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Emily Gosden, The Times
Global demand for every main type of energy hit a record high in 2024, with “green power” continuing to add to rather than displace fossil fuels, reports the Times. The Energy Institute’s annual statistical review of world energy found that, for the first time since 2006, world demand for oil, gas, coal, nuclear, hydro and renewable energy all grew year-on-year, the article continues. Global gas consumption rose by 2.5% as markets rebalanced following a slump the previous year, reports Bloomberg. This recovery was “notable” it adds, as it “cement[s the] role of gas in the global energy system, even as renewables continue to grow”. Wind and solar expanded by 16% in 2024, nine times faster than the overall energy demand, but not enough to fully counterbalance rising consumption needs, the article notes. It quotes the statistical review: “These trends underscore a stark truth: while renewable energy is scaling faster than ever, global demand is rising even faster. Rather than replacing fossil fuels, renewables are adding to the overall energy mix.” The report shows that global CO2 emissions from the energy sector hit a record high for the fourth year in a row, reports Reuters. Carbon emissions increased by 1% in 2024, exceeding the previous record of 40.8 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, it adds.
Ajit Niranjan, The Guardian
Campaigners have warned the EU’s rollback of environmental policy is gaining momentum, reports the Guardian. Policymakers have “dealt several critical blows” to the European Green Deal since the end of 2023, when opinion polls suggested a rightward shift before the 2024 elections, it adds. The “deregulation drive…has shocked observers with its scale and speed”, the article notes, with the pace picking up under the competition-focused agenda of the new European Commission. “The most striking examples are the ‘omnibus’ packages that water down sustainable finance rules, some of which have been put on hold even before they came into force and which member states proposed diluting further on Monday”, notes the Guardian.
Relatedly, Politico reports that European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is fighting to preserve the Green Deal, as she considers it her “signature political achievement”, the article states. The Associated Press reports that, ahead of the summit of leaders in Brussels on Thursday, the European Commission has paused work on the Green Claims Directive, which is designed to make environmental claims more reliable across the bloc. This is the “latest sign of faltering ambitions”, the article notes, adding: “The European Union’s leadership in the fight against climate change is under increasing pressure as far-right forces gain influence and threaten its flagship Green Deal, which legally mandates the bloc to achieve climate neutrality by 2050”. Reuters reports that businesses will now find it easier to get state aid for projects designed to cut carbon emissions and switch to “green” projects, while heavy industries will benefit from temporary power price relief. New European Commission state aid rules, set to run till December 2030, are “part of the Commission's goal to revitalise Europe's industries with its Clean Industrial Deal to help them better compete with US and Chinese rivals and also encourage them to stay put in Europe”, the newswire adds.
Elsewhere, campaigners have criticised state funding for gas-fired power plants, reports Euractiv. Just 10 European power producers have received €21.4bn from Belgian, British, Irish, Italian and Polish taxpayers since 2025 to keep gas-fired power plants online under capacity mechanisms, it adds. The Financial Times covers warnings from steel industry leaders that climate targets are at risk without more state support and protection from cheap imports.
Amy Hawkins, The Guardian
China’s installations of wind and solar in May are “enough to generate as much electricity as Poland, as the world’s second-biggest economy breaks further records with its rapid buildup of renewable energy infrastructure”, reports the Guardian. It adds: “China installed 93GW of solar capacity last month – almost 100 solar panels every second, according to an analysis by Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Wind power installations reached 26GW, the equivalent of about 5,300 turbines…’We knew China’s rush to install solar and wind was going to be wild but WOW,’ Myllyvirta wrote on social media.”
Relatedly, the International Hydropower Association (IHA) says that China is on track to “exceed its 2030 pumped storage hydropower target by more than 8% and potentially reach 130 gigawatts (GW) by the end of the decade”, Reuters reports. China’s hydropower capacity grew 24.6GW in 2024, it adds. State-run newspaper China Daily reports that China has made “significant” progress in establishing its “product carbon footprint management system”, with more than 70 national standards issued or were “under development” by the end of 2024, according to a report by China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE).
Meanwhile, China celebrated its “National Low Carbon Day” yesterday. Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, has called for Chinese citizens and the world to “actively tackle climate change and jointly protect our planet”, the Shanghai-based Paper reports.
Elsewhere, Reuters reports that a “tropical depression may hit southern China as early as Thursday, meteorologists cautioned, bringing rain and gales to a flood-hit region still recovering from the impact of Typhoon Wutip two weeks ago”. The newswire adds that China has “battled with summer floods for millennia”, but climate change is “resulting in heavier and more frequent rain”, according to scientists. State news agency Xinhua reports that flood control emergency response has been escalated to the highest level in two counties in southwestern China’s Guizhou province, following “severe flooding” triggered by “continuous heavy rainfall and upstream inflows”. Meanwhile, China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), has “urgently” allocated 100m yuan ($14m) to support “disaster relief work” in Guizhou, with an additional 100m yuan to Guangdong and Hunan, according to China News.
Finally, Bloomberg reports that the EU wants China to “resolve the export issue around rare-earth magnets” before the two sides’ meeting in July. Another Bloomberg article says that US president Donald Trump appears to have given China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, the “green light” to carry on the imports of the fuel. Reuters also covers the story, saying that Trump also calls for China to buy oil from the US.
