China’s power generation from fossil fuels fell in May, Bloomberg reports, as hydroelectric and solar power surged, indicating that the country “may have peaked emissions” years before its goal to do so by 2030. It adds that this peak may not occur, however, if China “is forced to reprioritise carbon-heavy investment to revive [economic] growth”. China Energy Net also covers the news, stating that China’s thermal power generation fell 4.3% year-on-year in May, hydropower generation rose 38.6% and solar power generation rose 29.1%. Economic newswire Yicai reports that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top economic planner, is developing action plans for energy conservation and carbon reduction for electrolytic aluminium, data centres, and the low-carbon transformation and construction of coal-fired power plants. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) covers a report by Goldman Sachs estimating that China’s coal production will grow by 100m tonnes in 2024 as Beijing eases mining safety curbs in its top coal-producing province.

Meanwhile, Chinese president Xi Jinping “has urged all-out efforts to fight floods and droughts, and to ensure solid work in disaster relief” as provinces face droughts and flooding, state news agency Xinhua reports. (Neither Xi nor Xinhua mention climate change.) SCMP says that “at least nine people are dead and 17 missing” as torrential rains continue to “sweep through” southern China, causing flash floods and landslides which left “hundreds” homeless. Provincial governments have initiated or upgraded emergency responses in order to combat the “intense” rainfall, according to Xinhua. Another Xinhua article says that China’s finance ministry has “earmarked 443m yuan ($62m) of disaster relief funds” to fight droughts endangering agricultural production in other parts of the country. Deutsche Welle, Straits Times and the state newspaper China Daily also cover the floods.  

Elsewhere, Yicai quotes an NDRC spokesperson saying China “firmly opposes” the EU’s extra duties imposed on imported Chinese new energy vehicles (NEVs). China’s NEV production reached 922,000 units in May, an increase of 33.6% year-on-year, China Economic Network reports. Reuters says that, despite a decline in the number of Chinese NEVs imported by Germany between January and April, China’s share of total NEV imports to Germany rose to 40.9%. Bloomberg publishes a “Big Take” article exploring safety issues in Indonesian nickel production, saying the costs of affordable nickel being produced for electric vehicle batteries is being “borne by the mainly poor Indonesian and Chinese workers who operate mines and smelters”. [Only a tiny fraction of global nickel production is for EV batteries.] Climate news outlet Climate Home News reports on the competition to secure lithium supplies for batteries in Argentina, stating that while China is “quietly continuing to grow its portfolio of lithium projects across the country”, the US is “courting the Milei government” to maintain its access to Argentinian lithium.

More than half of northwestern India has “experienced a maximum temperature of 40C or higher on almost all days in the past 33 days”, making it the “longest 40C+ spell since 1951 in most parts of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan”, Hindustan Times analysis reports. Even “the Himalayas have not been spared by extreme heat”, it adds, with Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir recording an all-time high of 47.6°C on Monday. The newspaper quotes M Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) saying: “If maximum temperatures are in the range of 45-46C, you cannot expect night time temperatures to be normal either.” The story adds that doctors are reporting “a massive spike in heat-related illnesses and emergencies” as warm nights have offered little relief to “people with no cooling”. The IMD predicts “heatwave conditions would continue till at least June 20”, while observing that the country has “received 20% less rainfall since the start of the monsoon” on 1 June, according to a story by the Press Trust of India. In Punjab, “power consumption…has increased by 43%” in June, the Guardian reports, with the All India Power Engineers Federation warning the state government that there are “fair chances” of grid outage in the state, which “could have a domino effect on the rest of the country”. Reuters reports that “peak demand for power in India’s hot, arid northern plains hit a record on Monday”. And BBC News reports that in Delhi, power demand has reached a record high of 8,647 megawatts this week.

Elsewhere, in the northeastern state of Sikkim, Hindustan Times said that authorities have “evacuated 1,225 tourists” from areas struck by landslides and heavy rain which began on 13 June and “have killed at least nine people…disrupted power and communication lines, and washed away roads and bridges along with the rising River Teesta”.

