Sustainable Switch-The hottest year on record
Dec 10 -
By Sharon Kimathi
Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital
sharon.kimathi@thomsonreuters.com
Hello!
Today’s newsletter highlights the latest data from European Union scientists that prove that this year was the hottest since records began, how it affects workers, and the legal case vulnerable countries have put forward to address climate change in international court this week.
Let’s kick off with the stats from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), which showed that this year will be the world's warmest since records began, with extraordinarily high temperatures expected to persist into at least the first few months of 2025.
But before we unpack the meaning behind these stats, please note that there will be no Sustainable Switch on Dec. 12, although my colleague Edson Caldas will send you Friday’s Climate Focus.
Now, back to the data from the C3S, which confirmed 2024 to be the hottest year on record, and the first in which average global temperatures exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period.
C3S' records go back to 1940 and are cross-checked with global temperature records going back to 1850.
"We're still in near-record-high territory for global temperatures, and that's likely to stay at least for the next few months," Copernicus climate researcher Julien Nicolas told Reuters. Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels are the main cause of climate change, according to scientists.
How does this look in practice?
As temperatures soar, it’s often low-wage workers in climate-vulnerable nations who bear the brunt of the heat.
Workers in some of the world's biggest garment manufacturing hubs in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Pakistan are increasingly exposed to extreme heat as climate change pushes temperatures up, a problem multinational retailers and brands will have to help address.
New EU regulations make retailers selling in the bloc, like Inditex, H&M and Nike, legally liable for conditions at their suppliers, putting pressure on them to help fund improvements to cool factories they source from.
In Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh and Karachi, the number of days with "wet-bulb" temperatures – a measurement that accounts for air temperature as well as humidity – above 30.5 degrees Celsius jumped by 42% in 2020-2024 compared to 2005-2009, researchers at Cornell University's Global Labor Institute found.
Above that threshold, the International Labor Organisation recommends as much rest as work in any given hour to maintain safe core body temperature levels.
The ICJ landmark advisory
Having looked at who faces the consequences of rising temperatures, we now consider potential accountability.
The CS3 data came two weeks after U.N. climate talks yielded a $300 billion deal to tackle climate change, but poorer countries blasted this as insufficient to cover the soaring cost of climate-related disasters.
In fact, this week the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is preparing a landmark advisory opinion on climate change due to a case being led by Vanuatu and Pacific islands calling for accountability from wealthier countries.
The ICJ has been hearing oral arguments from states since Dec 2, with the last statement to be provided on Dec. 13. Click here to watch today’s oral arguments from Palau, Panama, the Netherlands, Peru and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The ICJ is expected to provide an opinion that clarifies state responsibilities for climate action under international law, extending beyond the Paris Agreement, but it is not legally binding.
The ICJ’s focus on accountability could affirm states’ duties to compensate for climate harms and address gaps in current funding mechanisms.
Talking Points
Kenya femicide protest: Kenyan police fired teargas and arrested three people as around 300 women protested in Nairobi against a surge in femicides, chanting, "Stop killing women!". At least 97 women were killed in gender-related violence between August and October, according to the National Police Service.
VW industrial action: Volkswagen staff downed tools at nine German sites which are under threat after workers said management had one last chance to compromise or risk strikes on a scale not previously seen by the German carmaker, in a standoff over wage cuts and plant closures. Volkswagen and its unions held talks on Monday that both sides described as ‘constructive’.
VW Brazil slavery: In more Volkswagen news, Brazilian labor prosecutors charged the German carmaker’s local unit with subjecting farm workers to conditions akin to slavery from 1974 to 1986 and are seeking 165 million reais ($27.5 million) in damages. Volkswagen Brazil said in a statement it had not been formally notified of the charges yet.
Gaza: Former Israeli defense minister Moshe Yaalon has accused Israel of committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip. "I am compelled to warn about what is happening there and is being concealed from us," Yaalon told Israel's public broadcaster Kan. "At the end of the day, war crimes are being committed." Israeli government officials deny the claims.
Anti-affirmative action case: United States District Judge Sidney Fitzwater in Dallas said Southwest Airlines must face a lawsuit by prominent affirmative action opponent Edward Blum claiming a now-defunct program that awarded free flights to Hispanic college students was racially discriminatory. Click here for more on the Supreme Court cases by conservative groups involving gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, federal regulatory powers over nuclear waste storage, job discrimination, voting rights and more.
Regulatory oversight: The UK's Financial Conduct Authority is reviewing the conduct of several Credit Suisse staff in its roughly 100-employee London research unit during the period from mid-2022 to early 2023, scrutinising allegations that some former employees shared confidential information over WhatsApp, documents seen by Reuters show.
In Conversation
Joie Chowdhury, senior attorney at the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), shares her thoughts on the ICJ ruling on climate change:
“Nations and communities most vulnerable to climate impacts, despite having contributed the least to the crisis, bear its harshest effects, while major historical polluters largely evade accountability.
“However, this long-standing climate injustice may soon reach a critical turning point.
“The world’s top court is preparing a landmark advisory opinion on climate change, potentially altering the course of climate justice.
“This is a once-in-generation opportunity for the Court to deliver the legal blueprint to hold major polluters accountable and affirm the right to remedy and reparations for climate harm.
“Despite international law advocating for reparations, effective remedies for ‘loss and damage’ have been delayed for nearly three decades, since the first U.N. Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting 29 years ago.
“Dissatisfied with political inaction, some nations turned to international courts for justice and clarity on climate obligations.
“This case has been led by some of the world’s most climate-impacted states like Vanuatu and other Pacific islands, in pushing for accountability, though some wealthier states may argue to avoid responsibility.
“The ICJ opinion’s focus on accountability and reparations could affirm countries' international legal obligations to cease and repair climate harms.
“The U.N. Secretary-General recently highlighted that existing U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change mechanisms lack the structure to ensure adequate remedy for climate-affected communities, reinforcing the urgent need for ICJ’s legal guidance toward climate justice.
“In this era of devastating and escalating climate harm, clarification of the law by the ICJ in relation to climate change could lay stronger foundations for climate reparations.
“The forthcoming advisory opinion, an authoritative interpretation of binding international law, could influence national and regional courts’ interpretation of state duties in pending and future cases, inform climate action and help cut through the political inertia that has plagued climate negotiations and national-level climate action.”
ESG Spotlight
In keeping with today’s focus on the EU's scientific research, we look at how Europe’s space race is aiming to be efficient and sustainable.
In a discreet forest clearing on a plateau above the town of Vernon in Normandy, France, workers adjust a steel cylinder held under giant red claws - part of a reusable rocket that Europe hopes will slow the meteoric rise of Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Maiaspace, a two-year-old subsidiary of Europe's largest rocket maker ArianeGroup, is entering a crucial period of testing for plans to launch Europe's first partially reusable launcher in 2026, targeting mainly small commercial satellites.
Today’s Sustainable Switch was edited by Mark Potter
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