The state of play in deterioration of the global climate and efforts to address it, the global energy transition, the uses and abuses of tech, all as they relate to the prospects for humankind

1. A chronology in pictures and charts
of selected developments
in climate, energy, tech
and the future of civilisation
2018 Q3

2. 7th Jan
2016
2nd July
2018
21 - 28 June: 533 GWh from the UK’s 12.8 GW, >75GWh on five of the
seven days, >8GW for eight consecutive days.
UK solar hits record weekly highs in heatwave
…and tops gas as the biggest generator for an hour
Solar
27.8%
Gas
27%
Nuclear
22.6%
Wind
9.7%
Imports,
storage,
hydro
9%
Bio
3.9%
UK electricity mix at 14.12 on 30th June 2018

3. 7th Jan
2016
3rd July
2018
Investigation, previously limited to Cambridge Analytica, now widens,
including FB’s 2011 undertakings and Zuckerberg testimony to Congress.
SEC joins FBI, Justice Department & Federal Trade
Commission in probing Facebook data breaches
X
Who knows howmany

4. 7th Jan
2016
3rd July
2018
Nike, Spotify, Snap, UPS and dating app Hinge
among those given special rights to access.
Facebook confesses another false disclosure: it gave
61 companies access to user data blocked to most

5. 7th Jan
2016
4th July
2018
Microsoft’s InnerEye AI analyses images of tumours marked up by top
consultants, so should perform like the best every time …and far faster.
“It's going to create a revolution”: how AI is
transforming the UK’s National Health Service

6. 7th Jan
2016
5th July
2018
Field tests suggest reduced O&M costs plus increased production can =
US $200,000 worth of additional value annually for a 20-MW solar farm.
“How Digitalization Is Ushering in a New Solar Era”:
GE on digital twins and smart dispatchability

7. 7th Jan
2016
5th July
2018
Africa’s hottest temperature ever: 124.3˚F (51.3˚C) in Ouargla, Algeria.
Northern Siberia: > 90˚F ….> 40˚F above normal.
Los Angeles highest-ever: 111˚F. And so on and so on.
“Red-hot planet: All-time heat records have been
set all over the world during the past week”

8. 7th Jan
2016
5th July
2018
Ben van Beurden: “You have to believe us that setting an ambition,
sticking my neck out, my personal reputation, the reputation of the
company, is a big enough incentive for me to get it right.”
Shell CEO says firm carbon emissions targets are
“superfluous”, and society should simply trust him

9. 7th Jan
2016
5th July
2018
“How do I maintain authority over my security force after the (collapse)
event?”: typical question from super-rich clients in Q&A about their
“how to escape” vision of the future …and how to use tech to execute it.
“Survival of the Richest: The Wealthy Are Plotting
To Leave Us Behind”: tech author Douglas Rushkoff

10. 7th Jan
2016
6th July
2018
Bernstein: “Investors who had egged on management teams to reign in
capex and return cash will lament the underinvestment in the industry.”
Analysts fear an oil spike above $150 in wake of
low investment since 2014 & record low discovery

11. 7th Jan
2016
6th July
2018
Meanwhile, the government’s current plans for 100gCO2/kWh goal by
2030 are “not credible”. Power sector emissions stand at 263gCO2/kWh.
New UK solar and wind could be cheaper than
existing gas plants within the 2020s, CCC says
Cost of building new renewables in 2025 compared to higher-carbon alternatives
Source: Climate Change Committee Progress Report 2018

12. 7th Jan
2016
6th July
2018
“The threat that such a massive, automated surveillance apparatus
poses to society far outweighs the security benefits it could provide.”
Amazon’s AI lets governments track all faces
…there is no way to use this and not harm citizens
“As academics who have studied IT and privacy, including the social
implications of face recognition and biometrics, we are calling on
Amazon to get out of the surveillance business”: Peter Asaro et al

13. 7th Jan
2016
7th July
2018
“Strikingly enthusiastic about some of the technologies he claims to be
warning us about, talking excitedly about cameras that could detect
people who are ‘lost, anxious, trafficked, or potentially dangerous’.”
“I was shocked it was so easy”: ​meet the professor
who says facial recognition ​​can tell if you're gay
Prof
Michal
Kosinski

14. 7th Jan
2016
8th July
2018
“China is reversing the commonly held vision of technology as a great
democratizer, bringing people more freedom and connecting them.”
“Inside China’s Dystopian Dreams: A.I., Shame and
Lots of Cameras”
c. 200 million of
these nationwide

15. 7th Jan
2016
9th July
2018
US study suggests 234 of 1,674 Chinese-invested infrastructure projects
(14%) announced in 66 countries have hit corruption and other troubles.
China’s Belt and Road difficulties proliferate across
the world in the face of local controversies
Former Malaysian PM Najib
Razak charged with corruption

16. 7th Jan
2016
9th July
2018
“The investigation into Vote Leave is just one of a number of ongoing
inquiries into potential crimes.”
“Electoral law has been broken – this is a fight for
the soul of our democracy”

17. “What If Trump Has Been a Russian Asset Since
1987?” Jonathan Chait in NY Magazine
7th Jan
2016
9th July
2018
The dependency 2003 -2017 of the Trump empire on cash from Russians
and loans from Deutsche Bank – while it laundered Russian money – is a
“Could the Cold
War that
Americans “long
considered
won” have
“dissolved into
the bizarre
spectacle of
Reagan’s party’s
abetting the
hijacking of
American
government by
a former KGB
agent?”

18. 7th Jan
2016
9th July
2018
500,000 cars p.a., =1m vehicles p.a. including US. Most car plants are
200-300k p.a. China car sales: 28 million in 2017 (biggest market).
Tesla takes big bet on China by announcing a factory
in Shanghai, to double EV production

19. 7th Jan
2016
10th July
2018
This in the UK’s first ever National Infrastructure Assessment: at least
half UK power should be renewable by 2030, & can be at no extra cost.
UK NIC urges HMG to grab the ‘golden opportunity’
to ditch nuclear & go with cheaper solar + wind

20. 7th Jan
2016
11th July
2018
Thousands of them, flown back from Afghanistan etc, according to the
private government paper described in the FT. Including this one?
Whitehall plan to keep NI lights on if Brexit is hard:
a flotilla of requisitioned barges + diesel generators

21. 7th Jan
2016
11th July
2018
A typical single-family home in the US takes an average of six and a half
months to build. Not with Icon’s mega-size 3D printer, called Vulcan.
“How to 3-D Print an Entire House in a Single Day”
...costing only $4,000
Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner

