More than 34 million people across the US are preparing for “a record-setting heatwave” with “days of potentially life-threatening temperatures”, the Guardian reports. It continues: “Parts of California, the Great Basin and the south-west are forecast to break daily-high temperature records on Thursday and Friday, as Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona, hit 110F [43C] for the first time this year.” The Washington Post notes that more than 30 million people are under alerts for “dangerously hot temperatures”, adding that temperatures are forecast to reach 15-20F (8-117C) above normal. Agence France-Presse reports that the extreme heat is due to “an oppressive high-pressure weather system smothering the region”. CNN says that multiple people across the US have died due to heat-related illness since last weekend. It adds: “More than a dozen daily high temperature records fell earlier this week in the West as the heat dome strengthened. A few dozen more could be broken through the weekend.” subsidies that keep them in business through disasters. As temperatures rise, so will costs.” Le Monde says: “New record highs Thursday included 113F (45C) in Phoenix, breaking the old mark of 111F (44C) set in 2016, and 111F (44C) in Las Vegas, topping the 110F (43C) last reached in 2010.” The New York Times has published maps showing temperatures in the US over the coming week. Gavin Maguire – Reuters global energy transition columnist – writes that California is “set to crank gas power and emissions to keep cool”. And Inside Climate News reports that the costs of drought in Texas have risen from $251m (£196m) per year in the 2000s to $1.1bn (£0.86bn) per year in the 2020s. This is more than twice the rate of inflation, the outlet notes. It adds: “Those numbers represent farmers’ lost harvests as well as the publicly-funded premium.

Meanwhile, BBC News reports that 11 people who were waiting to enter a Donald Trump rally in Arizona were hospitalised due to the heat. Forbes says: “At least one woman waiting in line had already collapsed by 10:30am, when the heat was just below 100F.” The Independent and the MailOnline also cover the story. The heatwave comes as a separate Independent article reports that Trump “downplayed the threat of the climate crisis in his latest interview with Fox News, insisting that international unrest and the danger of nuclear war are of far greater concern”. 

In continuing US news, the Guardian says that “an 11th-hour decision to halt a plan to charge a fee for cars entering the heart of New York City has provoked outrage from environmental advocates and Democratic lawmakers, potentially scuppering hopes of congestion pricing taking hold in any US city in the near future”. The newspaper says that New York City was set to be the first American city to set a daily congestion charge. This decision was due to come into effect on 30 June to tackle air pollution, limit emissions and raise funding for the city’s transport system. However, on Wednesday, New York’s governor announced an indefinite pause to the system, citing “concerns over the plan’s cost to low-income people”. Elsewhere, Reuters reports that “New York’s electric grid will face supply shortfalls if the rate of retiring old fossil fired power plants continues to quickly outpace the addition of clean new energy supply at the same time demand rises”. Finally, Reuters reports that “a two-year US tariff holiday on solar panels from south-east Asia expires on Thursday, starting the clock ticking for American project developers to use the huge amount of equipment they stockpiled duty-free over that period by the end of this year”. 

Developing countries at the intersessional climate talks in Bonn have argued that wealthy governments could raise billions of dollars in climate finance every year, by measures including raising taxes on fashion and technology companies, Climate Home News reports. The outlet says: “An unpublished position paper by the G77+China, seen by Climate Home, maintains that rich countries would ‘only’ need to spend 0.8% of their GDP per year to raise $441bn [£345bn]. That would mobilise enough private finance to reach $1.1tn [£0.86tn] a year, it adds. It notes that 0.8% of GDP is much less than the 6.9% of GDP developing countries currently spend paying interest on their debt.” According to the report, $57bn (£45bn) per year could be raised from a 5% tax on the annual sales of the top seven technology firms including Amazon, Apple and Google. An additional $34bn (£27bn) a year could come from a 5% tax on the annual sales of the roughly 80 top fashion firms in developed countries, including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Nike, it says. And $21bn (£16bn) per year could come from a 5% tax on the annual sales of the top 80 defence firms in developed countries, the outlet says. It adds: “Referring to the document in talks on the new finance goal yesterday, Saudi Arabia’s negotiator justified a tax on arms manufacturers by saying that military emissions of planet-heating gases represent 5% of global historical emissions.”

