The G7 group of major economies has pledged to “accelerating their transition away from fossil fuels during this decade”, Reuters reports, and affirmed their agreement in April to “phase out existing unabated coal power generation in our energy systems during the first half of the 2030s”. However, the newswire adds: “Climate activists were critical, saying the summit had produced a lack of concrete commitments and most pledges had already been agreed at previous lower-level meetings.” The Financial Times reports that the declaration says: “We emphasise that the G7 countries intend to be leading contributors to a fit-for-purpose [climate finance] goal, underlining the importance of including those countries that are capable of contributing in any international public finance mobilisation.” According to its headline, this is a G7 “demand [for] wealthy developing nations [to] pay up on climate change”. The New York Times reports: “G7 countries threw open the doors of their club on Friday to India, Brazil, Turkey and other non-Western countries, acknowledging a shifting global landscape as they tried to enlist these nations’ leaders in causes ranging from climate change to managing the economic competition with China.”

At least 10 people have been killed by flooding and landslides across Himalayan regions of India and Nepal at the end of last week, CNN reports. It says: “Last year dozens of people died after a glacial lake in the state burst following torrential rain and scientists have warned extreme weather will become more frequent and more intense as the human-caused climate crisis intensifies.” The outlet adds that around 2,400 tourists were left stranded in India’s Sikkim state due to blocked roads and damaged bridges. The Times of India, Reuters and Hindustan Times also cover the news. A second Hindustan Times article reports: “The Sikkim government is taking assistance of Indian remote sensing agencies and satellite imageries to keep a watch over vulnerable glacial lakes, to avert any kind of rerun of the 2023-disaster…[when] a devastating flash flood [was] triggered by a glacial lake outburst.” Separately, the Hindustan Times reports: “Unusually low snowfall this year in the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) could have serious implications for downstream communities, including over 600 million people living in the Gangetic river basin in India, according to new research by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) released on Sunday.” Meanwhile, the Independent, citing a UN official, says the upcoming monsoon season in Pakistan is expected to be heavier than usual.

Millions of Americans are facing “dangerously hot conditions”, the Guardian reports, citing the National Weather Service. It notes: “Experts say that the climate crisis, triggered by burning fossil fuels and deforestation, will increase the number of devastating heatwaves around the world.” The Associated Press says “severe weather swept across many parts of the US on Sunday”, with extreme heat in the southwest and midwest. It adds that, according to the National Weather Service, more than 63 million people were under heat advisories on Sunday. PBS News reports on the first major wildfire of the year in the Los Angeles area, which has “forced the evacuation of at least 1,200” people. Reuters says the fire has “burned over 12,000 acres”. Meanwhile, the Associated Press also reports that storms that “dumped up to 20 inches (50 centimetres)” of rain, causing floods in southern Florida, have come to an end. It adds: “The no-name storm system pushed across Florida from the Gulf of Mexico at roughly the same time as the early June start of hurricane season, which this year is forecast to be among the most active in recent memory amid concerns that climate change is increasing storm intensity.”

The governing Conservatives have “claimed Labour’s energy policy will be a ‘triple whammy’ for the UK”, the Press Association reports. It says the latest attack line from the Conservatives is that Labour’s pledge to not issue new North Sea oil and gas licences “could lead to an estimated £4.5bn in lost tax revenues over the next 10 years and risk tens of thousands of jobs”. The newspaper adds that Labour “dismissed the claims as ‘more desperate nonsense’ from the Tories”. The story is the frontpage splash for today’s Daily Telegraph, under the headline: “Labour’s oil and gas ban ‘will create £4.5bn tax black hole’.” The story is based on a comment for the Daily Telegraph by Conservative energy secretary Claire Coutinho, in which she writes: “From increased reliance on foreign imports with higher emissions, lost jobs and even blackouts, what’s clear is that Labour would take Britain back to the dark ages.” In the article, Coutinho falsely claims that Labour “would shut down our thriving oil and gas sector leaving hundreds of thousands of workers stranded”, whereas the party’s manifesto says: “We will ensure a phased and responsible transition in the North Sea…Crucially, oil and gas production in the North Sea will be with us for decades to come, and the North Sea will be managed in a way that does not jeopardise jobs.” [See Carbon Brief’s factcheck on claims about Labour’s oil and gas policy.] Meanwhile, Norwegian oil giant Equinor “has suspended efforts to sell a stake in the giant Rosebank oil development in the UK North Sea due to fiscal uncertainty ahead of next month’s election in Britain, sources close to the matter said on Friday”, Reuters reports. The Financial Times reports: “Oil and gas executives have warned Labour’s pledge to axe North Sea tax allowances threaten their investments in the basin, with several projects already put on hold.”