22. 7th Jan
2016
11th July
2018
And starts a criminal prosecution against Cambridge Analytica parent
SCL Elections, accusing it of failing properly to deal with a data request.
UK Information Commissioner fines Facebook the
maximum possible over a data scandal ....£500k
Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner

23. 7th Jan
2016
11th July
2018
Auspex International will be headed by Mark Turnbull, former head of
CA’s political team …caught admitting smears based on lies by C4 News.
Ex-Cambridge Analytica staff launch venture using
same techniques …and already have a client
Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner

24. 7th Jan
2016
12th July
2018
The €8bn national investment fund must sell all investments in coal, oil,
gas & peat “as soon as is practicable”, expected to mean within 5 years.
Ireland will be first country to divest from all fossil
fuels after all-party support in Parliamentary vote
Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner

25. 7th Jan
2016
12th July
2018
The “optimistic” “Community Renewables” scenario envisages 9 GW of
storage by 2030 and 29 by 2050.
National Grid Future Energy Scenarios: Solar could
be UK’s ‘dominant’ source of power by 2030
Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner
33
66

26. 7th Jan
2016
12th July
2018
“Its elections no longer convert the popular will into control of
government” …. “a red vote is worth more than a blue one.”
“American democracy’s built-in bias towards
rural Republicans”
Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner

27. 7th Jan
2016
13th July
2018
Its €0.5m investment in drone maker Arborea Intellbird SL is one of a
number targeting returns via O&M efficiency improvements.
Iberdrola is using drones to spot faulty solar panels
and wind turbine blades way ahead of engineers
Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner

28. 7th Jan
2016
13th July
2018
Perhaps most worrying: 1.5 m people almost all identifiable from
behavioural patterns revealed by location data from mobile phones.
People are easily identifiable in huge “anonymized”
online datasets, multiple studies show
Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner

29. 7th Jan
2016
13th July
2018
11-count 29-page indictment “lays out Russia's alleged efforts in the
excruciating detail & specificity that has become the Mueller hallmark.”
On eve of Trump / Putin meeting, US DoJ indicts 12
Russian spies for hacking attack on 2016 US election

30. 7th Jan
2016
16th July
2018
Joe Kaeser is already spending €500m a year on retraining because “the
fourth industrial revolution ,,,,accounts for 70% of global GDP.”
Siemens boss urges need for retraining in a global
car workforce facing one third cuts in a decade

31. 7th Jan
2016
17th July
2018
Moderator tells undercover reporter policy is to keep pages up because
“they have a lot of followers so they’re generating a lot of revenue.”
Facebook protected far-right activists even after
rule breaches: Channel 4 investigation
…yet another apology

32. 7th Jan
2016
17th July
2018
World Energy Investment 2018: All energy $1.8 trillion.
Renewables down 7% to $298bn. Energy efficiency up 3% to $236 bn.
= $534bn incl. big hydro. Fossil fuels $790bn. Electricity $750bn.
Clean energy investment fell 3% in 2017,
and expect another fall in 2018, says a worried IEA

33. 7th Jan
2016
18th July
2018
Among institutions signing the Future of Life Institute’s pledge,
Solarcentury is the first British company to do so.
2,600 scientists, including 3 Google DeepMind co-
founders, sign pledge not to develop killer AI robots

34. 7th Jan
2016
18th July
2018
Margrethe Vestager, EU competition commissioner: mobile phone
operating system used “to cement its dominance as a search engine.”
Google fined £3.8bn by EU over “serious illegal
behaviour” in Android antitrust violations

35. 7th Jan
2016
18th July
2018
There have been many fires before in Sweden, but never over such a
wide area. EU nations asked for emergency assistance in firefighting.
Wildfires rage across the Arctic Circle - worst in
Sweden, which calls for international help

36. 7th Jan
2016
18th July
2018
If the the gas burnt globally in flares were captured and used for power
generation, it could supply 90% of Africa’s electricity consumption.
Global gas flaring dropped slightly in 2017, but
rose 7% in the US because of fracked shale oil

37. 7th Jan
2016
19th July
2018
Another setback for cities seeking legal redress. Judge rules global
warming has to be tackled federally. New York says it will appeal.
US District Judge dismisses New York's global
warming suit against oil companies

38. 7th Jan
2016
19th July
2018
…and no payments for solar electricity exports – a huge blow to the
homeowner and community solar that competes with shale gas.
HMG proposes, on the same day, no need for
frackers to seek planning permission henceforth….

39. 7th Jan
2016
19th July
2018
24% and 16% respectively, driven by the slow-down decreed in China.
This would be the first time the global market had shrunk.
Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse predict large
contraction of global solar installation rate in 2018

40. 7th Jan
2016
19th July
2018
Rolls Royce features a swarm of micro-robots designed to crawl through
jet engines servicing them without detaching them from planes.
Farnborough Air Show features a “smorgasbord” of
new robotic technologies, on all scales

41. 7th Jan
2016
19th July
2018
Development team led by Gabor Vásárhelyi, director of the Robotic Lab
in the Department of Biological Physics at Eötvös University in Budapest.
Swarm of 30 independent drones programmed to
self organise, including choice of direction

42. 7th Jan
2016
19th July
2018
Zuckerberg says Facebook will not ban Holocaust
deniers and other extreme conspiracy theorists
His statement of “clarification”: “Our goal with fake news
is not to prevent anyone from saying something untrue,
but to stop fake news and misinformation spreading.”
Facebook:
go ahead and
use our platform
to “debate”
what happened
in here

43. 7th Jan
2016
20th July
2018
“How can Facebook stop climate misinformation
when its ‘fact-checkers’ are deniers?”
Joe Romm gives examples on ThinkProgress of Zuckerberg confirming
that deniers will be allowed to “fact check” for the platform.

