Chinese leaders are sticking with a prior target to bring the country's carbon emissions to a peak before 2030, according to documents filed with the United Nations Thursday under the Paris climate agreement.
Why it matters: The new documents come just days ahead of the UN climate summit (COP26) in Glasgow. China is by far the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, and its emissions path is key to whether the temperature-limiting goals of the Paris agreement can remain within reach.
Royal Dutch Shell reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings on Thursday, a day after a high-profile investor called for fundamentally restructuring the company.
By the numbers: Shell listed $4.13 billion in net profit, down from $5.5 billion in Q2. It reflects the "adverse impact of Hurricane Ida" on operations — a $400 million hit — and "lower contributions from trading and optimization partly offset by higher oil and gas prices," according to CNBC.
American Airlines is more aggressively leaning into sustainable aviation fuels and research into new propulsion technologies to reach its goal of net-zero emissions in 2050, the company tells Axios.
What’s new: The Fort Worth-based airline gave Axios a first look at new details on how it plans to get to net zero.
Don't expect a sedate House hearing Thursday on allegations that Big Oil has intentionally sown doubt about climate change.
What they're saying: "For far too long, Big Oil has escaped accountability for its central role in bringing our planet to the brink of a climate catastrophe. That ends today," Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, intends to say in her opening remarks shared with Axios.
As world leaders head for rainy Scotland this weekend for the global climate summit, many capitals already expect disappointing results.
So a gathering later in November — this time in hot and humid Singapore, sponsored by former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg — is already drawing attention as "what's next" for climate commitments.
Research by Lego found that children want the world's adult leaders to take climate change seriously. So Lego worked with kids to build an instruction set similar to the ones that accompany the Danish company's bricks, to be handed out at this week's COP26 summit.
Why it matters: The younger generation gets that they are going to have to deal with the consequences of the environment they inherit, but often find it tough to influence those in power.
India's top environmental official on Wednesday dismissed calls to set forth a net zero carbon emissions target, arguing such goals were not the solution to the climate crisis, Reuters reports.
India's environment secretary Rameshwar Prasad Gupta's comments come ahead of the Sunday start of COP26, a key United Nations summit aimed at rallying actions to stem emissions that are on pace to bring global warming well beyond the Paris Agreement goals.
U.K. COP26 President Alok Sharma told reporters Tuesday that the upcoming talks in Glasgow, widely viewed as the last chance to avoid some of the worst consequences of global warming, will be extremely difficult.
Driving the news: Sharma sought to temper expectations and note that the agenda features some of the toughest items that negotiators have punted on at previous summits.
Al Gore and other finance veterans are launching a new investment vehicle with backers including Microsoft, Goldman Sachs and Harvard — and hope to help shift global investment patterns more broadly.
Driving the news: The newly unveiled Just Climate seeks to "catalyze and channel" capital into companies and projects that can help deeply decarbonize the economy, "but which are not yet fully served by traditional investment mandates." The aim is to limit global warming to 1.5ºC, which is the more ambitious target under the Paris Agreement.
Half of the 100,000 Teslas that Hertz is adding to its rental fleet will be reserved for Uber drivers, many of whom can't afford to buy an electric car of their own.
Why it matters: Uber in 2020 pledged to convert its entire ride-hailing fleet in the U.S., Canada and Europe to electric by 2030. But doing so means convincing gig drivers to invest in a new — and likely more expensive — vehicle.
The deal with Hertz is a more affordable option for drivers, Uber says.
Top executives from ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Shell will face a reckoning on Capitol Hill Thursday, as they're grilled on evidence that their companies knew for years that their products were driving climate change but chose to downplay or deny it.
Why it matters: The hearing before the House Oversight Committee will be the first time these executives have been brought together to provide sworn testimony regarding what they knew about the ties between their company's products and climate change, and when they knew it.
A monster storm was slamming the Northeast with record rainfall and powerful winds over Tuesday night — causing flash flooding that resulted in people having to be rescued in New Jersey and New York roads to close.
Threat level: All of southern New England and westward to New York City and northern New Jersey was under the threat of flash flooding and coastal flooding from the nor'easter through Tuesday night into early Wednesday, per the National Weather Service.
