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Holger
Hansen, Reuters
Reuters
reports that Germany is
expected to miss its 2030
climate goals and emit more
carbon dioxide (CO2) than
previously forecast, according
to an independent advisory
body. It notes that the
country is aiming to reduce
its greenhouse gas emissions
by at least 65% from 1990
levels by 2030, ahead of being
“climate neutral” by 2045. The
article adds that so far it
has cut emissions by about
48%. Deutsche Welle
reports that the Council of
Experts on Climate Change now
thinks that Germany could
overshoot its goal by up to
100m tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2). It
adds that the German
environment agency had only
predicted a possible overshoot
of 4.5MtCO2. Bloomberg
notes the projections from the
advisory group come after the
government set out an €8bn
plan to cut carbon in March.
It adds that the Iran war is
putting pressure on households
and businesses, leading the
government to abandon a clean
heating law and approve plans
for new gas-fired power
plants.
MORE
ON EUROPE
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Politico
covers a letter from
Italian prime minister
Giorgia Meloni to European
Commission president
Ursula von der Leyen,
pressing the EU to loosen
its fiscal rules to help
governments manage soaring
energy prices.
-
The
Times
reports that Ford has
unveiled new hybrid cars,
“rowing back” on its
“commitment to become an
all-electric car brand in
Europe by 2030”.
-
Reuters
reports that the European
Commission is considering
providing more CO2 permits
to fertiliser companies,
amid surging costs
triggered by the Iran war.
-
Reuters
covers comments by German
finance minister Lars
Klingbeil, saying that G7
countries have options to
“reduce their dependency
on rare earths [from
China], but have no time
to lose”.
-
The
Wall Street
Journal reports that
European gas prices have
broken €50 per
megawatt-hour as “traders
see little sign of a
resolution in the Middle
East”.
Bloomberg
The
latest customs data shows
China’s exports of solar cells
grew 60% by volume in April
compared with a year ago,
“defying expectations that the
removal of tax rebates would
damp overseas demand”, reports
Bloomberg. In the first four
months of the year, reports Securities
Daily, exports of
electric vehicles (EVs),
batteries and wind turbines
rose by 68%, 43% and 41%,
respectively, marking what it
calls the “continued rise in
the international
competitiveness of China’s
green and high-end
manufacturing industries”. The
Communist Party-affiliated
newspaper People’s Daily
publishes an article under the
byline He Yin – indicating the
views of party leadership on
foreign policy – saying that
Chinese manufacturing is
accelerating its “green
transformation”. The world’s
largest producer of two-wheel
EVs, China-based Yadea, is
accelerating expansion efforts
in the UK and Europe amid the
Iran war, which has driven up
oil prices, according to the Financial Times.
Separately,
the Financial Times
also reports that the EU is
“drawing up plans to force
European companies to buy
critical components from at
least three different
suppliers” to cut the bloc’s
dependence on China. It cites
unnamed officials saying that
EU trade commissioner Maroš
Šefčovič wants to “insulate”
companies from China’s
“weaponisation of trade”. An
editorial in the
state-supporting newspaper Global Times
says China’s new-energy
equipment is a “timely boost
to Europe's green
transformation and
manufacturing upgrade”, adding
that the EU should be more
“pragmatic”, more
“cooperative” and “less
protectionist”. It adds that
provisions in the EU’s
Industrial Accelerator Act to
limit foreign involvement in
“strategic” clean-energy
sectors “unfairly increase[s]
the localisation and
compliance costs for foreign
investors” and “contradict[s]
the important consensus
reached by Chinese and EU
leaders on properly handling
frictions and differences”.
MORE
ON CHINA
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Guangming Daily
reports that China’s
agricultural carbon
emissions have
“stabilised” and carbon
intensity continues to
decline.
-
An
article on the first page
of the People’s Daily
print edition says some in
the US argue that blocking
Chinese cleantech will
mean missing out on “this
wave of development”.
-
People’s Daily:
“930m green certificates
traded nationwide in 2025,
setting a new record.”
-
China
has raised 6bn yuan
($0.88bn) overseas through
“green” sovereign bonds,
reports China News
Service. Economic Daily
writes on the need for
“diverse green finance” to
support carbon reduction.
-
Sichuan
province is updating its
emergency response systems
to cope with “increasingly
frequent extreme weather
and climate events”, says
Guangming Daily.
-
Some
40% of hydrogen companies
in China could disappear
this year, with only 10%
of companies remaining by
2029, reports Jiemian.
Kat
Lay, The Guardian
In
a frontpage
story, the Guardian says that
disease outbreaks are becoming
“more likely due to the
climate crisis and armed
conflict”, according to a new
report. It adds that the
report from the Global
Preparedness Monitoring Board
(GPMB) finds that “as
infectious disease outbreaks
become more frequent, they are
also becoming more damaging”,
warning that pandemic risk is
outpacing investment. It notes
that the report comes amid
global attention on a
hantavirus outbreak on a
cruise ship and a public
health emergency in the
Democratic Republic of Congo
after at least 87 Ebola
deaths. Relatedly, Climate Home
News reports that
informing people about health
risks related to climate
change is twice as likely to
spur public support for
climate action than a focus on
economics or the environment.