44. 7th Jan
2016
20th July
2018
In the last 2 months 20 people have been set on by mobs and murdered
after being falsely accused of child abduction on the app.
WhatsApp tiny anti-hate step: message forwarding
limited to 20, and 5 in India after mob lynchings

45. 7th Jan
2016
21st July
2018
…that it is “impossible” to say categorically that the GRU did not swing
the 2016 election, as Paul Ryan and other GOP leaders do.
Trump’s tiny election margin and Russia’s extensive
hacking access lead The Economist to conclude…

46. 7th Jan
2016
23rd July
2018
“Elected Leaders Are Making the World
Less Democratic”
Source: V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index
2012 More democratic Less democratic

47. ….even as elections grow in number, “on average, the world is becoming
less democratic for the first time in several decades.”
7th Jan
2016
23rd July
2018
2018
More democratic Less democratic
“Organizations that monitor the health of
democracies are converging around a similar idea”:

48. “Buzzer teams” with multiple fake Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
accounts fan religious and racial divides.
7th Jan
2016
23rd July
2018
Both sides in an Indonesian election use fake social-
media-account “factories” to whip up hatred

49. Record heat waves on four continents. “The impacts of climate change
are no longer subtle”, says Prof Michael Mann.
7th Jan
2016
23rd July
2018
“Summer of extreme temperatures continues,
to the beat of climate change”

50. Mark Dooley, Macquarie Capital: “while it makes sense that an
aluminium producer is in the vanguard (Norsk Hydro’s giant wind plans),
there is every reason to expect that all heavy industrial will follow.”
7th Jan
2016
24th July
2018
Heavy industry turns to renewables, including
aluminium smelters, cement plants & “green steel”

51. Nuclear is “ridiculously expensive”, “utterly uncompetitive”, says the
longstanding nuclear advocate: $9bn now to build one reactor.
7th Jan
2016
24th July
2018
Nuclear power can’t compete with solar power:
former IEA boss Nobuaki Tanaka

52. “We must gain competitive advantage in renewable energy”, says
President Tomoaki Kobayakawa. Main focus: offshore wind.
7th Jan
2016
24th July
2018
Tepco, long a mainstay of the nuclear industry,
pivots to renewable energy

53. Cuadrilla given the go-ahead to start fracking in
Lancashire by energy minister
7th Jan
2016
24th July
2018
Claire Perry: “Our world-class regulations will ensure that shale
exploration will maintain robust environmental standards and meet the
expectations of local communities.”
be derided

54. To keep production ahead of such decline, most companies are piling on
debt even at current oil prices. Cash flow in top 10 Q1 2018: - $455 m.
7th Jan
2016
25th July
2018
Decline rate in the top US shale oilfields has steadily
increased to half a million barrels per day now

55. So a 2015 study by UK/German/Italian renewables experts showed:
100% by 2025, had renewable deployments not been cut by HMG.
7th Jan
2016
25th July
2018
Renewables c.30% of UK electricity in 2017, set for
50% by 2025 ....but could have been 100% by 2025

56. “Wind, solar and batteries are set to become far more deeply
entrenched in the generation mix of almost every country than anyone
has so far thought possible”: Seb Henbest, BNEF team leader.
7th Jan
2016
25th July
2018
BNEF NEO: “Every year a big surprise” …2018’s is
wind & solar at c. 50% of global electricity by 2050
“At its heart, NEO is a technology story”

57. 33 welds need repairing. Nuclear fuel now to be loaded Q4 2019, EDF
says, cost up €0.4bn to €10.9bn. Now 7 years late and €7bn over budget.
7th Jan
2016
25th July
2018
EDF’s Flamanville: yet more bad news

58. “Within 2 or 3 years we may be watching moving images and speeches
without anyone being able to tell whether they are real or fabrications.”
7th Jan
2016
25th July
2018
“Current fake news pales in comparison to the harm
that could come from deepfakes” Roula Khalaf
in the FT

59. With a disproportionate number of people of colour. In face of calls to
cease selling their Rekognition product, Amazon is resistant, defensive.
7th Jan
2016
26th July
2018
Amazon facial recognition tech falsely identifies 28
members of Congress as past arrestees, ACLU finds

60. 3m Europeans have quit (of 282m). Market cap $119bn down (19% -
biggest ever one day drop). Zuckerberg fortune $17bn down.
7th Jan
2016
26th July
2018
Facebook reveals growth slowing & revenues down
post Cambridge Analytica: share price plummets

61. Beating Shell and Chevron to the 4.5 billion barrels of oil-equivalent
resources, BP CEO Bob Dudley calls it a “transformational acquisition.”
7th Jan
2016
26th July
2018
BP heads into US shale oil and gas by buying BHP's
assets - up for sale nearly a year - for $10.5bn

62. >50,000 Russia-linked accounts posted automated material about the
2016 US election, reaching at least 677,000 Americans.
7th Jan
2016
27th July
2018
Twitter stock plunges 20% after 1m quit following
cull of fake and offensive accounts: 70m+ of 320m

63. “Jeremy Leggett is one of those prominent establishment climate
activists who has made a tidy living from the renewables scam.”
7th Jan
2016
28th Jul
2018
Today, even tabloids worry about global heatwaves,
…but some columnists keep pumping out denial

64. “A firsthand account of how the UKIP surge drove
the Tories to sabotage the renewables industry”
7th Jan
2016
29th July
2018
Alison Fogg describes on Spinwatch how she has seen UKIP skill with
social media whip up disproportionate opposition to renewables.
“The Conservative
Government has
effectively decimated
a vibrant solar PV and
onshore wind
industry in reaction
to a powerful spin
machine from UKIP.”
Example (left): The
North Atlantic Array,
off Devon.

65. 32 pages and accounts removed for “co-ordinated inauthentic
behaviour”. Intelligence experts blame the Kremlin.
7th Jan
2016
31st July
2018
Facebook uncovers disinformation campaign aiming
to influence US midterm elections

66. Worried web builders aim to design a decentralised
web, the DWeb, gather at a summit on the internet
7th Jan
2016
31st July
2018
2 big differences with the www: 1. Peer-to-peer connectivity, where
your computer not only requests services but provides them. Second,
information is stored and retrieved by theme, not location (server).

67. Water is too warm for reactor cooling in the sea off Sweden and Finland,
& the River Rhone too warm in France. Shut reactor: Ringhals, Sweden.
7th Jan
2016
1st Aug
2018
Heatwave forces 3 Nordic reactors to be curbed, 1
to close, more expected, & EDF may close 4 reactors

68. BNEF estimates the 2nd TW will arrive by mid-2023, costing 46% less
than the c. $1.3 tn required for the first. 54% wind, 46% solar.
7th Jan
2016
2nd Aug
2018
World passes 1,000 GW of wind and solar, on a
rising exponential curve, in the last days of June

69. The Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) report is eventually quietly
published 3 days after Caudrilla gets clearance to frack in Lancashire.
7th Jan
2016
2nd Aug
2018
Report finding that fracking increases air pollution
buried for 3 years by UK government
40,000 premature deaths a year linked to air pollution
HMG has just decided its OK for that figure to be higher

70. University of London cardiologists find exposure to nitrogen dioxide and
PM2.5 and PM10 particles linked to an increase in the size of ventricles.
7th Jan
2016
3rd Aug
2018
Air pollution linked to changes in structure of the
heart of the sort seen in early stages of heart failure

