Africa's climate dividend and other stories to catch up on

Akshat Rathi writes the Zero newsletter, which examines the world’s race to cut planet-warming emissions. He is the author of Climate Capitalism.

Here's your curated list of recent climate and energy news. Please send feedback and reply in comments with links to stories that you found interesting.

English landowners have received ￡9 billion in environment payments from taxpayers despite a decline in nature. Despite this, only 39% of England’s sites of special scientific interest are in favorable condition, while farmland bird numbers have halved since 1970. (The Guardian)

Filipinos are embracing electric three-wheelers faster than officials can regulate them. Unregistered three-wheelers big enough for whole families are a popular antidote to the country's terrible gridlock. (Rest of World)

"A new Third Way report on the US's permitting reform bill concludes that the greenhouse gas emissions reductions from expediting transmission lines would outweigh added emissions from the fossil fuel provisions," writes James Temple . (Third Way)

The wonderful science journalist Angela Saini had me on the Science Magazine podcast to talk about Climate Capitalism. Listen here. (Science Magazine)

When bad offsets get a regulator's approval, the scandal that ensues promises to be bigger. Eight months after a whistleblower came forward, German regulators are starting to confirm the fraud in offsets meant to avoid emissions from activities such as flaring. (Bloomberg News)

If done right, solar farms can help with another global crisis: the collapse of nature. "A study published late last year found that insect abundance had tripled over five years on test plots at two other Minnesota solar sites. The abundance of native bees grew twentyfold." (New York Times)

OPEC+ is considering delaying a planned increase in oil production; here's one big reason why: The US is pumping out more oil than ever and doing so more cash efficiently than ever before. (Bloomberg)

From pole to pole and everywhere in between, Earth's ice is disappearing. Throughout 2023, the Arctic was warm and navigable, and Antarctica sea ice sets record lows. (Australia experienced its hottest winter day at 41.6C / 106.8F). (US govt / The Guardian)

African countries are losing on average 2-5% of their gross domestic product annually, the Weather Meteorological Organization. Adaptation will cost $30 billion to $50 billion yearly. (Bloomberg)

Be sure to listen to this week's episode of the Zero podcast. I visited two cool Australian startups: one uses synthetic shark skin to make planes more fuel efficient and another uses carbon dioxide to extract lithium. (YouTube)