Leigh
Thomas and David Lawder,
Reuters
Reuters
covers comments by Fatih
Birol, head of the
International Energy Agency,
who has warned that there are
only a few weeks of
commercial oil inventories
remaining, due to the Iran war
and the closure of the strait
of Hormuz. The newswire adds
that Birol told reporters that
the release of strategic oil
reserves has added 2.5m
barrels of oil per day to the
market, but cautioned that
these reserves "are not
endless". Bloomberg
adds that Birol, who was
speaking to reporters on the
sidelines of a G7 meeting in
Paris, highlighted that the
spike in fertiliser and diesel
prices caused by the war comes
at the start of the travel and
crop-planting season. In a
piece featured on its frontpage,
the Daily Telegraph
quotes Birol saying: “This
could have major implications
for the food prices and
together with the higher
energy prices they might give
a big push to inflation
numbers.”
MORE
ON OIL
-
The
Financial Times
reports that European oil
refiners and airlines are
“growing more confident
the continent can avoid
outright jet fuel
shortages this summer”.
-
The
Guardian
reports that oil prices
rose and “global bonds
wobbled” on Monday,
following fresh tensions
in the Middle East.
-
The
Associated
Press reports that
Asian stock markets are
“largely retreating” and
oil prices are surging
following the latest
threats from US president
Donald Trump.
-
Reuters
reports that a record 9.9m
barrels of oil have been
withdrawn from the US
strategic reserve, pushing
levels down to the lowest
levels in two years.
Oliver
Barnes and James
Fontanella-Khan, Financial
Times
The
Financial Times reports that
utility NextEra Energy has
agreed a “megadeal” with rival
Dominion Energy to create a
“$420bn power behemoth” in the
US. It adds that the deal, the
fourth-largest of all time,
would create a US utility with
a customer base of more than
10m homes and businesses. The
Associated
Press reports that
NextEra Energy is looking to
acquire Dominion in an
all-stock deal valued at
around $67bn. The Guardian
notes that: “The deal comes as
the appetite for energy
sources has swelled with the
construction of massive
datacenters across the
country, built largely to
supply rising demand for AI.”
Reuters
notes that if approved, the
merger would create the
third-biggest US energy
company, behind oil majors
Exxon and Chevron. Bloomberg
quotes NextEra CEO John
Ketchum saying: “This is a
defining moment. The country
needs more energy
infrastructure built faster,
more efficiently and more
affordably than ever before.”
Al Jazeera,
the Wall Street
Journal and others all
cover the news.
MORE
ON US
-
Both
the New York Times
and the Associated
Press carry stories
breaking down recent false
claims by Trump regarding
the “RCP8.5”
climate scenario.
-
The
Guardian
says the Trump
administration’s cuts to
climate and weather data
programming could make
forecasts “less reliable
when they are needed
most”.
-
Bloomberg
reports that the US has
issued a new waiver
allowing the sale of
Russian crude oil and
petroleum products that
are already loaded on
tankers.
-
Reuters
reports that US House
lawmakers have proposed
legislation that would
include a $130 per year
tax on EVs, purportedly to
help pay for road repairs.
-
Reuters
covers a confirmation from
the US that “China will
address US concerns about
rare-earth shortages”.
Martin
Strydom, The Times
Household
energy bills are set to rise
by £200 a year from July due
to the Middle East conflict,
reports the Times, citing the
latest forecasts from
consultancy Cornwall Energy.
It says: “While energy
consumption typically falls
during the warmer months,
experts warned that the
elevated cap is likely to
persist into the high-demand
winter period.” The Guardian
has ongoing coverage of
reports that chancellor Rachel
Reeves is planning to cancel a
rise in fuel duty as part of a
set of measures to tackle the
cost of living. The article
notes that Reeves has been
looking at a range of other
options, including subsidising
some people’s energy bills. It
adds that “because energy
usage is much lower in the
[summer], the chancellor wants
to wait until later in the
year before deciding how much
to spend on subsidising
bills”. An editorial in the
climate-sceptic Sun
welcomes the news.
MORE
ON UK
Eric
Ombok, Bloomberg
Bloomberg
reports that Kenya has moved
to cut diesel prices after at
least four people died during
protests over surging fuel
costs. It adds that
authorities have reduced
diesel prices by 7% “following
a petition by public-transport
sector operators”. TheAssociated
Press adds that 30
people were also injured, amid
the protests that included a
nationwide public transport
strike. It notes that Kenya’s
fuel prices hit a record high
last week, with diesel pricing
increasing by 24% and petrol
by 8%. The article notes that
the government has attributed
these increases to the Iran
war and its impact on energy
supplies, while reducing taxes
to “lessen the shock for
consumers”.
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