Nuclear Energy Is Staging A Comeback

By Irina Slav - Aug 09, 2021, 4:00 PM CDT

Nuclear energy had been falling further and further out of favor amid falling costs for renewable energy installations. But suggestions of its death have been highly exaggerated. The $1-trillion bipartisan deal that the Senate approved earlier this month envisages $6 billion to support nuclear power. And some utilities are considering mini reactors to support their emission reduction efforts. There is perhaps no better proof that nuclear power would be needed in the net-zero world than the fact that the infrastructure bill—which runs for 2,700 pages—seeks to support existing nuclear plants that are becoming uneconomical in competition with cheap gas and renewables. Apparently, these projects need to be made economical again in order to secure future electricity supply for an economy that, if plans pan out, will run overwhelmingly on electricity.

The bill also includes financing for new nuclear reactors—small, modular ones. Small modular reactors appear to be growing in popularity as an alternative to the huge and expensive nuclear reactors of the past.

There is just one problem with small nuclear reactors. They have yet to be approved for deployment.

The Department of Energy last year set aside $3.2 billion over seven years to develop small modular nuclear reactors, the Wall Street Journal’s Elena Shao wrote in a recent article. A number of such projects are being tested in the United States and elsewhere, but they have yet to pass regulatory reviews that would give them the stamp of approval necessary to start building the actual reactors. According to the article, this is unlikely to happen before 2030. Worse still, the modular reactors have to prove cost-effective to have a future.

China is a step ahead, it seems. Earlier this year, state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation started the construction of the world’s first small modular nuclear reactor. The project, Linglong One, has passed the safety review of the International Atomic Energy Agency. When completed, it could cover the energy needs of over half a million households. The Linglong One reactor is the fruit of a decade of research into small modular nuclear reactors.

“Advanced SMRs offer many advantages, such as relatively small physical footprints, reduced capital investment, ability to be sited in locations not possible for larger nuclear plants, and provisions for incremental power additions,” the U.S. Energy Department says. “SMRs also offer distinct safeguards, security, and nonproliferation advantages.”

They also appear to complement wind and solar power installations. In fact, they might prove to be a necessity if the net-zero scenario is to play out.

“Comprehensive decarbonization by 2050 is a gargantuan undertaking that will require the full range of low carbon energy sources,” Henri Paillere, head of the IAEA’s Planning and Economic Studies Section, said earlier this year at an industry event. “We will need massive amounts of low carbon electricity, heat and hydrogen, and nuclear power can contribute to producing all these provided there is clear policy support.”

Of course, the IAEA is unlikely to speak against nuclear energy.

Here’s what the International Energy Agency, a staunch and increasingly vocal supporter of renewable energy, has to say about nuclear. It claims the world’s nuclear power capacity additions need to double on an annual basis for the agency’s sustainable development scenario to work out.

Related: Big Oil Continues To Ramp Up Investments In South America

A fact not widely publicized about nuclear power is that it is the second-largest low-carbon source of electricity on a global scale. France, for instance, relies on nuclear power for more than two-thirds of its energy needs, and its energy system has a lower carbon footprint than Germany’s, despite the latter’s abundant wind and solar capacity.

Nuclear, in other words, works.

And yet criticism remains strong, as does the fear of a meltdown despite technological advancements. There is some rational basis for this fear: nuclear reactor meltdowns may be extremely rare—and they are—but when they do happen, the fallout is huge. And yet, just like solar panel technology, nuclear reactor technology has been evolving, with safety being a top priority.

So, let’s say nuclear is actually a safe way to produce electricity and produce it reliably, 24/7. How cost-effective is it? It depends. The WSJ Shao writes that TerraPower’s Natrium reactor, with a capacity of 345 MW, will cost about $1 billion, producing electricity at a levelized cost of between $50 and $60 per MWh, according to a company spokesman. This compares with a cost of $44 to $73 per MWh for gas-fired power plants.