IndiaSpend covers a new report that finds that 85% of the 2,178 respondents surveyed said “they have personally experienced the effects of global warming” and “34% said that they have either already moved or considered moving because of weather-related disasters”, including extreme heat, drought, floods and sea-level rise. Another rapid poll by the Centre for Rapid Insight across 20 Indian states found “a staggering 45% of households reporting at least one member falling ill due to the heat in the past month”, Hindustan Times reports, with impacts “most felt among the lowest socioeconomic strata in society” where a household member “experienced illness for more than five days”. 

In energy news, PTI reports that India’s coal imports rose by 13.2% in April, just as the country’s coal ministry announced it “will seek to reduce the import of the dry fuel to nil” by 2026, according to the Financial Express. To achieve this, “it will operationalise 20 new mines in the current fiscal year, including 12 with a total capacity of 58m tonnes in the first 100 days of the new government”, the Express adds. India’s incoming “coal reforms 3.0” are targeted at “non-power sectors” such as India’s steel industry, says the Business Standard, which will begin with new auctions for domestic coking coal. At the same time, senior government officials told the Economic Times that the country “will likely add 30-35 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity in the ongoing financial year”, according to another ET story, which adds that state-run Coal India “is exploring lithium blocks in Argentina along with a US company”. 

Two wildfires in the US state of New Mexico have consumed more than 18,000 acres of land and forced thousands of people to evacuate, the New York Times reports. According to the newspaper, the fires were discovered on Monday, and firefighters were still “struggling to contain” them on Tuesday. The newspaper quotes George Ducker, the communications coordinator of the New Mexico Forestry Division: “This is climate change. It is hot, and it is dry. There is some moisture potentially coming on Wednesday, but I’m not holding my breath.” BBC News reports that around 500 “structures” have been destroyed by the fires. The broadcaster adds: “Much of the region has been experiencing a drought for nearly a year, and parts of southeast New Mexico are the only in the US to be experiencing what is classified as an ‘exceptional drought’.” The Independent, the Guardian, CNN, NBC News and the Washington Post also cover the story. Elsewhere, the Associated Press reports that “big new wildfires challenged California firefighters [on] Tuesday even as they increased containment of earlier blazes that erupted as dry north winds arrived over the weekend”. According to the paper, fires “erupted” on Monday about 100 miles east of San Francisco. It adds that “authorities set up three evacuation centres, but the number of evacuees was unknown”.  

Meanwhile, Reuters says: “US cities are breaking decades-old temperature records this week as a heatwave stretches from central to eastern portions of the country, the National Weather Service said on Tuesday, in what officials are warning could become a deadly weather event.” According to the newswire, New York City is opening its cooling centres for the first time this year, and New York state will open its beaches and public pools early.  Forbes adds that nearly 80 million people – nearly one quarter of Americans – are under heat warnings. The Associated Press notes that “thousands of lives [are] at risk”. The Guardian adds: “More than 270 million Americans – about 80% of the country’s population – are experiencing a kind of heatwave not seen in decades, smashing records with temperatures at or above 90F (32.2C) for long periods of time under a weather phenomenon known as a heat dome.” The Washington Post says: “One of the longest-lasting and strongest June heatwaves in years is revving up across the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The most intense heat first focuses on the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and New England through Thursday, shifting toward the Mid-Atlantic this weekend.” Separately, the Associated Press explains what a “heat dome” is. And the New York Times explains “why longer heatwaves are so dangerous”. In comment, energy economist Mark Wolfe argues in a piece for CNN that “America needs a paradigm shift in how we respond to extreme heat”.

