There is continuing widespread coverage of the unseasonably early extreme heat affecting many areas of the northern hemisphere. BBC News reports that “Spain recorded its hottest ever temperature for April on Thursday, hitting 38.8C according to the country’s meteorological service”. It adds: “The record figure was reached in Cordoba airport in southern Spain just after 15:00 local time. For days a blistering heatwave has hit the country with temperatures 10-15C warmer than expected for April. It’s been driven by a mass of very hot air from Africa, coupled with a slow moving weather system. ‘This is not normal. Temperatures are completely out of control this year,’ Cayetano Torres, a spokesman for Spain’s meteorological office, told BBC News. Experts were surprised by the scale of the heat experienced across southern Spain in recent days. ‘This heat event in Spain is absolutely extreme, unprecedented with temperatures never seen before in April. In some locations records are being beaten by a 5C margin, which is something that has happened only a handful of times at weather stations around the world,’ said Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist who runs an Extreme Temperatures twitter account.” The Guardian says: “The Spanish government has advised people to take extra care as the drought-stricken country experiences record-breaking temperatures that could result in an unprecedented April temperature of 39C  in parts of Andalucía on Friday.” Le Monde notes that “scorching temperatures have prompted warnings about the ‘high risk’ of wildfires in a nation that has already seen fire ravage 54,000 hectares (133,400 acres) of land so far this year, compared with 17,000 hectares in the same period last year”. Similarly, Reuters reports that “France will have wildfire-fighting troops and their water-carrying aircraft ready on 1 June, one month earlier than usual, to adapt to fires starting earlier than in the past due to climate change, a senior official said”. Another Reuters article reports from a “drought-hit Spanish town [which is getting] water trucked in as temperatures peak”.

Separately, the Guardian says that “Asia is experiencing weeks of ‘endless record heat’, with sweltering temperatures causing school closures and surges in energy use”. It adds: “Record April temperatures have been recorded at monitoring stations across Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, as well as in China and South Asia. On Tuesday, four weather stations in Myanmar hit or matched record monthly temperatures, with Theinzayet, in eastern Mon state, reaching the highest, at 43C. On Wednesday, Bago, north-east of Yangon, reached 42.2C, matching an all-time record previously recorded in May 2020 and April 2019, according to Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian. There had been ‘endless record heat in south-east Asia, with weeks of records falling every day’, said Herrera.” Reuters has a story under the headline: “Mexico City’s thirst for water lays bare inequalities, changing climate.” And Politico has a feature about how Europe is “bracing for yet another drought after a winter with little rain and snow”.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Daily Mirror devotes the whole of its frontpage to the “forgotten famine” in east Africa. “Please help us” says the headline as its chief reporter Andy Lines interviews “drought victims [who] tell of heartbreaking horror”. In one of several “exclusive” articles in the edition written by Lines, he quotes Joyce Kimutai, head meteorologist at the Kenya Meteorological Department, who says: “Climate change caused the low rainfall in the region. Climate change has made the drought exceptional.” In another article Lines writes: “The drought is killing people by the tens of thousands. Around 120 million people in northern Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan are struggling without the food they need to survive.” An accompanying editorial in the newspaper says: “People are paying the price for the world’s failure to limit carbon emissions. They deserve our help, but they also deserve action to prevent further man-made catastrophes.”

MPs have warned that the UK is not on track to meet its targets to generate all of its electricity without emitting carbon dioxide by the middle of next decade, risking its environmental plans and putting energy security at risk, reports the Press Association. The newswire adds: “Ministers have not provided ‘strategic leadership’ and there is no coherent, overarching plan, the business, energy and industrial strategy committee said in a report released on Friday. The cross-party group, which includes Conservative MPs, said the way that windfall taxes on energy generators and oil companies were structured favoured the latter group. It also said that the government was not tackling the cost of developing new wind and solar farms, among other things. Costs have soared in recent months as supply chains were put under pressure.” BusinessGreen notes that the MPs highlight “the lack of a coherent, overarching plan”, adding that the warning “echoed increasingly familiar warnings from across the green economy that the UK’s attractiveness for investment in clean technologies and low carbon infrastructure projects has ‘deteriorated’”. The outlet quotes Labour MP Darren Jones, chair of the BEIS committee, who accuses the government of taking a lacklustre approach to green investment and energy infrastructure policy which has “failed before and keeps failing”. Jones also says: “Without a coherent, overarching delivery plan, the government risks undermining the UK’s ability to generate, store and distribute the fossil fuel free electricity the country needs to hit net-zero. The UK is now competing with the US and Europe for investment. Government must urgently make us an attractive investment proposition again and ensure that the pool of capital and labour available for building low-carbon energy projects is not lost.” In a story trailed on its frontpage, the Daily Telegraph chooses to run with the headline: “Britain will be unable to keep the lights on with net-zero power, MPs warn.” It quotes energy minister Grant Shapps saying: “I don’t think we are going to miss it [the target] – there are challenges, grid connections is one of them. The grid connection problem is really a recognition of the fact that we have gone renewable so much faster than other countries.”