In other UK election news, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has claimed “Labour will create more than 650,000 jobs with its green investment plans”, the Guardian reports. It continues: “The UK shadow chancellor has revealed new details about the £7.3bn green investment vehicle that Labour intends to create after the election, saying it will help create hundreds of thousands of new industrial jobs.” The Financial Times says Reeves “would seek to break down EU trade barriers and secure billions of pounds through an early international investment summit if Labour wins the general election”. Reuters reports: “British wind and solar farms exporting power to continental Europe could face CO2 fees from 2026 – even though they don’t produce any emissions – unless the UK and European Union can agree changes around the EU’s carbon border tax.” Another FT article says Labour “is exploring how to realign the UK’s carbon regime with the EU if it wins the general election next month, senior party figures have said, a move that would be welcomed by the country’s heavy industries but could anger some Brexiters”. The Guardian says Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey “vows to push a Labour government for radical action [on climate change]”. It says: “In an interview, the Lib Dem leader says even Labour voters want [the] party to win seats so they can hold [Labour leader Keir] Starmer to account.” BBC News reports: “The Liberal Democrats say fuel duty relief should be expanded to 20 new areas to support motorists in rural communities.” MailOnline reports that Starmer “says he is prepared to make ‘enemies’ and make it easier to build wind farms to boost the economy if he becomes PM”. The Financial Times looks at six policy areas in Labour’s plans being “scrutinised by business”, including on electric vehicles. The Guardian carries analysis of the climate and energy contents of the main parties’ election manifestos by a number of contributors including Carbon Brief deputy editor Simon Evans. BBC Verify factchecks misleading claims by Reform leader Nigel Farage, including on climate change. The Times reports: “The boss of Rolls-Royce has issued a stark warning that Britain is at risk of missing out on creating a homegrown industry for mini-nuclear reactors, repeating a failure to capitalise on its lead in offshore wind, if the first projects are not approved before the end of the year.”

Finally, the Sunday Telegraph reports on misleading claims about Labour’s climate and energy plans from the Institute of Economic Affairs, with an accompanying Sunday Telegraph editorial saying: “Labour’s red tape will throttle our economy.” The Daily Telegraph reports: “Public support for a series of net-zero policies has fallen over the last two years, polling has found.”

China’s National Meteorological Centre has issued an alert for high temperatures in multiple regions “while many southern provinces issued severe flood warnings due to heavy rains”, Reuters reports. The Associated Press says the country is “getting too much rain in the south and not enough rain, plus a heatwave, in the north”. China issued heavy rainstorm alerts in south China on Sunday, with precipitation in some regions forecast to exceed 200mm, reports official China News. According to CNN, the combination of record heat and heavy rain in China has “rais[ed] concerns about food security in the world’s second-largest economy”. It adds: “Areas of the country that produce a lot of rice and wheat have been badly affected, disrupting spring and summer planting seasons.”

In comments following the end of climate talks in Bonn last week, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that developed countries’ failure to contribute their promised share of climate finance has undermined trust and global climate efforts, state-supporting newspaper Global Times says. The question of how to raise trillions of dollars in climate finance and how much China should pay will likely dominate this year’s COP29 climate talks, Bloomberg reports.

Separately, Financial news outlet Jiemian carries an analysis showing that, by switching to 100% renewable energy, consumer electronics suppliers can potentially save $87.4m to $11.4bn in energy and environment related costs and cut emissions by 218m tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) in the next six years. Global Times reports that China made a “key step toward enhancing the control capacity of nuclear fusion devices” by developing Huanliu-3 (HL-3) tokamak, also known as “China’s next-generation ‘artificial sun’”.

