COP28 president-designate Sultan Al Jaber has urged nations to face up to their failures to tackle climate change at the next UN climate summit, BBC News reports. Speaking to climate ministers at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday, Al Jaber – who has been described as an unusual choice for COP president because of his role as leader of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company – said countries must “be brutally honest about the gaps that need to be filled, the root causes and how we got to this place here today”, according to BBC News. Bloomberg reports that the meeting saw Al Jaber “finally lay down big agenda items” for COP28. These include deploying a “fully functional” loss and damage fund, and tripling renewable energy production and doubling hydrogen production by 2030, according to Bloomberg. He also took “steps” towards setting a “mid-century” timeline for phasing down fossil fuels without carbon capture and storage, the Financial Times reports. In addition, Al Jaber said that all governments should update their emissions-cutting targets by September, which the UAE did last month, Climate Home News reports. The Guardian has an explainer on Al Jaber’s climate plan based on an interview with the oil chief published on Thursday. 

Elsewhere, Reuters reports that US climate envoy John Kerry told a US congressional hearing on Thursday that the US would “under no circumstances” pay “climate reparations” to developing nations. BBC News also has the story.

As tens of millions of US citizens suffer from extreme weather, some US lawmakers are “still attempting to block any climate spending”, the Guardian says. It reports: “Nearly 90 million Americans are facing heat alerts this week, including in Las Vegas, Nevada, which may break its all-time hottest temperature record; Phoenix, Arizona, which will probably break its streak of consecutive days of temperatures over 110F [43C]; and parts of Florida, where a marine heatwave has pushed up water temperatures off the coast to levels normally found in hot tubs. Stifling heat is also blanketing parts of Texas, which for weeks earlier this summer sweltered under a record-shattering heat dome which one analysis found was made five times more likely by the climate crisis. Despite this, the state’s Republican senator Ted Cruz is rallying his fellow GOP members of the Senate commerce committee to circulate a memo attacking climate measures in Biden’s proposed 2024 budget, Fox News reported on Wednesday.”

It comes as the Independent reports that the marine heatwave in Florida risks “nasty” coral bleaching. Reuters reports that demand for power in Texas hit a record high for a second day in a row amid the severe heatwave. The Guardian also reports that the US is bracing for yet more extreme weather, with “a heatwave hitting California, tornados in the midwest and the east expecting more rain as it continues to reel from historic flooding”. 

Reuters also reports that a tornado has damaged 125 homes in the Canadian capital Ottawa.

The UK’s second largest offshore wind farm, which has the potential to power more than 1m homes, has been approved by the government after a two-year wait, City AM reports. Hornsea Four, an Orsted project, will involve more than 180 turbines stationed 43 miles off the coast of Yorkshire, according to the paper. The government hopes the project will push the country towards meeting a target of 50 gigawatts of offshore wind power by the end of the decade, City AM says. It adds: “However, Hornsea’s approval process also exposes the long duration times energy firms must face before consent is given to renewable projects.”

Elsewhere, the Guardian reports that energy secretary Grant Shapps has “indicated” that the UK will scrap controversial plans to replace gas boilers in some homes with hydrogen alternatives. [Research shows that hydrogen boilers are likely to be far more expensive to run than heat pumps.] According to the Guardian, Shapps said: “There was a time when people thought…you will have something that just looks like a gas boiler and we will feed hydrogen into it.” He added: “It’s not that we won’t do trials. We will. But I think hydrogen will be used for storing energy. You won’t have to switch off windfarms when you don’t need the power because you can turn it into hydrogen and use it later.” The Daily Telegraph also covers Shapps’ comments. The i newspaper reports that the revelation means that nearly every home will need a heat pump by 2050.

The Guardian also reports on research finding the UK could see a 30% increase in “uncomfortably hot” days under 2C of global warming. The Press Association also reports on the Nature Sustainability study, which finds the UK is one of the countries that will have to do the most to radically adapt its buildings to increasing heat.

Meanwhile, the Sun reports that Shapps has confirmed the government is not dropping its 2030 target to end the sale of new petrol vehicles, [despite much campaigning by this title and other right-wing papers].

