More than three-quarters of Earth’s land became “persistently drier in recent decades”, according to a report released at the COP16 UN summit on desertification taking place in Saudi Arabia, the New York Times reports. The newspaper continues: “Many of these places are major food producers, such as Argentina, Spain and the Black Sea region, said Narcisa Pricope, one of the report’s authors and a land systems scientist at Mississippi State University. Others, like South Sudan, are vulnerable to conflict and political instability.” It adds that according to the report, more than 40% of Earth’s land outside Antarctica was considered dryland as of 2020. The Associated Press continues: “If global warming trends continue, nearly 5bn people – including in most of Europe, parts of the western US, Brazil, eastern Asia and central Africa – will be affected by the drying by the end of the century, up from a quarter of the world’s population today, the report warned.” It adds that nations are using the talks in Saudi Arabia to discuss “how better they can help the world deal with droughts – a more urgent lack of water over shorter periods — and the more permanent problem of degrading land”. MailOnline says the UN has called land degradation an “existential crisis”. Separately, the Daily Telegraph reports that Riyadh – where the UN conference is currently being held – “aims to reduce the overall average temperature [in the city] by 2C with four environmental ‘megaprojects’”.

Oil and gas company BP has agreed a £4.5bn spinoff deal for its offshore wind assets with Japan’s biggest power producer, Jera, the Guardian reports. According to the newspaper, the deal “will combine the Japanese company’s existing windfarms, capable of generating about a gigawatt (GW) of power, with the projects in development from both companies”. The move will allow BP to “gain some access to zero-carbon wind energy while focusing on fossil fuels”, the newspaper adds. According to the Times, the move is “seen as a further retreat by the British oil and gas company from renewable energy”. It adds: “​​The 50:50 joint venture will involve BP putting $3.25bn into the new operation compared with Jera’s $2.55bn as BP’s asset pipeline is less developed.” BusinessGreen says that combining the companies’ offshore wind assets and development pipeline “should give the new venture 13GW of potential net generating capacity, including projects that are either operational or under development in a host of key markets such as the UK, Japan, Germany, the US and Taiwan”. The Daily Telegraph says that BP’s spending on offshore wind will drop “sharply” from previously anticipated investment of £7.8bn between 2023 and 2030 under the agreement. It adds: “The company said the deal will create one of the world’s largest global offshore wind businesses and also will ‘significantly reduce BP’s anticipated investment into renewables through the rest of this decade’.” The Financial Times, the Financial Post, Agence France-Presse, Nikkei Asia and EnergyMonitor also cover the news. In related comment, the Financial Times Lex column says “four years after enthusiastically banging the drum for wind power, [BP] is beating a retreat”.

The EU should “prohibit solar geoengineering technologies” and “push for a worldwide ban for the time being”, Politico reports, covering a report from the bloc’s science advisers. According to the outlet, the EU’s advisers “issued an in-depth assessment alongside their recommendations”. It adds that the report marks the first time the European Commission has been given specific scientific advice on geoengineering. The Guardian says: “[The report] found the ‘deep uncertainties’ of solar geoengineering were inconsistent with the EU’s precautionary principle and its responsibility to do no harm. The group’s top recommendation was to cut greenhouse gas pollution as the main way to avoid ‘dangerous’ levels of climate change. But it also called on the EU to negotiate a global system to regulate the future use of solar radiation management – with a moratorium on its use ‘for the foreseeable future’ – and ensure research into it was rigorous, responsible and ethical. It recommended ensuring that public funding does not take away from the money being spent to cut greenhouse gas pollution and adapt to a hotter planet.”

Separately, Reuters reports on a draft EU document, which shows that the bloc will “endorse geothermal energy for the first time at a meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels next week”. And the Financial Times reports that the EU’s new agricultural chief “told the Financial Times that the seven-year €387bn Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should no longer reward the biggest landowners and instead focus on small farms”.

Oil prices climbed, in part because “top importer China flagged its first move towards a loosened monetary policy stance since 2010” in a meeting of the Politburo, the decision-making body of the Chinese communist party, Reuters reports. The newswire adds that this implies “actions by a central bank or government to boost growth, such as increasing money supply, lowering interest rates, and implementing fiscal stimulus”. The New York Times says that the reference to loosening monetary policy in the readout from the meeting is the first such signal on expanding monetary policy from the central government in 14 years and came “ahead of the annual Central Economic Work Conference on Wednesday and Thursday”. State news agency Xinhua publishes the full readout of the meeting, in which the Politburo stresses the importance of “reducing carbon emissions, controlling pollution, expanding green growth, and accelerating a comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development”. 