So, Natrium, for one, is comparable to the biggest competitor of nuclear energy. Other nuclear projects may soon become competitive if the clean electricity standard bill recently proposed by a group of Democratic senators becomes a law. This standard would punish emitters and reward low-carbon electricity producers, which would certainly tip the scales in favor of nuclear—small and modular, or otherwise.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

BP says Australia is an ideal place to scale up green hydrogen production

PUBLISHED WED, AUG 11 2021
Anmar Frangoul

KEY POINTS

Frédéric Baudry, BP Australia’s president, says study confirmed “the potential for scaled-up green hydrogen in Western Australia.”

The last few years have seen an increasing number of big companies take an interest in the potential of hydrogen.




Aleksander Kalka | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Oil and gas giant BP said Wednesday “the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia using renewable ‎energy” was now technically feasible at scale in Australia.

The energy major’s conclusion is based on the findings of a feasibility study announced in May 2020 and supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, solar developer Lightsource bp and professional services firm GHD Advisory.


In a statement, BP described the vast state of Western Australia as being “an ideal place” for the development of “large scale renewable energy assets that ‎can in turn produce green hydrogen and/or green ammonia for domestic and export markets.”

Described by the International Energy Agency as a “versatile energy carrier,” hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in sectors such as industry and transport.

It can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes using electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen. If the electricity used in this process comes from a renewable source, such as wind or solar, then some call it green or renewable hydrogen.

BP said green ammonia could be generated through the combination of green hydrogen and nitrogen from the air. Ammonia could then be used as a “hydrogen carrier.”

The BP report was prepared by GHD Advisory. Among other things, it looked at the “hydrogen supply chain and domestic and export markets” at different scales: a pilot facility which would produce 4,000 metric tons of hydrogen to generate as much as 20,000 metric tons of ammonia; and a commercial scale project where 200,000 metric tons of hydrogen would produce up to 1 million metric tons of ammonia.


Frédéric Baudry, BP Australia’s president, said the study confirmed “the potential for scaled-up green hydrogen in Western Australia.”

“This looks ‎particularly promising in the mid-west of WA, which has existing infrastructure, access to land and ‎abundant renewable energy resources such as wind and solar.”

While the report highlights the sector’s potential, BP acknowledged that development would need “significant infrastructure investment in ports, water and electricity ‎networks and distribution.‎” The commercial viability of “general hydrogen fuel use” would need significant scale, BP added.

A major player in fossil fuels, BP says it’s aiming to become a net-zero company by the year 2050 or before. Among other things, the company wants to invest in and build 50 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030. Australia is a “leading exporter” of both coal and liquefied natural gas, according to the International Energy Agency.

Currently, the vast majority of hydrogen generation is based on fossil fuels, and green hydrogen is expensive to produce. The last few years have, however, seen an increasing number of major companies take an interest in the potential of hydrogen.

Just last month, the CEO of Italian infrastructure firm Snam outlined a vision for the future of hydrogen, saying the “beauty” of it was that it could be easily stored and transported.

Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe,” Marco Alverà spoke about how current systems would be used to facilitate the delivery of hydrogen produced using renewable sources, as well as biofuels.

“Right now, if you turn on your heater in Italy the gas is flowing from Russia, all the way from Siberia, in pipelines,” he said.

“Tomorrow, we will have hydrogen produced in North Africa, in the North Sea, with solar and wind resources,” Alverà said. “And that hydrogen can travel through the existing pipeline.”

While there is excitement about the potential of hydrogen, it has some work to do in the years ahead. In a recent interview with CNBC, Enel CEO Francesco Starace said there was “no competition for capital between hydrogen and renewables.”

“Hydrogen today is a niche, and it is a niche that needs to develop into commercial standard and into … big industry, competitive pricing,” Starace said, signaling that such a shift would probably take 10 years.

