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Jillian Ambrose, The Guardian
The UK government has pulled a “controversial” $1.15bn (£875m) package of support to a “giant” gas project in Mozambique that has been accused of “fuelling the climate crisis and deadly terror attacks”, the Guardian reports. The newspaper notes that the decision to withdraw export finance to the liquified natural gas (LNG) project comes “five years after it ignited bitter opposition from campaigners over its impact on human rights, security and environment”. The decision comes as the scheme’s developer, TotalEnergies, is preparing to restart operations, which have been on hold since more than 800 people were killed in a nearby town in 2021, the Guardian says. The newspaper quotes Friends of the Earth chief executive Asad Rehman saying the project is a “huge carbon timebomb, linked to serious human rights abuses”. Reuters reports that the Netherlands has simultaneously “withdrawn a $1.1bn export insurance request” for the LNG project. The newswire notes that TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne told investors in April the scheme could continue without UK and Dutch financing using equity, according to Reuters. Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg also cover the story.
MORE ON OIL AND GAS
Reuters: “Nigeria launches 2025 oil licensing round, offers 50 blocks.” Climate Home News looks at how historic oil spills continue to harm the environment and farming and fishing communities in Nigeria’s “oil drilling belt”. Norway’s Labour government has failed to win backing for its 2026 budget amid disagreement over the future of domestic oil and gas production, Reuters reports Bloomberg: Canadian energy minister Tim Hodgson said the federal government intends to sell equity in the Trans Mountain pipeline only after steps are taken to “maximise its output”. Separately, the Canadian government has argued that a proposed oil and gas pipeline to the northern British Columbia coast would be “as much as 50% owned” by Indigenous groups, Bloomberg reports The energy regulator for Alberta – Canada’s main oil-producing province – “bent to pressure” from the provincial government and oil companies to “eliminate a limit on gas flaring” as production increased, Reuters reports “exclusively”.
Binsar Bakkara and Niniek Karmini, The Associated Press
There is continuing coverage of floods and landslides in south-east Asia, with the Associated Press reporting that the death toll has now exceeded 1,200 across three countries. Authorities have confirmed that 659 people have been killed in Indonesia, 390 in Sri Lanka and 181 in Thailand, the newswire says. In a story illustrated on its frontpage, the Financial Times reports that Indonesia and Sri Lanka are the “worst hit” so far by flooding and landslides, which have also affected Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. Agence-France Presse notes that “climate change is producing more intense rain events because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, and warmer oceans can turbocharge storms”.
In its coverage of the unfolding crisis, CBS News notes that military personnel have been deployed in Sri Lanka and Indonesia to “help survivors”. It notes that the Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto has not yet called publicly for international assistance – unlike his Sri Lankan counterpart. BBC News, Associated Press, Reuters and CTV News are among those to cover the latest death toll and ongoing recovery efforts.
MORE ON EXTREME WEATHER
Emily Gosden, The Times
Oil and gas giant BP has scrapped “multi-million pound plans” to produce hydrogen in Teesside after the owners of the land it wanted to use backed a separate development, the Times reports. BP’s project – “H2Teesside” – would have produced “clean-burning” hydrogen from methane gas while capturing the resulting carbon emissions, the newspaper notes. It adds that the owners of the Teesworks site – formerly a steelworks – have “backed rival plans to develop what could be one of the world’s biggest artificial intelligence data centres”. The Financial Times reports that the oil giant told the government in a letter that the data centre and hydrogen plant proposals were “incompatible” on the same piece of land – and that hydrogen demand in Teesside had “deteriorated”. Energy secretary Ed Miliband had been due to take a decision on whether to grant a “development consent order” (DCO) for the H2Teeeside project on Thursday, it notes. The Daily Telegraph, which trails the story on its frontpage, notes that Miliband had already twice delayed a decision on whether to grant a DCO for the hydrogen project. BBC News also has the story.
MORE ON UK
The UK’s financial regulator has set out plans to “clean up” the agencies that evaluate companies' environmental, social and governance performance, in a bid to “tackle conflicts of interest and inaccuracies in ratings”, according to the Financial Times. Oil and gas producer Harbour Energy has blamed the government’s windfall tax on oil and gas producers, as it announced plans to cut 100 jobs in the UK, according to Bloomberg. The Times reports that the UK government’s updated “environmental improvement plan” bans the “dirtiest” wood-burning stoves but “stops short” of a blanket ban. In a separate story, the Times notes that plans to build three small modular reactors on the island of Anglesey are “threatened” by a "protected colony of birds”. Bloomberg: RWE has announced plans to build a battery storage plant in South Wales.
Anthony Palazzo, Bloomberg
Chinese automakers “lost ground” in Europe in October, Bloomberg reports, mostly due to lower sales in the UK. It says the share of sales of hybrid vehicles by Chinese brands fell three percentage points to just under 13%, from a record high in September, and the share of electric vehicles (EVs) declined to 11.8% from 12.6% during the same period. Despite this, it adds, Chinese brands have still “notched their second-best month on record”. Meanwhile, in China late-year sales of EVs have surged due to a tax exemption on the vehicles, another Bloomberg article says, adding that the exemption will be halved from next year. Industry news outlet BJX News reports that Europe remains the “first choice” for Chinese solar companies looking to expand overseas, with China’s solar module exports to Europe increasing continuously from 2021 to 2024 and companies looking to “deepen integration” with the European market.
Meanwhile, Li Lecheng, head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, writes in the state-run newspaper China Daily that China “helps nations worldwide – especially developing countries – access clean, reliable and affordable energy”. He says China will “vigorously develop green industries, increasing the share of sectors such as environmental protection, new-energy equipment and new-energy vehicles”, while also promoting future industries including hydrogen, energy storage, bio-manufacturing and carbon capture, utilisation and storage. The government will “encourage leading Chinese enterprises in solar, wind power, lithium-ion batteries and new-energy vehicles” to “go global”, he adds.
MORE ON CHINA
European industries are warning that the EU’s “carbon border adjustment mechanism” (CBAM) is “too soft” on high-emission imports from China, Politico reports. China’s north-west is seeing “warmer and wetter” weather, driven by climate change made worse by “human-induced greenhouse gas emissions”, Xinhua reports. International Energy Net covers new draft measures from China’s MEE to create a “grading” system for “atmospheric environmental performance in key industries”, which will include assessments of “energy cleanliness” and other “carbon emission reduction efforts”. China has installed 332 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity between January-October 2025, International Energy Net reports. China Energy Net reports that China has already built more than 150,000 tonnes of “green hydrogen” production capacity, according to an NDRC spokesperson.
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