Thursday Briefing: Britain tells climate summit coal era to end as carbon emissions surge

The Reuters Daily Briefing Thursday, November 4, 2021 by Linda Noakes and Katy Daigle Sponsored by   Hello Here's what you need to know. Powell and Lagarde tell markets to hold their rate hike horses, Trump bids to stonewall the Capitol riot investigation, and a potentially game-changing COVID-19 pill wins approval Today's biggest stories People dressed as a Pikachu protest against the funding of coal by Japan, near the U.N. Climate Change Conference venue in Glasgow, Scotland, November 4, 2021. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne COP26 Money was the theme of yesterday’s sessions at the U.N. climate conference, but today delegates turn their focus to energy – both dirty and clean. Britain will spearhead a non-binding deal among at least 19 countries to end the financing of fossil fuel projects abroad. The burning of coal, oil and gas over decades since the Industrial Revolution is mainly responsible for the carbon-dioxide emissions causing climate change. More countries also may join the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, led by Denmark and Costa Rica. However that effort, which commits members to phasing out fossil fuel production within their own borders, won’t formally be launched until next week. Under yet another initiative, more countries could announce plans to end coal use. The UK COP26 President Alok Sharma has urged delegates to make this U.N. climate summit the one where rich nations “consign coal power to history.” Banks and other financial institutions including the ADB, Citi and HSBC are also expected to step up to the call, announcing financial mechanisms to help countries quit coal. Earlier this week, countries including the United States revealed plans to crack down on emissions of the methane, the second-biggest cause of climate change after CO2 emissions. More than 100 countries pledged to slash methane emissions 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels. But as the world ditches dirty fuels, there is urgent need to boost renewable energy sources worldwide. Solar and wind power, along with clean-burning green hydrogen, will come into the conversation, as well projects aimed at capturing and keeping carbon emissions from the atmosphere. For industries unable to decarbonize immediately, some of these nascent technologies are seen as key. Major companies have been asked to join the ‘Race to Zero’ pledge to get to net-zero emissions by 2050. And U.N. climate envoy Mark Carney said Wednesday private finance was set to help with that goal through the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, whose members now control assets worth $130 trillion. Delegates are also still wrangling over the rules around Article 6, the section of the U.N. Convention on Climate Change that deals with markets for trading carbon emissions that continue to be emitted. One of the toughest tasks will be in synchronizing global rules around these markets, as well as in agreeing on a global price for carbon. Set too low, the price would offer little incentive for companies to rein in emissions; but a price set too high could end up stymieing industry. See our full coverage of COP26 Supporters of Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin celebrate as they see results come in on television during an election night party at a hotel in Chantilly, Virginia, November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst U.S Hoping to retake both houses of Congress in elections a year from now, Republicans plan to follow a strategy Glenn Youngkin used to win Virginia's governor's race, making schools the front line in U.S. culture wars. Here are five things to watch in the 2022 congressional elections. Americans are increasingly turning away from the coronavirus and focusing their attention elsewhere, especially toward rising consumer prices and other economic areas where Democrats are less trusted, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows. Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy narrowly fended off an election challenge from Republican former state lawmaker Jack Ciattarelli, a day after voting ended in an unexpected nail-biter for the incumbent. A U.S. judge is set to hear arguments by Donald Trump's lawyers that hundreds of pages of his White House records should be withheld from a House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot by a mob of his supporters. Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of enabling financier Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuses, has endured jail conditions comparable to Hannibal Lecter's in the 1991 film 'The Silence of the Lambs', her lawyer said in a court filing. We look at how Epstein's shadow looms over jury selection in the Maxwell sex crimes trial. WORLD Britain became the first country in the world to approve a potentially game-changing COVID-19 antiviral pill jointly developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, in a boost to the fight against the pandemic. As England sees record COVID prevalence, we look at how Prime Minister Boris Johnson's gambit is steering Britain into uncharted winter waters. Diplomatic efforts to try to avert an attack on Ethiopia's capital gathered pace after Tigrayan forces from the north of the country made advances towards the city this week. Hong Kong's top court quashed attempts by the city's government to prosecute people for rioting or illegal assembly even without being present at the scene - a ruling lawyers described as a landmark. North Korea can get all the uranium it needs for nuclear weapons through its existing Pyongsan mill, and satellite imagery of tailings piles suggests the country can produce far more nuclear fuel than it is, a new academic study concludes. An international rights watchdog named El Salvador the most unsafe country for women in Latin America and the Caribbean in a new report. Holding aloft crosses bearing the names of murdered women, hundreds of people marched in Mexico's capital to protest violence against women amidst a steady nationwide increase in femicides. BUSINESS A rush of expectations that tightening signals by central banks in Canada and Australia would nudge the world's biggest monetary policy actors to accelerate their own timelines for rate hikes ran into a wall of sorts, with the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank saying not so fast. Credit Suisse will rein in its investment bank and plough money and staff into a centralised global business catering for the world's rich as it tries to move on from a string of scandals that have cost billions. Spies, lies and losses - here's a look at Credit Suisse's scandals. Japan's Toyota Motor Corp raised its profit outlook helped by favorable currency rates but warned that the global semiconductor shortage still posed risks to its full-year production plans. Chinese property developer Kaisa Group Holdings missed a payment on a wealth management product issued by a unit, a company source said, adding to worries about a cash crunch at the debt-strapped firm. Earlier this year, Amazon.com handily defeated a historic union drive at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. But with the prospect of another vote looming, the online retailer is leaving nothing to chance. Quote of the day "We came here with a very simple, very clear message: You are not alone. Europe is standing with you" Raphael Glucksmann French member of the European Parliament EU Parliament delegation makes first official visit to Taiwan Video of the day Russian royal gems on the auction block Russian royal jewels smuggled out of the country during the 1917 revolution, alongside rare colored diamonds, are on offer at auction next week in Geneva, looking for deep-pocketed collectors emerging from the pandemic. And finally… An Ice Age plot to slow Siberian thaw In one of the planet's coldest places, scientist Sergey Zimov can find no sign of permafrost. He wants to populate a nature reserve with large herbivores that trample the snow, making it much more compact so the winter cold can get through to the ground. Sponsored by: Hitachi Hitachi - Climate Change Innovator Our ambition is to become a climate change innovator by helping governments, cities and companies to cut carbon. Find out how Hitachi is contributing to a net zero society. 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