“So it’s a big effort in R&D, it’s a big effort in prototypes, a big effort in pilot plants, but nothing compared to what goes on, on the very large and competitive battlefield of renewables today.”

Big Oil Is Spending Big On Dividends And Debt, Not Clean Energy

By Irina Slav - Aug 11, 2021, 10:30 AM CDT

Big Oil divested assets worth $198 billion in the five years to 2020, BloombergNEF has calculated, but has not used the proceeds to invest in green energy.

Instead, the report says, the proceeds from the divestments—four times greater than what Big Oil spent on green energy in the period—were used to pay down debt, distribute dividends, and launch new oil and gas projects.

In light of the recently released report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this will likely infuriate some. On the other hand, in light of surging energy demand in many parts of the world, which has led to respective surges in gas prices, it shows long-term thinking on the part of Big Oil.

Still, there was a marked and unsurprising difference between European supermajors and their U.S. peers. The European Big Oil companies spent more on low-carbon energy, led by Norway’s Equinor, whose investments in alternative energy exceeded its divestment proceeds.

French TotalEnergies invested an amount equal to a little over half of its divestment proceeds in low-carbon energy, and Spanish Repsol spent about half the divestment proceeds amount on low-carbon energy.

Related: Why Big Oil And Environmentalists Need To Support This Climate Tech

Shell fared worse in terms of green investment to total divestments, however. Shell raked in some $50 billion from divestments over the five-year period, yet only invested less than $10 billion in green energy projects. Shell took in almost $20 billion from divestments, but its low-carbon energy investments were about $5 billion.

Meanwhile, in America, where oil companies face a lot less government pressure than they do in Europe, Exxon, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips only invested an amount equal to 1 percent of their divestment proceeds in low-carbon energy projects in the five-year period.

Now, however, investor pressure is mounting on U.S. Big Oil majors. So much so that they might at some point catch up with their European peers in divestments and green energy investments.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

Shell-shocked: Could a Dutch court's ruling on Shell's emissions encourage similar cases in Canada?

'It’s a decision that’s worth paying attention to, and that people are talking about'

Author of the article:Julius Melnitzer
Publishing date:Aug 11, 2021 • 

Donald Pols, Director of Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth), reacts holding a copy of a verdict in a case brought on against Shell by environmentalist and human rights groups, including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, who demand the energy firm to cut its reliance on fossil fuels, in The Hague, Netherlands, May 26, 2021.

PHOTO BY PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/REUTERS

If there’s any doubt about the extent to which societal and legal expectations regarding climate change are evolving, a Netherlands court’s ruling ordering Royal Dutch Shell Plc. to reduce the CO2 emissions of its 1,100 companies by 45 per cent as of 2030 from 2019 levels should put the naysayers to rest.

“What you’ve got is a court interfering in the internal operations of a very big corporate target on the basis that the dangers of climate change outweigh the company’s commercial interests,” said Caroline Jageman, an energy and commercial lawyer at Jageman Law in Toronto.

Last week, Shell said it will appeal the Dutch court ruling.

But what are the chances that a Canadian court would respond similarly? And what impact will the decision have on Canadian carbon emitters?

Seven environmental organizations, including Greenpeace, representing 17,000 individual claimants, brought the case to The Hague District Court. They argued that the Dutch Civil Code required Shell to help prevent climate change through its corporate policy. Shell’s failure to do so, they maintained, violated the claimants’ human rights, more particularly the right to life.

In its May 26 ruling, the court relied on a provision in the Dutch Civil Code making it unlawful to act in conflict with “unwritten law”. As the court saw it, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and international human rights jurisprudence had established that corporations have a duty to mitigate human rights abuses, including the right to be protected against climate change. That, the court concluded, also required companies to ensure that their supply chain and end-users, including consumers, limited CO2 emissions as much as possible.

The decision is a blow to traditional thought, which holds that corporations’ duty of care only goes as far as meeting minimum standards set by government. But the Shell ruling makes corporations responsible not only for consequences caused by their actual emissions, but also imposes a proactive (and prospective) duty to reduce them.