71. Union of Concerned Scientists: “The Trump administration is the fossil
fuel industry’s fairy godmother, so it’s no surprise.”
7th Jan
2016
3rd Aug
2018
SEC, under Trump-appointee chairman, drops
investigation of ExxonMobil climate-risk reporting

72. e.g. CoE’s General Synod votes 347 to 4 to divest from companies that
have not aligned their businesses with the Paris climate accord by 2023.
7th Jan
2016
3rd Aug
2018
Growing numbers of UK churches are divesting from
fossil fuel companies and investing in renewables

73. President Maduro of Venezuela survives blast from 2 drones each
bearing 1 kg of explosive.
7th Jan
2016
4th Aug
2018
First drone assassination attempt on a head of state
….It won’t be the last, says Wired

74. Target: add 18 TWh wind en route to 100% renewables by 2040.
On schedule by end 2018: 3,681 turbines, 7.5 GW, 19.8 TWh.
7th Jan
2016
5th Aug
2018
Sweden building enough wind turbines to reach its
2030 renewable energy target by the end of year

75. “More and more Americans are starting to accept climate change is
happening, despite Trump….”
7th Jan
2016
5th Aug
2018
“Our climate plans are in pieces as killer summer
shreds records”: CNN

76. Facebook: ban “for glorifying violence …& using dehumanising language
to describe people who are transgender, Muslims and immigrants.”
7th Jan
2016
6th Aug
2018
Apple, Facebook, YouTube and Spotify ban
racial-hate-stirrer Alex Jones of InfoWars

77. International scientific team warns of coalescing amplifying feedbacks
from melting methane hydrates and other sources risks runaway effect.
7th Jan
2016
7th Aug
2018
“Climate change: 'Hothouse Earth' risks even
if CO2 emissions slashed”

78. Jenny Chase, Bloomberg: “I fear my daughter will have to kill” in fights
for habitable land. James Murray, Business Green: “I’m fxxxing terrified.”
7th Jan
2016
7th Aug
2018
Top journalists write graphically about their terror
of climate meltdown, deep fears for their children

79. Some are generating already, some soon to be. If all come online,
Chinese coal consumption goes up 4%. Demand rising, policy loosening.
7th Jan
2016
7th Aug
2018
China restarts coal plant construction after two-
year freeze: 46.7 GW visible in satellite imagery

80. Nuclear regulators around the world have used out-
of-date scientific understanding of sea-level rise
8th Aug
2018
Ensia: “A number of scientific papers published in 2018 suggest that
climate change will impact coastal nuclear plants earlier and harder than
the industry, governments or regulatory bodies have expected.”
c. 1 in 4 of the world’s
460 operating
commercial reactors
are on coastlines

81. We may win the race to decarbonise energy, he argues, but add soil loss
to the impacts of climate change – and it’s quite a different ball game.
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
“The Race of Our Lives”: Jeremy Grantham updates
his classic on climate change in holistic context
US grain yields, historical and projected
Index averaging corn, soy and rice yields 2017 =1

82. Carbon dioxide, derived mainly from fossil-fuel burning, is the main
problem. Concentrations are >2x highest level in past 400k years.
7th Jan
2016
The reasons we are in a race-against-time begin with
rapid build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
Source:NOAA,summarizingdatafromicecores

83. “Please explain to me, if anyone knows, why these people say stuff like
that. I have no idea. Perhaps they hate their grandchildren.”
7th Jan
2016
Rising GHGs are driving accelerating global warming: a
provable fact, yet some still say there is no warming
Global Surface Temperature Compared to 1951-1980 Average
Source:Asof8/31/16Source:NASA
GoddardInstituteforSpaceStudies,GMO

84. One of the worst is increase in downpours ( & soil erosion). In the USA,
annual 3 inch rainfall days compared to average are up 20% since 1975.
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
Dire impacts are becoming clear, and these will
increase unless we decarbonize our economies
Source:EM-DATdatabase

85. “Wind and solar are going to be cheaper than the operating costs of
coal and nuclear, even the best coal and the best nuclear.”
7th Jan
2016
“Our one material advantage is in the accelerating
burst of green technologies”
Unsubsidized Levelized Cost of Renewable Energy over Time
Source:Lazard,asofend2016
“….better than anyone
expected 10 or even
5 years ago”

86. Exponential rise of electric vehicles will likely halve today’s cost by 2025,
and halve it again with the next generation of solid-state batteries.
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
Battery cost “has dropped 85% in 8 years, faster than
solar panels, wind or anything else. Quite remarkable”
Lithium-ion Battery Pack Prices and Annual Decline
Source:BloombergNewEnergyFinance,GMO
Lowendof2025estimaterange,at$40/kWh,assumes
adoptionofnext-generationsolid-statebatterytechnology.

87. We will pass 2˚C of global warming around then, and “will be fighting
tooth and nail …to keep below 3˚C by 2100.”
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
The bad news is that on current trends climate change
will “barely be slowing down” by 2050
Source: OurWorldinData.org, Vaclav Smil, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Centre,
GMO Data from 2015-2050 is estimated or forecast.
Annual Energy Supplied by Fossil Fuels, and Cumulative CO2 Emissions

88. “We will need luck, in technology and above all in political leadership:
the need to stand up to the influence of the fossil fuel industry.”
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
A major barrier is that the fossil fuel industries dislike
the regulation that is the only hope of fixing climate
Picture from Future Today: routine flaring of gas in oil operations. If the the gas burnt in flares
were captured and used for power generation, it could supply 90% of Africa’s electricity.

89. “$300 bn is less than the amount of losses in the United States alone
from weather and climate disasters in the single year of 2017.”
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
We invest c. $300 bn a year on clean energy today, &
need c. $2tn p.a. for 100% decarbonisation by 2050
Annual Global Renewable Energy Capex
Source:DNVGL.Asof9/30/18.
Datafrom2015-2050isestimatedorforecast.

90. “In my lifetime, the global population has tripled.” (And if you see an
exponential chart like this in investing, “you know what to do: go short”).
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
“It is time now for the terrible news …the issue is food
sufficiency” and it begins with global population
World Population and Projections to 2100
Source:UNWorldPopulationProspects.
Asof1/25/18.

91. Poll data show many millions of Africans hope to migrate to the US and
Europe. As climate stresses descend on economies, so numbers will rise.
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
“The real problem with population.
In a word, Africa.”
World Population to 2100 – Medium UN Estimate
Source:UNWorldPopulationProspects.
Asof1/25/18.

