China’s state council has released a “work plan” for establishing a “dual-control” system for carbon emissions – covering emissions per unit of GDP and the absolute emissions total – with the aim “to help it achieve its goal of reaching a peak in the emissions of the climate-warming gases by 2030”, reports Reuters. The newswire adds the system “will come into force during the 2026-2030 five-year plan period. Over that time [carbon] intensity will remain the main measure, but total emissions controls will supplement it and the focus will shift to emission controls thereafter.” It also says: “Carbon budgets will be created by China’s provinces and municipalities and the budgeting system will be tested before the end of 2025, the cabinet said in a statement.” Chinese state news agency Xinhua says the new carbon “dual control” system will have three phases. It explains that the first phase, by 2025, will see improved reporting and accounting for emissions. It adds that the second phase from 2026-2030 will see an emissions limit set as a supplementary target, with this becoming the main control after 2030. Energy news outlet BJX News also covers the news. Bloomberg’s coverage says China has “for years set targets that aim to reduce” the carbon intensity and the new plan represents a “shift” in the way the country seeks to cut emissions. Separately, Reuters reports: “China’s state planner has set targets for the use of renewable energy for aluminium production, it said in a statement on Friday.”

Meanwhile, state-supporting newspaper Global Times says “China has experienced 25 numbered flood events, the highest number since data was first recorded in 1998”. State-run newspaper China Daily reports that Chinese premier Li Qiang has called for “all-out efforts in flood control and disaster relief”. Reuters says that temperatures in cities, such as Shanghai and Hangzhou in eastern China, reached around 40C, and the high temperature is estimated to “run into next week”. Another Reuters article cites state broadcaster CCTV saying temperatures climbed “as high as 43.9C”, adding that the heat was “spiking power demand”.

Elsewhere, China Daily quotes Heymi Bahar, senior analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA), saying that “the rapid growth of renewable energy in China can potentially allow the country to peak carbon emissions well ahead of its 2030 goal”. (See Carbon Brief’s analysis on China’s emission peak.) China Energy Net carries an article from the World Economic Forum by Shiv Shivaraman, arguing that Chinese automakers “have not yet achieved success in mature markets like Western Europe and the US” and that the challenge for China in the coming years is how to “maintain its advantage” in the auto industry “where global competitors have more substantial funding in research and development”. A “Xinhua commentary” argues that “China has been shifting from exporting mainly labour-intensive goods, such as apparel, to tech-intensive and green products”, adding that the “continuous opening-up” of the country’s new energy sector “creates a larger economic pie for the world”.

More than 250 people were killed in rain-related disasters across Asia last week, the Associated Press reports, in countries ranging from North Korea and Pakistan through to China and India. The newswire explains: “This time of year is monsoon and typhoon season in Asia, and climate change has intensified such storms. Heavy rains have triggered landslides and flooding, devastating crops, destroying homes and taking lives.” The death toll was highest in India, it adds, after 201 people died due to floods and mudslides in the southern state of Kerala. Reuters carries a feature looking at the “missed warnings” that “aggravated deadly India landslides”. A second Reuters article reports on rescuers “rac[ing] to find missing” after floods in China, while a third Reuters piece says: “Floods and mudslides destroyed village homes and part of a highway in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan on Saturday.”

In other extreme weather news, the Associated Press reports under the headline: “Severe drought has returned to the Amazon. And it’s happening earlier than expected.” In the US, CNN says Hurricane Debby, the fourth named storm in this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, has become a Category 1 event and is “expected to strengthen even further before making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region Monday morning”. The outlet says: “Debby began dumping rain on parts of the state earlier Sunday as a tropical storm and is expected to unload potentially historic amounts of rainfall over the southeastern US…The slower Debby moves and the longer it sits over warm waters, the more likely the storm is to intensify. Studies have shown tropical systems are slowing down over time, making them more likely to produce greater rainfall totals over a given area. Oceans are also getting warmer and supercharging storms, pumping them full of moisture.” It adds: “Warmer air and ocean temperatures fueled by human-induced climate change can lead to wetter tropical systems.” The Associated Press says cooler weather has aided efforts to contain the Park Fire in California. It adds: “Scientists say extreme wildfires are becoming more common and destructive in the US West and other parts of the world as climate change warms the planet and droughts become more severe.” Reuters says the fire is the fourth-largest in state history. CNN says repeated fires are “put[ting] pressure on residents, making it difficult to recover peace of mind”. The Associated Press says Vermont “suffered millions in damage from this week’s flooding”. The Hill reports: “Ozone, smoke and smog besiege Coloradans despite climate efforts”. MailOnline reports: “Climate change is set to reshape American cities over the next few years as people increasingly abandon flood, heat and wildfire ‘danger zones’ for calmer climes.” The Los Angeles Times says a heatwave is “expected to bring triple-digit temperatures to swaths of Los Angeles County”.