“The unique thing about the Shell ruling is that it is not merely preventative, but remedial in the sense that it imposes a specific target on the company and its subsidiaries,” Jageman said. “So the thinking about what’s reasonably required of corporations is definitely changing.”

This being said, it’s not even clear that the Dutch judgment, if upheld on appeal, will be enforceable against Shell Canada. The question bears asking because Shell Canada has stated that the ruling will “not change the actions we are taking.”

“Canadian courts are reluctant to enforce judgments that amount to mandatory injunctions, which is the case in RDS, and it’s going to be even harder to enforce those that are seeking policy change,” says Karen Galpern, a partner at Hansell LLP and a member of the Hansell McLaughlin Advisory Group.

Although the Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled in a case upholding the constitutionality of federal emission standards that climate change was an “existential threat,” Canadian courts are in no way bound by the Hague court’s decision. Even if they were, the decision is clearly distinguishable as Canadian legislation does not mirror the Dutch Civil Code provision on which it rests.

“Making the same argument successfully in a Canadian court would definitely be an uphill battle,” Jageman said.

Especially so because Canadian courts have long been loath to trench on policy decisions, historically reserved for governments.

“The Shell decision is a departure from the doctrine of judicial restraint that is ever-present in Canadian courts,” said Melanie Gillis, a lawyer in McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office. “That said, the case could act as yet another catalyst that transitions the common law to a renewable energy economy.”

In other words, precedent is one thing, persuasive effect is another.

“RDS shows that relevant, thoughtful courts in countries whose laws we respect are prepared to take judicial notice of climate change and its impacts,” said Carol Hansell of Hansell LLP and the founder of Toronto-based Hansell McLaughlin Advisory Group, a corporate governance consultancy. “It’s a decision that’s worth paying attention to, and that people are talking about.”

Michael Gerrard, the founder and faculty director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, believes the Dutch ruling will inspire similar cases elsewhere.

“The decision is getting a lot of attention and has raised many eyebrows around the world, especially when coupled with other important developments,” he said.

In a handout picture received from Greenpeace on October 14, 2019, Greenpeace activists hung banners saying, ‘Shell, clean up your mess!’ and ‘Stop Ocean Pollution’ in a peaceful protest against plans by the company to leave parts of old oil structures with 11,000 tons of oil in the North Sea. P

HOTO BY MARTEN VAN DIJL / GREENPEACE GERMANY / AFP

Those “important developments” include: Engine No. 1, a tiny hedge fund, unseated three members of Exxon Mobil Corp.’s board in May by way of trying to force the company’s leadership to deal with its alleged failure to adjust business strategy to match global efforts to combat climate change. About the same time, Chevron Corp. shareholders voted 62 per cent in favour of an activist proposal forcing the group to cut its carbon emissions. Also in May, the International Energy Agency called for an immediate halt in fossil fuel supply projects, while the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has embarked on a much anticipated re-evaluation of climate change disclosure rules.

In Canada, the pressure’s been mounting too.

A widely-cited opinion from pension expert Randy Bauslaugh in McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s Toronto office, solicited by the Canada Climate Law Initiative (CCLI), an inter-disciplinary research group based at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School and the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, concludes that Canadian pension standards legislation and jurisprudence impose a responsibility on pension fiduciaries to manage climate-related risk when investing their funds’ assets.

“People who manage investments need to take account of the financial implications of climate change, which affects every kind of economic activity across the country,” Bauslaugh said. “Those who don’t are being pretty foolish and opening themselves to a lot of criticism and liability.”

Professor Cynthia Williams at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School believes Bauslaugh’s paper puts climate-related risk into the mainstream.

“Bauslaugh’s analysis say climate change is like any potential material risk in the sense that it needs to be incorporated in strategy, oversight and possibly disclosure,” she said.

