Meat megacompany Tyson Foods will stop slapping “climate-smart” labels on its beef after settling a greenwashing suit brought by the Environmental Working Group. The company will also stop suggesting it will reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and be prohibited from rolling out any new eco-claims for five years unless they’re substantiated. The deal comes a week after a similar settlement in New York, in which Brazilian meat giant JBS agreed to curb its own misleading marketing.
The last few days of the COP30 climate summit are shaping up to be a scramble. Nearly half of the countries in attendance are pushing to make good on a landmark pledge from the 2023 meeting to transition away from fossil fuels. The current draft of this year’s COP decision—essentially the agreed-upon next steps—mentions the phase-out, but critics say the language is weak and vague. “It needs to be more action-oriented, it needs measurable targets,” Ralph Regenvanu, the minister for climate change for the Pacific island of Vanuatu, told The Guardian.
Elsewhere at COP, a group of 10 countries—including France, Spain, and Kenya—are calling for a luxury tax on private jet flights. Flying private emits as much as 14 times the emissions per passenger than going commercial, and the volume of private flights has soared in recent years. The proposal also includes taxes on business- and first-class tickets, which bear a higher climate burdens per passenger than economy seats.
File this under “important but unsurprising:” The new annual forecast from consultancy Grid Strategies has found that power demand will jump six-fold compared to its 2022 analysis—which, by the by, was flat—fueled largely by data centers. The top-end estimate is that the facilities will need 90 gigawatts of capacity by 2030. For context: New York City uses between 10 and 11 gigawatts at times of peak demand, like in the summer. Utilities are rushing to manage these new needs, but that comes amid swelling pushback: A report recently found a 125% spike in public data-center opposition.
The first homes in the Handsworth area of Birmingham in the U.K. to comply with a building standards requiring an 80% cut in a house’s emissions are using less electricity than predicted, according to a new study. The homes, most of which have heat pumps and solar arrays, used 40% and 67% less electricity than the average U.K. abode. Heat pumps, in particular, can be a big difference-maker; heating alone account for nearly half of the average’s home’s energy demand.