Separately, the Financial Times has published a Big Read, trailed on its frontpage, about “why Americans are not buying more EVs”, under the subheading “President Biden wants to increase adoption, but his tariffs on Chinese imports could reduce competition and increase costs”. Separately, the Financial Times reports that “US electric vehicle maker Fisker has filed for bankruptcy after a funding deal with a large carmaker fell through”. The outlet continues: “The move marks the latest corporate collapse in an EV sector hit by slowing growth during supply chain problems, a price war between Tesla and Chinese manufacturers, and weaker than expected demand as motorists shun higher prices for electric cars amid enduring concerns about driving range and charging.” The Guardian, Reuters and the Associated Press also cover the story. In other US news, NBC News reports that the Biden administration has sworn in its first class of “American Climate Corps”. According to the outlet, the federal program “is meant to place young people in the clean energy, conservation and climate resilience sectors”. Reuters reports that Joe Biden’s administration has “unveiled final rules for new clean energy subsidies in an effort to make jobs and wages in green industries competitive with those in oil and gas”. Separately, Reuters reports that “the US Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy capacity, including by speeding permitting and creating new incentives for advanced nuclear reactor technologies”. 

A US judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by ExxonMobil against activist shareholders, who were “pushing for the oil giant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions”, the Guardian reports. According to the newspaper, the lawsuit was dismissed after activists agreed not to pursue its efforts to put climate science on the agenda for the company’s annual meetings. The newspaper continues: “The dispute centred on whether climate risk is a legitimate business concern and part of a corporate pushback against shareholder proposals.” The Financial Times adds: “The decision ends a six-month campaign by Exxon to fend off shareholders who have for years filed petitions at the company’s annual meeting to challenge its efforts on climate change.” Bloomberg Law and Quartz also cover the news. 

Irish Green party leader Eamon Ryan has announced that he will step down, BBC News reports. The outlet continues: “Ryan’s decision comes after the local and European elections, which saw the Green Party lose both of its MEP seats. The party’s number of local councillors was also halved.” It adds that Ryan has been leader of the Greens since 2011. It continues: “While he will remain in his role as environment and climate minister he said the Green Party’s ‘focus should remain on providing affordable housing, healthcare reform and climate action in the coming months’.” According to Politico, Ryan will step down “once his grassroots party activists elect a successor”. It adds that the announcement is “escalating speculation that the Irish soon could face a snap election”. RTE adds that Ryan said he was stepping down “to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders”. The Irish Times reports that Catherine Martin, the party’s deputy leader, is also “stepping down from her senior role in the party”.

Later today, the UK’s opposition Labour party will pledge to ease planning restrictions on onshore wind farms in England “within weeks” if it wins the general election. The paper continues: “Shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband will tell an energy conference on Wednesday that there ‘is not a moment to waste’ in Labour’s plans to overhaul the energy system, which the party has argued will help bring down household bills as well as create jobs.” Also later today, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to say that a Labour government would help families save up to £300 off energy bills by 2030, according to the Press Association. Separately, the newswire says that Reeves will “accuse the Conservatives of being ‘staggeringly out of touch with the struggles facing ordinary families’”. However, the Daily Telegraph says that Tory energy secretary Claire Coutinho “has accused Labour of misleading voters over claims its green energy plans will slash household bills by £300 a year”. According to the paper, Coutinho called Labour’s net-zero plans “a ‘gimmick’ based on outdated data”. In other UK news, the Daily Telegraph reports that “An SNP election candidate has been accused of attempting to hoodwink voters after he claimed his party supports new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea”. And BBC News reports that greenhouse gas emissions in Northern Ireland in 2022 fell by 3% compared to 2021.