Still, the core question raised in the Shell case remains: does corporate assessment of climate risk need to take into account an overriding duty of care beyond minimum government standards?

Whatever the courts decide, there’s no questioning the judgement’s broader impact.

“My gut feeling is that the case will give a broad boost to corporate ESG initiatives,” says Michael Killeavy, the Toronto-based commercial director at Power Advisory LLC, an energy industry consultancy. “There are large corporations who have been dormant to date on this front but are now starting to think about it.”

julius@legalwriter.net
Julius Melnitzer is a Toronto-based legal affairs writer.

    IPCC REPORT SOUNDS ALARM OVER FAILURE TO ACT NOW ON CLIMATE

.

BY MOLLY MCCLUSKEY

AUGUST 11, 2021

The latest IPCC report on climate change sounded stark warnings about the world's inaction on climate change. While the situation is even more dire than previously believed, there remains reason for hope, writes Molly McCluskey.

.

T

he Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its latest, and most comprehensive, report on Monday, which, they say, "provides the most updated physical understanding of the climate system and climate change, combining the latest advances in climate science, and multiple lines of evidence." The report is indeed comprehensive, with 234 scientists from 66 countries surveying 14,000 peer reviewed articles on all aspects of climate science over the past eight years, finding that climate change is widespread and intensifying even more rapidly than previously believed. 

The document provides few surprises to those who have been watching and experiencing the effects of a warming planet for decades, or to the scientists who have been warning of climate change for over a century. The climate emergency is no longer a distant threat; already today millions of people around the world are being displaced, threatened by or experiencing record storms, wildfires, earthquakes, droughts, food insecurity, floods, and more. 

A WORLD ON FIRE

What the report does provide are the starkest statements to date of the causes of climate change - human greenhouse gas emissions, and society's reliance on fossil fuels Critically, it also states, unequivocally, that the earth is warming faster than previously feared. 

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres called the report a "code red for humanity." 

"The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable," Guterres said in a statement. "Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk. Global heating is affecting every region on Earth, with many of the changes becoming irreversible."

"Climate change is transforming our planet in unprecedented ways, with far-reaching effects that we are already seeing – making heatwaves, extreme rainfall, fire weather, and droughts more frequent and severe." John Kerry, the United States' Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, tweeted. "These extreme events will only become more drastic in the future – this is why we cannot wait. Now is the time for action and Glasgow must be a turning point in this crisis. We need all countries to take the bold steps required to keep 1.5°C within reach."

The report is more explicit than previous reports, stating that greenhouse gases are undeniably responsible for the climate crisis and that there can no longer be any question that most of this warming is from natural causes. Climate change is already severely impacting life in every region of the planet, adding to food insecurity, migration, crumbling infrastructure, health crises, conflict, and economic instability. The economic impacts of climate change were more fully laid out by a June report from the World Bank, The Economic Case for Nature, which states that a conservative estimates of a collapse in wild pollination, food from marine fisheries, timber from native forests, etc., could result in a significant decline in global GDP: $2.7 trillion in 2030, with low-income countries hit hardest.

WORST IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE STILL MITIGABLE

While the situation looks dire, the report does not suggest that the problems are irreversible.

"From a physical science perspective, limiting human-induced global warming to a specific level requires limiting cumulative CO2 emissions, reaching at least net-zero CO2 emissions, along with strong reductions in other greenhouse gas emissions," the report states. "Strong, rapid and sustained reductions in CH4 emissions would also limit the warming effect resulting from declining aerosol pollution and would improve air quality."

The countries most primed to make those rapid reductions are those most culpable for the current state of affairs. Several world leaders tweeted their support of action, while overlooking their country's role in ignoring decades of scientific warnings. As recently as June, the G7 Summit failed to provide any specific details on vague climate promises. The COP26 talks in Glasgow in the fall will hopefully learn from that missed opportunity. 

Professor Katharine Hayhoe, Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy, said in a statement. "We need to mobilize our collective ingenuity and resourcefulness against a scale of threat unprecedented in human history."