Intense heat continues to grip southern Europe, Reuters reports. It says: “Weather alerts were in place across Spain’s Canary Islands, Italy, Cyprus and Greece, with the Greek authorities expecting temperatures to reach as high as 43C or 44C on Friday or Saturday. Authorities put an ambulance on standby near the archaeological site of the Acropolis in Athens, ready to provide first aid to tourists wilting in the heatwave, which Italy’s Meteorological Society has named ‘Cerberus’.” Reuters continues: “Governments and employers are under pressure to do more to protect workers exposed to the burning sun in the latest heatwave, named after the three-headed dog of the underworld in Greek mythology. There are concerns about the impact on those working outdoors in Italy after a 44-year-old man who was painting road markings in the northern town of Lodi collapsed and died this week.”

Shell is considering selling a stake in its renewable power operations, the Daily Telegraph reports. It says: “The FTSE 100 company is said to have approached third parties about offloading part of its global renewable power operations just days after its chief executive warned cutting oil and gas production risked driving up the cost of living. Another option could see Shell establish the renewables arm as a more separate and independent business. Both possibilities will be seen as steps towards a potential spinoff of Shell’s green power assets, which activist investors have long been pushing bosses to consider. A spokesman for Shell declined to comment on the report but pointed to previous statements that the company’s future strategy would involve ‘dilutions’ – the selling down of stakes – in its various renewable power interests.” Bloomberg, which spoke to insiders with knowledge of the possible deal, added: “Discussions are still at an early stage, and there’s no certainty they will lead to a transaction.” It comes as ExxonMobil announces it has acquired “carbon management” specialist oil company Denbury, the FT reports.

The state broadcaster CGTN reports that China will promote a shift “from dual control over the amount and intensity of energy consumption to dual control over the amount and intensity of carbon emissions”. (See Carbon Brief’s explanation on “dual control” for energy.) The National Energy Administration (NEA) says the shift would “provide more flexibility for total energy consumption, which benefits the balance between development and carbon emissions”. Hou Yunhe, professor at the University of Hong Kong, tells South China Morning Post such comments on striking a balance “signal a shift away from a decarbonisation approach now considered too radical and blamed for power shortages in the past three years”. The newspaper also says China’s reform is “looking to plug dangerous holes in its power system” as it “scrambles” to enhance energy security. A separate CGTN comment by energy consultant Lu Jianfei says the shift “will accelerate the energy decarbonising transition in China”. 

Meanwhile, China Daily says the upcoming visit of US climate envoy John Kerry will prioritise strengthening collaboration on “climate and clean energy issues” and discuss the upcoming COP28 summit. Politico writes that Kerry could return to Washington “with Beijing’s pledge to reactivate a high-level US-China joint working group on climate cooperation”. It adds that “but that’s no sure thing”. The New York Times reports that Republicans on Thursday accused Kerry of being “too soft” on China ahead of the meeting. China Daily reports that Tang Xinhua, researcher at Tsinghua University, urged the US to “respect other countries’ national conditions… and prevent ideological differences from adversely impacting China-US climate cooperation”.

Separately, according to the NEA, the total electricity consumption nationwide reached 775 terawatts-hours (TWh) in June, a year-on-year increase of nearly 4%, reports China Electric Power News. Another China Daily article says that state-owned power enterprises are “making all-out efforts” to guarantee sufficient power supply in reaction to the recent surge in electricity demand caused by high temperatures. Mercom India News, citing a report by Bjx.com, reports that China’s energy storage installations increased 110% in 2022 to 8.7GW. 

In other news, the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reports that Russia is prepared to coordinate with China and Indonesia on “food and energy security”, at a meeting between top diplomats of the three countries. The Chinese financial outlet Caixin writes that exports of Chinese cars increased again in the first half of this year, largely due to demand for new-energy vehicles (NEVs) and sales to Russia. Another article by Caixin reports that the first high-level conference of the forum on “global action for shared development” was held in Beijing and talked about the impact of climate change on developing countries. 

Finally, the communist party-backed People’s Daily has a comment piece by official Zhao Chenxin from the central government. He writes that “energy conservation and improvement of energy efficiency is the pathway to promote high-quality development”. Another editorial by People’s Daily is under the title “Developed countries should face their climate responsibility”. The Guardian carries an article by its diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour, who writes that British ministers “have been adopting a less confrontational approach to China, insisting engagement is necessary if major problems such as the climate crisis are to be jointly addressed”. The Financial Times publishes an opinion by Chris Miller, author of “Chip War”, under the title: “As Chinese cars speed into global markets, tensions will only escalate.” The Economist explores whether China’s farmers are prepared for climate change.