92. Our 2010-2030 estimate: “productivity per acre would still continue to
grow, other things being even, but at a slowly diminishing rate.”
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
Average Annual Agricultural Productivity Growth in the United States
Average of yield growth for corn, wheat, and rice
Source:USDANASS
*GMOprojectionexcludingfutureeffectsof
erosionandclimatechange.Asof1/31/18
.
US & Europe are under food stress as is: productivity
of grains per acre is falling as natural limits approach

93. 7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
“It is the one or two great downpours every few years that cause the
trouble. We’re losing perhaps 1% of our collective global soil a year. We
are losing about a half a percent of our arable land a year.”
But other things are not even. We have soil erosion
and climate change impacts to contend with…
Gullying after heavy rain Soil Depth in Iowa Has Halved
Since Intensive Cultivation Began

94. “The scary thing is that our crude attempt to put all these factors
together is the first that you, dear reader, have ever seen!”
7th Jan
2016
And when we combine the effects of grain
productivity limits, climate change, and soil erosion….
US grain yields, historical and projected
Index averaging corn, soy and rice yields 2017 =1
.
Source:USDANASS,Rhodes2014,Liangetal
2017,GMO.AsofendApril2018.
“It is calculated that
there are only 30 to 70
good harvest years left,
depending on your
location”

95. 75% of all reserves are there and Western Sahara (controlled by
Morocco). “And phosphate is more important even than oil.”
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
Then there is the issue of phosphate - we depend on
that for fertilizer, and therefore depend on Morocco
Source: USGS. As of end 2012.
.

96. “They have just gone missing. Why isn’t this a dramatic item in our
news? One-third of all the food plants that we eat need pollination,
every flower needs a pollinator. What we’ve done is created a toxic
world, which is apparently not conducive to life as we know it.”
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
“The next piece of very bad news: the 75% loss of
flying insects …These are our pollinators”

97. “Investors are sinking hundreds of millions into a
technology that could revolutionize the way we eat”
7th Jan
2016
3rd Aug
2017
Indoor vertical farming: food grown on trays or hanging modules in a
climate-controlled, indoor facility, without pesticides, and much else.

98. “We deforest the land, we degrade our soils, we pollute and overuse our
water, and we treat our air like an open sewer. All of this is off the
balance sheet and off the income statement.”
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
Capitalism and economics, as currently configured,
fuel the problems we are talking about

99. 7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
How GMO invests in
the face of all this
In the portfolio of climate change
opportunities “what we’re trying
to do is understand, a little ahead
of the market, these powerful and
complicated new crosswinds as
we decarbonize”
“….I can say that I have a very
high-confidence belief that these
industries collectively will have
higher top-line revenue growth
than the balance of the economy”

100. 7th Jan
2016
As for producers of fossil fuels and toxic chemicals,
the data show you can divest without loss
Annualized Absolute Returns (Nominal Terms): 1989.2017
Range: 50 bps
Source:S&P,GMO.AsofendSept.2017
“These are the facts – not the hearsay of investment committees that
have managed to maintain an erroneous, but perhaps convenient,
consistency over decades on this issue.”
The effect of dropping one sector
out of 10 over the last 18 years

101. 7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018 What should we do? Some recommendations
• Vote for green politicians …& that can include some
Republicans.
• Lobby investment firms to be greener and to lean on their
portfolio companies to do the same.
• Do not grant the oil companies immunity – they have been
complicit in a global cover up of data, funded propaganda,
delayed decarbonization, and “recklessly endangered us.”
• Consume with decarbonization in the front of mind.
“We’re racing to protect not just our portfolios, not just our
grandchildren, but our species. So get to it.”

102. Oil price based on assumptions of 8 European oil majors in a recent Bank
Sarasin report versus Paris-congruent price estimates.
7th Jan
2016
9th Aug
2018
“Why oil firms should worry more about climate
change”: too-high price assumed, assets overvalued
US grain yields, historical and projected
Index averaging corn, soy and rice yields 2017 =1
$ barrel

103. Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico and West of Shetland are among the most
attractive, says head of exploration & production.
7th Jan
2016
12th Aug
2018
Shell heading back to deepwater drilling, where
breakeven costs are now as low as $30, they say

104. 1.6 million acres consumed, 30,000 personnel fighting the blazes, the
Mendocino Complex fire in California is the state’s largest ever.
7th Jan
2016
12th Aug
2018
>100 large wildfires burn in multiple US states, with
more expected now …and increasingly in future

105. A “rare error” in computers used in the April 2017 election in Georgia’s
6th Congressional District may have already cost the Democrats a seat.
7th Jan
2016
13th Aug
2018
US elections remain “dangerously vulnerable” to
cyber-attacks, experts continue to warn

106. So an Associated Press investigation finds, in the case of many Google
services on Android devices and iPhones.
7th Jan
2016
13th Aug
2018
Google records your location even after you have
used a privacy setting telling it not to

107. >1,000 posts attacking the Rohingya and other Muslims uncovered. FB
has failed to fix a problem Zuckerberg promised to fix 4 months ago.
7th Jan
2016
15th Aug
2018
“Why Facebook is losing the war on hate speech in
Myanmar”: a bombshell Reuters investigation

108. Onboard AI systems will make decisions on course and depth. Unclear if
they will have autonomous kill/no-kill decisionmaking capability.
7th Jan
2016
15th Aug
2018
China follows the US in building a fleet of
autonomous, AI-powered submarines, due 2020
One of the two US AI Unmanned Undersea Vehicles under development
The other is Boeing’s Echo Voyager. Also both due 2020.

109. So a Duke University study finds. Total produced water is “more on a per
day basis than Niagara Falls has going over it in an hour,” says a lawyer.
7th Jan
2016
15th Aug
2018
Fracking wastewater volume rose 1,440% in 5 years,
water use 770%, adding to tension in dry regions

110. The latest survey had only 16% in support. The first fracking for seven
years is due to start in a few weeks. HMG says the Q will be back in 2019.
7th Jan
2016
16th Aug
2018
UK government drops the question about fracking
from their regular public-attitude survey on energy

111. “Margaret Thatcher, in whose government I served, is unique among
prime ministers in having had a science degree”: Michael Howard.
7th Jan
2016
16th Aug
2018
Heatwaves are proving Mrs Thatcher right on global
warming, a former Tory leader writes in the Mail

112. Not the first time: heatwaves forced nuclear shutdowns or curtailments
across Europe in 2003, 2006, and 2015. A microcosm of the future.
7th Jan
2016
16th Aug
2018
Renewables offset fossil & nuclear shortfalls in
generation as heatwave limits their water use