The risk of blackouts in Britain will be lower this winter than last, as a result of new gas generation capacity and greater electricity imports from Europe, the Times reports. It continues: “Electricity supply margins are expected to increase to 9.4% this winter, up from 7.4% last year, under the ‘base case’ scenario of National Grid’s Electricity System Operator (ESO).” The newspaper adds that average household bills are expected to fall to their lowest level in more than two years from July. Reuters says: “The opening of a new power link with Denmark, new gas-fired power plants and more batteries on the system had all increased the likely amount of power available”. Bloomberg notes that the average demand during peak cold spells is expected to reach 59.8 gigawatts, compared with 60.3 gigawatts in last year’s outlook. The Daily Telegraph reports that the UK “will be more reliant than ever on imported power to keep the lights on this winter”, relying on imported energy from France to “plug gaps during bad weather”. The outlet adds: “The imminent closure of the giant Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station will also make this Britain’s first winter without any backup coal-fired generation. ESO’s winter outlook early view says that despite such risks the UK is very unlikely to face power blackouts or other serious shortages, but this is only because of its growing capacity to import power from other countries via subsea cables.” The Independent also covers the story. Separately, Reuters reports that “the resumption on Friday of Norwegian gas exports to Britain via the Langeled pipeline will progress at a faster pace than initially planned”. 

In other UK news, DeSmog reports that Graham Stringer – director of the climate-sceptic thinktank the Global Warming Policy Foundation – was reselected as the Labour party’s candidate for Blackley and Broughton in Greater Manchester. The outlet says: “Stringer has vocally questioned climate science and policies to achieve net-zero emissions…Stringer also planned to join Reform UK’s Nigel Farage and Richard Tice for their launch of a net- zero referendum campaign in 2022 (though he later pulled out of the event).” Elsewhere, the Independent reports that more than one-third of home insurance flood claims in the UK happen between June and August. BBC News reports that “a coalition of more than 80 nature conservation groups is launching a legal bid to force whichever party is in power next month to improve government targets on tackling wildlife decline in England”. 

In Scotland, the Independent reports that “Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie has said he is ‘really sorry’ to see his predecessor campaigning for Labour in the general election”. Separately, the outlet says that Katy Forbes – deputy first minister for the SNP – has argued that her government was never against granting new oil and gas licences in the North Sea. And an Independent article factchecks Forbes’ statement that “last year over 100% of [Scotland’s] electricity needs came from renewables because of what the SNP has been doing”. The paper says: “That’s true in a way, but it might mislead some people into thinking that Scotland doesn’t use any fossil fuels for electricity. It does. Scotland does generate more renewable electricity than all the electricity it uses, but much of that renewable power is exported. Scotland still gets about a third of the electricity it actually consumes from fossil fuels and nuclear.”

Politico reports on an exit poll for the EU elections in the Netherlands, which suggests that the Labour-Green alliance will win with eight seats – narrowly beating the Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders’ party, which is projected to receive seven seats. The outlet says that Wilders party has made “big gains” in the election. It adds: “Although not final, the Dutch result is seen as a barometer of what might await the bloc next. The far right is expected to notch up big wins in France and Italy and could well come second in Germany…Despite the left’s cheers after a nerve-wracking day, the exit poll results are a confirmation of a predicted far-right surge, which could impact areas such as asylum and migration, as well as climate policy.” EurActiv also covers the results of the exit poll. 

Separately, Politico says that France’s Green party is set to face the worst EU election result in 30 years, and could “find itself out of Brussels altogether”. However, the outlet says that “their loss could be Ursula von der Leyen’s gain”. It continues: “The European Greens have opened the door to a potential alliance with von der Leyen if she doesn’t team up with the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), but French Greens politicians say von der Leyen is already too conservative for their taste…Without the French Greens, the Greens group in the Parliament would likely be dominated by Germany’s Grünen, who are more comfortable than their French counterparts in embracing this new political reality. That could play in von der Leyen’s favour.” The New York Times reports that “after years of political consensus on the transition to cleaner energy, a ‘greenlash’ appears to be building as prices rise and right-wing candidates gain ground”. The Press Association reports that migration, climate and farming will be key factors in Ireland’s voting, which begins today. Separately, DeSmog reports that according to new analysis, “politicians have used their significant online platforms to spread misinformation on food and farming ahead of the EU elections”. The outlet “identified six MEP candidates who regularly used false narratives on food, farming and climate to win over voters”.

Elsewhere, the Financial Times reports that most EU countries are pushing to water down new rules aimed at preventing greenwashing. The paper continues: “The EU’s Green Deal, aimed at reaching net zero emissions by 2050, has been a heated campaign issue, with parties on the right blaming the legislation for contributing to the region’s industrial decline and laying a heavy bureaucratic burden on companies. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who proposed the climate legislation in 2020 after a groundswell of support for Green parties in the 2019 election, has backtracked on several critical planks in a bid to gain support from more conservative groups in the lead-up to the voting. After the weakening of rules on packaging waste and environmental due diligence during the legislative process, member states are now aiming to soften the green claims directive, according to a document outlining the changes and seen by the Financial Times. The rules on environmental claims, proposed in March 2023 as part of the Green Deal, were designed to prevent companies making false claims about their eco-credentials…But complaints that verification process would overload companies already facing stricter environmental reporting and tighter rules on pollution and waste, with untenable amounts of paperwork, have prompted a row back. The EU’s member states have instead introduced a “simplified procedure” during their assessment of the law. Only four countries, including Germany and Austria, have not backed the loosening of the rules.”