“Where can we start? Almost everywhere: accelerating the transition to clean energy; reforming our most environmentally-damaging activities; and recalibrating financial flows to accelerate the economic transition," Hayhoe said. "It’s also essential to fully acknowledge and embrace the contribution that nature can make in helping us avoid the worst-case scenarios, both in terms of mitigation and adaptation."

“This report is a reality check,” said IPCC Working Group I Co-Chair Valérie Masson-Delmotte. “We now have a much clearer picture of the past, present and future climate, which is essential for understanding where we are headed, what can be done, and how we can prepare.” 

"The solutions are clear.  Inclusive and green economies, prosperity, cleaner air and better health are possible for all if we respond to this crisis with solidarity and courage," Guterres said. "All nations, especially the G20 and other major emitters, need to join the net zero emissions coalition and reinforce their commitments with credible, concrete and enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions and policies before COP26 in Glasgow."

About

Molly McCluskey

:

Molly McCluskey is an international investigative journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Diplomatic Courier. Follow her on Twitter @MollyEMcCluskey.

Algeria mourns 65 people killed by wildfires ripping through the country

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
11 August, 2021
At least 65 people have been killed by wildfires in Algeria, according to the latest reports. 28 of those killed were soldiers deployed to tackle the 


There are mounting calls for aid convoys to be sent to the worst-hit districts with food and medicine [source: Getty]

Firefighters, troops and civilian volunteers battled blazes in forests across northern Algeria on Wednesday as the country reeled at a death toll of at least 65 people killed in the latest wildfires to hit the Mediterranean.

Soldiers deployed to back the overstretched emergency services tackle the rash of more than 50 fires that broke out on Tuesday accounted for 28 of those killed, state television reported.

The authorities say they suspect widespread arson after so many fires erupted in such a short space of time. They have announced several arrests but have yet to elaborate on the identity or suspected motives of those detained.

Images of trapped villagers, terrified livestock and forested hillsides reduced to blackened stumps were shared on social media, many of them accompanied by pleas for help.

AFP journalists saw villagers desperately trying to put out the spreading fires with makeshift brooms in an effort to save their homes.

High winds fuelled the rapid spread of the fires in the tinder-dry conditions created by a heatwave across North Africa and the wider Mediterranean, fire official Youcef Ould Mohamed told the state-run APS news agency.

A total of 69 separate wildfires remained active on Wednesday, spread across 17 provinces, emergency services spokesman Nassim Barnaoui told reporters.

Most of the fires and 16 of the deaths were recorded in Tizi Ouzou district, in the mainly Berber region of Kabylie, east of the capital Algiers.

"I left all my stock in my village and fled to Tizi Ouzou with my wife and three children," said Abdelhamid Boudraren, a shopkeeper from the village of Beni Yeni.

"Luckily I own a flat in the centre of Tizi Ouzou where I'm holed up with my family and some neighbours."

There have been mounting calls for aid convoys to be sent to the worst-hit districts with food and medicine from the capital.

On Wednesday, an AFP correspondent saw several lorries headed to Tizi Ouzou with aid donated by the public.

An appeal for volunteer doctors to assist the city's overstretched medical services also appeared on Facebook.

State media have reported four arrests for suspected arson.

Meteorologists expect the heat wave across North Africa to continue until the end of the week, with temperatures in Algeria reaching 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit).

In neighbouring Tunisia, the capital Tunis hit an all-time record of 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday.

The Tunisian emergency services reported 15 fires across the north and northwest, but no casualties.

On the northern shores of the Mediterranean, Turkey reported eight deaths and Greece three from wildfires that have raged for the past two weeks.

Each summer, Algeria endures seasonal wildfires but rarely with anything approaching this year's toll.

In 2020, nearly 440 square kilometres (170 square miles) of forest were destroyed by fire, and several people were arrested on suspicion of arson.