Seth Borenstein, Associated Press
Following a “record-smashing heatwave” that has “broiled” the eastern US over recent days temperatures are expected to drop by as much as 30F (equivalent to a 16C drop), reports the Associated Press. About 127 million Americans have remained under National Weather Service heat advisories, it continues, with “sizzling temperatures [sending] utilities scrambling to keep the air conditioning and lights on amid massive demand for power”. The US’s largest power grid operator recorded its highest demand since 2011 this week, it adds. The article quotes Kate Guy, senior research fellow at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy: “Frankly, with each year it has increased, historic temperatures and that intense heat arriving earlier than ever, [it is] just putting an immense pressure on the electrical grid.” The temperatures have sent more than 100 people hospitalised in New York City for heat-related illnesses on Tuesday alone, reports the New York Times. The heat dome is beginning to wane though, with the number of areas facing the worst of the heat wave diminishing “both sides of the Appalachians, but typical summertime heat is expected to persist into next week until a stronger cold front arrives”, notes the Washington Post. The story was also covered by the Independent and further coverage in the New York Times, amongst others.
Elsewhere, Reuters’ Sustainable Switch newsletter reports that firefighters are working to contain fires on the Greek island of Chios, the UK has been experiencing a heatwave and smoke from Canadian wildfires earlier this month has now reached the US’s east coast. Emergency services have issued evacuation orders across Chios as hundreds of firefighters battle the flames for a third day, reports the Associated Press. A Georgian woman has been charged with unintentional arson on the island, after accidentally starting one of the Chios wildfires with a cigarette, reports the Guardian. Blazes broke out in different areas of the island, with fires spread by gale-force winds, it notes. “A Mediterranean hotspot, Greece is on the frontline of the climate emergency with the country experiencing a dramatic uptick in wildfires because of higher temperatures and ever-drier conditions in recent years”, the article adds. The current heatwave across Europe is “intensifying, fueling wildfires across the Mediterranean and threatening to curb electricity generation from both nuclear and hydropower plants”, reports Bloomberg. In France, two people have been killed, as “violent winds, lightning strikes and flash floods wreaked havoc”, reports the Daily Telegraph. “The storms brought only a slight reprieve from temperatures of up to 40C recorded during France’s first heatwave of the summer – and extreme heat is expected again over the weekend and early next week”, the article adds.
Jillian Ambrose, The Guardian
Oil and gas giant Shell has denied talks are underway for it to buy BP, amid reports it is negotiating a “historic £60bn takeover”, reports the Guardian. “The so-called oil supermajors are reported to be discussing a potential deal after speculation earlier this year that Shell was considering a bid for its struggling rival, which would mark an end for the 120-year-old company”, it adds. This follows the Wall Street Journal reporting exclusively that Shell was holding early-stage talks to acquire BP, in “what would be the largest oil deal in a generation”. A spokesperson for Shell said “no talks are taking place”, adding “this is further market speculation” and that the company is focused on “capturing value” by concentrating on its own performance, reports the Times. Despite Shell’s swift denial, one investor said “the genie was out of the bottle”, meaning that BP was now a credible takeover target, reports the Daily Telegraph.
In other oil news, US energy secretary Chris Weight has “joined criticism” of the International Energy Agency’s projection that global oil demand will peak this decade, reports Axios. In an interview, Wright calls the outlook "nonsensical," adding that consumption has risen consistently for many decades, it adds. Reuters reports that oil prices have inched higher, extending gains in the US market seen in the previous day.
Michael Holder, BusinessGreen
The UK government has launched a consultation on proposals to “develop climate transition plans and enhance reporting on sustainability-related data for banks, pension funds and large businesses”, reports BusinessGreen, adding: “The first consultation sets out proposed requirements, standards and expectations that would see large financial firms and corporates develop formal climate transition plans setting out how they are preparing to accelerate shift towards net-zero emissions over the coming years.” Speaking about the plan at London Climate Action Week, energy secretary Ed Miliband said the government is “determined to make the UK the sustainable finance capital of the world”, reports the Press Association. In related news, a new study has found that, while major UK companies are making progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, a “sharp increase in pace is required”, reports BusinessGreen.
In other UK news, home car-chargers could send electricity demand overnight “soaring”, reports Bloomberg. According to a new survey by Energy Systems Catapult, it warns that, as EV uptake increases, energy tariffs may need to change to avoid “crowding” demand into fixed, low-cost periods, it adds. Open Democracy carries an article under the headline: “Weak UK lobbying laws let fossil fuel giants influence climate policies.”
Luis Felipe Azevedo, O Globo
Wildfires have consumed 24% of Brazil’s territory, an area the size of the states of Pará and Mato Grosso, over the past four decades, according to a MapBiomas report covered by O Globo. The fires have impacted 206m hectares across Brazil’s six biomes, with Mata Atlântica being the most affected region during that period. The report adds that the impact of last year’s wildfires exceeded the historical average by 62%.
Meanwhile, the Times reports that King Charles has “stressed the urgency to protect the world’s forests” at a meeting in London “seeking to increase funding for nature protection globally”.
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