Author: Judith Russenberger

Environmentalist and theologian, with husband and three grown up children plus one cat, living in London SW14. I enjoy running and drinking coffee - ideally with a friend or a book.

Counting on … day 1.208

3rd November 2023

Another industry highly dependent on energy is the steel industry. Traditionally that has come from coal, but electric furnaces are providing a less environmentally damaging alternative, producing what is termed ‘green steel’. Providing investment to enable British based steel plants to switch is becoming an election issue. The Guardian reported that “Labour is promising to invest £3bn in smoothing the green transition should it win power at the next election. This is substantially more than the offers made by Mr Sunak’s government to Tata Steel and the Chinese Jingye Group, the respective owners of the Port Talbot works and British Steel. As Sir Keir pointed out, with the right kind of backing and vision from Westminster, domestic steel production can become a crucial component in meeting Britain’s clean power targets. That, in turn, will help protect good, well-paid jobs in regions that desperately need them. Britain is set to require more, not less, steel as it builds net zero machinery and infrastructure at pace. That can be a catalyst for industry renewal, if a committed government shows the drive and imagination to make it so. New public procurement rules, for example, could ensure the use of clean British steel in the manufacture of wind turbines, rather than reliance on imports from abroad.” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/24/the-guardian-view-on-labour-and-the-steel-industry-how-to-forge-a-better-future?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Nothing is straight forward. To add to this story, it seems that switching to electric furnaces has to further knock on effects. First the furnace needs fewer people to operate it, so the switch comes with redundancies. We should be aspiring to a just transition to net zero which means we should be looking to create jobs for those facing redundancy. This could involve reskilling people for work in the green sector eg building and installing wind turbines, heat pumps, solar panels, etc. Second – and which is a positive really – electric furnaces don’t produce steel from iron ore but by recycling steel and iron.

Green Tau issue 82

Oil, Profits and the need for change

3rd November 2023

Yesterday Shell announced their interim profits of £5.1bn for the period July to September. This was up on the previous quarter but down compared with this quarter last year when their profits were over £7bn.

According to a report made by Reuters, in order to compete with its fellow oil producers, Shell will be aiming to increase its dividend by 20% and to make overall payouts of between 35-40% of its cash flow. To this end the new CEO Wael Sawan aims to maintain Shell’s oil output at 1.5 million barrels per day. While this is less than the 2.6 million bpd produced in 1998, Sawan’s plan is to maintain this 1.5 million bpd until 2030! With oil prices again rising due to the conflict in the Middle East, increasing profits and dividends seem secure – and Sawan has said that shifting to a low-carbon economy cannot come at the expense of profits. (1)

The Guardian has reported that Shell plans to invest $40 billion in oil and gas production between now and 2035, and between $10bn and $15bn in “low-carbon” products including biofuels and carbon capture. (2) Carbon capture is important to Shell as it aims to reduce its carbon emissions between now and 2050. However it must be noted that Shell only includes scope 1 and 2 emissions in these targets – ie they intend to reduce the emissions arising from the production of oil and gas, with for example carbon capture being used to offset emissions they cannot remove. What is not covered in Shell’s net zero aspirations are the emissions released by the oil and gas once they have been sold  and used – scope 3 emissions. Other oil companies do the same, each competing to claim whose oil is least carbon intensive or greenest!

In 2022 Shell’s scope 1 and 2 emissions were 58 million tonnes CO2e, but its scope 1,2 and 3 emissions were in the region of 1.6 billion tonnes CO2e. Global emissions for CO2e are about 40 billion tonnes of which fossil fuels contribute about 37 billion tonnes. There is no getting away from the fact that fossil fuels are drivers of climate change. And equally that companies like Shell have no intention of phasing out oil from their business plans.

Meanwhile the International Energy Agency ( IEA) has said that if we are to achieve our net zero emissions by 2050 there must be no more development of new oil or gas. There is already enough fossil fuels available from the existing sites for the world’s economies to use as they transition to net zero.

However oil and gas typically produces a return of 10-20% whilst renewables only yield 5-8%. Our lifestyles are still deeply dependent on the oil economy and often it seems simpler to pay more for the fuel than to readjust tey way we live and work. Equally it would seem that the markets cannot reflect in their prices the risk and/ or cost of a climate catastrophe. Surely then it is time for the markets to be regulated for the benefit of everyone. Such regulations would need to be clear, precise and universal to be effective. Individual nations are unlikely to make such regulations in isolation. Hence the need for regulatory agreements to be reached at, for example, COP28.

