The UN climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany – which closed yesterday evening – were marked by “polarised views and sharp disagreements on key issues”, the Hindustan Times reports. The newspaper explains that the talks were “expected to define the contours of discussion” that will take place at the larger COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, later this year. However, UN climate chief Simon Stiell said that nations had been left with “a very steep mountain to climb” ahead of Baku, according to Agence France-Presse. It notes that “chief among” these issues is the question of a new global goal for climate finance, with nations disagreeing about how “wealthy nations should fund clean energy and climate adaptation measures in the developing world”. The new post-2025 target, which will replace the existing $100bn annual goal, ran into “roadblocks” over the course of the 10-day talks, the news outlet explains. These included “how much should be raised, who should pay and receive it and what form this money should take”, it adds. All countries are due to update their national climate targets under the Paris Agreement next year, and Reuters says negotiators fear that failure to deliver on a new climate-finance goal to support this “could lead to weaker efforts”. India and the Arab Group of nations have said the new finance target should exceed $1tn per year, while neither the EU nor the US have proposed a number for the goal, the newswire explains. Citing unnamed diplomats, it notes that “the elephant in the negotiation rooms…was the upcoming US presidential election, in which Donald Trump is seeking to return to office”. The article adds that last time Trump was in power, he pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement – suggesting there is a chance that the US would not contribute to future climate finance. 

Reporting from the sidelines of the talks, Climate Home News says that the so-called “troika” of COP presidencies – the UAE, Azerbaijan and Brazil – have committed to launching climate plans aligned with 1.5C and are encouraging other nations to do the same. It notes that the nations were “unclear” about what would be required for a plan that aligns with the more ambitious part of the Paris Agreement’s long-term goal. The article explains that all three nations “are oil and gas producers with no plans to stop producing or exporting their fossil fuels”. Meanwhile, Politico reports that a “fossil fuel levy” to raise climate funds, which the Azerbaijani COP29 presidency was reportedly working on, may end up not being a levy at all, and would not target fossil fuels specifically.

The UK Labour party has released its manifesto, which says it will deliver a “green prosperity plan” to invest in the climate transition – creating 650,000 green jobs, cutting bills and securing the nation’s energy independence, according to the Press Association. The document confirms various plans already announced by Labour, including its commitment to investing £8.3bn in the publicly owned Great British Energy company, which will invest in low-carbon energy. It also confirms that Labour will not issue new oil and gas licences for the North Sea, the article adds. BusinessGreen says the manifesto confirms “sweeping plans to establish the UK as a ‘clean energy superpower’”. Among the measures outlined in the plan are pledges to “double onshore wind, triple solar power and quadruple offshore wind by 2030″, it adds. According to the news outlet, these goals will be enabled through a new Energy Independence Act, which will use a combination of “planning reforms, an accelerated grid connection regime, the new £8.3bn GB Energy venture and private sector investment” to drive change. According to Edie, the manifesto “makes clear that scaling priority low-carbon industries is one of Labour’s major economic growth drivers”. It includes plans to spend £7.3bn over the next parliament on steelmaking, gigafactories to produce electric vehicle batteries, decarbonising ports, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and green hydrogen, the article continues. Nevertheless, the article says Labour leader Keir Starmer was “accused by journalists of being overly cautious with the manifesto, which contains little in the way of policy interventions that have not already been publicly announced”. In response, the leader said he did not want to commit to things without a clear funding plan, it notes. reNEWS says Labour has also stuck with its target to achieve a net-zero power supply by 2030. In total, BBC News says Labour is setting aside £23.7bn for “green measures” during the next parliament – more than the additional spend on health or education. Within this, it says there will be an extra £1.1bn a year to help improve the energy efficiency of the UK’s housing stock. According to another Press Association article, this will partly be funded by borrowing an extra £3.5bn a year – a figure within the party’s self-imposed “fiscal rules”. Yet another Press Association article says Labour has confirmed that it will reinstate the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars, which last year was delayed to 2035 by the Conservative government.