113. The US Navy’s Hybrid Tiger Group 2 UAV project integrates high
efficiency solar cells, a hydrogen fuel cell, and AI. En route to a LAW?
7th Jan
2016
16th Aug
2018
Solar in use for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles “for all
tactical, surveillance/inspection” missions

114. Current wells use 10 to 30 million gallons. A million more wells are
planned in the next 20 years. That means trillions of gallons!
7th Jan
2016
16th Aug
2018
Cornell Professor Anthony Ingraffea explains why
frackers’ plans threaten America’s water supply

115. “The U.S. Shale Industry is in serious trouble. Most of the shale fields
have reached a peak …I forecast a rapid disintegration of the industry.”
7th Jan
2016
16th Aug
2018
“Big Trouble Brewing At The Bakken: Rapid Rise In
Water Production Signals Red Flag Warning”

116. Methane release from Arctic permafrost found to
be > doubled by unexpectedly abrupt thawing
7th Jan
2016
20th Aug
2018
NASA-funded international team observe an impact of warming not in
climate models: emissions from carbon deep in thermokarst lakes.

117. 7th Jan
2016
21st Aug
2018
Andy Haldane, Chief Economist: more disruption than the first industrial
revolution (coal and steam), second industrial revolution (chemical
engineering and the combustion engine), or the digital revolution.
Bank of England warns that AI threatens lengthy
and widespread unemployment in the UK

118. 7th Jan
2016
21st Aug
2018
So Carbon Tracker concludes in its latest report, analysing the impact of
the start-up from January 2019 of the Market Stability Reserve.
EU carbon price rise set to drive substantial
switching from coal to gas for power 2019-2023

119. 7th Jan
2016
21st Aug
2018
Abnormal heat in the Arctic has been worrying scientists all year, and
now winds have helped break up an area normally solid all summer.
Arctic’s oldest and thickest sea ice, north of
Greenland, breaks up for first time on record

120. Big Oil asks US government for $12 bn to pay for
sea wall to save Texas oil coast from sea-level rise
7th Jan
2016
22nd Aug
2018
A 60 mile spine of concrete on one of the world's largest concentrations
of petrochemical facilities, including most of Texas' 30 refineries.
Texas City on a bad day
CBS News: “Major oil
companies did not
return messages
seeking comment on
funding for the
projects.”

121. 7th Jan
2016
22nd Aug
2018
LEDs consume 5x less energy than halogen bulbs and their use will
prevent >15m tonnes of carbon emissions a year, an amount equal to
Portugal’s annual electricity usage. Consumer savings = c.£112 p.a.
Continent-wide ban on halogen lightbulbs begins in
Europe 1st Sept, slashing emissions & energy bills

122. 7th Jan
2016
22nd Aug
2018
“A serious security problem is looming over robotics” Wired reports.
Meanwhile developers are rushing to market without considering it.
University researchers demonstrate how easy
hacking a robot is, taking over movement & speech

123. 7th Jan
2016
26th Aug
2018
Coal is “indestructible”, whereas wind turbines and pipelines can be
“blown up”. Leaked memo suggests re-regulation, enforced purchase.
Trump says US is “working now on a military plan”
based on a national-security need for coal revival

124. 7th Jan
2016
27th Aug
2018
Open source software created by graphics firm Nvidia and MIT. New
Scientist fears it “could be used to warp our perception of the world.”
AI can now make high-definition fake videos from
just a simple sketch overlain on a trained template

125. 7th Jan
2016
27th Aug
2018
Russian firm Rosatom would have built the reactors. The new plan calls
for 8.1GW gas, 8.1 GW wind, 5.6 GW solar, +, by 2030.
S. African government cancels 9.6GW nuclear
expansion plan that would have cost $100bn

126. There is now a recognisable global rightward shift
on climate change: Robinson Meyer in The Atlantic
7th Jan
2016
28th Aug
2018
No industrialised country is on target. “Moderate national leaders …are
finding it far easier to talk about climate change than to actually fight it.”
Malcolm Turnbull: ousted for
proposing small emissions cuts
Justin Trudeau:
building pipelines

127. 7th Jan
2016
28th Aug
2018
Hawaii passed legislation in 2015 for 100% carbon-free electricity by
2045. Other states including New York are considering the same.
California's legislators set landmark goal for 100%
carbon-free electricity by 2045 …& 60% RE by 2030

128. 7th Jan
2016
28th Aug
2018
National trade group BSW Solar aims to make batteries “standard” in
the energiewende, and to add the next 100,000 in the next 2 years.
Germany reaches 100,000 home battery systems
…to add to its 1 million+ home solar PV systems

129. 7th Jan
2016
28th Aug
2018
In 2017 FB used 2.46 TWh of electricity, up 34% from 2016 and more
than enough for all the homes in Vermont. 51% came from RE PPAs.
Facebook targets 100% renewable electricity by end
2020, joining Ikea & Citigroup despite demand hike
Source: FT

130. 7th Jan
2016
28th Aug
2018
“Be careful”, he threatens. You “are treading on very, very troubled
territory”. Insiders say the news appears negative because it mostly is.
Trump accuses Google, Facebook & Twitter of
favouring negative news stories about him

131. 7th Jan
2016
28th Aug
2018
After an 18 month deep dive, the DCMS select committee has trenchant
criticisms, a list of recommendations ….and further questions.
MPs publish a withering verdict on Facebook, Cam.
Analytica, Russia …& infer Brexit vote may be illegal
Damian Collins MP
Chair, Digital, Culture, Media
and Sport select committee

132. Driverless taxi debuts in Tokyo ahead of Olympics
in ‘world first’ trial with fee paying passengers
7th Jan
2016
28th Aug
2018
ZMP, a developer of autonomous driving technology, and the taxi
company Hinomaru Kotsu, are using Toyota vans on a 5km route.

133. Canadian Federal Court of Appeal quashes approval
of $9.3-bn Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion
7th Jan
2016
28th Aug
2018
Conservative Leader accuses Trudeau’s government of spending billions
in “taxpayer money to buy a pipeline (they) can’t even build.”

134. State of California endorses Asilomar Principles to
promote the safe and beneficial use of AI
7th Jan
2016
31st Aug
2018
Principles now endorsed by AI research leaders at Google DeepMind,
GoogleBrain, Facebook, Apple, OpenAI, and >3,800 practitioners.

135. LinkedIn struggles with a “super-aggressive" effort
by China to recruit spies in US using fake accounts
7th Jan
2016
31st Aug
2018
The targets are people with access to confidential information. German
and British security agencies have reported similar Chinese campaigns.

