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Giselda
Vagnoni and Oriana Boselli,
Reuters
Reuters
reports on the UN “state of
food security and nutrition”
report, which shows that
global hunger declined for a
third consecutive year in
2025, with improvements
recorded “across every
continent”. However, “mounting
risks from climate shocks and
trade disruption” could
threaten progress, it warns.
The outlet quotes Máximo
Torero, chief economist at the
Food and Agriculture
Organization – one of five UN
agencies behind the report –
as saying the trend “offered
grounds for optimism, but
warned that geopolitical
tensions and weather
disruptions posed significant
threats to global food
systems”. Among the most
“immediate concerns”, he said,
were “issues with shipping
through the strait of Hormuz”,
as well as a “potentially
strong El Niño weather
pattern” which could disrupt
agricultural production in
vulnerable regions. The Associated
Press says “climate
change is adding pressure to
food systems and rural
livelihoods”. It carries an
interview with International
Fund for Agricultural
Development president Alvaro
Lario, who warned that floods,
prolonged droughts and extreme
heat are “increasingly
disrupting agriculture around
the world.”
Hiroko
Tabuchi, The New York Times
The
oil and gas industry has known
“for decades” that its wells
were releasing “far more
planet-warming methane than
companies acknowledged”,
reports the New York Times.
The newspaper covers findings
released by the not-for-profit
Center for Climate Integrity
(CCI) that show the industry
“publicly underplayed”
concerns over methane and ran
an “advertising campaign that
highlighted gas as a clean
fuel”. It says the CCI cites,
among other examples, a 1979
report commissioned by the
American Gas Association that
said that major US gas fields
could be releasing “far more
planet-warming gases than was
being officially reported”.
The American Petroleum
Institute trade group called
the CCI report “the latest in
a coordinated campaign”
against the fossil fuel
industry, according to the
newspaper.
MORE
ON US
-
The
Hill:
“Trump blames Canada for
wildfires; scientists
point to climate change.”
-
Utility Dive
covers numbers released by
the US Energy Information
Administration that show
US CO2 power emissions
rose by 4% last year.
-
Trump's
order to keep coal plants
running costing the state
of Wisconsin $117m,
reports the Independent.
-
Eighteen
Democratic-led states,
Washington DC and New York
City have sued the Trump
administration over a new
federal rule which rolls
back deadlines for
companies to phase out
hydrofluorocarbons in
commercial refrigeration
equipment, says Reuters.
-
The
Associated
Press: “White House
admits it used keywords to
kill billions worth of
California research
grants.”
-
Sales
of hybrid cars outpaced
EVs in California in the
second quarter, in a
“stark sign” of shifting
US car-buying preferences
as “political posturing
and the end of federal
subsidies have undercut EV
demand”, says Bloomberg.
Geraldine
Scott, The Times
The
UK’s newly appointed energy
secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh
told Times Radio that she said
she would be “pragmatic” on
North Sea drilling, but “would
not be drawn” on whether she
would allow further
exploration despite repeated
calls from trade unions,
reports the Times. The
newspaper continues that
Fahnbulleh told BBC Radio 4
that she would “not engage in
claims she was an eco-zealot”,
despite being branded as such
by Reform UK’s deputy leader
Richard Tice. LBC News
reports that Fahnbulleh said
on its radio show that the
reason why UK households are
struggling at the moment was
because the UK was “incredibly
exposed to global fossil fuel
prices”. She said this was why
the government was “really
committed to making sure that
we create homegrown energy,
clean energy, that ultimately
means that we have far more
energy security and that will
drive down the cost".
There
is significant coverage of
Fahnbulleh’s record on energy
and climate issues. The Financial Times
notes that, back in 2019,
Fahnbulleh advocated for a
“global green new deal” with
the goal of achieving net-zero
“within 10-15 years”. It also
reports that, under her
leadership, the New Economics
Foundation thinktank produced
a report calling for a “total
end to new drilling” in the
North Sea. The Times says
[Fahnbulleh’s] “vision for
climate action has sometimes
appeared, if anything, more
ambitious than [her
predecessor Ed Milliband’s]”.