Meanwhile, in other UK news, the Times reports that “leaked documents show the government is considering having no legal requirement to ensure new energy projects that intend to use trees and crops as fuel do not harm the environment”. It continues: “Campaigners said relying on guidance for the sustainability of biomass, instead of legislation, risked the destruction of important forests and wildlife. This week Drax, the electricity generation business, marked the end of half a century of burning coal at its power station in Yorkshire as it completed a switchover to ‘sustainable biomass’. The plant now burns only wood pellets, primarily made from trees and forestry waste imported from the US and Canada, to supply up to 6% of the UK’s electricity. However, questions have been raised about the company’s sources after a BBC Panorama team tracked biomass used by Drax to clearance of an old forest in Canada. Energy regulator Ofgem has launched a probe into the firm’s compliance with sustainability rules, which are enshrined in legislation. Such existing schemes are covered by law. However, slides in a presentation by the Department for Energy Security and Net-Zero show that officials are considering making criteria for the biomass sustainability of new projects guidance rather than legally binding.”

Finally, the Guardian says new figures released by the House of Commons library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, show that “investment in clean energy and the low-carbon economy fell sharply in the UK last year, even as rival nations were increasing their firepower in the global green race”. It adds: “The UK’s investment in the energy transition fell by 10%, from $31bn to $28bn, from 2021 to 2022, while similar investment in the US rose by about 24% to $141bn, and in Germany by 17% to $55bn. Across the EU, investment in the energy transition away from fossil fuels rose by $26bn last year, to $180bn, in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” And several outlets, including the Daily Telegraph and Times, report comments made by veteran conservationist Dr Jane Goodall who says that climate protesters who block roads are “counterproductive”. The Press Association notes that Goodall says she is “hopeful” that human intelligence will help to “slow down climate change”. BBC News reports that “police in England and Wales are to be given new powers to tackle ‘disruptive’ slow walking used by protesters to block roads”. And the Guardian carries an “exclusive” about how WWF-UK analysis has found that “the UK government’s pledges on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farming and land use fall short of promises made in its net-zero strategy”.

Reuters reports that “An activist resolution urging BP to set tougher climate targets was rejected by shareholders on Thursday, although it enjoyed more support than last year after the energy company rowed back on plans to cut oil and gas output”. The newswire adds: “The resolution filed by activist group Follow This, which the board urged voters to oppose, won the support of 16.75% of votes at the annual general meeting, according to preliminary results. That compared with 14.9% last year but was below the 20.6% backing it received in 2021. The meeting in London was interrupted several times by climate protesters, with several being carried out by security.” The Financial Times says that “BP went head to head with investors and campaigners at its annual meeting, claiming that its strategy was aligned with the Paris climate agreement despite having slowed the pace at which it will reduce oil and gas output this decade”. BBC News reports that “some of the UK’s biggest pension funds have voted against reappointing BP’s chairman over a decision to weaken its climate plans, but the majority of shareholders backed Helge Lund”. 

China’s first renewable energy power base in the Gobi desert has been connected to the grid and begun generating power, according to its operator China Energy Investment Corporation, reports China Daily. With its 1 gigawatt (GW) installed capacity, the first phase of the solar and wind project located in the Tengger Desert in Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region is anticipated to produce 1.8 terawatts hours (TWh) a year, which is equal to 1.5m households’ demand of electricity annually, adds the state-run newspaper. 

Meanwhile, Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has delivered a video speech about the need for clean and affordable sustainable energy to address climate change, reports the Global Times. The state-run tabloid says Grossi praised China’s efforts to achieve its “dual carbon” targets, pointing out that, as the world’s largest energy consumer, China has made “significant strides” in low-carbon development, including the “active and orderly” development of nuclear energy. The Shanghai Security News, a Chinese financial news outlet, says that the “vigorous development” of nuclear energy is of “great significance” to the construction of a new type of energy system, quoting Yang Changli, chairman of the state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group, at a forum on Thursday. He told the forum that China’s nuclear capacity would need to reach 400GW by 2060 [up from 57GW today and more than the current global total] to help meet the country’s carbon neutrality goal, the outlet reports. Additionally, according to the China Nuclear Energy Association, the scale of China’s nuclear power plant under construction continues to be the world’s largest, reports the Shenzen Securities Times, citing a report by CCTV.