136. “The Next Financial Crisis Lurks Underground”
…in shale
7th Jan
2016
1st Sep
2018
Bethany McLean, author of famous book on Enron's collapse:
“the Federal Reserve is responsible for the fracking boom.”

137. UK local government pension funds invest £9bn in
fracking companies ….including Lancashire County
7th Jan
2016
2nd Sep
2018
Dumfries and Galloway Council: “non-financial factors should not drive
the investment process at the cost of financial return.”
Emma Thompson on
a UK fracking protest

138. “Shale Plays Will Not Cause the Next Financial
Crisis”: Art Berman …the debt pile is not big enough
7th Jan
2016
4th Sep
2018
“I believe the opposite is more likely, that a developing financial crisis
may crash oil prices and test the survival of shale plays.”
Source: Modified from Fattouh & Economou (2108) by Labyrinth Consulting Services Inc.

139. UK government blocks oil drilling at Surrey Hills site,
citing impact on woodland and water
7th Jan
2016
4th Sep
2018
DEFRA: “The nation’s woods and forests are cherished natural assets
and we want to ensure they are protected now and into the future.”

140. Intra-NATO collaboration sis vital in an era of cyber
warfare: former NSA director Keith Alexander
7th Jan
2016
4th Sep
2018
“The west's approach to cyber-security is not working”: individual
companies cannot combat attacks by actors with state-level capabilities.

141. “Why so little has changed since the financial
crash”: Martin Wolf in the Financial Times
7th Jan
2016
4th Sep
2018
“If those who believe in the market economy and liberal democracy do
not come up with superior policies, demagogues will sweep them away.
A better version of the pre-2008 world will just not do. People do not
want a better past; they want a better future.”

142. The 0.003% have collective wealth of $31.5 trillion
…11.2% of the world’s total $280 trillion wealth
7th Jan
2016
5th Sep
2018
$31 trillion is almost double the USA’s GDP. The inequality skew is at an
all time high: 1% of the global population owns 82% of all wealth.

143. The number of Ultra High Net Worth individuals
(those with >$30m assets) increased 12.9% in 2017
7th Jan
2016
5th Sep
2018
They now number a record 255,810. This 0.25 million are 0.003% of the
world’s 7.6 bn population. Inequality has never been higher.

144. Making the $90 trillion of infrastructure investment
needed by 2030 Paris-congruent would save $26 tn
7th Jan
2016
5th Sep
2018
>65 m additional jobs by 2030, avoid 700,000 premature deaths, ++
…if only governments stop standing in the way.
Source: Global
Commission on the
Economy and
Climate report

145. “The Super Rich of Silicon Valley Have a Doomsday
Escape Plan”: dinner party talk has turned to action
7th Jan
2016
5th Sep
2018
“Seven Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have purchased bunkers from
Rising S Co. and planted them in New Zealand in the past two years.”

146. Facebook and Twitter chiefs testify as Congress
mulls regulation ....and Google refuses to show up
7th Jan
2016
5th Sep
2018
Senator Mark Warner: “I’m sceptical that ..you’ll be able to truly address
this challenge on your own. I believe Congress is going to have to act.”

147. “If you still have any illusions about the wonders of
liberated capitalism (this) will probably cure you.”
7th Jan
2016
6th Sep
2018
“Until this situation changes, the lawyers, bankers and drafters of
deliberately loose financial laws will continue to prosper.”
“Money flows across frontiers, but
laws do not.”
“The very wealthiest people … have
tunnelled into this new land that lies
beneath all our nation states, where
borders have vanished. They move
their money … and themselves
wherever they wish, picking and
choosing which countries’ laws they
wish to live by.”

148. “The evidence of a slowdown in the US shale is
unmistakable now” despite prices >$65 for months
7th Jan
2016
6th Sep
2018
Schlumberger CEO Paul Kibsgaard on the rapid declines of “child wells”
drilled nears “parent wells”: “This suggests that the Permian growth
potential could be lower than earlier expected.”

149. Ørsted opens world's largest offshore windfarm off
Cumbria: “the shape of projects going forward”
7th Jan
2016
6th Sep
2018
Walney Extension, 659 MW, spans an area the size of 20,000 football
pitches provides enough to power the equivalent of 590,000 homes.

150. Google’s AI hate speech detector is easily fooled by
a few typos or the insertion of words like “love”
7th Jan
2016
7th Sep
2018
Researchers at Aalto University in Finland find simple keyword filters &
complex AIs are equally vulnerable to workarounds, in 7 systems used.

151. Global wave of climate protests in dozens of
countries as UN climate talks stumble on old issues
7th Jan
2016
8th Sep
2018
US blocks a Chinese bid to insert two-tier standards for rich and poor
countries, leading to deadlock on guidelines for the national climate
plans that underpin the global pact.” North-South finance also problem.

152. A new first for the US shale gas industry: some of its
product is being sold with ‘responsible’ branding
7th Jan
2016
9th Sep
2018
Utility New Jersey Resources is to buy gas produced ‘responsibly’ from
Southwestern Energy wells in W Virginia, at an undisclosed premium.

153. “Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier to
Release Methane Into Air”
7th Jan
2016
10th Sep
2018
Oil & gas lobbyist group the Western Energy Alliance “praised the Trump
administration for turning the oil companies’ requests into policy.”

154. UK’s Green New Deal Group calls for a “green jobs
in every constituency” investment push
7th Jan
2016
10th Sep
2018
Ten years after the Lehman collapse, the group says that had its call at
that time been heeded, the rise of populism could have been mitigated.

155. Funds committed to divestment from fossil fuels
now total more than $6 trillion (£4.6 trillion)
7th Jan
2016
10th Sep
2018
By almost 1,000 institutional investors, led by insurers at $3tn. Oil
majors now cite divestment as a material risk to their business.

