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Damien Gayle and Jillian Ambrose, The Guardian
US plans for Venezuelan oil could “consume more than a tenth of the world’s remaining carbon budget to limit global heating to 1.5C” by 2050, according to analysis covered by the Guardian. Analysis by carbon accounting firm ClimatePartner modelled the carbon impact of oil production growth in Venezuela, the newspaper says, adding that a growth in production would “put increasing pressure on climate goals and risk plunging the Earth further into climate catastrophe”. Another Guardian article says that the Trump administration’s move to withdraw the US from the “key UN climate treaty”, the UNFCCC, last week “may have been illegal”. [For more, see the Carbon Brief Q&A on the impact and legality of Trump’s exit from the UNFCCC.] Also, the New York Times says that Trump’s moves on the UNFCCC, Venezuelan oil and “using government power to resuscitate the domestic coal industry while choking off clean energy” are “not just ignoring climate change, it is likely making the problem worse”.
MORE ON US
A federal judge ruled that work can resume on a Rhode Island offshore windfarm halted by the Trump administration last month, reports Reuters. The Associated Press, Guardian, Bloomberg and others also cover the story. Another federal judge ruled that Trump’s decision to cut millions of dollars in clean-energy grants was unlawful because the “cuts primarily targeted Democratic-led states”, reports the New York Times. The Associated Press also covers the story. BusinessGreen looks at whether climate change and fossil-fuel interests are “shaping Trump's threats against Venezuela and Greenland”. The Wall Street Journal reports that solar-power deals in the US “signal that some in solar are persevering” despite the industry’s “turmoil under Trump”. Semafor reports that a $10m funding shortfall from the US has “weakened the budget” of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Greenland’s government has rejected a US takeover and says it will “increase efforts to ensure the defence of the Arctic territory takes place under the auspices of NATO”, reports Reuters.
Nick O’Malley, The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald covers new analysis for Carbon Brief, which finds that coal power generation fell in China and India last year, “the first time since 1973 that coal use fell in both nations at once”. The Hindustan Times says that “both countries added record clean-energy capacity” in 2025, while also reducing electricity generation from coal by 3% in India and 1.6% in China. The Guardian says the “‘historic’ moment…could bring a decline in global emissions”. Bloomberg says “it’s unclear yet whether the drops will mark a broader inflection point, or will end up as blips”. Coverage in the Indian Express notes that, in India: “Apart from the increase in renewable energy generation, relatively milder summer and a decrease in power demand growth due to other reasons also contributed to the dip in coal-fired electricity generation in 2025.” The Independent also covers the story.
Philip Blenkinsop, Reuters
The EU has outlined guidance on its “conditions for accepting minimum price offers” from Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers wishing to avoid tariffs, Reuters reports. The newswire adds that manufacturers had to “eliminate the injurious effects of subsidies, provide the equivalent effect of duties, be practicable and minimise ‘cross-compensation’”. EV manufacturers can strengthen proposals by “committing to annual shipment volumes and planned future investments in the EU”, reports the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP). The development “remove[s] a key point of friction between Europe and China”, says Bloomberg. However, the guidelines do not “directly mention if the deal involved an end to the tariffs of up to 35.3% that the EU imposed”, reports the Associated Press. State-run newspaper China Daily quotes a ministry spokesperson saying the agreement shows the two sides can “properly resolve differences through dialogue…and maintain the stability of automotive industrial and supply chains”. The New York Times and state news agency Xinhua also cover the story.
MORE ON CHINA
China will take “annual carbon emissions reduction rate” into account when evaluating the “investment direction” of government funds, reports BJX News. The move will encourage investment in new energy, reports International Energy Net. In 2025, inter-provincial renewable power trading totalled 317,700GWh, says People’s Daily. China aims for 420GW of “west-to-east power transmission” in 2026, according to Xinhua, of which 30% will be clean power. China Automotive News reports that sales of “new energy” trucks in the first 11 months of 2025 tripled year-on-year to more than 180,000 units. China Daily: “Methanol gains ground as low-cost path for cleaner transport in China.” China’s finance ministry will “prioritise” EV charging points and clean-energy supplies along China’s highways, reports BJX News. Bloomberg reports that G7 finance ministers met in Washington yesterday to discuss a “path to counter China rare Earths dominance”.
James Murray, BusinessGreen
BusinessGreen reports that supporters of climate action are countering criticisms from a right-wing thinktank and others against clean technology and decarbonisation. The outlet says the “long-running row over the cost of meeting the UK's net-zero emissions targets and the feasibility of delivering on the government's clean-power goal for 2030 is set to ignite once again”, after the release of a new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). The Daily Telegraph says that the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero rejected the analysis, saying it ignored costs of “staying on the fossil fuel roller-coaster”. [Carbon Brief’s Simon Evans has a thread on Bluesky explaining how the report inflates net-zero costs by assuming that continuing to use fossil fuels would be free.]
A number of outlets repeat the false claims in the report alongside supportive quotes from the opposition Reform and Conservative parties, including the Daily Express, whose frontpage splash reads: “Tell truth on ‘fantasy’ cost of net-zero push”. The Daily Mail says that the “true cost” of net-zero is “likely to run billions more than official figures suggest”, according to the report. The Sun and the Daily Express run editorials on the report, while the Daily Express gives Conservative shadow energy minister Claire Coutinho a comment slot within its coverage. The Spectator hands a comment slot to David Turver, the climate-sceptic author of the report, who has previously worked with another Tufton Street lobby group that campaigns against climate action, Net Zero Watch.
MORE ON UK
The Sun reports on its frontpage that a thinktank report says some petrol stations “will stop selling diesel by 2030 as demand plummets”. The UK’s Office for Environmental Protection says the government “will not meet its targets to save wildlife in England and Northern Ireland and is failing on almost all environmental measures”, reports the Guardian. A second nuclear reactor has arrived at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, due to open in 2031, reports BBC News. The “boss of Britain’s biggest homebuilder” speaks to the Times about, among other things, heat pumps. The Scotsman explores “how Scotland’s Green Volt windfarm is leading a £1tn revolution.
Ian Bott and Clive Cookson, Financial Times
Scientists in Europe are preparing for their first aerial investigation of “atmospheric rivers” as the “concentrated streams of water vapour cross the Atlantic Ocean and dump heavy rainfall on the continent”. The newspaper notes that US meteorologists have monitored these “rivers in the sky” for the past decade “because they cause floods on the west coast of North America but also help replenish water supplies”. Flights over the North Atlantic will this week “investigate the conditions that trigger and sustain the flow of these high-altitude water-laden storms eastward across the ocean”, noting that these rivers were “behind UK storms such as Bert and Henk in 2024 and Babet in 2023”. The Financial Times adds that “research suggested that the intensity of atmospheric rivers would increase with climate change”.
MORE ON EXTREME WEATHER
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