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By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

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Reducing emissions and waste pollution are the focus of today’s newsletter as global energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) hit a record high last year, while a United Nations body finds that waste produced by the public will surge by 2050.

This week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that steep cuts in CO2 emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, will be needed in the coming years if targets to limit a global rise in temperatures and prevent runaway climate change are to be met.

“Far from falling rapidly – as is required to meet the global climate goals set out in the Paris Agreement – CO2 emissions reached a new record high,” the IEA said in a report.

The reports findings come as the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that cutting emissions is “essentially” the responsibility of G20 nations, the largest polluters, calling for stronger targets and fairer financing for countries bearing the brunt of climate change.

Speaking ahead of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Guterres said “more climate justice” was needed, including reasonable financing costs for developing countries to protect themselves from climate change.

Elsewhere, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report that urgent measures need to be taken or else global waste generation would soar, largely driven by fast-growing economies where many countries are already struggling to manage current production levels.

One waste management initiative to highlight this week is in the United States, where the environment regulator said it is launching new cleanup projects at 25 hazardous waste sites from New Jersey to Oregon with $1 billion in funds.

Janet McCabe, the deputy Environmental Protection Agency administrator, told reporters on a call that 75% of the 25 sites are in historically underserved communities. The $1 billion also will help speed up ongoing work at 85 Superfund sites. More than 25% of Black and Hispanic Americans live within three miles (5 km) of a Superfund site, McCabe said.

1. Global energy-related CO2 emissions hit record high in 2023 – IEA

Global energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) hit a record high last year, driven partly by increased fossil fuel use in countries where droughts hampered hydropower production, International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.

An excavator removes plastic waste that was not affected by a fire, at a plastic recycling dump in Valle de Chalco, Mexico. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha

2. Harmful waste generation set to jump, U.N. warns

Waste produced by the public will surge by 2050, causing hundreds of billions of dollars of damage through biodiversity loss, climate change and deadly pollution, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report.

3. US EPA directs $1 billion to 25 Superfund hazardous waste cleanups

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it is launching new cleanup projects at 25 hazardous waste sites from New Jersey to Oregon with $1 billion in funds. The sites are in the EPA’s Superfund program, originally created in 1980, which helps to repurpose land polluted by heavy industry for new economic development, including parks and warehouses.

4. Tobago oil spill reaches Bonaire, threatening mangrove and coral ecosystems

The Caribbean island of Bonaire said that oil from a spill near neighboring Tobago had reached its shores, posing a “serious threat to both humans and nature”, and that emergency services had been mobilized.

Parts of Bonaire’s east coast, including Sorobon, Lac and Lagun, have been contaminated with oil and vulnerable mangrove, fish and coral ecosystems are at risk, the government said in a statement on Monday.

5.  February likely warmest on record amid climate change

Three scientists told Reuters that February is on track to have the highest global average temperature ever recorded for that month, thanks to climate change and the warming in the Eastern Pacific Ocean known as El Nino. The data has not been finalized, but spring-like conditions caused flowers to bloom early from Japan to Mexico, left ski slopes bald of snow in Europe and pushed temperatures to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 C) in Texas.

Researchers in the Amazon have discovered the world’s largest snake species – an enormous green anaconda – in Ecuador’s rainforest that split off from its closest relatives 10 million years ago though they still look nearly identical to this day. Click here or on the image for more. 

Fire crews fought to contain a wildfire that grew to the largest on record in Texas history after scorching more than 1 million acres (404,686 hectares) of grassland and timber, and destroying homes in small towns that dot the Panhandle region.

 30 billion euros

Investments in European offshore wind last year jumped to 30 billion euros ($32.4 bln), up from the scant 0.4 billion euros that were invested in 2022. EU countries also installed a record-high 16.2 gigawatts of new wind energy capacity last year, around 80% of which was onshore wind farms, industry group WindEurope said.

Today’s Sustainable Switch Climate Focus was edited by Jane Merriman

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