In more UK political news, the Ecologist reports on a “farewell speech” given by outgoing Green MP Caroline Lucas in which she said that the environmental movement should be more radical in their approach. “The current political rules are an obstacle to securing a liveable future, and until the rulebook is torn up, we must all be alert to the possibility that, rather than being the agents for real change, we are colluding in maintaining the status quo,” she told the audience. An article in the Associated Press says the Green party “faces a struggle to be heard” in an election where climate “often comes well behind everyday issues like housing costs or healthcare waiting lists” in people’s priority lists.

Severe drought has prompted the Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management to activate a level-4 “emergency response” and deploy “emergency relief task forces” to central China, home to about 4 million people, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. The outlet adds that the rainfall in the region has dropped 50% and the “increased” global warming is a reason behind. The agriculture ministry has also sent work groups to offer guidance to farmers tackling the drought, Reuters reports. 

Meanwhile, China’s foreign ministry continues to lash out at EU tariffs on China-made “new energy” vehicles (NEVs), state news agency Xinhua reports. (Read more on China’s reaction in yesterday’s Daily Briefing.) An analysis carried by Bloomberg notes that the tariff hike will not only keep prices higher for longer, but also “act as a deterrent to [NEV] sales”. Another Bloomberg analysis argues that China’s NEV makers have high enough profit margins to absorb some of the tariff hit. Nikkei Asia’s analysis says that the EU made up 45% of China’s total EV shipments in 2023. The tariffs may put pressure on Chinese EV sales in the near term, but Chinese cars are expected to “remain competitive against local producers”. A Xinhua commentary notes that “subsidies in some EU sectors were found to be higher than those in China”. A Global Times editorial also accuses the bloc of choosing to “surrender to protectionism when faced with facts, rules, and morality”. At a press conference, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology pledged to “optimise its massive capacity while continuing to refute” the “overcapacity” claims from the west, the SCMP reports. In a signal of an impending retaliation, China’s commerce ministry spokesperson, He Yadong, was quoted by Reuters saying Chinese firms “reserve the right” to request anti-dumping investigations into Europe’s dairy and pork imports. 

Elsewhere, the passing of a Republican-sponsored bill barring the US Department of Homeland Security from sourcing China-made batteries has exposed a rift among lawmakers, SCMP reports. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian has urged the US to “revoke its illegal unilateral sanctions against Chinese companies” after the US added three more companies into its sanctions list over their alleged links to forced labours in Xinjiang, Xinhua says. Financial news portal Caixin carries an analysis on China lowering its “key renewable target” at a local level.

Finally, China’s solar module exports grew 20% year-on-year to 83.3 gigawatts for the months of January-April 2024, energy news outlet China Energy Network states. The “green energy” trading volume in the first five months of the year also reached 187.1 terawatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 327%, another China Energy Network article says.

In the recent European Parliament elections, there has been a “sharp” increase in youth support for climate-sceptic far-right parties, combined with a decline in support for the pro-climate Greens party, reports Deutsche Welle. It notes that “the anti-immigrant and eurosceptic” Alternative for Germany (AfD) party emerged from the elections with the second-largest German representation in Europe. The outlet says that 16% of all young voters aged 16 to 24 voted for AfD, around three times as many as five years ago, while only 11% of this cohort voted for the Greens, who are part of Germany’s ruling federal coalition, marking a 23% reduction compared to the last election in 2019. The newspaper explains that the reason for this could be the prioritisation of security and migration over climate and the environment, according to Matthias Jung, a researcher from the German election research institute Forschungsgruppe Wahlen. In addition, Table.Media quotes Franziska Schubert, Green party leader in Saxony, saying that for the ongoing German state elections, “social issues that come with uncertainties in times of crises” should be solved, noting that “climate money is not enough for that”. 

Meanwhile, Berliner Zeitung reports that Germany and Chile are strengthening their cooperation in energy and resource policies, with Germany counting on lithium and copper from Chile for electromobility and electrification. The outlet notes that Chile is a part of the “lithium triangle” with Argentina and Bolivia, a region which holds 57% of global reserves crucial for energy transition. 

Finally, Bloomberg reports that German energy conglomerate Siemens Energy plans to produce a wind turbine with a capacity of around 21 megawatts (MW) by the end of the decade, “overpowering the biggest machines offered by Chinese competitors”. This would make it about 40% more powerful than the company’s current largest turbine, which has rotor blades 115 metres long, the outlet notes. 