In other news, the Global Times writes that China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao has met with senior officials and business communities in Germany, “aiming to promote the implementation of bilateral economic and trade consensus, maintain the stability of industrial and supply chains, and boost cooperation in various fields”, including electric vehicles (EVs) and new energy. 

Elsewhere, Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Post says that two of the biggest participants in the world’s energy market, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, both have important roles to play in the energy transition. The two regions have a “unique opportunity” to combine their advantages and work together for a common goal: a low-carbon future, the article adds. The South China Morning Post writes that China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA) regulators are advancing several pilot schemes for decarbonisation projects that will “embrace international disclosure and verification standards and help foster a regional green-finance ecosystem”, according to the Hong Kong Green Finance Association.

Finally, the Associated Press says that Asia needs to quickly reduce fossil fuel subsidies and invest more into a clean energy transition to avoid catastrophic climate change that puts its own development at risk, according to a new research published by the Asian Development Bank. And the Times has an article headlined: “Putin works with Xi to freeze Nato out of Arctic riches.”

The leaders of France, Spain, Barbados and Sierra Leone are among those to back a new coalition which aims to accelerate the flow of climate-related finance to the world’s poorest countries, reports Reuters. The newswire adds: “The ‘Power Our Planet: Act Today. Save Tomorrow’ campaign led by non-profit group Global Citizen, said it was seeking to mobilise ordinary citizens to pressure leaders for a ‘seismic shift’ in the way the world’s financial system works, to help developing countries fight climate change and poverty. Co-chaired by the Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley, who has long championed reform of the global financial system that she has dubbed the Bridgetown Initiative, the coalition of developed and developing countries seeks ‘bold’ action…She called on leaders of wealthy countries to make good on delivering $16bn of climate finance they promised as part of a past pledge to mobilise $100bn a year, a key stumbling block at global climate talks.”

“One of the most important donors” of international climate financing, Germany, could decrease its spending this year, despite its pledge of a “strong” increase of €6bn for 2025, reports Table.Media. Even though climate finance is at the top of the agenda at this year’s 14th Petersberg Climate Dialogue, it is not yet clear whether German chancellor Olaf Scholz will address the topic of Germany’s plan to increase its contribution, says the outlet. It adds that, in 2021, Germany spent about €5.34bn on international climate action, taking the money mainly from the budget of the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). However, notes the outlets, the BMZ budget will only reach €10.7bn in 2024, according to the current budget plans, which leaves about €4.6bn for Germany’s climate finance spending. A comment piece in Table.Media says that Olaf Scholz has “so far eroded Germany’s climate policy credibility with his policies” and “Petersberg offers him the opportunity to make amends”.

Meanwhile, Der Spiegel reports that there is disagreement within the German government coalition about the takeover of the domestic heat-pump producer Viessmann by a US company. Olaf Scholz sees the sale as “good news”, while the reaction of the Free Democrats (FDP) “sounded completely different”, notes the newspaper. It quotes the FDP’s general secretary, Bijan Djir-Sarai, saying to the Handelsblatt newspaper that vice-chancellor Robert Habeck’s “hasty and complicated heating transition” is “having a negative impact” on the German economy, referring to the recent ban on the future installation of oil and gas boilers. However, Habeck says that the government’s “energy and heat transition” measures have set the course for “great value and growth”, reports Deutsche Welle. In addition, Bloomberg reports that FDP’s leader and German finance minister, Christian Lindner, has criticised the revised EU buildings directive. In an interview with WirtschaftsWoche, Lindner states: “If the efficiency standards currently being considered had to be implemented, this would mean many billions of euros in additional costs for Germany within a few years…I don’t think further increases are necessary for climate policy or economically viable.”

Elsewhere, Bloomberg reports that “Germany plans to at least double its import capacities for liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen to prepare for the risk that a key pipeline from Norway could be interrupted by acts of sabotage” similar to the explosions that rendered the Nord Stream links inoperable last year. The outlet notes that Norway has become the country’s largest gas supplier, accounting for about a third of Germany’s imports by the end of last year. 

Finally, Manager Magazin reports that as a response to Russian assets being seized abroad, the Russian government has taken control of Russian branches of the German energy supplier Uniper, according to a decree signed by president Vladimir Putin.