Elsewhere, China’s carmakers outsold their US counterparts in global car sales for the first time in 2023, according to Bloomberg, with brands led by Chinese electric vehicle company BYD selling 13.4m new models last year. The German government has been working to prevent EU tariffs on China’s EVs from taking effect, or at least “soften” them, Bloomberg reports. A commentary carried by Xinhua says the tariff hikes will hinder the EU’s “clean energy growth and (run) counter to its climate objectives”. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that China’s premier Li Qiang is visiting Australia and Australian foreign minister Penny Wong has raised concerns over climate risks.

EU leaders will discuss policy priorities for the next five years and who to place in top EU jobs at a meeting later today, Reuters reports. It continues: “The informal meeting will be the first leaders gathering since the European Parliament election, which proved good for the centre-right and right-wing nationalists, but humiliating for French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz. The leaders are to discuss who should be the next presidents of the European Commission and European Council, and the foreign policy chief, but their minds seem already made up. Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen is in prime position to secure a second term as head of the EU executive, buoyed by gains for her centre-right European People’s Party.” Another Reuters article says Mario Draghi, former Italian prime minister, has used a speech to call for lower EU energy prices and stronger industrial and trade policy. The newswire says: “Last September the European Commission asked Draghi, also a former European Central Bank president, to write a report for the EU on how to keep its economy competitive in a world of new security threats, climate change and rapid technological change. The report will be published in the coming weeks.” The Financial Times reports: “The EU must become less ‘passive’ in defending its economic interests against the threat of countries such as China that have ‘unfair advantages’, former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi has said.” It continues: “The economic bloc should be ready to use more tariffs and subsidies, Draghi said, in comments that signal he is likely to favour a more interventionist industrial policy in his report due next month on how to fix Europe’s faltering competitiveness.” In related news, Reuters reports: “The next European Commission must do more to help European industry catch up in the green tech race with China and the US, said Spain’s climate and energy minister Teresa Ribera, a front-runner to be the EU’s next head of green policies.” In a related comment, Financial Times European economics commentator Martin Sandbu writes under the headline: “Europe must work out what role China will play in its decarbonisation agenda.” Separately, a New York Times feature asks: “Europe’s climate change-minded parties performed poorly in the EU elections. Is the once ambitious European green movement over, or could its electoral crash launch a rebirth?”

The balance could have tipped in favour of passing the EU’s nature restoration law today, Reuters reports. It says: “Austria’s environment minister, Leonore Gewessler of the Greens, defied her conservative coalition partners on Sunday by pledging to cast Austria’s vote in favour of adopting a European nature restoration law, potentially tipping the balance in Brussels.” The newswire adds: “The law would be among the EU’s biggest environmental policies, requiring member states to introduce measures restoring nature on a fifth of their land and sea by 2030…Austria’s change of position would give the policy enough support to become law if no other countries switch.” The Financial Times “Europe Express” email newsletter says that ministers will decide today “whether to pass a heavily contested nature conservation law”, describing it as the “EU Green Deal’s first post-election test”. It says the law “could finally pass after Austria’s climate minister at the last minute had a change of heart”. On Friday, Politico had reported that there was “still not enough support for EU governments to approve a long-delayed nature restoration law on Monday”. [See Carbon Brief’s explainer on what the law could mean for climate change and biodiversity loss.]

Rebecca Kujawa, chief executive of NextEra Energy Resources, the largest US renewable developer, has warned that further trade tariffs on Chinese clean energy technology risk slowing the transition, the Financial Times reports. It adds: “The statement from NextEra adds to a chorus of complaints from industry groups and developers, warning new duties will slow and increase the cost of decarbonisation.”

