Olivia Rudgard

UK’s Two Biggest Energy Suppliers Escalate Spat in CEO Turf War A dispute between Britain’s two biggest energy suppliers escalated after Octopus Energy said it would report its rival Centrica Plc to the country’s advertising watchdog.

New from me & @bloomberg.com colleagues @priazrocha.bsky.social & Eamon Farhat: A fresh salvo in a series of very public disagreements between Centrica and Octopus Energy. And of course it's about heat pumps. Gift link:

If you're in the UK, have a search here: www.froglife.org/what-we-do/t...

Risky Routes Showcases the Perils of a Toad’s Journey Home The Bloomberg Green Docs winner is a short film that shines a light on threats from cars and cats — and what people are doing to help.

Talking to these lovely filmmakers prompted me to look up toad crossings near where I live. It's a nice opportunity for some volunteering, if you're in the market for that. (gift link):

that looks like a useful study & very recently published too - thanks

If anyone knows where I can find good, up-to-date numbers showing how much air conditioning we actually have in the UK/other European countries, I'm all ears. What I've found is all either incomplete, a guesstimate or a decade plus old. It's a much harder story to tell without good data!

Climate Change Worsens Deadly Extreme Heat in Spain, France, Italy, Greece Spain and Greece have for years restricted outdoor work on very hot days, while Italy and France have started this summer.

Montse Aguilar was a healthy 51-year-old woman when she started her shift cleaning streets in Barcelona at around 2:30 p.m. on June 28. Some time before 11 p.m., Aguilar dropped dead in her apartment.

Free read via @bloomberg.com
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Few Texas Homeowners Hit by Extreme Rains Have Flood Insurance The lack of coverage is becoming more problematic as climate change intensifies storms.

The Central Texas areas pummeled by recent storms have long earned the reputation as the “Flash Flood Alley.” Yet only a fraction of homeowners there have flood #insurance. Here's why. My latest for @bloomberg.com w @eroston.bsky.social and Kyle Stock #Texasflood www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Apropos of nothing, here's a story about this chart: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

London Tube Carriages Can Be 5C Hotter Than Street in Heat Wave For London commuters squished into cramped carriages, faces against sweaty armpits, every day is a heat wave, and every heat wave is an inferno.

London's sweltering underground - where every day is a heat wave. Great & very timely story by my colleague @joewertz.bsky.social (gift link):

Not just hot. Very hot.

The UK is currently 5.3C warmer than average for this time of year.

In some places, it's 11C warmer than average. 11!

istheukhotrightnow.com

Declining Climate Funding Spurs Index of Most Vulnerable Nations The index identifies countries that are at high risk of hazards, like floods and heat waves, but have little access to finance.

New from me, with Yinka Ibukun: A newly-launched index seeks to measure both a country's climate vulnerability and its ability to access the finance it needs for resilience. It's designed to help funders best direct a dwindling supply of climate adaptation money. (gift link)

Defense Budgets Need to Fight War and Climate Change, Experts Say A NATO summit in The Hague this week comes amid escalating military conflicts and rising global temperatures.

NEW: War and climate change are existential threats that need to be battled at the same time and often with the same tools, experts say as NATO allies meet in The Hague this week

FREE read via @bloomberg.com
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

UK Set to Drop Regional Power Price Plan Hated By Industry The UK government is poised to reject a controversial plan to divide the nation’s electricity market into zones, according to people familiar with the matter, retaining one wholesale power price throu...

Zonal pricing is likely to be dropped by UK government (gift link for story by Bloomberg colleagues):

What's Really Warming the World? What's Really Warming the World? Climate deniers blame natural factors; NASA data proves otherwise

10 years ago today, we dropped a thing that people still ask me about regularly.

The question "What's Really Warming the World?" still has the same answer.

With Blacki Migliozzi, in conversation with NASA GISS geniuses @climateofgavin.bsky.social and @drkatemarvel.bsky.social
🎁🔗

EU countries abandon anti-greenwashing talks after Italy pulls out The proposed law preventing companies from making misleading environmental claims now looks unlikely to be enacted.

Landmark EU law clamping down on corporate greenwashing is all but dead, after Italy pulls support

Story by ‪@mariannegros.bsky.social and @karlmathiesen.bsky.social

HT @carbonbrief.org
www.politico.eu/article/eu-c...

I was just in NYC for the 1st time in a while. The subway is great! It's very cheap and you can just tap in with your card! You can get a lot of places really quickly! I saw almost no fare-jumping (a lot less than in London)! The cars are roomy! The trains are regular! And it's *air conditioned*!

Holy smokes this chart from Bloomberg NEF.