It is also important that the nations at COP28 agree to a sharp and complete phasing out of fossil fuels. The agreement will need to clearly define when and how fossil fuel production is to be reduced to zero. It will effect some countries more than others – especially those who have previously become dependant on oil money. It will affect jobs, both those directly employed in the extraction of fossil fuels, and those employed in the processing of this raw material. It will also affect investment markets, potentially reduce the amount of funds accruing to pension funds, insurance companies etc. Ensuring a smooth and fair transition is important.

The IMF reports, “The end of oil thus makes economic transformation imperative. Oil-rich countries must diversify to become resilient to the changes in energy markets. An appropriate governance framework to manage proceeds from oil in good and bad times has always been important to fostering economic diversification. But with stranded assets a new risk, radical shifts in governance in oil-dependent economies are urgent. Dubai, for example, facing the depletion of its oil reserves, transformed itself into a global trade hub. Countries and businesses reliant on these markets must formulate policies to address this transformation, including the development of renewable energy.” (Arezki 2020) (4) 

What does not and will not help, is prolonging the viability of oil companies. In particular the use of government subsidies should be withdrawn universally. Instead windfall taxes should be levied to fund reparations to communities disproportionately affected by climate change. 

Last year Ethical Consumer reported “Currently, the UK’s tax regime makes it the most profitable country in the world to develop big offshore oil and gas projects. Most spending on oil and gas exploration can be offset against tax, as it is classified as ‘research and development’. Almost all spending on new fields can be offset in the first year of development, and companies can claim tax relief for decommissioning offshore installations. Since the Paris Agreement, the government has provided £13.6 billion in subsidies to the UK oil and gas industry. From 2016 to 2020 companies received £9.9 billion in tax relief for new exploration and production, including £15 million of direct grants for exploration, and £3.7 billion in payments towards decommissioning costs.” (4) 

From research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, the Guardian reported that since 2015, whilst renewable energy received £60bn in subsidies, fossil fuel companies received close to £80bn. (5) No wonder the investment returns on fossil fuels exceeds that from renewables!

And in 2022, Energy Voice reported  that “Shell received net rebates of over $121 million (£92m) from the UK government last year, the largest total from any country in which it operates. In total, Shell received rebates of more than $131m (£100m) from HM Revenue and Customs, according to its latest Payments to Governments report, released Tuesday. This was offset by fee payments to regulators, including more than $10.5m (£8m) to the Oil and Gas Authority (now the North Sea Transition Authority), and over $120,000 (£91,000) to the Crown Estate Scotland.” (6) Is the UK government actively paying oil companies to damage our climate?!

The IEA reports “‘The IEA has long advocated removing or at least reducing fossil fuel subsidies because they distort markets, send the wrong price signals to users, widen fiscal deficits in developing economies, and discourage the adoption of cleaner renewable energies. Their expansion is particularly worrying at a time when we should be redoubling efforts to cut wasteful consumption and accelerate clean energy transitions. Reforming prices is a political challenge, but it is also economically and environmentally vital.” (7)

The overarching aim of the climate COPs is to limit the extent of climate change and its impact on the world. To this end numerous agreements have been made since COP21 in Paris in 2015, to reduce net emissions to zero by 2050. This scientists thought would keep global temperature increases below 1.5C. However it now seems that with emissions still rising, we may pass this threshold much sooner. Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), noted that September 2023 would be one for the record books. “This extreme month has pushed 2023 into the dubious honour of first place – on track to be the warmest year and around 1.4°C above pre-industrial average temperatures.” (8)

The failure of governments and oil companies to phase down the production of fossil fuels is surely morally if not criminally wrong? In the next Green Tau I will be looking at campaigns and actions that aim to address this. 

(1) – https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shell-pivots-back-oil-win-over-investors-sources-2023-06-09/

(2) – https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/14/shell-drops-target-to-cut-oil-production-as-ceo-guns-for-higher-profits?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

(3) – https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2021/06/the-future-of-oil-arezki-and-nysveen.htm

(4) –  https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/energy/paid-pollute-fossil-fuel-subsidies-uk-what-you-need-know

(5) – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/09/fossil-fuels-more-support-uk-than-renewables-since-2015

(6) – https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/400886/uk-government-hands-shell-more-than-92m-in-2021/

(7)  – https://www.iea.org/reports/oil-2021

(8) – https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1141937

Counting on … day 1.207

2nd November 2023

It is not just individuals that are trying to make the shift to net zero, but businesses too. And they likewise find the lack of government support and direction frustrating. 

