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Koh Ewe, BBC News
A study has concluded that climate change contributed to the glacier collapse that “unleashed devastating floods on the Nepal-Tibet border”, reports BBC News. Analysis by the World Weather Attribution research group concludes that the disaster was the result of a "compound event", caused by rising temperatures, thinning glaciers, thawing permafrost and pre-existing geological weaknesses. CNN says the team identified a “complex cascade of factors, many of which were worsened by human-driven climate change”. The Guardian notes that this is the “first scientific study of the disaster”, adding that the researchers “identified unusually warm conditions before the glacier’s collapse”, which sent an avalanche into the valley below, triggering floods. Inside Climate News also points to additional meltwater from “unusually high snowfall in late 2025”. The Independent says the study shows the disaster “went beyond what the country's existing early warning systems could have prevented”. Climate Home News reports that the floods demonstrate the “limits to adaptation” to climate change, according to the researchers. [See Carbon Brief’s Q&A: “What can – and cannot – be said about global warming’s role in the 2026 Himalayan floods.”] Separately, Reuters reports that, weeks after the floods struck, around 5,200 people remain missing and most recovered bodies are unidentified.
MORE ON CLIMATE IMPACTS
The Guardian reports that rivers around the world saw one of their driest years in more than three decades in 2025, according to a major study of global water resources carried out by the World Meteorological Organisation. A new study uses satellite data to show that around 11.3tn tonnes of ice from glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica have melted since 1979, reports the Associated Press. The Guardian reports that firefighters say the US government is “failing them amid intense [an] wildfire season”, which is partly explained by “the climate crisis”. Heatwaves have triggered a potato shortage in Europe “that could mean smaller, more expensive chips”, according to the Financial Times
Emily Chow, Reuters
Asian demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is “set to decline for a second consecutive year as the US-Israeli war on Iran curtails supplies from the Gulf, tightening market availability and lifting prices to multi-year highs that slash consumption”, reports Reuters. The newswire says analysts estimate that Asian LNG demand will fall 3-10% from 2025 levels, with much of the “demand destruction” seen in north-east Asia, before “rebounding again in 2027”. Another Reuters story says Norwegian oil company Equinor plans to expand its LNG supply over the next decade to “meet demand from Europe and Asia”. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that the Hormuz crisis “threatens to undermine long-term LNG demand”. It says “developing markets that were meant to drive long-term growth recoil at soaring prices and turn increasingly towards low-cost renewables”. [See Carbon Brief’s new analysis: “Global fossil-fuel emissions set to fall in 2026 amid Hormuz crisis.”]
MORE ON FOSSIL FUELS
The New York Times reports that attacks on an oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia risk “keeping 4% of the world’s oil supply from reaching international markets and driving energy prices even higher”. Venezuelan authorities have signed deals setting preliminary terms for US producer Continental Resources to “seek business opportunities in a large oil area”, according to Reuters. BBC News: “Petrol and diesel price rises push UK inflation higher.”
Kate Abnett, Reuters
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has announced that the EU will create a "climate insurance alliance" to increase cover for extreme weather events, following a summer of drought, wildfires and heatwaves, reports Reuters. The newswire notes that only a quarter of the climate-related economic losses in the EU are insured, explaining that the new scheme “would bring together insurers, investors, risk modellers, public authorities and insurance takers to work on increasing insurance uptake”. Euractiv says there will be “new risk tools for climate-hit farmers”. Bloomberg notes that the announcement was part of Von der Leyen’s annual “state of the union” address. It says she also mentioned a “European water initiative to combat waste”, a heatwave plan and a “European corporation on critical raw materials” for clean technologies. Following the fires that struck Europe this summer, Von der Leyen also proposed an expanded European firefighting fleet of airplanes, reports the Associated Press. Separately, Reuters runs the headline: “EU will use all tools to cut China trade deficit, von der Leyen says.”
MORE ON EUROPE
France recorded at least 817 excess deaths between July 27 and August 20, bringing the total number of deaths linked to the 2026 heatwaves up to 8,124, according to Le Monde. Reuters: “Battery-electric vehicle registrations in Europe rose 54% in August, pushing the market well ahead of forecasts for 2026 as fully electric cars accounted for nearly one in three new vehicles sold.” EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra tells Euractiv that the case for investing in clean technologies is a “complete no-brainer” amid the Hormuz crisis. The left-wing opposition bloc is set to edge out the right-wing incumbents following the “closest parliamentary election result in Swedish history”, according to the Financial Times. It will now have to form a coalition government that would include the Swedish Greens.
Milou Dirkx, Energeia
The Dutch cabinet has “presented a roadmap to move away from fossil fuels”, according to the energy outlet Energeia. It notes that, after France, the Netherlands is the second country to outline such a roadmap. The article adds that, while campaigners have welcomed the move, they criticised “the fact that there is no end date for the phasing out of oil and gas”. The plan has not been widely covered by the Dutch press, but Argus Media explains that it comes after the Netherlands co-hosted a major conference on “transitioning away from fossil fuels” in April [which was covered by Carbon Brief]. According to the news outlet, the government plan sees gas consumption falling from 250 terawatt-hours (TWh) to around 110TWh by 2040, but states that gas “remains essential for our society” for the foreseeable future. Carbon Pulse explains that the goals are part of the Netherlands’ new “national energy system plan”, which also scales back “several near-term ambitions” due to “grid congestion, high costs and difficult market conditions”.
Rachel Millard, Jim Pickard and Charlie Windle, Financial Times
The Financial Times reports that a “cross-party group of MPs has recommended the UK government’s energy department drops ‘net-zero” from its name and uses the term less, arguing it has become counter-productive”. The group noted that the term – which refers to balancing the amount of emissions with the amount removed and stored by carbon sinks – has become a “lightning rod for opposition to climate action”, according to the newspaper. The Times notes that this comes after Reform UK has increasingly used the term “net stupid zero” and the Conservatives have rejected the net-zero target.
MORE ON UK
The Sun reports on comments from ex-MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove, platformed by a climate-sceptic lobby group, who claims the UK is on the edge of an “energy cliff” after prioritising what the climate-sceptic newspaper calls “woke net-zero policies”. The Press Association: “Hundreds of experts urge [Andy] Burnham to reject new North Sea drilling days before prime minister meets [US president Donald] Trump for the first time.” BusinessGreen: “Great British Energy announces £30m community energy funding boost.” Politico reports that a former “top advisor”, John Fingleton, says the UK should not feel “locked into” pre-Brexit EU environmental rules as it tries to increase its nuclear power capacity. BBC News says “above-average rainfall is needed across England for the next seven months for all areas to recover from drought by spring 2027, according to new research”. The Independent: “UK mosquito numbers could increase in September due to warm weather.”
Bloomberg
The US and China are discussing cutting tariffs on US energy and agricultural shipments to China, reports Bloomberg, adding that it is a “potential si |