156. The global average cost of PV has fallen
77% since 2010 to $80/MWh today
7th Jan
2016
11th Sep
2018
Source: IRENA, Carbon Tracker adaptation
The PV panel learning curve is 29% (BNEF)

157. The global average cost of onshore wind has fallen
>60% since 2000 to under $60/MWh today
7th Jan
2016
11th Sep
2018
Source: IRENA, Carbon Tracker
The onshore wind learning curve is 19% (BNEF)
Offshore wind is 16%

158. The global average cost of batteries has fallen
>60% since 2000 to c. $150/kWh today
7th Jan
2016
11th Sep
2018
Source: BNEF, Carbon Tracker adaptation
The battery learning curve is 19% (BNEF)

159. “Fossil fuels will peak in the 2020s as renewables
supply all growth in energy demand”
7th Jan
2016
11th Sep
2018
Carbon Tracker’s latest report estimates peak years for different growth
rates of renewables & global energy demand, and warns of “trillions of
dollars in stranded assets” across the corporate sector & in petro states.
Most likely

160. Incumbent industries typically see a demand peak
when the challenger is still tiny, c.2%-3% total sales
7th Jan
2016
11th Sep
2018
CT estimates a tipping point for fossil fuel demand when solar and wind
are c. 6% of total energy supply and 14% of global electricity supply.
Total primary
energy (EJ)

161. c$25 tn past infrastructure investment means peak
demand poses “systemic risk to financial markets”
7th Jan
2016
11th Sep
2018
Companies making up to a quarter of equity indexes & debt markets will
be hit, incl. banking, capital goods, transport and automotive sectors.
• Russia is one of 12
countries where fossil fuel
rents account for 10% or
more of GDP
• Entire sectors will struggle
to make this transition.
They can expect price
declines, greater
competition, restructuring,
stranded assets and
market derating.
$bn

162. 480 companies from 38 countries now base climate
plans on SBTs: c. one eighth of global market cap
7th Jan
2016
13th Sep
2018
That is nearly USD$10 trillion, comparable to the NASDAQ exchange.
17% of Fortune Global 500. 50 since Trump’s withdrawal from Paris.

163. Emissions have peaked in 27 of the C40 group of
major cities, including London, New York, and Paris
7th Jan
2016
13th Sep
2018
So mayors announce at the Global Climate Action Summit in San
Francisco. Emissions continue to fall. 66 cities expect to peak by 2020.
More than half the world's population lives
in cities - a proportion expected to grow

164. Ten years after the Lehman collapse, the world debt
burden has ballooned $27tn to nearly $250 trillion
7th Jan
2016
13th Sep
2018
Entering 2000 it was $84 tn. Total global wealth at the end of 2017
summed to $280 tn. Debt is growing 3 times faster than wealth.
Debt as a percentage of GDP Nominal debt
Source: Bloomberg
2008 2008 20182018
320%
310%
300%
290%
280%
250
200
150
100
$ trillion
50

165. “Sub-national actors” pile pressure on national
governments at California climate summit
7th Jan
2016
14th Sep
2018
Laurence Tubiana speaks of “a major shift in global governance” in the
assumption of Paris commitments by states, cities and corporations.

166. Evacuation warnings in place for 1.7 million and
800,000 without power in the Carolinas
7th Jan
2016
15th Sep
2018
Florence has been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm
…but eight months of rain expected to fall in 3 days.

167. The Weather Channel warns of Florence storm
surges in places up to >9 feet …with movie graphics
7th Jan
2016
15th Sep
2018
“This is an absolute life threatening situation
….if you are told to go, go!”

168. Two directors quit UK fracking firm as Tory MPs tell
of a rebellion in their ranks on planning for fracking
7th Jan
2016
18th Sep
2018
Third Energy is / was due to frack in Yorkshire, subject to government
checks on its financial health. Meanwhile around 20 Tory MPs plan to
vote against fast-tracking planning for fracking, according to reports.

169. “How the promise of electric power could
transform aviation”
7th Jan
2016
18th Sep
2018
.

170. UBS finds that only 39% of world’s High Net Worth
Individuals have >1% of assets invested ethically
7th Jan
2016
19th Sep
2018
Americans worst at 12%. British second worst at 20%. Chinese are at
60%. HNWIs defined as those with $1m (£760,000) in investable assets.

171. OECD warns global economic growth has peaked,
cuts projections and blames trade tensions
7th Jan
2016
20th Sep
2018
Current US-China trade spat and resulting uncertainties are a “significant
source of downside risk to global investment, jobs and living standards.”

172. Danske Bank scandal was only possible because UK
allows Kremlin to move dark money with impunity
7th Jan
2016
20th Sep
2018
If cash flowing west in other Baltic state banks were in proportion to the
$200bn uncovered in Danske’s Estonian branch 2008-15, up to €4 trillion
could have transited. British LLPs are the vehicle of choice.

173. “We definitely have the power to shut down power
grids”: RUSI analyst on UK cyber war capabilities
7th Jan
2016
21st Sep
2018
This of current situation on the eve of a new unit being set up, with
thousands of staff and a budget of hundreds of millions.

174. As much as 5% of gas produced in Argentina’s Vaca
Muerta shale drilling is leaking to the atmosphere
7th Jan
2016
24th Sep
2018
So investigator Jorge Talliant finds. “There is a history of abuse as no one
is controlling the sector ….there is no credible environmental authority.”

175. “Relatively few” companies are disclosing climate
risk, esp. in financial filings, as TCFD recommends
7th Jan
2016
26th Sep
2018
513 organisations now support the TCFD recommendations, 457 with
market cap of $7.9 trillion. But few are yet acting on financial risk.

176. China sets renewable energy target of 35% by 2030
amid concerns about new coal-plant construction
7th Jan
2016
26th Sep
2018
Previous goal: “non fossil fuel” to make up 20% of energy by 2030. But
satellite photos suggest a disastrous 250 GW of new coal being built.

177. UK Labour would target zero carbon by 2050, with
7x increase in offshore wind & 3x solar by 2030
7th Jan
2016
26th Sep
2018
85% renewable-plus-nuclear by 2030, up from 50% today …including
onshore wind, creating 400,000 new jobs in a “green jobs revolution.”

178. UK coal revival as gas prices surge,
reversing gains in clean power drive
7th Jan
2016
28th Sep
2018
The wholesale price of gas for supply in the winter of 2018-19 is up 50%
since June, contributing to an increase in household fuel bills.
North Sea production falling
+ global demand rising
= competition

179. New California law compels two huge pension
funds to disclose climate-related financial risk
7th Jan
2016
28th Sep
2018
Calpers ($360bn in assets), and Calstrs ($228bn ) must now report
publicly on climate risk to their public market portfolio.
North Sea production falling
+ global demand rising
= competition

180. Tim Berners-Lee launches a radical plan to
decentralise the WWW, so that users own their data
7th Jan
2016
29th Sep
2018
“We are not talking to Facebook and Google about whether or not to
introduce a complete change where all their business models are
completely upended overnight. We are not asking their permission.”

181. Big energy firms ask for billions from UK taxpayer
to build mini nuclear reactors
7th Jan
2016
30th Sep
2018
This in a paper by the Expert Finance Working Group on Small Reactors
obtained under the FOI Act. They would be ready mid 2030s (they say).