Last week the Guardian reported that, “Miles Roberts, the company’s chief executive, said British government decarbonisation policy has lacked the clarity of European rivals, meaning DS Smith[ a FTSE 100 paper packaging company] has moved ahead with a €90m (£78m) investment in a paper mill in Rouen, northern France …Roberts said: “If you are committed to carbon neutral, and it is far more attractive to invest in those solutions elsewhere, what you’ll see is manufacturing decline in the UK.” https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/22/uk-must-offer-businesses-certainty-over-green-energy-says-boss-of-ftse-100-firm?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 1.206

1st November 2023

The following commentary comes from the publishers of Positive News.  

“It’s really pretty simple. If we want to keep the climate stable, we have to ring in some big changes, both societal and personal. Progress is slow on the former. But while governments dither, there are signs that ordinary folk are embracing lifestyle choices that slash emissions.
 
“A Europe-wide survey this week found that young people are leading the way when it comes to planet-friendly living. Younger people are more likely than other age groups to buy secondhand clobber, cut down on meat and ditch smut-belching cars. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they are also more likely to support pro-climate policies. It chimes with separate research by the UK government, which showed that meat is slipping off menus, although the cost of living crisis may also have something to do with that.”

Counting on …day 1.205

31st October 2023

Each year Ethical Consumer produces a report on the government’s progress in transitioning to net zero. It useful not just for the government, bit for consumers too. It is sponsored by the Ecology Building Society: “Consumers need reliable information to be able to make informed choices and authoritative data can shape priorities and guide actions for businesses and government at all levels. We sponsor this report because the information it contains gives consumers  more power to make better choices- by voting with their feet, their wallets or at the ballot box”. 

Do read the report – Closing the Gap 2023 – and be one of the many consumers using their spending and voting power to achieve net zero.

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/climate gap 2023 report 12-10.pdf

Counting on … day 1.204

30th October 2023

Next year will be an election year and already people and organisations are thinking about what policies we want and need from a new government. Here are thoughts from the National Trust:  “The next general election will have a profound impact on all our futures. Nature and our climate are facing an emergency. The Trust has a long history of contributing to the challenges of the day: from the need for green spaces for Victorian city dwellers, to the post-war dissolution of country houses and collections, to the over-development of Britain’s coastline. This means acting as partner, friend and critic to governments, while never straying into party politics.
“The legal commitments to reach net zero by 2050 and reverse the decline of nature by 2030, require concerted action and we are looking for the policies to match.”

In particular they pick out cleaning our rivers and protecting them rom further pollution; building up a workforce and retrofitting all our pre 1920 buildings with insulation to maintain comfortable internal temperatures whilst reducing energy costs; and re greening the UK so that everyone is within a 15 minute walk of a green space. 

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/services/media/national-trust-issues-critical-manifesto-asks-to-protect-nature-and-heritage-for-everyone

Proper 25, 21st Sunday after Trinity 

29th October 2023

Reflection (readings below)

To what extent should we take the stories of Deuteronomy – or of Genesis and Exodus – as unchanging, eternally truths, or binding declarations, whereby God gives to one group of people the sole and absolute right to occupy a certain piece of land to the exclusion of all others?
Certainly a large part of the narrative of the Old Testament is about God’s people seeking and finding and inhabiting a land to which God leads them. But that is not the whole story. Their occupation of the land is ringed by caveats and covenants, where by their ability to remain and to flourish on the land, depends upon their willingness to live their lives according to the ways of God.
The larger part of Old Testament  narrative is about the unfolding and developing relationship between God and the people, about repentance and beginning again, about learning what it is to be God’s people – what values and truths, what relationships and actions, are key. The finale of that teaching (for us as Christians) comes with the life and death, ministry and resurrection of Jesus Christ who is the unique living Word of God.
But for everyone reading the scriptures with a desire to understand, there is the importance of distinguishing between story and truth. With a parable we easily understand that the story is the vehicle for conveying the truth. The same is so when we explain a truth by way of an example. The example is just that – something done in a similar way; a what-if; a let’s-suppose. It is not the definitive, never changing, only circumstance, of that truth. Through the example of the story, we see the overarching truth. Prayer and reflection, discussion and meditation, help us discern the truth that is of God. Indeed, all our thinking, our speaking, our actions, need to be rooted in, to come from, God.