Writing in London’s Evening Standard, author Ben Judah asks “where does Britain fit in with [the] green world order?” He answers his own question: “London is playing catch-up when it comes to all of this. The truth is that Biden’s re-election, cementing his green bloc, will do as much to define this as whatever is done in Whitehall. In fact, he’s already seeking a mineral deal with the UK. But it will still lack a clear strategy of where the country will sit in the global factory of green supply lines of tomorrow. Biden knows full well that going green is a cut-throat business. Does Britain?” The Economist, which carries an interview with Labour leader Keir Starmer, carries an accompanying article headlined: “Labour’s green industrial policy will not cure Britain’s economic ills.” It says: “Fighting climate change has not held Britain back but it has not unleashed its economy either. The Labour Party hopes to change this. If it wins the next election it has pledged to invest £28bn ($35bn; 1.3% of GDP) of public money a year into the green transition, if the fiscal rules allow it…Ominously, Ed Miliband, the shadow environment secretary, casts the spending as Britain’s answer to the Inflation Reduction Act in America…Britain will struggle to compete with America directly to attract investment. It has neither the existing manufacturing base nor the ability to offer larger subsidies…Manufacturing jobs are an expensive use of green funds…Labour’s moon-shot mission to decarbonise the energy grid by 2030 is more promising. It would accelerate current government aims by five years. That is ambitious but doable…Reducing the need for expensive natural gas would help the British economy. It would also create opportunities to find productive uses for energy during periods of overabundant wind and sunshine. The best green industrial policy may be a well-designed energy policy.”

Relatedly, BusinessGreen carries a comment piece by Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath. She writes: “The UK inevitably finds itself at a critical juncture. To the west, the US conjured up its biggest ever investment in energy and climate technology. To the east, Europe has responded with its own green industrial policy proposal. While we have yet to see the results, one thing is clear. Without a comprehensive and cohesive strategy, the UK will miss this window of opportunity to reinforce our market presence.” Meanwhile, right-leaning newspapers continue to attack climate action and those who advocate for it. The Daily Mail’s Richard Littlejohn goes once more after the “headbangers” and “anarchists” and the Daily Telegraph runs a comment piece under the headline: “Net-zero has exposed the shocking neglect of rural Britain.”

The New York Times has a feature about farmers in Malawi who are “adapting creatively to the climate crisis”. It begins: “When it comes to growing food, some of the smallest farmers in the world are becoming some of the most creative farmers in the world. Like Judith Harry and her neighbours, they are sowing pigeon peas to shade their soils from a hotter, more scorching sun. They are planting vetiver grass to keep floodwaters at bay. They are resurrecting old crops, like finger millet and forgotten yams, and planting trees that naturally fertilise the soil. A few are turning away from one legacy of European colonialism, the practice of planting rows and rows of maize, or corn, and saturating the fields with chemical fertilisers…It’s not just Ms. Harry and her neighbours in Malawi, a largely agrarian nation of 19 million on the front lines of climate hazards. Their scrappy, throw-everything-at-the-wall array of innovations is multiplied by small subsistence farmers elsewhere in the world. This is out of necessity. It’s because they rely on the weather to feed themselves, and the weather has been upended by 150 years of greenhouse gas emissions produced mainly by the industrialised countries of the world.”

In other comment, BloombergNEF carries an article by senior contributor Michael Liebreich which is headlined: “The next half-trillion-dollar market – electrification of heat.” He writes: “Within a decade, the electrification of industrial and space heating, intertwined with the cooling and refrigeration sectors and deeply integrated into the electrical grid and power markets, will emerge as the next half-trillion-dollar clean energy investment opportunity. At that point, I would expect the total annual investment in the net-zero transition to have reached around $2.5 trillion. As the saying goes: ‘half a trillion here, half a trillion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.’” And the Guardian has a comment piece by Suzi Kerr, chief economist of the Environmental Defense Fund, about why the “climate crisis is raising your grocery bills”.

A new study suggests that human-driven ocean warming is causing “significant changes” to the ocean’s so-called “twilight zone”, the part of the ocean with extremely low levels of light. Researchers use plankton data across tens of millions of years to determine how temperature changes in the ocean affect plankton populations, then use climate modelling to show what might happen under future warming scenarios. They find that warmer periods in Earth’s history are associated with “less abundant and diverse” plankton in the twilight zone. They conclude that “without strong emissions mitigation, widespread ecological disruption in the twilight zone is likely by 2100, with effects spanning millennia thereafter”.

Warming temperatures will increase the potential for Zika epidemics in Brazil by mid-century, according to new research. Using historical temperature data and projections for temperatures across several warming scenarios, researchers predict the basic reproduction number – R0, which is a measure of epidemic potential – for the Zika virus in four Brazilian cities. They find that under every warming scenario, epidemic potential increases and transmission seasons lengthen. The scientists recommend that “surveillance systems should be implemented and sustained for early detection” of outbreaks.