Submerging Servers in Liquid Helps Data Centers Cut Energy Use Immersion cooling is gaining traction, but the nascent industry still has major hurdles to overcome.

Most people would keep phones and other electronics away from liquid, but some data centers are starting to operate their servers inside liquid baths for better cooling. My latest for @bloomberg.com 🎁 link valid for 7 days www.bloomberg.com/news/feature... #datacenters #energy #climatetech

‘Abolishing FEMA’ Memo Outlines Ways for Trump to Scrap Agency In a newly revealed March memo, officials proposed ways to dramatically curtail the US government’s disaster response role, such as by ending aid for smaller disasters and cutting housing funds for su...

SCOOP: DHS Sec. Kristi Noem directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to prepare a memo on how to abolish itself and create a re-branded, radically smaller disaster response organization, according to a copy of the document reviewed by Bloomberg News. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Chart Hed: Climate Stocks Beat the S&P Subhed: Companies that help before or after disasters outperform the S&P500 Chart shows a steady, flat blue line (S&P). Soaring above it is a black line of how far climate stocks are outperforming it. Source: Bloomberg Intelligence.

Would you rather spend money on literally anything you want or on replacing/rebuilding things post-disaster?

There's less choice. 3% of GDP in the last year—$1T—has gone to a "stealth tariff on consumer spending."

The climate economy has arrived.
🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

There Aren’t Enough Engineers to Meet the World’s Growing Hunger for Power Aging population and anti-immigration rhetoric in rich countries are forcing companies building electricity infrastructure to find creative solutions

How to deal with shortage of skilled workers:

- Increase immigration
- Poach from others
- Retrain existing workers
- Train new workers

Immigration is out of favor. Poaching is limited. Retraining is not easy. Training takes years.

No easy way out!

🎁 link

www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

Spain Bets on 1 Million Migrants to Keep Its Economy Growing The country is bucking European trends with its most ambitious migration push to date, including a proposal for a “mass regularization” of undocumented foreign workers.

NEW: Spain is the only European country openly talking about the need for more migrants to boost economic growth and the falling birth rate. And it's a human rights issue too, officials say.

FREE link via @bloomberg.com
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

How a Shortage of Transformers Threatens Electricity Supply A crucial device is hampering efforts to build global electricity supply, just as the demand is rising from data centers, electric cars and heat pumps.

We are running a new series on the Zero podcast about the unusual or little-talked-about bottlenecks holding back electrification. The first episode is out today. 🎁 link www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Swiss Glacier Collapse Engulfs Alpine Village in Rock and Ice A Swiss glacier has collapsed, destroying most of the Alpine village of Blatten in a wave of rock and ice.

A Swiss glacier collapse mostly destroyed an Alpine village on Wednesday. The Alps have warmed about 2C since the pre-industrial period, with many glaciers losing half their mass since 1900. By colleagues @lauramillan.bsky.social and @joewertz.bsky.social (gift link)

Fed Disbands Climate Groups Studying Financial Stability Risks The Federal Reserve has disbanded a number of internal groups set up to help the US central bank identify and respond to financial stability threats posed by climate change.

Exclusive: The Federal Reserve has disbanded a number of internal groups studying financial stability threats posed by climate change

Climeworks Is Cutting 22% of Staff as US Climate Backlash Hits Carbon Removal Climeworks AG is laying off 106 people, as startups that aim to reverse global warming face a reckoning with the US government slashing climate incentives and programs.

Climeworks built its first demo plant Orca in 2021 with a nameplate capacity of 4,000 tons of CO2 capture, but even its best month of performance it has only reached about 65%. Why?

Find the answers in my interview with the CEO Jan Wurzbacher.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

see also: sleep apps, meditation apps, mental health apps, yoga apps, mindfulness apps...

Africa Establishes a Space Agency to Close Its Climate Data Gap The new organization will coordinate existing national space programs, launch satellites and set up weather stations.

🛰️👩‍🚀 BREAKING: There's a new space agency in town! African nations have set up their own space agency to close the continent's climate and weather data gap. It's a big step toward improving early warnings systems for extreme weather events

FREE via @bloomberg.com

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Greenlander Takes Helm of Arctic Council as Tensions Simmer The body that fosters collaboration and climate science at the top of the world is under geopolitical pressure.

For 25+ yrs, the Arctic Council helped keep the region "High North, low tension." But now 7 NATO countries + Russia ring it, making collaboration tough. (Trump's aspirations for Canada and Greenland don't help). The new SAO Chair, a native Greenlander, spoke to us. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

This chart is incredible, have used it myself in the past. www.ft.com/content/f867...