So it is that we come to the heart of today’s gospel. Jesus, when asked what is the greatest commandment, replies “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

If we love God with all our heart and soul and mind, then we shall be in a good place to read and understand the truth in the scriptures. And if we love God with all our heart and soul and mind, then equally we will find ourselves loving our neighbours as ourselves. If we love our neighbours, we shall want what is good for them, but not just for them as individuals, but for them all – as families, as communities, as peoples, as nations. And when we fail to love, then we create tensions and dis-ease, fear and envy, mistrust and hatred, that affects us all.

The following quote comes from the Guardian’s editorial, 24th October.

“Israelis and Palestinians have been locked into a spiral where each side seeks to avenge a wrong. Even when one side thinks they have got their revenge, the other does not think the score has been evened. The result is never-ending destruction. This has disastrously determined the recent history of bloodshed in the region. But both sides need to see themselves as they see each other so their violence can become part of history rather than part of the present”.

Loving our neighbour is to see them and ourselves through their eyes.

This is something we can practice everyday, and at every distance, from the neighbours who live next door, the neighbours who live at the other end of town, to the neighbours who live on the other side of the world.  By loving our neighbours we are building peace and establishing God’s kingdom – God’s rule or way of living – here on earth just as it happens in heaven.

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. The Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigour had not abated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.

Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

1 Lord, you have been our refuge *
from one generation to another.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or the land and the earth were born, *
from age to age you are God.

3 You turn us back to the dust and say, *
“Go back, O child of earth.”

4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past *
and like a watch in the night.

5 You sweep us away like a dream; *
we fade away suddenly like the grass.

6 In the morning it is green and flourishes; *
in the evening it is dried up and withered.

13 Return, O Lord; how long will you tarry? *
be gracious to your servants.

14 Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; *
so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

15 Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us *
and the years in which we suffered adversity.

16 Show your servants your works *
and your splendour to their children.

17 May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; *
prosper the work of our hands;
prosper our handiwork.

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Counting on …. Day 1.203

27th October 2023

Getting to net zero is highly dependent on positive action from governments, which makes the intransigence of our UK government so devastating. There is a group of organisations who comprise  Fossil Free Politics, and assert, 

“We can no longer afford to let the fossil fuel industry undermine our democracy as we try and halt climate chaos, fix our energy system, and protect people and planet. To tackle the climate emergency, and ensure that climate policy is conducted entirely in the public interest, we must cut fossil fuel interests out of politics, similar to existing restrictions on the tobacco industry. Before it’s too late.”

They recently produced a report on the fossil fuel industry’s sustained lobbying effort to undermine the windfall tax. 

A summary of their report can be found here: https://www.desmog.com/2023/10/24/revealed-the-oil-and-gas-lobbying-campaign-to-water-down-windfall-tax/?link_id=1&can_id=b3ac032d15be52a96ddf5454b675707f&source=email-breaking-how-opaque-groups-and-privileged-access-allowed-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-derail-the-windfall-tax-new-research&email_referrer=email_2089151&email_subject=breaking-how-opaque-groups-and-privileged-access-allowed-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-derail-the-windfall-tax-new-research

Counting on … day 1.202

26th October 2023

It is good to be reminded that the need to cut our use of fossil fuels is still pressing and urgent!

The Imagine newsletter reported on the IEA’s update of its report, Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. The report concludes that by 2030:

– fossil fuel demand must fall 25%

– the energy efficiency of homes, vehicles and other appliances must double

– methane emissions from the oil and gas sector must fall 75%

– and renewable energy capacity must triple and replace coal, oil and as at a rapid pace!

Counting on …. Day 1.201

25th October 2023

Cooking seasonally is a good way of reducing food waste. Apples are very much in season now, so this can be a good time to make mincemeat. 

Count Down

Surplus cabbage and root vegetables lend themselves to being turned into sauerkraut which is good for our gut biome and can be a handy part of a salad or – if heated – main meal.

https://greentau.org/tag/sauerkraut/