Firms manage $7.3tn in assets and could afford to transition away from fossil fuels yet invest in natural gas and coal-fired plants to power datacenters
The energy portfolios of 20 private equity firms produce 1.5bn tons of greenhouse gases a year, more than the annual emissions of any country except China, the US, India and Russia, according to a new report.
Together, these firms manage $7.3tn in assets of all kinds, affording them the ability to shape the pace of the transition away from fossil fuels. However their energy investments include significant fossil fuel assets including natural gas and coal-fired power plants to provide electricity to datacenters.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/15/2026 - 07:42
09/15/2026 - 03:00
Labour should replace levy in 2027 rather than 2030 as energy bills are poised to surge over the winter, says lobby group
The North Sea oil and gas industry has called on Labour to scrap the windfall tax on fossil fuel firms three years early, as Britain heads into a winter with energy bills expected to reach their highest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), the industry’s trade body, wants the tax replaced in 2027, rather than in 2030, with a narrower levy that only applies during price spikes.
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09/15/2026 - 02:00
Grant applications in England surge as interest grows in habitat that captures carbon and helps reduce flood risk
The ancient craft of hedge laying is experiencing a strong revival as farmers use techniques that peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries to boost wildlife, capture carbon and help tackle flooding.
Hedge laying, which restores and revives mature hedges to keep them fresh, was among the four most popular categories of capital grants selected by farmers out of a total pot of £225m provided by the government this year to support practical environmental improvements on farms and across the countryside.
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09/15/2026 - 00:00
One of the biggest upheavals in a millennium is on its way, strengthened by the climate crisis. We need leaders who make things better not worse
If you think you have heard enough about the growing “super” El Niño, trust me, you are going to hear a lot more. What is happening in the equatorial Pacific is jaw-dropping and could well mark one of the biggest global weather upheavals in a millennium. It will spawn a string of weather catastrophes around our world in what remains of this year and in 2027, and there is no reason to think the UK will be immune.
To recap briefly, El Niño involves a heating of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific ocean. It happens every few years and is part of a natural cycle termed the El Niño southern oscillation, which switches between warm (El Niño) and cool (La Niña) phases. El Niños that see heating reach or exceed 2C are defined as “super” but this one, which is forecast to top-out at an astonishing 4C later this year, is so much bigger, the term “hyper” might be more appropriate.
Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL. His latest book is The Fate of the World: A History and Future of the Climate Crisis (HarperCollins Publishers, £20). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
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09/15/2026 - 00:00
As human development and roads increasingly fragment their habitats, a study suggests traffic noise could be altering the animals’ wake-up call
Dawn has broken, and the air is cool and still. It’s at about this time that gibbons usually erupt into song, wa-oo-ing and wa-ing from the highest branches and filling the tree tops with rich melodies. But in this corner of Malaysian forest, bordered by housing and roads, the resident white-handed gibbons are quiet. All that can be heard is the hum of traffic from a nearby highway.
This isn’t a rare occurrence for this group of gibbons, according to research, which found these particular gibbons, named Mambang and Walinong, appeared to be producing far fewer morning songs than others that are not exposed to the same level of traffic noise.
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09/14/2026 - 21:43
Latest daily reductions will further choke one of the world’s most important shipping lanes
The Panama canal plans to again cut maritime traffic due to worsening drought caused by the El Niño climate phenomenon, further choking up one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.
The canal handles 5% of global maritime trade and about 40% of US container traffic; it is favoured by shippers because it usually reduces cost and transit times, especially for companies trading between China, Asia and the US.
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09/14/2026 - 20:36
Between 2000 and 2018, extreme heat caused more deaths in Australia than all our bushfires, floods, storms and cyclones combined
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Back in April 2004, in the shadow of the previous European summer, I started work at Downing Street advising the British prime minister on climate change. The 2003 heatwave had killed an estimated 70,000 people across Europe. Many were older people, in homes and neighbourhoods ill-equipped for prolonged heat.
In May this year, I walked through Bordeaux with my 83-year-old mother-in-law in 38C heat. I saw how quickly heat changes the terms of ordinary life. Streets emptied. Shade became essential. The question was not simply the temperature, but whether people could work, sleep or remain safely at home.
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09/14/2026 - 17:57
Republican Greg Abbott says datacenters must help ‘protect’ drought-prone state and disclose water use
Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, has directed state regulators to penalize datacenters that fail to comply with state laws requiring them to disclose their water use.
“Data centers must share the duty to protect Texas water,” the Republican governor said on Monday. “The Texas Water Code requires a complete and accurate water use survey. I direct the Texas Water Development Board to use its enforcement authority to penalize past failures and to impose legal consequences for any future failure to comply,” he added.
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09/14/2026 - 15:42
Energy Transfer, whose CEO is a major Trump donor, named as biggest single methane producer in new rankings
Down a short gravel track in a largely nondescript corner of Louisiana sits a gas processing facility, operated by a company whose chief executive is a major donor to Donald Trump. It may be the largest emitter of methane in the US.
The Energy Transfer site, located near the city of Shreveport, is named as the biggest single “super emitter” in new rankings of US oil and gas operations for the largest releases of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is rapidly overheating our planet, according to a new UCLA study, which is based on satellite data.
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09/14/2026 - 14:53
Cal Fire official says Sunday was ‘big turning point’ to reduce blaze in Lake county, now 30% contained
Firefighters made progress toward containing northern California’s Lucas fire, state officials said on Sunday.
Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, which has burned more than 4,120 acres across Lake and Mendocino counties. The fire was 30% contained by Monday morning, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection, or Cal Fire.
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