Bloomberg reports that China is “ramping up investments in grid infrastructure” to manage a “record-setting boom in renewables”, particularly in solar, overwhelming electricity networks. The newswire quotes China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) saying it plans to complete 37 major power lines and begin another 33 by the end of 2024. The Chinese government has launched a survey on wind and solar power sites in six provinces, energy newspaper International Energy Net says, to better understand the impacts of the country’s renewables buildout. China installed the world’s first 18 megawatt semi-direct drive offshore wind turbine, state news agency Xinhua reports. Chinese finance outlet Securities Daily says that two Chinese-made commercial aircraft have completed their first test flights with sustainable aviation fuel.

Separately, Xinhua interviews former EU commissioner for transport, Voileta Bulc, who called for “new models of collaboration” between the EU and China, adding that tariffs on electric vehicles would “hinder Europe’s ability to deliver on the green agenda…where Europe and China should be leading the way instead”. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers want the US government to ban imports from CATL and Gotion, “leading Chinese battery companies with ties to Ford Motor and Volkswagen”, the Wall Street Journal reports. CATL “has become the top recipient of state subsidies among all mainland listed companies”, Nikkei Asia reports. Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called reporting that Power To Siberia 2 pipeline negotiations had stalled due to pricing disputes “malicious speculation”, adding that “it is normal to talk a little longer” when navigating complex negotiations, according to China Energy Network. 

Chinese news outlet Energy Magazine publishes a commentary underscoring the importance of climate cooperation with the US and Europe, as well as the importance of “promoting the transformation and upgrading of the domestic economy”. Bloomberg columnist David Fickling says in an interview that, even with “China’s solar troubles” and the closure of their south-east Asia facilities, “the world has barely enough renewables” – despite concerns around overcapacity. A commentary in Nikkei Asia says China is the “main benefactor of the West’s energy transition policies”. 

Elsewhere, the Ministry of Emergency Management says natural disasters – particularly rainfall and floods in southern China – caused direct economic losses in May of 3.2bn yuan (£0.35bn) and affected 4.5m people, Jiemian reports. May saw average absolute temperatures nationwide reaching 17.7C, the highest for this period since 1961, according to the National Climate Centre, state-run newspaper China Daily reports.

Germany’s opposition coalition, which comprises the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), has called for an inquiry into how the economy minister Robert Habeck, who is also a part of the Green party, reached a decision in 2022 “that nuclear power in Germany was dispensable despite the energy crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine”, reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). “The information available to us suggests that the federal government, in a crucial matter of our national energy security, did not decide in the interest of Germany, but exclusively according to the logic of Green party politics,” wrote union leader Friedrich Merz in a letter to the 195 members of his faction, says FAZ. Merz added that, next week, the faction plans to decide on the parliamentary inquiry in the lower house of parliament, Bundestag. Der Spiegel details that the committee of inquiry would aim to clarify shortcomings and misconduct by the government and administration. This particular inquiry, named the “Habeck files” by the CDU/CSU, appears “primarily political, leading to the 2025 federal election campaign”, notes the newspaper.

Meanwhile, experts say the recent extreme floods in southern Germany were a result of heavy rainfall caused by a specific weather phenomenon known as the “Vb weather condition”, reports Die Welt. This involves a low-pressure system forming over the Mediterranean and being guided eastward around the Alps, resulting in intense rainfall, particularly around the German city of Augsburg. 

Finally, Die Zeit reports that the Bundestag has approved a law to fast-track approvals for industrial facilities like wind turbines and solar power plants in Germany. Spearheaded by SPD member Daniel Rinkert, the amendment aims to streamline processes and leverage digitisation to shorten approval timelines by an average of around 10 months, notes the outlet.

Said Skounti – a researcher at the IMAL Initiative for Climate and Development based in Morocco – argues that Morocco’s nomadic Amazigh tribes deserve support under the new climate finance goal being discussed at the Bonn intersessional talks. Skounti writes that the Amazighs are “the oldest known inhabitants of northern Africa”, but says that “their ancestral lifestyle is threatened by climate change”. He adds: “The story is personal to me, as I am from this region, and these are my people. My father was a nomad but was forced to give up nomadic life and settle in a village due to drought in the early 1980s.” Skounti writes that the frequency of droughts in Morocco has increased fivefold, forcing families to give up their nomadic lifestyles. He adds: “Many nomads are forced to go into debt to feed their livestock, their main source of income, which worsens their situation.” He concludes: “[T]he new UN Loss and Damage Fund has only received $725m [£567m] in pledges. We need a sub-goal for loss and damage in the New Collective Quantified Goal (‘NCQG’) on climate finance, to be debated over the coming days at the mid-year UN climate negotiations in Bonn and the agreed at COP29 in Baku. It is immoral for developed countries to be blocking such a sub-goal. It is outrageous that nomads and frontline communities should be left to fend for themselves and see their ancestral lifestyles, identities and cultures eroded, while some wealthy nations prosper from investment in fossil fuels and find public finance for their own purposes but not for climate finance. We refuse to be collateral damage in a game of power and profit.”