Separately, Bloomberg reports that, according to Russian gas giant Gazprom, daily flows to China via the Power of Siberia gas link have exceeded Russia’s “maximum contractual obligations”, setting a “new record for daily pipeline gas supplies to China”. Xinhua says that China has “updated its development roadmap” for carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS). Energy news outlet International Energy Net reports that the UK-China (Guangdong) CCUS Centre and the Global CCS Institute have agreed to “deepen cooperation” on CCUS.

Meanwhile, China’s solar manufacturers are “learning they need to exercise restraint to survive”, Bloomberg says, adding that at the annual meeting of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA) last week, Chinese solar companies reached an agreement similar to the way OPEC “manages its oil supply”, allocating “quotas” for annual production. Business news outlet Yicai says the agreement represents “an unprecedented collaborative effort” from more than 30 firms. International Energy Net reports that “self-discipline is essential” to the sector’s recovery, and points to measures such as “price caps, production limits, industry alliances, and overseas expansion”. Zhang Fulong, CEO of International Energy Net and dean of the Guoneng Energy Research Institute, writes in an article for Governance, a Chinese outlet linked with the party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily, that leading Chinese solar companies must “strengthen R&D investment and optimise capacity and layout” while smaller companies need to be “cautious” with their production expansion. Finally, China’s installed wind capacity has exceeded 500 gigawatts (GW) and accounts for 50% of the global total, state broadcaster CCTV reports, while retail sales of electric vehicles in China in November reached 1.27 million units, according to Xinhua.

“An industry body with members including British Gas, EDF and Octopus Energy said watering down the zero-emissions vehicle mandate could backfire,” the Times reports. The newspaper explains that the UK government is considering changes to its mandate requiring EVs to make up a rising share of sales, following “intense lobbying by car manufacturers”. However, Energy UK has warned that “any changes leading to fewer electric cars being sold could hurt investment in new energy sources”, according to the Times. The paper quotes the deputy director of policy at Energy UK saying: “Uncertainty and changes of direction hit investor confidence and deter the funding that is driving the energy transition…It’s crucial that the clean energy mission is supported rather than undercut by wider government policies.” The newspaper adds that the National Energy System Operator has called electric cars “vital” for achieving a clean electricity grid by 2030, as they can “provide about 2 gigawatts of flexibility”. The Guardian reports: “Tesla lobbied the UK government to strengthen rules on carbon emissions from cars and lorries, according to documents that also show the electric carmaker continued to push for increased taxes on fossil fuel cars.”

In other UK news, the Financial Times reports on preliminary figures for UK electricity generation in 2024 from thinktank Ember, according to which wind, solar and hydropower combined are expected to generate more than fossil fuels. And the Daily Mail reports on damage to a solar farm on the island of Anglesey off Wales, caused by Storm Darragh.

Sam Payne, a member of the Conservative Environment Network, writes in a comment article for BusinessGreen that the private sector is “leading the way” in cutting emissions and that the Labour government’s “heavy reliance on government-backed schemes, such as GB Energy, risks stifling market-driven innovation and competition”. He continues: “A more market-driven energy policy that reduces state intervention would foster innovation and reduce costs. That is why this government shouldn’t be afraid of easing the bureaucratic burden on businesses.” For example, he says that “many farmers and landowners would jump at the opportunity to deploy small-scale renewable energy systems, such as wind turbines and solar panels, on their land”, but argues that “planning regulations are unnecessarily complex and time-consuming”. Similarly, he says the government “should seek to cut planning red tape to accelerate the rollout of EV charge points”.

Separately, Daily Telegraph associate editor Ben Marlow writes that “the biggest flaw in [energy secretary Ed] Miliband’s green revolution is that the UK doesn’t have an electricity grid capable of handling our current renewables capabilities”.

Extreme rainfall events could increase in magnitude across “large areas of the globe” as emissions rise, while “at the same time” the seasonality of such extremes is likely to change, new research suggests. The study assesses how the seasonality and magnitude of rainfall extremes are jointly projected to change under different climate scenarios. It notes that changes to the seasonality of rainfall extremes are expected to be “mainly located in tropical and sub-tropical areas”.