Australia’s main opposition party, led by Peter Dutton, has announced plans to build the country’s first nuclear power plants, the Associated Press reports. The newswire continues: “Seven government-owned reactors would be built on the sites of ageing coal-fired electricity plants in five of Australia’s six states, Dutton said. The first two would be built from 2035-to-2037 and the last in the 2040s. The estimated costs would be announced at a later date, [Dutton] said. The current centre-left government has rejected nuclear power generation in Australia as too expensive. Too many coal-fired generators would have been decommissioned before nuclear power could fill the gap.” It adds: “The policy announcement ensures the major parties will be divided on how Australia curbs its greenhouse gas emissions at elections due within a year. The parties haven’t gone to an election with the same carbon reduction policies since 2007.” According to the newswire, Dutton says the current government’s plan for decarbonising using renewable energy “would not work”. The Guardian reports that Dutton “dodged questions about the cost of [his] plan”. It continues: “Dutton refused to say what the cost will be to the Australian taxpayer, claiming without evidence it will ‘cost a fraction’ of Labor’s power plans. He said the cost would be released ‘in due course’, but did not commit to it before the election.” The Guardian also reports that Dutton’s announcement “has been met with widespread scepticism by Australia’s energy sector and industry groups, who have warned about the risks of cost blowouts and destroying private sector investment”. The Australian Financial Review also covers the news. Separately, the Guardian reports that “the federal [opposition] Coalition’s climate and energy policy is in disarray, with a senior Liberal contradicting the Nationals’ anti-renewables push and the Queensland LNP leader ruling out allowing nuclear energy in that state”. 

In other Australian news, the Guardian reports that Cattle Australia – the “peak body for producers of grass-fed cattle” – has argued that “clearing forests which have grown in after 1990 should not be considered deforestation by international supply chains”. According to the newspaper, the suggestion “has already drawn strong criticism from Australia’s leading environment groups, who say the cattle industry is trying to develop a watered-down definition of deforestation”.

There is widespread reaction to Peter Dutton, Australia’s opposition party leader, announcing plans to build Australia’s first nuclear power plants if he wins the next election. Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnball writes that Dutton’s announcement “is designed to delay and obstruct the rollout of renewables, it will increase, massively, the cost of electricity, and it will extend our reliance on burning coal”. He notes that solar and wind are the cheapest forms of generating energy, while nuclear is “the single most expensive form of new generation”. Turnball writes that Australia has the “ideal resources of sunshine, wind and land for renewable generation”. He continues: “Dutton has said that nuclear power is needed to support renewables. That is nonsense. A nuclear power plant runs at a consistent level throughout the day, it cannot be turned off when there is a glut of solar or wind power like a battery, hydro or even gas plant can. If you want to support renewables, you need a flexible, despatchable, source of power that, ideally, absorbs surplus electricity during the day, and discharges it during the night. Thousands of Australians are already doing this right now with rooftop solar and home batteries. A nuclear power plant would face the same economic challenges that coal-fired generators do now – for much of the day it would be unable to compete with solar and wind. During those times of excess supply the nuclear plant would add to the excess. That surplus electricity would be taken up by batteries and pumped hydro which would then compete with the nuclear plant during the night. So the only way the economics of a nuclear plant could be assured in our market would be for the rollout of solar and wind to be constrained. That seems to be Dutton’s intention.” Separately, Alan Finkel – Australia’s chief scientist during 2016-20 – writes in the Guardian that Dutton’s push for nuclear energy “may have long-term merit, but it does not address the urgency of the situation in which we now find ourselves”. Finkel continues: “We have the technology. The most effective tool available is zero-emissions electricity to completely replace the use of fossil fuels where they are used for energy. Everything else is tinkering at the edges, or too difficult.” He says that Australia “can manage the supply chain for a clean energy transition”, but that the uptake of solar and wind power in Australia has “flatlined”. This is due to systemic barriers, including “slow and ponderous approvals across state and federal governments”, Finkel says. He argues that governments “must lead” in lowering these barriers, by following in the steps of countries including Germany and Italy. He notes that “new European directives adopted last year reduce the permitting barriers, require that land be set aside for faster permitting, and, most importantly, designate solar and wind power projects as being of overriding public interest”.

