US president Joe Biden’s administration has moved to “throttle pollution” from cars by bringing in new tailpipe emissions limits, reports Bloomberg. The limits are designed to “compel automakers to rapidly boost sales of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models”, it notes. The New York Times says the rules are “one of the most significant climate regulations in the nation’s history”. It says the rules require 56% of new sales to be electric vehicles by 2032, up from 7.6% in 2023, adding that cars and other forms of transport are the US’s biggest source of emissions. The paper quotes a statement from Biden: “Three years ago, I set an ambitious target: that half of all new cars and trucks sold in 2030 would be zero-emission. Together, we’ve made historic progress. Hundreds of new expanded factories across the country. Hundreds of billions in private investment and thousands of good-paying union jobs. And we’ll meet my goal for 2030 and race forward in the years ahead.” The new regulations are the “strictest” ever announced in the US, reports BBC News. However, compared with draft rules issued last year, carmakers will not have to ramp up sales of EVs as quickly, reports the Financial Times. It adds: “The Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] on Wednesday released a final rule regulating emissions from cars and light trucks that will demand the steepest cuts to vehicle emissions starting in 2030 – not from 2027 as first proposed last year.” The new rules do not mean that carmakes have to transition their fleets over to EVs by a certain date, explains Axios, but with the tighter tailpipe emissions limits, manufacturers are likely to favour more EVs to comply with the rules. Carmakers are allowed to include hybrid EVs and plug-in hybrids to meet the requirements, as well as battery EVs, it adds. This is a change from the previous target, which also would have required carmakers to transition to up to 67% of their light and medium duty vehicle fleets being battery electric during the 2030-2032 period, the article notes. The new regulations are set to cut emissions by 7.2bn tonnes by 2055 – only 1% less than the EPA’s original proposal – making it “Biden’s single most consequential executive action on climate change”, reports Inside Climate News. Concessions were made to labour unions, who were concerned about the rapid shift to EVs, but Republican-led states and the fossil fuel industry will likely challenge the rules in court, notes the Washington Post. But carmakers have praised the regulations, with John Bozzella, president of the automaker trade group Alliance for Automotive Innovation saying this is “the right pace for something this consequential and transformative … gives us a chance to secure manufacturing and industrial base needed for long term success,”reports the Guardian. A second New York Times piece explains: “Trump could roll back the rule, but not quickly or easily…now that the car rule is final, it will be more difficult and time-consuming, though not impossible, for a future administration to roll it back.” The piece adds that the fate of the rule is “likely to be decided by the Supreme Court”. It adds: “The rules are expected to face an immediate legal challenge by a coalition of fossil fuel companies and Republican attorneys general, complaints that are likely to wind their way to the Supreme Court. The 6-3 conservative majority on the court has, in recent years, taken steps to limit the authority of the EPA. In a 2022 decision on another major EPA climate rule, the court sharply limited, but did not strike down, the agency’s authority to limit greenhouse pollution from power plants.” This story was also covered by the Associated Press, the Times, the Daily Telegraph, Heatmap, AFP, NPR, Al Jazeera and others.  

Executives from the world’s leading oil and gas companies have said the transition to clean energy is “visibly failing” and is being pushed forward at an “unrealistic pace” at the industry’s annual Cera Week summit in Houston, Texas, reports the Guardian. It says they denounced calls for a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, despite widespread agreement both within the industry and with governments and scientists, of the need to lower emissions to limit climate change. The article quotes Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, saying “to applause in the room”: “We should abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas, and instead invest in them adequately.” The summit follows oil companies such as BP and Equinor having written down renewable energy projects, with others pushing back greenhouse gas reduction targets due to greater uncertainties with the transition to cleaner fuels, reports Reuters. (Carbon Brief covered Shell’s recent move to weaken its 2030 climate  goal.) Taken together with strong demand for oil currently, this has “stiffened the industry’s opposition to government and activist demands to phase out fossil fuel development”, the article notes. John Podesta, a top Biden climate aide, attended Cera Week and gave the industry “mixed grades on energy transition”, reports Axios. Separately, S&P Global reports: “Senior US Republican lawmakers have attacked the International Energy Agency in a strongly worded letter dated 20 March addressed to its executive director Fatih Birol.” The outlet quotes the letter saying: “We would argue that in recent years the IEA has been undermining energy security by discouraging sufficient investment in energy supplies – specifically, oil, natural gas and coal.”

The state-owned China National Nuclear Power saw its annual investment plan hit a new high of 121.6bn yuan ($16.9bn) in 2024, a 51.9% increase compared to the previous year, according to economic outlet Jiemian. It adds that this investment will be mainly used for nuclear power and “new energy” (mainly renewables). Securities Daily reports that China currently has 55 operational nuclear power units on the mainland, ranking third in the world, with another 26 nuclear power units under construction. 