On Monday, the UN released a major report showing how the threat from global warming is even more acute than previously thought.

It highlighted how scientists are quantifying the extent to which human-induced warming increases the intensity and/or likelihood of a specific extreme weather event, such as a heatwave or a wildfire.

Climate change amplifies droughts, creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out of control.

Wildfire rips through Algeria, killing 42 people including soldiers

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
11 August, 2021

Wildfires have swept across Algeria since Monday night, resulting in the death of 42 people - including 25 soldiers deployed to put out the flames.

Dozens of separate fires have sprung up in the forest areas across northern Algeria [source: Getty]

Forest fires in Algeria killed 42 people on Tuesday, including 25 soldiers deployed to help put out the blaze, the government said.

The thick clouds of smoke covered much of the mountainous Kabylie region east of the capital.

Dozens of separate fires have raged through forest areas across northern Algeria since Monday night and Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud accused arsonists of igniting the flames, without providing more details on the allegations.

"Only criminal hands can be behind the simultaneous outbreak of about 50 fires across several localities," he said.

Last week, an EU atmosphere monitor said the Mediterranean had become a wildfire hotspot as massive blazes engulfed forests in Turkey and Greece, aided by a heatwave.

Residents of the Tizi Ouzou region in Kabylie used tree branches to try to smother burning patches of forest or hurled water from plastic containers in a desperate effort to douse the fire.

The soldiers were killed in different areas, some while trying to extinguish the flames and others after they were cut off by the spreading fire, Kabylie residents said. The Defence Ministry said more soldiers had been badly injured with burns.

Several houses were burnt as families were escaping to hotels, youth hostels and university residences, witnesses said, adding that dense smoke hampered the visibility of fire crews.

"We had a horror night. My house is completely burnt," said Mohamed Kaci, who had fled with his family from the village of Azazga to a hotel.

Speaking on state television on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane said the death toll had risen to 42, including 25 members of the military.

The government was in "advanced talks with (foreign) partners to hire planes and help speed up the process of extinguishing fires," he added.

Firefighters and the army were still trying to contain the blazes, and Beldjoud said the priority was to avoid more victims. He vowed to compensate those affected.

Disaster-struck Turkey faces toll of climate change

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
10 August, 2021

Experts warn the vast, geographically diverse country risks fighting rolling disasters if it does not forcefully confront climate change, which is warming sea temperatures in regions such as the Mediterranean.


Wildfires that have killed eight people since late July across Turkey's southern coastal regions [Getty]

From flash floods to forest fires, drought to "sea snot", Turkey is bearing the brunt of increasingly frequent disasters blamed on climate change, putting pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to act.

Wildfires that have killed eight people since late July across southern coastal regions, ravaging forests and turning villages to ash, followed the growth of a slimy mucus in the Sea of Marmara that destroyed marine life.

Deadly floods in the northeast followed an arid spell that dried up dams, endangering water supplies. Sinkholes caused by water mismanagement are encroaching on farmers' homes.

Experts warn the vast, geographically diverse country risks fighting rolling disasters if it does not forcefully confront climate change, which is warming sea temperatures in regions such as the Mediterranean.

A landmark UN report this week warned that global warming is occurring far faster than forecast.

The issue is turning increasingly political, with polls showing it registering highly with up to seven million members of Generation Z who will be able to vote in the next election, slated for 2023.

Experts and environmentally-conscious politicians put ratifying the 2015 Paris Agreement adopted by 196 countries on top of Turkey's to-do list.

Turkey is one of only six nations, including Iraq and Libya, yet to formally approve the accord.

"This is the first step. We must become a part of the global fight against climate change," said Greens of Turkey Party spokeswoman Emine Ozkan.

"There is no time to lose."

'No comprehensive policy'

Climate Action Tracker, a think tank that evaluates national emissions reduction plans, said Turkey's effort towards the accord's goals was "critically insufficient".