Elsewhere, Peter van Onselen, political editor for the Daily Mail Australia, writes that “Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy plan for Australia is never going to happen – but it will still dominate the election”. He argues that if the opposition wins the election, it will not be able to implement the nuclear policy “because of opposition across the states”. He continues: “So the central issue for the looming election campaign – nuclear vs renewables – which will likely dominate the next federal election will be a distraction from what the majority of Australians want to focus on: cost of living pressures, the challenges of immigration and housing, as well as how the economy can be reshaped to solve such problems.” He goes on to discuss “why the nuclear debate is a red herring that will catch so much attention”. John Quiggin, a professor at the University of Queensland, argues in the Conversation that Dutton’s nuclear policy “leaves Australians in the dark”. He says: “Nothing announced by Dutton today changes the fact that nuclear energy is, according to reams of expert analysis, economically unfeasible in Australia…Solar panels, wind turbines and energy storage must be rolled out as rapidly as possible – and we must not allow Dutton’s policy detour to distract from the task.” Similarly, Michelle Grattan, a professorial fellow at the University of Canberra, writes in the Conversation that Dutton said the first plants could begin operating in 2035. However, she notes that according to Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the earliest deployment is from 2040. Wesley Morgan, a research Fellow at Griffith University, writes in the Conversation about Dutton’s plan to scrap the 2030 target of reducing emissions by 43% by 2030. He says the move would be “damaging on many levels”, including that it would “undermine Australia’s relations with our Pacific neighbours”. 

Guardian columnist Zoe Williams speaks to the founders of the Women’s Equality party, and to  Caroline Lucas and Siân Berry – the departing and prospective Brighton Pavilion Green MPs respectively. Williams writes that Reform leader Nigel Farage is an “entertainer”. In contrast, Sandi Toksvig, a founder of the WEP, “talks about real people, and how their lives could be improved”, Williams says. She notes that the WEP is endorsing Berry for Brighton Pavilion, and continues: “This should be the climate crisis election, with Berry as the maverick outsider, shuttling from one news interview to the next, speaking truth to power, explaining that this really can’t wait, and every other issue people care about will either get worse or become irrelevant if we don’t hit net zero, and every other hope people have for the future, from sustainable growth to a high skilled economy, will be made possible by this transformation. Instead, we’re in this fantasyland, with Farage trying to make it the immigration election, speaking nonsense to power, power indulging him.” Separately, Richard Sulley, a senior research fellow at the University of Sheffield, writes in the Conversation that “the Green party’s plans aren’t perfect but they offer a much-needed attempt at climate leadership”. Meanwhile, Guardian financial editor Nils Pratley writes that shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves should rename the Labour party’s proposed national wealth fund, which he says “conjures images of a Norway-style sovereign wealth fund – a vehicle to accumulate vast long-term riches for the benefit of today’s citizens and future generations”. Instead, he suggests “green transition fund”. Finally, Alistair Osborne, the chief business commentator at the Times calls Reeves’ pledge to save families up to £300 off their energy bills “focus-group gobbledegook”. He criticises Labour plans to launch a publicly-owned clean energy company called Great British Energy, calling Reeves’ language “misleading” and saying that the money allocated to GB Energy is “tiny”. 

New research suggests that the Arctic will be “ice-free” – that is, where sea ice extent drops below one million square kilometres – at the end of summer when global warming reaches between 1.5C and 2.2C above pre-industrial levels. The researchers combine satellite data with CMIP6 climate models to develop “an empirical, observation-based projection” of the September Arctic sea ice area for rising global temperatures. The projection indicates that the decrease in September sea ice cover “will accelerate” as global warming increases. Under the SSP2-4.5 “intermediate” emissions scenario, which is approximately in line with current global policies, the Arctic will see its first ice-free September between 2030 and 2059, the study says.

Despite “a large theoretical potential”, ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) techniques such as ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) have been “omitted in climate change mitigation scenarios so far”, a new study says. The researchers provide a “techno-economic assessment of large-scale OAE using hydrated lime (‘ocean liming’)”. At costs of $130-295 per tonne of CO2 net-removed, the study says that ocean liming “could be a competitive CDR option which could make a significant contribution towards the Paris climate target”. As the assessment “identified no showstoppers” for OAE, the researchers argue for more research “to determine whether ocean liming and other OAE should be considered as part of a broader CDR portfolio”.