State-run newspaper China Daily covers president Xi Jinping’s first inspection tour since the “two sessions” political meetings, which included a stop at a battery manufacturer partially owned by German chemical manufacturer BASF. The trip “underlined [the importance of] new quality productive forces”, signalled the importance of the battery sector and reinforced China’s commitment to “opening-up” to foreign investment, the newspaper says. Industry newspaper China Electric Power News reports that, according to the National Energy Administration (NEA), from January to February 2024, total societal power consumption reached 1,532 terawatt hours (TWh), an increase of 11% year-on-year. 

Separately, Bloomberg reports that China’s natural graphite exports, a material used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, have “rebounded from a low [that was] hit in December” due to Beijing’s implementation of export controls on the material. Reuters quotes deputy US special envoy on climate change Rick Duke saying that the US and China are “propelling” cooperation on methane. It says he adds that there is “an opportunity for Beijing to slash emissions from its massive coal sector at little or no cost”. State news agency Xinhua reports that vice-president Han Zheng met with the Lord Mayor of the City of London Michael Mainelli, highlighting that the two discussed “promoting more progress in green finance and economic and trade cooperation” between the UK and China.

China Daily publishes a commentary by Liu Shangxi, president of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences (CAFS), and CAFS researcher Li Chengwei, who write that China’s energy transition provides “substantial opportunities for investment and consumer demand”, in areas such as “steel, cement and petrochemicals”. Finally, the Daily Telegraph publishes a commentary by a former Royal Navy officer, who argues that China views “Antarctica’s vast resources [as] economically worth the risk of exploiting”.

Emissions from the world’s biggest oil and gas companies could cause millions of excess deaths by the end of the century, according to a new study from Global Witness, reports the Guardian. The emissions from Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Chevron until 2050 could cause 11.5m deaths from heat, it continues. The findings “represent the first attempt to quantify heat deaths resulting from planned oil production by big oil and add weight to calls to drastically reduce fossil fuel extraction”, the article says. Elsewhere, Inside Climate News reports that oil and gas flaring at industrial sites cause roughly two premature deaths a day, according to another new study. It found that flaring policies worsen asthma in children, increase emergency room visits, and cost Americans $7.4bn a year, the article adds. Separately, working in extreme heat can double the chances of miscarriages or stillbirths for pregnant women, a new study in India has found, reports BBC News. The study began in 2017 and 800 women from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu took part, with the results suggesting the risks to mother-to-be are “significantly higher” than previously thought, it adds. 

In other news, the heatwave that struck west Africa in February was made 4C hotter and 10 times more likely by climate change, according to a new attribution study, reports the Guardian. (The study was also covered in full by Carbon Brief.) While the heatwave affected millions, the total death toll and number of illnesses is not known due to lack of reporting, the article notes. The study found that a heatwave of this level would have happened once a century, but with climate change it is happening once a decade, the newspaper states. Humidity raised the danger during the heatwave, reports the New York Times, with temperatures of 40C feeling like 50C because of it. As a result of the heatwave, the cost of Easter eggs has increased, reports BBC News. Most chocolate is made from cocoa grown in West Africa, but the heatwave “blasted the crops and massively cut yields”, it explains. As such, the cost of cocoa has surged, reaching $8,500 (£6,700) a tonne this week, and the cost of popular Easter eggs has risen 50%, the article states.

Elsewhere, “scientists fear planetary shift” reports the Washington Post, as record high ocean temperatures enter their second year. The continuation of the high temperatures could represent a major change to Earth systems that cannot be reversed on any human time scale”, it adds. In England and Wales, the record warm winter has left breeding birds vulnerable, reports the Guardian. 

Following a record “heat index” of up to 62C in the Brazilian capital Rio de Janeiro last weekend, O Globo reports that heatwaves may become more frequent in the country. The newspaper cites Renata Libonati, coordinator at the Laboratory for Environmental Satellite Applications, who notes that from 2000 to 2020, there were an average of four heatwaves per year in Rio, almost twice as many as the period from 1970 to 1990. Libonati suggests adaptation measures, such as training health professionals to cope with extreme events, as well as increasing green areas and lakes within cities.

Elsewhere, despite the first quarter of the year usually being the driest in the Colombian Amazon, this year climate change caused abnormal rainfall in February, which has mitigated the effects of El Niño, El Espectador reports.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina’s National Weather Service issued warnings for “severe storms and gusts” – and flooding hit the centre of the country and the metropolitan area, following a storm recorded in recent days, according to La Nación. In a separate piece, the newspaper cited Argentina’s health ministry, which announced more than 100,000 cases and 69 deaths from dengue fever in the country this year, 11 times more than the same period for 2023.