In other US news, Reuters reports that a conservative thinktank has filed a lawsuit challenging Biden administration efficiency standards for dishwashers and washing machines. A New York Times feature looks back to the 2016 presidential election, when Donald Trump “promised to revive coal”, adding: “Now, he rarely mentions it.” The Washington Post reports: “Vermont has enacted the first state law requiring fossil fuel firms to pay for damage caused by climate change. Will it survive a near-certain legal challenge?” A comment by Reuters columnist Gavin Maguire begins: “Oklahoma may be better known as a top-five producer of oil and gas within the US, but its energy sector is fast becoming a shining star in the renewables field as well.” A CNN feature says Republican districts have seen the greatest investments from Biden’s climate policies.

Australian foreign affairs minister Penny Wong has called the opposition leader Peter Dutton’s decision to rule out a 2030 climate target if he wins power “a move that will increase Australian energy bills and risk further Chinese influence in the Pacific”, ABC News reports. It continues: “Senator Wong, a former climate change minister, told the ABC’s Insiders that walking away from climate action would bring with it greater energy bills…Dutton this week ruled out setting an emissions target ahead of the next election, insisting Australians were more concerned about their living costs than climate policies.” The Guardian also has the story. Another Guardian article outlines Dutton’s “180 degree” shift on the 2030 target. A third Guardian piece says German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan has “dismissed claims” by Dutton that the Paris Agreement is “predominantly about net-zero by 2050”. Another Guardian article reports that Climate 200, “the fundraising giant that bankrolled the teal independent wave at the last election”, has announced support for independents running election campaigns against a further nine Coalition MPs, not including Dutton himself. A Guardian comment by Guardian Australia political editor Karen Middleton is titled: “‘Paris’ is burning consensus on Australia’s climate policies – and that’s how Peter Dutton wants it.” Finally, the Guardian reports the views of “five climate elders” on Dutton’s climate shift: “From Peter Garrett to Lesley Hughes there is frustration, despair and ‘a towering sense of anger’ over the opposition leader’s shift on the 2030 target.” 

German environment minister Steffi Lemke “is under pressure” due to “a potential billion-dollar scam” involving falsified climate protection projects by the German oil industry in China to demonstrate CO2 savings, reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). One of the alleged climate protection projects in the Chinese province of Shandong, with which oil companies supposedly saved greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, was an abandoned chicken coop, notes the outlet. FAZ details that, since August 2023, the German Environment Agency (UBA) has been alerted by market participants about submitting false information to acquire upstream emissions reduction (UER) certificates that allow oil companies to meet statutory climate protection targets in the transportation sector. Projects typically involve repurposing associated gases instead of flaring them, earning companies UER certificates for the emissions saved, explains the outlet. However, ZDF quotes UBA president Dirk Messner as saying: “We are critically examining 40 projects and continuing to review them…In ten cases, we have particularly clear indications suggesting suspicion of fraud”. ZDF also cites a member of the German parliament and CDU party, Christian Hirte, saying that “the real scandal is that action was taken much too late in both the Federal Environment Agency and the Ministry of Environment”. 

Meanwhile, the Swedish government “unexpectedly” refused approval for a 700-megawatt (MW) underwater power line between Sweden and Germany, which aimed to bring renewable energy, primarily from hydropower in the Nordic countries, to Germany, while simultaneously securing electricity supply in southern Sweden through imports from Germany, Focus reports. Swedish energy minister Ella Busch explained on Friday that the power line cannot go ahead because the electricity market in Germany “does not function efficiently today”. Reuters quotes the Swedish government stating that “the German power market doesn’t function in a way that gives correct price signals to power market players, mainly because Germany, unlike Sweden, isn’t divided into electricity areas in a way that corresponds to the significant bottlenecks”. 

Finally, Der Spiegel reports that the German government aims to lead globally in hydrogen production but currently “is lagging behind”. Out of 88 planned large-scale electrolysis plants, only 16 have secured final investment decisions, totalling just 0.3 gigawatts (GW), the publication says. Despite subsidies and streamlined approvals, the transition is slow due to high costs and uncertainties, exacerbated by cheaper gas prices and “more affordable” CO2 emission rights in Europe, explains the outlet. 

