, the industry newspaper adds. Additionally, Xinhua carries an article by Shu Yinbiao from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, saying that to achieve the “dual carbon” goals in China, the energy sector is the “main battlefield”, with the power industry being the “main force” and a new type of power system being the “key carrier”.

In other news, Bloomberg says that China is leading the way in terms of “installing electric charging infrastructure, surpassing all other countries by a wide margin”. The website China Internet Information Center, citing a report from China Science Daily, reports that researchers find that with the “skyrocketing” ocean temperatures and the arrival of El Niño, 2023 could become the “hottest” year on record, as the Earth is heading towards “uncharted territory”. A Chinese website China.org has published a comment piece, titled “Blinken’s visit to China offers an opportunity to resume dialogue between China and US”, by Zhang Zhixin, associate researcher at the China Institute of Modern International Relations.

India’s federal government will send teams to assist and advise heat-affected states in the north and east as local authorities and hospitals “grapple with sweltering temperatures” and the death toll increases, Bloomberg reports. Yet the article notes that government officials have “resisted” connecting high humidity and temperatures around 43-44C to an apparent rise in fatalities, and adds that “authoritative data are limited”. It continues: “This summer has not smashed last year’s blistering records, but India has for weeks been dealing with highs close to 46C in some regions, as climate change makes extreme weather events more common.” According to Le Monde, in  the state of Uttar Pradesh 119 people have died from heat-related illnesses over the last several days and 47 have died in the neighbouring state of Bihar. The Hindu reports that health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) would conduct research on how to minimise the effect of heatwave on health, including short, medium and long-term action plans.

Meanwhile, the Hindu reports that Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has arrived in the US for his first state visit. “The fight against climate change” is one of the “deliverables” expected over the next few days, the article states.

Held vs. Montana, “the first constitutional climate trial in US history”, came to an end early on Tuesday, according to the Guardian. The “groundbreaking climate trial” saw lawyers  representing 16 young Montana residents argue that state officials and agencies must be held accountable for exacerbating climate change and violating the plaintiffs’ state constitutional rights, the newspaper explains. In response, it adds that the defence argued that climate change is a global problem that the plaintiffs should work to address through the legislature. “A ruling will now follow from Judge Kathy Seeley, who has been hearing the case, with expectations that this could take several weeks to emerge,” the article says. According to the Hill, the plaintiffs’ attorney argued that the judge should strike down as “unconstitutional” a state law that “prohibits state agencies from considering the environmental effects when it weighs permits allowing the release of greenhouse gases”. Another Guardian piece notes that Montana officials “sought to downplay” the trial, stating that a victory for  the young plaintiffs would not change approvals for fossil-fuel projects. DeSmog reports that the state presented a “condensed defence” that  excluded testimony from witnesses it had previously planned to call upon. These included a neuropsychologist who admitted she did not know about climate change’s mental health impacts on youth and “climatologist-turned-climate-denier Judith Curry, who had been billed as the state’s star witness”.

Ahead of this week’s “summit for a new global financing pact” in Paris, the Financial Times’ chief economics commentator Martin Wolf has a piece considering the investments needed to transition emerging and developing countries to low-carbon economies. His article largely draws from a paper written by Avinash Persaud, the Barbadian finance expert who advised prime minister Mia Mottley on her Bridgetown Agenda for rethinking the global financial system. Wolf notes the lack of private investment in climate-related projects in developing and emerging economies, compared to developed countries, and the fact that aid does not make up the shortfall. “The solution is to secure private finance for potentially profitable projects, which represent about 60% of the needed investments, the rest being for such things as adaptation. The latter will not yield direct financial returns and so must be financed by official assistance,” Wolf writes. However, he adds that as it stands this is not happening. “The conclusion from the evidence is that markets are too risk averse: the risks are not as great as they fear,” he continues. Wolf says that Persaud thinks there is great potential in these investments and therefore proposes a joint agency of the multilateral development banks and the IMF to offer foreign currency guarantees and pool currency risks, in order to overcome existing barriers. “If you are not persuaded by this logic, what is your plan for financing the huge investments the world needs? After all, climate change will not be solved by investments made just in rich countries,” Wolf concludes.