Elsewhere, Dr Priya Rajasekar – a programme manager at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership – has penned a comment piece in Reuters arguing that “despite extreme heat, climate change barely rated a mention in India’s elections”. She says: “In the run-up to the elections, the demand for climate action as a deal-breaker between candidate and electorate was conspicuous by its absence.” The Financial Times Lex column says that as heatwaves grip the Middle East and south-east Asia, power companies will “have a busy year ahead”. He adds: “One immediate sign of extreme weather to come is falling levels of onshore fuel oil stockpiles…Supplies to Asia have already been hit as demand in the Middle East, experiencing higher temperatures, has been rising earlier than expected. South Asia has also been importing large amounts of fuel oil for power generation as temperatures rise.” And John Kemp – a senior market analyst specialising in oil and energy systems – writes in Reuters that US oil and gas production show signs of flattening. 

Elsewhere, John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times, writes that artificial intelligence is “a green curse as well as a blessing”. He says that AI could help to tackle climate change – for example, by helping to run smarter electricity grids or designing more efficient electric vehicles. However, he also says that “the data centres that host the latest AI models consume shocking amounts of energy and water”. Dulani Jayasuriya – a lecturer at the University of Auckland – writes in the Conversation that “cryptocurrencies use massive amounts of power – but eco-friendly alternatives come with their own risks”. Jayasuriya explains that “green cryptocurrencies” use a less energy-intensive process known as “proof of stake”, but notes concerns over “security, network integrity and accessibility”. Llewellyn Leonard – a professor of environmental science at the University of South Africa – writes in the Conversation: “The sale of the South African Petroleum Refinery (Sapref), jointly owned by multinational energy companies BP and Shell, to the state-owned Central Energy Fund for R1 (five US cents) raises questions about whether the company is evading its social and environmental liabilities.” Angelo Carlino, Andrea Castelletti and Rafael Schmitt – from Carnegie Science, the polytechnic University of Milan and Stanford University respectively – have penned a comment piece in the Conversation. They outline their research, which suggests that more investment into wind and solar power in Africa can mitigate the damage that hydropower causes to river systems across the continent. And five academics from Australian universities write in the Conversation that a renewable energy transition that doesn’t harm nature is “not just possible, it’s essential”.

The Guardian’s financial editor, Nils Pratley, writes that Labour’s proposed publicly owned energy company – Great British Energy – “scores well with voters”. However, he says that Labour “would be wise to temper expectations about what GB Energy can achieve, and when”. He continues: “Keir Starmer’s claim this week that the operation will be ‘taking control of our energy supply to bring down bills’ requires several gigawatts-worth of context…Eventually, we trust, there will come a cross-over point when more electricity from wind, solar and nuclear sources reduces costs for consumers, but it probably won’t be reached during the life of the next parliament. In any case, the outcome will be dictated for a while yet by the price of natural gas.” However, Pratley says that the focus on local projects, “deserves a full-throated cheer”, noting that £3.3bn of the £8.3bn allocated to the project will be given to small solar and onshore wind projects by lending to local authorities. He calls GB energy a “nice-to-have supplement”, but says that the £8.3bn “is not gamechanging money when a single high-voltage subsea and underground cable to bring electricity from Aberdeenshire to North Yorkshire can cost £3.4bn”. He concludes: “If an incoming Labour government achieves its ambitious target of decarbonising the power grid by 2030, it won’t be because GB Energy has ridden to the rescue. Rather, it will be because ministers have succeeded in clearing the planning obstacles that litter the system. That remains the big job.”

More frequent and intense tropical cyclones risk the survival of seabirds on a small island off the western coast of Australia, according to a new study. Researchers find that 80-90% of “important populations” of three seabird species were killed in Cyclone Ilsa, a storm that caused “extensive damage” to Bedout Island in April 2023. Using surveys and modelling, the study estimates the total mortality of seabirds between 17 April and 21 July 2023. The study says that the “frequency and intensity” of cyclones, which now hit the island approximately every seven years, is “likely approaching a threshold beyond which Bedout’s seabirds cannot readily recover”.