There are many responses in UK newspapers to the launch of Labour’s manifesto, with some mentioning the party’s plans for energy and climate. In its editorial, the Times says there are spending promises that Labour “cannot truly reconcile” with its pledges not to increase taxes or borrow too much money. It notes that while “a windfall tax on oil and gas giants” will help fund the party’s “green prosperity plan”, it “will still require £17.5bn of borrowing”. In an editorial titled, “Labour’s manifesto plan is to rebuild Britain after 14 years of Tory destruction”, the Daily Mirror says that, under Labour’s plans, “struggling families will get help with energy bills”. The Guardian’s calls Labour’s manifesto rollout “optimistic and professional”. While it does not explicitly mention any of the party’s climate or energy policies, it says: “Wealth creation is the number one priority…and growth must be Britain’s core business. Sixteen years after the financial crisis began sending real incomes and public services into reverse, many will agree. In a climate crisis, however, these are not uncontroversial goals.”

The UK’s right-leaning newspapers are united in opposition to Labour and its proposed energy and climate policies. The Daily Telegraph questions the “credibility” of the plan, adding that there is “nothing in the manifesto about what happens if the revenues from extra taxes on non-doms, schools and energy companies are insufficient”. It is sceptical that Labour’s new state-owned clean energy company would lower energy prices, as promised, “even as the oil and gas giants are pushed out of the market by even higher windfall taxes”. The Sun says Labour “will be no friend to drivers”, describing its move to reinstate the Conservatives’ original goal of banning new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030 as “part of a misguided rush to net-zero”. In its editorial, the Daily Mail says Labour’s plan to “accelerate the dash to net-zero” would “hit ordinary people in their pockets and make Britain reliant on foreign regimes for oil and gas”.

Climate-sceptic columnist Allison Pearson dismisses Labour’s commitment to net-zero as “self-harming pottiness” in the Daily Telegraph. Columnist Stephen Glover says Labour’s expanded windfall tax on the oil and gas sector might “kill new drilling and send energy jobs offshore to cheaper venues” in the Daily Mail. Climate-sceptic columnist Ross Clark also dismisses the plans for the UK’s fossil-fuel industry, writing in the Daily Express that they will “make Britain more dependent on energy imports, worsening our balance of payments and acting as a drag anchor on the whole economy”.

Guardian columnist George Monbiot has a somewhat more positive take on the plans, writing that there are some “strong green policies in Labour’s manifesto”. He points, in particular, to proposals to ban new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, boost public transport and improve the energy efficiency of five million homes. “Unfortunately, these are counteracted by some powerful anti-green policies,” he writes. Monbiot highlights plans to sustain existing oil and gas production and focus on “snake oil remedies”, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and sustainable aviation fuels. In LabourList, Melanie Brusseler and Mathew Lawrence from the thinktank Common Wealth write about Labour’s proposed publicly owned Great British Energy company. They conclude: “GB Energy has systemic potential and should be welcomed. But today must be only the first step, albeit a positive one. The challenge is to ensure it is designed and scales up in a way that can truly deliver the benefits.”

The local extinction of polar bears in western and southern Hudson Bay in north-eastern Canada “may already be inevitable” because of declining ice cover, a new study warns. Using CMIP6 climate models, updated projections of the annual ice-free period in the region “indicate a more spatially detailed and alarming outlook for polar bear survival”. A lengthening ice-free period “presents a significant challenge for polar bears, as it restricts their hunting opportunities for seals and their ability to accumulate the necessary body weight for successful reproduction”, the authors say. The study notes that limiting global warming to 2C “may prevent the ice-free period from exceeding 183 days” in the region, “providing some optimism for adult polar bear survival”.

A new study finds that marine heatwaves are significant drivers of the global decline in “foundational” marine species – those that form habitat, such as kelp and corals. Studying more than 1,300 shallow coastal areas around the world, researchers examine the impact of marine heatwaves on these critical ecosystems. They find that, in much of the world, summertime heatwaves contribute to the decline of foundational species, but in some types of ecosystems, foundational species are not affected. They add: “Cumulative marine heatwave intensity, absolute temperature, and location within a species’ range are key factors mediating impacts.”