An editorial in the Observer reflects on the party manifestos released by major parties last week as part of the UK election campaign. It says: “As the climate changes before our eyes, Britain has watered down its planned responses. Truly, the past 14 years have been squandered.” It says: “There are many criticisms fairly levelled at British politics, but the manifestos answer one. These are not indistinguishable programmes for government. They are very different, reflecting very different philosophies – the Tories their distrust in government, Labour their faith in the necessity of government to improve the economy and society, and the Lib Dems a more limited faith in government, but essential as a means to individual enfranchisement. Yes, there are gaps, but it matters that you recognise the bigger stories – and which way you cast your vote.” In an interview with the i newspaper, shadow energy and net-zero secretary Ed Miliband is quoted saying: “With no disrespect to previous Labour leaders, including me, [climate is] a more central part of the campaign…than in any previous election. If we win, we will have Keir and Rachel, a prime minister and chancellor who are more committed to this agenda than any prime minister and chancellor previously.” A feature in the Sunday Times looks how Labour’s aim to decarbonise electricity supplies by 2030 could be challenged by issues with grid expansion. The Guardian looks at the language used in manifestos since 1945, noting: “Labour are paying more attention to climate issues than the Tories – but less than in 2019.” [See Carbon Brief’s tracker of what UK party manifestos say about climate change and energy.] 

Writing in the Financial Times, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves writes: “[T]he lifeblood of growth is business investment. We need a partnership between a strategic state and business, so that new industries can thrive here and create good jobs from renewable energy, to AI, to life sciences.” Current chancellor Jeremy Hunt also has a Financial Times article, but it does not mention climate policy or energy, other than a passing reference to the global energy crisis. An editorial in Saturday’s Daily Mail says: “[Starmer’s] ‘green revolution’ is also a sham, pretending renewables will be capable of fulfilling our energy needs by 2030. That’s just six years away. Even if he covered half the country in wind turbines, we’d still need oil, gas and nuclear to keep the lights on.” An editorial in the Sun says: “Fuel retailers are using the general election as a distraction to keep prices high, campaigners have warned.” 

Finally, columnist Matthew Syed writes in the Times: “Abundant energy sits at the centre of all economic activity and, therefore, growth…The point is that productivity growth is about energy, energy and energy. And, while economists fiddle with their abstract models, this is what is screwing us today: we are an energy-constrained civilisation.” In the Daily Telegraph, climate-sceptic oil industry veteran David Blackmon claims that there is “basically zero” chance of the world reaching net-zero by 2050. Also in the Daily Telegraph, columnist Matthew Lynn writes under the headline: “The EU has just put its car industry on the road to destruction.” In the Sunday Times, climate sceptic former TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson writes under the headline: “Net-zero or feeding ourselves? We can’t do both.”

An editorial in the Guardian raises the alarm about deaths linked to recent extreme heat around the world. It says: “While Britons don jumpers and complain about the unseasonable cold, much of the world has been reeling due to excessive temperatures. India has been in the grip of its longest heatwave in recorded history, with thermometers hitting 50C in some places. Greece closed the Acropolis in the afternoon last week as temperatures hit 43C; never has it seen a heatwave so early in the year. Soaring temperatures in the Sahel and western Africa saw mortuaries in Mali reportedly running short of space this spring, while swathes of Asia suffered in May. Mexico and the south-west of the US have also endured blistering conditions; it was particularly shocking to hear Donald Trump pledge again to ‘drill, baby, drill’ at a rally that saw supporters taken to hospital with heat exhaustion.” Noting the role of climate change, it says: “Although the El Niño weather pattern contributed to heatwaves over the last 12 months, they are becoming more frequent, extreme and prolonged thanks to global heating. By 2040, almost half the world’s inhabitants are likely to experience major heatwaves, 12 times more than the historic average.”

There is a 76% chance that 2024 will be the hottest year on record, due to a “strong warming trend” and the “lagged warming effect of a strong tropical Pacific El Niño event”, new research finds. At the end of each year, the Met Office issues a global average temperature forecast for the coming year. The Met Office authors of this study estimate that 2024 has a 1-in-3 chance of exceeding 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures. However, they stress that “a one-year temporary exceedance of 1.5C would not constitute a breach of the Paris Agreement target”.