Ankara argues the agreement unfairly classes Turkey as "developed" rather than "developing", which would give it access to funding.

But experts say Turkey is making the mistake of failing to see critical issues such as food security and intensifying drought as linked.

"I don't see Turkey having any comprehensive and holistic climate change policy that addresses everything in an interconnected way," said water and climate policy researcher Gokce Sencan.

"You cannot separate food security issues from energy security issues, and food prices from the issue of drought."

Fossil fuels made up 83 percent of Turkey's energy supply in 2019.

The International Energy Agency this year praised Ankara's efforts to diversify its energy mix, with "impressive" renewable energy growth.

But environmentalists raise concern over Turkey's reliance on polluting coal, since Ankara has plans to expand domestic coal power capacity despite targeting a greenhouse gas emissions cut of up to 21 percent by 2030.

RELATED

In Pictures: Wildfires rage on in Turkey

MENA

01 August, 2021

Drought the 'biggest risk'

Turkey last month registered its highest temperature since 1961 at 49.1 degrees Celsius (120.4 Fahrenheit) in the southeastern town of Cizre.

Experts say drought will remain a critical problem with far-reaching effects not only on food production but also Turkey's relations with its neighbours, which are fighting for water rights.

Dam levels and farmers' production have suffered from below average precipitation since 2019.

"Drought is the biggest risk that we're facing right now," Sencan said.

Levent Kurnaz, director of Bogazici University's centre for climate change and policy studies, said the issue was directly related to food and agriculture.

"If you cannot feed yourselves then you're in big trouble," Kurnaz said.

Erdogan heeded the calls and organised a water council meeting in March, but specialists say the government is not taking the issue seriously enough.

"The government supposedly acknowledges climate change but it does not take the initiative to look at the real problems that cause it," said Ozkan, whose party has not been formally registered despite applying last year.

Kurnaz pointed to water's wider impact in the region since Turkey sits on top of two legendary rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, which flow to Syria and Iraq.

"If we don't have enough water, they will not have enough water and that's a problem in international relations," Kurnaz told AFP.

Sencan said the key is to build water resilience because climate change will see the amount of precipitation in the eastern Mediterranean region fall.

Public concern for the environment is growing, with a November 2020 study showing 70 percent of Turks worried about the issue.

For Kurnaz, no single country is prepared for the climate crisis, with both central and local authorities "underestimating" the issue.

"If you don't learn and something larger happens then you will once again be unprepared," Kurnaz said.

Floods hit Turkey days after wildfires rip through the country

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
11 August, 2021

Turkey was hit by flash floods in its northern provinces just days after wildfires ripped through southern parts of the country. The floods have destroyed bridges and left several homes without power

The floodwaters were caused by heavy rains and swept through northern parts of the country [source: Getty]

Floods caused by unusually heavy rainfall struck Turkey's northern coast on Wednesday, tearing down a bridge and leaving villages without power, after some of the biggest wildfires in the country's history ravaged its southwest.

State broadcaster TRT Haber said one person died from a heart attack in the northern province of Bartin, and emergency workers were looking for another person who was missing.

Thirteen people were also injured after a bridge collapsed in Bartin and there were power outages in 12 villages, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said.

In Sinop province, 150 miles (240 km) east of Bartin, a house collapsed due to the deluge and cars were left stranded in water.

AFAD said a hospital was being evacuated and some roads were closed in Sinop, warning that strong rains in the area were expected to continue.

Turkey's north is prone to flash floods in the summer when rains are particularly strong. Last year at least five people were killed in floods in the region.

Turkey has also battled raging wildfires that burnt tens of thousands of hectares of forest along its southern coast for the last two weeks.

The UN climate panel sounded a dire warning this week that the world's greenhouse gas levels were high enough to guarantee climate disruption for decades.

The 1.1-degree Celsius warming already recorded has been enough to unleash disastrous weather including the fires in Turkey, Greece and the United States.