The Daily Mail
also has a full-page profile
on Fahnbulleh entitled: “Why
net-zero opponents fear we’ve
gone from mad Miliband to
Miatta, even madder than
Miliband.” The Daily Telegraph
covers Fahnbulleh’s 2019 call
for a phaseout of fossil fuels
“within 10 years”. The Daily Express
says TalkTV presenter Kevin
O'Sullivan described her as
"hard left, globalist, climate
change zealot" that will make
Miliband "look like a
moderate".
Meanwhile,
there is ongoing coverage of
new prime minister Andy
Burnham’s decision to scrap
VAT on household electricity
bills from 1 October, amid
speculation around how the
£850 tax cut will be funded.
The i newspaper
is among a number of outlets to
cover the
fallout from a social media
post by Darren Jones – a
cabinet minister under
Starmer. Commenting on plans
to fund the VAT cut in part by
scrapping a digital ID
project, Jones noted that the
programme was “unfunded”. The
Independent
reports that a Downing Street
spokesperson subsequently
“admitted that the savings
would need to be found, but
said that the measure
announced is “fully funded”.
The Guardian
explains what Burnham’s plan
to scrap VAT on energy bills
means for households and BBC News
looks at why UK electricity
prices are so high.
MORE
ON UK
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Burnham’s
government has announced
that single bus fares
across England will be
capped at £2 from January,
reports the Guardian.
The bulk of the £500m cost
will come from “switching
investment in
international climate
finance to loans” and
“savings in the budget of
the Department for Energy
Security and Net Zero”, it
notes.
-
The
National Drought Group has
warned eight areas across
southern, central and
eastern England are now in
the “stage before drought
status can be declared”,
according to BusinessGreen.
-
Ed
Miliband has vowed to
“reinvigorate climate
diplomacy” in his new role
as foreign secretary,
reports the Financial Times.
-
The
Daily Telegraph
says the White House is
“deeply concerned” over
Miliband’s appointment,
with one official
highlighting the
politician’s support for
green energy projects as a
“point of friction”.
-
Bloomberg
says that a projected
surge in UK electricity
prices from October will
“erode” Burnham’s “bill
savings”.
-
The
Guardian:
“‘Risking blackouts’? How
Great Britain’s grid
operator was dragged into
a political row."
Reuters
Firefighters
struggled yesterday to contain
Spain's largest wildfire of
the year, while two
firefighters were killed
battling a fire in south-west
France, reports Reuters. The
fires come as “an extreme
heatwave continues to fuel
dangerous conditions across
Europe, bringing drought and
forecasts of severe
hailstorms”, the outlet
continues. It adds that in
southern France, local
authorities have confirmed a
separate wildfire in the Var
department that burned 500
hectares within hours.
Meanwhile, a forest blaze in
Spain's central Guadalajara
province “raged uncontrolled
for a sixth day, forcing the
evacuation of more than 1,200
people”, it says. The newswire
explains that “Europe is the
world's fastest-warming
continent and many scientists
say human-driven climate
change is increasing the
intensity of heatwaves,
droughts and wildfires, while
also creating conditions for
sudden, destructive storms.” Al Jazeera
reports that more than 600
Spanish firefighters and
troops have been battling a
wildfire near Madrid.
MORE
ON EUROPE
-
Europe’s
June heatwave wiped “more
than €2bn” from the value
of its grain crop, with
France and Hungary
“bearing the brunt” of the
damage, according to an
analysis from the Energy
and Climate Intelligence
Unit covered by the Financial Times.
-
Euractiv
says climate activists
have “slammed” Brussels
for suspending the
enforcement of landmark
rules governing methane
emissions for three years.
-
Reuters:
“Airlines decry 'double
whammy' from proposed EU
carbon charge on some
international flights.”
-
Time magazine
looks at how heatwaves
have impacted the Tour de
France, including
athletes’ health and
preparations and recovery
from the race.
-
Euractiv:
“‘That's not true’:
Brussels denies
electrification target
lacks ambition.”