Heat is also associated with a surge in illnesses in Mexico, according to Excélsior, with the Ministry of Health confirming more than 3,000 cases of dengue fever this year, an increase of 560% compared to the same period in 2023. Additionally, there has been a rise in cases of malaria and intestinal diseases, it reports.

A new subsea cable has been given the go ahead, connecting Scotland and England in an “attempt to increase the amount of offshore wind capacity on the national electricity network”, reports the Times. The 121-mile Eastern Green Link 1 undersea cable would run from the Torness area of East Lothian in Scotland to Hawthorn Pit in Co Durham, it explains. The high-voltage direct-current link will be able to carry two gigawatts, enough to power two million homes for an hour, it adds. Regulator Ofgem has awarded the project £2bn in funding, subject to public consultation, it states.

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph covers new analysis by Aurora Energy: “Labour would need to build offshore wind farms at an unprecedented rate in a scramble to hit net-zero targets, energy experts have warned.” [The government’s net-zero strategy also includes a target to decarbonise electricity supplies, by 2035 instead of Labour’s planned 2030.]

In other wind news, Bloomberg reports that as offshore wind turbines continue to grow in size, the industry faces a shortage of ships large enough to carry them. “The looming shortage of ships capable of handling such turbines, some of which are almost as tall as the Chrysler Building, comes on the back of a tumultuous 2023 for the offshore wind industry,” it notes. Elsewhere, the wind industry has called for further support from the German government to expand the nation’s port capacity, reports Reuters. The BWE wind power association has said in a new report that increased capacity is “urgently needed” for wind power to increase to meet the demands of the country’s energy transition plans, it adds.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, writes in the Financial Times that it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the “seemingly relentless onslaught of disturbing news about the world’s deepening climate crisis”. But it is important to pay attention to the good news too, he writes, including how renewable energy is increasingly replacing fossil fuels. The economics are providing significant impetus for this transition, as well as there being a “flurry of technological innovation” and a push for energy security, he notes. Birol continues: “We already have ample evidence that the journey to net-zero emissions is likely to be a bumpy one. But the events of recent years – including the turmoil caused by the global energy crisis, the sharp spikes in fossil fuel prices and the effects of extreme weather – are all reminders of why we need to press ahead.” He concludes: “And while changes in governments may well affect the pace of energy transitions – accelerating them in some cases, slowing them in others – they won’t alter the fundamental direction of travel.”

Alongside this, the FT has released a series of articles focused on nuclear energy, including an opinion piece from former commissioner of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and chair of the US Nuclear Industry Council, Jeffrey S Merrifield, discussing how the urgency of environmental concerns has helped warm the public’s opinion of nuclear energy. In another opinion piece in the FT, columnist Pilita Clark writes under the headline: “Wall Street is letting Orwellian doublethink kill climate action.”

On Tuesday, UK shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves gave this year’s “Mais lecture”, setting out her economic plans for the UK, an editorial in the Guardian explains. It continues: “A radical agenda is needed to deal with the compounding crises of economic stagnation, political polarisation and the climate emergency.” However, Reeves’ response “shrank from the scale of the challenge”, the Guardian says. The article questions what the opposition Labour Party has learnt over the past decade and a half of Conservative government, arguing that the “extreme urgency of global heating means Britain can’t risk throttling green investment because of the demands of financial stability”.

In another comment for the Guardian, the paper’s economics editor Larry Elliott argues that “promising to reform the planning system, boost investment and improve skills is all very well” but Reeves’ speech lacked detail on how this would be achieved. He concludes: “Green growth is certainly a desirable goal. Reeves has yet to show she can deliver it.” In other UK comment, the Evening Standard’s business and technology correspondent Simon Hunt argues that the “wheels have come off the British EV sector in the past few months”. 

Artificial intelligence could improve the accuracy of flood forecasting in developing countries, according to new research. Current forecasting methods rely on monitoring stations along rivers and these are not distributed evenly across the globe, the paper notes. The study describes how an AI model trained with data from 5,680 existing gauges can provide flood predictions that are at least as reliable as the current method, but five days earlier, in watersheds without a reliable network of gauges. Alongside a potential role for AI in limiting flood risk, the authors say their work “highlights a need for increasing the availability of hydrological data to continue to improve global access to reliable flood warnings”.

A new study explores the opinions of 20 policy makers and practitioners from different countries about figures drafted for a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Interviewees were asked about three figures produced for the second order draft of the summary for policymakers associated with IPCC’s Working Group III Sixth Assessment Report. Respondents’ answers resulted in a set of recommendations for the next IPCC cycle: “Participants suggested focusing each figure on one key message for policymakers, and removing irrelevant details. For IPCC authors, this involves making hard choices about what to show in the figure and what to leave for the text.”