Bloomberg features an interview with Persaud himself, who says: “The problem is that everyone believes someone else should be doing more. Why? Because it’s a cost to them to do it…So if we can reduce the cost for them, they won’t spend their time pointing their finger at someone else – they will get it done.”

BusinessGreen editor James Murray reflects on UK Labour leader Keir Starmer’s plans for low-carbon energy in his latest blog post. He says the plans laid out so far have angered “some remarkably unusual bedfellows”, explaining: “On one hand, Tory ministers and trade union leaders argue blocking new fossil fuel projects amounts to the Labour leadership recklessly gambling with the UK’s energy security. On the other, green campaigners argue diluting green investment plans and refusing to retrospectively revoke drilling licences issued ahead of the election amounts to the Labour leadership recklessly gambling with the UK’s climate security.” However, Murray says this distracts from the simple question of whether or not Labour’s decarbonisation plan can be done, noting that “it is hard to overstate the scale of the ambition contained in Labour’s central goal of delivering a net-zero emission power system by 2030”. He continues: “The idea a country that takes three decades to build a high speed rail line can transform its entire energy system inside five years will stretch the credulity of supporters and opponents alike.” However, Murray commends the decision to take on such a challenge. “It is refreshing to see a politician take on the risks that come with an immensely ambitious target, because they recognise it is better to strain every sinew in pursuit of deep decarbonisation and fall short than it is to tick along at a more obviously achievable pace that risks locking in disastrous levels of warming,” he says. Taking a less nuanced approach to the Labour leader’s plans, climate-sceptic columnist Tim Newark writes in the Daily Express that “Labour’s green energy plan risks the lights going out”.

Alistair Osborne, chief business commentator of the Times, has a column about the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) new report taking aim at the current government’s plans for power system decarbonisation. The PAC would like the government’s various net-zero strategies combined into a single “coherent delivery plan”, he says. “Good luck with that”, writes Osborne, noting that “the committee is rightly ‘sceptical’ that the plans for 24 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power by 2050 are ‘credible’. Ditto 70GW of solar by 2035 and 50GW of offshore wind by 2030”. Writing in the Financial Times meanwhlie, Lex writer Camilla Palladino says the UK should “plump for heat pumps” in the drive to decarbonise homes, rather than relying on hydrogen, which will have “only a small role to play in the nationwide drive for net-zero heat”.

An editorial in the Scotsman focuses on UK government plans to remove a ban on opening new coal mines from an energy bill currently going through parliament, a move that it says suggests those who want action on climate change should not vote Conservative. “And this is a problem. The climate fight needs strong voices on the political right offering a credible vision of the path to net-zero. If they are sidelined, some voters may be persuaded that more radical measures are needed and back hard-left Greens who disdain economic growth to deliver them,” it states. Dave Hawkey, a senior research fellow at the IPPR Scotland thinktank, has a piece in the same newspaper about the Scottish government missing its climate targets. He says to achieve targets in sectors such as transport and heating, there needs to be a “much more active role for the public in decision-making”.

Tzeporah Berman, a Canadian policy advisor on climate and energy issues and an adjunct professor of environmental studies at York University, takes aim at fossil-fuel companies in relation to the wildfires burning across her nation. “We know exactly which fossil fuel companies are robbing us of clean air and a secure future. We can now measure which oil companies are responsible for wildfires (13 operate in Canada), but oil executives are still calling the shots,” she writes. In addition to phasing out coal, oil and gas domestically, she concludes that “wealthy fossil-fuel producing countries like Canada must support countries in the global south to be part of the transition to clean energy so it can happen in a fast and fair way”.

Deciduous forests – characterised by trees such as oaks and beeches that lose their foliage at the end of the growing season – absorb less solar radiation and have greater evaporation than evergreen coniferous forests, meaning that they could help reduce heat intensity during hot spells, new research finds. Using a regional climate model to simulate the effect of replacing all the coniferous forests in Europe with deciduous forests, the results show an average cooling effect of about 0.2C locally. Southwestern France and northern Turkey cool by up to 1C, though parts of Scandinavia and eastern Europe warm slightly. With a small, but significant, cooling effect, an increase in deciduous forests could complement other more effective measures, the paper concludes.