Bloomberg
China
had 262 gigawatts (GW) of
solar and 251GW of wind under
construction in June,
“maintaining its renewables
pace” even as the “risk
increases that some of the
power generated will be
wasted”, reports Bloomberg,
citing a new report from the
Global Energy Monitor, a
thinktank. Reuters
covers the same GEM report,
saying “inadequate
transmission links” and
“continued reliance” on
coal-fired power are
“limiting” China’s use of its
large-scale wind and solar
capacity. Wind and solar
currently make up 20% of the
power sent through China’s
transmission network, while
coal accounts for 42%, adds
the newswire. The report
author, Yu Aiqun, says the
high proportion of coal is
“hard to square with
policymakers’ framing of coal
as having only a supporting
role in China's power system”.
A “key transmission project”
for China’s third batch of
large-scale wind and solar
bases has been put into
operation, supporting the 1GW
desert clean energy base,
reports State Grid News.
A total of 3,825 new
registered renewable energy
generation projects were added
in China last month, according
to International
Energy Net.
MORE
ON CHINA
-
The
size of China's new energy
heavy-duty trucks fleet is
expected to exceed 1.6m by
2030, with a penetration
rate of 40%, reports Xinhua.
-
Changzhou
will build China’s first
city-level “green token
factory” to produce 60tn
tokens annually using
green electricity, says Reference News.
Gong Ke, with the Chinese
Institute for the New
Generation Artificial
Intelligence Development
Strategies, writes a
comment in Caixin that
the world “must compel AI
to run on green, renewable
energy as much as
possible”.
-
The
South China
Morning Post: “As
Iran war drags on, China
keeps tight grip on fuel
exports despite eased
curbs.”
-
Tsinghua
University’s Zhang Xiliang
tells China News
Service that China
needs to avoid conflicts
between market-based and
administrative measures
when conducting emission
reductions.
-
Experts
expect 100GW of new
pumped-storage capacity to
come online over the next
five years, according to China Daily.
China’s first
demonstration project
using “supercritical CO2
in a closed-loop system to
extract heat from
medium-deep geothermal
resources” started
operations in Zhengzhou,
reports Economic Daily.
-
Xiamen
University’s Sun Chuanwang
says China’s five-year
plan for building a “Beautiful China”
provides a “clear pathway
to force transformation”
according to Xinhua.
Sukrita
Baruah, The Indian Express
According
to disaster authorities, “21
people los[t] their lives in
24 hours” yesterday as the
“flood situation deteriorated
significantly” in the
north-east Indian state of
Assam, reports the Indian
Express. Since Sunday,
“multiple rivers have been
flowing well over their danger
levels…flooding large swathes
of upper Assam with levels not
seen in recent year[s]”, it
adds. As of yesterday evening,
floods in the state had
affected over 560,000 people
and the death toll has risen
to 31 lives, per the Hindustan Times.
Separately,
UN Climate Change executive
secretary Simon Stiell
“praised” India’s clean energy
growth at a press conference
in New Delhi yesterday,
reports the Hindu, with
Stiell “noting that
fossil-fuel-free sources now
make up half of its installed
power capacity – a milestone
reached five years early”. It
adds that Stiell emphasised
the “electrification” agenda –
“a plan to ensure at least 35%
of the total energy used
globally is sourced from
electricity” by 2035 – while
also “flagg[ing] substantial
work” ahead of COP31. In their
first “in-person interaction
since COP30”, Stiell and
India’s climate minister
Bhupender Yadav discussed “key
agenda items” including
“adaptation, technology
transfer, climate finance,
global stocktake and just
transition”, per the Economic Times.
MORE
ON SOUTH ASIA
-
At
least 12 people were
killed and 25 personnel
trapped inside after an
explosion in an
under-construction tunnel
for the Teesta Stage VI
hydropower project “near
the border with China”,
reports Time Magazine.
-
Renewable
shares might be
increasing, but thermal
power “continues to remain
the mainstay” of India’s
energy mix, writes the Times of india,
with coal power accounting
for 70% of the electricity
consumed in the summer
months between April to
June.
-
The
Independent:
“Desperate search for
survivors after flash
floods ‘like an
earthquake’ kill 23 people
in Afghanistan.”
-
Climate Home
News reports on
research from the
International Institute
for Environment and
Development which finds
that extreme heat is
“costing India’s poorest
workers 2% of GDP”.
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