On Tuesday 10^th September, Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump faced off for their first presidential debate. However, we couldn’t get a clear picture of either candidates climate policies as the issue was sidelined in favour of issues such as abortion, immigration and foreign policy.

Harris acknowledged the issue of climate change as “very real” and said they were best placed to deal with the issue without specifying the policies she would aim to action. Harris mostly discussed climate efforts through an economic lens, promoting subsidies of clean energy as a way of creating new jobs and to spur manufacturing.

Harris also highlighted that developing more oil and gas was important to reduce reliance on foreign oil, boasting that gas production had reached record highs under the Biden administration. It’s worth noting here that the debate took place in the pivotal swing-state Pennsylvania, the second largest natural gas producer after Texas.

The question on climate change was ignored by Trump, instead claiming that Harris would end fracking, or the process of extracting gas, in Pennsylvania if she won the presidency. Trump also drew attention away from the question by speaking of manufacturing plants being built in China, and promoting tariffs on imported cars.

The latest polls show Harris leading the race with 47% to 42%, with Trump ruling out another debate before the election in November.

In Irish news:

• The Irish government approved draft legislation to move forward with restrictions on nicotine inhaling products or vapes on the basis of environmental and public health concerns.
• The Climate Change Advisory Council’s (CCAC) report on adaption measures says the government must implement measures to increase climate resilience as Ireland becomes more vulnerable to extreme weather events including extreme flooding.
• Ireland’s GDP is forecast to fall by 2.5% by 2030 due to climate change and failure to prepare for its effects.

In other world news:

• The Hague becomes the first city in the world to pass a law to ban fossil fuel related ads, taking effect from the start of 2025.
• The European Court of Auditors’ analysis found that the EU may be exaggerating its spending on climate-friendly projects by at least 34.5 billion euros.
• Pharmaceutical groups GSK and AstraZeneca both plan final trials to upgrade asthma inhalers in an effort to reduce carbon emissions, which could cut GSK’s carbon footprint by 40%.