Die Welt reports that the first auction of “four areas for offshore wind farms in the North Sea and Baltic Sea” has generated “proceeds of €12.6bn”. The outlet notes that the auction will see the commissioning by 2030 of wind farms with a total output of 7 gigawatts, which would “almost double the offshore capacity in Germany”. It explains that 90% of the money raised will go to reducing electricity costs, with the remaining 10% going into marine nature conservation and “promoting environmentally friendly” fishing. Klaus Müller, the Federal Network Agency president, is quoted saying: “The tenders are an important step towards achieving the offshore expansion target of 30 gigawatts by 2030.” However, Wind Europe notes that multiple companies pledged to build without state support at each of the four sites, leading to an extra “dynamic bidding procedure”. The outlet explains that this process involved a second round of “uncapped negative bidding”, where bids were awarded solely based on price. This, the outlet explains, incurs “additional costs for offshore wind developers, which could be passed on to the struggling supply chain or consumers who already face higher electricity prices and living costs”.

Meanwhile, Table.Media reports that German finance minister Christian Lindner has introduced a tax relief plan within the Growth Opportunities Act, offering companies certain tax benefits between 2024 and 2027, if they make “climate-friendly” investments. Der Spiegel says that, according to Lindner’s plan, if companies invest money in “energy and resource efficiency” over this period, they should receive a “bonus of 15%” of the amount invested – but no more than €30m. 

Finally, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reports that Lufthansa has announced its intentions to offer more domestic flights again. The airline has been “criticised on Twitter” for “accelerating the climate crisis” with an “idiotic approach”, notes FAZ. Additionally, the Washington Post reports that climate activists blocked flights at two German airports for several hours on Thursday in protest against “the most polluting form of transportation”. And the Wall Street Journal has a comment piece titled: “Climate clashes split the Left in Germany – and beyond. Europe’s moderate liberal parties are struggling to please eco-activists and their blue-collar bases.”

Writing for South Africa’s Daily Maverick, Dr Roland Ngam, programme manager for climate justice and socioecological transformation at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Southern Africa, lays out the key issues and challenges to watch on the road to COP28. He says: “It is raining cash in the oil and gas sector – over half a trillion US dollars in fact – and very difficult to see how the countries that are hosting new projects can achieve their Nationally Determined Contributions [climate pledges] or even scale back their fossil projects, given the hypocrisy of highly industrialised nations. A number of African voices, notably outgoing Senegal president Macky Sall and South Africa’s energy minister Gwede Mantashe have argued that Africa should be allowed to exploit its resources for its development. They say that any talk of a just energy transition is colonialism of a new kind by countries that used fossil fuels to develop but now want to block others from doing the same…If developing nations do not get the money and technology that they need to meet their development needs, they will keep turning to fossil fuels as a quick fix.” He also cites Carbon Brief analysis, saying: “We know who and what has caused global warming. According to Carbon Brief, ‘humans have pumped around 2,500bn tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere since 1850’. The biggest cumulative polluting nations and communities are, once again, the US, China, the EU, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.”

Elsewhere, for the Nation, Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC, writes on how the US Treasury is “blocking” funds to help developing nations reach their climate targets.

The Daily Telegraph’s world economy editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard argues that the world is on the precipice of a “white” hydrogen revolution. He says: “We are suddenly waking up to the very real possibility that vast reserves of natural hydrogen lie under our feet and can plausibly be extracted at costs that blow away the competition, ultimately undercutting methane on pure price.” [See Carbon Brief’s explainer on the different shades of hydrogen and how it could be used.] 

Elsewhere, the FT has a long read on whether Cornwall can cash in on the “lithium revolution”. And the Daily Mail carries a comment piece by British journalist Tom Utley, who claims, contrary to all evidence, that the Suffragettes “actually set back the introduction of votes for women by a good number of years”, comparing them to the “messianic muppets” at Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil.

A new study examines how a global temperature rise of 2C would “dramatically exacerbate” the need for cooling, compared to 1.5C. Using 2,100 simulations of the HadAM4 model across three global warming scenarios – historical, 1.5C and 2C – and data from a citizen science project, the research maps “cooling degree days” for different countries. The findings show that those around the Equator, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, will experience the largest absolute increase in cooling needs, indicating exposure to hotter weather will be severe. Countries that are traditionally unprepared for heat – notably Switzerland and the UK but also including parts of the Andes and the Himalayas – will experience the largest relative demand surges, posing serious adaptation challenges.