Brazil’s environment minister Marina Silva has “urged greater caution from international buyers of carbon credits”, the Financial Times reports, “after police in the South American country uncovered allegedly fraudulent emissions-offset schemes on stolen land in the Amazon”. The newspaper continues: “Marina Silva said recent revelations about criminal enterprises suspected to have illegally sold millions of dollars of carbon certificates from the world’s largest rainforest were a ‘serious problem’ that could harm the reputation of a tool supporters say helps fight global warming.” It quotes her saying in an interview: “The countries or companies that seek these credits have to be very vigilant, so they do not play into the hands of those who unscrupulously carry out this type of crime.” Meanwhile, Reuters reports that an advisory council to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group (APEC) has “urged emerging economies in the region to issue climate bonds indexed to a basket of currencies, which would reduce the risk from foreign exchange fluctuation in raising funds for clean energy transition”. It adds: “The group of business executives comprising ABAC, which is APEC’s Business Advisory Council, also proposed on Sunday launching a pilot programme to develop a voluntary carbon market (VCM) for the Asia-Pacific region.”

Many young climate activists say they see Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, as “stronger on the issue” of climate change than current incumbent Joe Biden, NBC News reports. It explains: “Representatives from 11 organisations devoted to elevating young voters’ concerns about climate change said Harris’ record of going after big oil companies as a prosecutor and her co-sponsorship of the green new deal as a senator make her a more appealing candidate than Biden, despite his environmental wins.” The Guardian reports: “If elected president, Kamala Harris should take on the fossil fuel industry for its history of spreading climate disinformation, environmentalists say. Forty US states and municipalities have sued big oil for allegedly spreading climate disinformation. For years, climate advocates and some lawmakers have said the Department of Justice should file a similar case.” Meanwhile, Politico reports on the “global anti-Trump climate resistance”. It says: “The Biden administration and like-minded governments around the world are racing to secure their global climate strategy against a potential rollback under Donald Trump – an effort that has gained urgency since the ground shifted under the US presidential race a month ago.”

In other news from the US, the New York Times carries a report on the frontpage of Saturday’s international edition about solar geoengineering: “David Keith wants to spray a pollutant into the sky to block some sunlight. He says the benefits would outweigh the danger.” (See Carbon Brief’s explainer on solar geoengineering.)

A frontpage story in the Times says the UK’s Labour government “will relax planning rules to make it easier and cheaper to build solar farms and onshore wind turbines capable of powering hundreds of thousands of homes”. The newspaper says ministers will “double the threshold at which onshore wind turbines are required to go through an enhanced planning process and treble it for solar farms”. It adds: “Ministers believe that this will allow more solar and onshore wind turbines to be built through the local planning process, speeding up approvals and reducing costs.” The newspaper quotes a government spokesperson saying: “In an unstable world, the only way to guarantee our energy security and protect consumers from future energy shocks is by investing in cheap homegrown clean energy.” Meanwhile, the Times reports: “A Cambridge spin-out developing an alternative type of electrodes for solar panels has raised £1m in an investment round led by Aramco Ventures, the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco. GraphEnergyTech has developed an alternative for the silver electrodes used in the solar cells that pepper solar panels. The company says that the new technology, a form of conductive graphene ink, requires fewer resources and is cheaper than the silver typically used to make the electrodes.” The Sunday Times says a “vast” solar farm “will make a fortune”, but asks: “Are Oxfordshire and the country getting a fair deal?” The Daily Telegraph says 2% of farmland in England has been “taken out of production temporarily to be used for projects which attract new subsidies for farming that improves the environment”, in an article illustrated by solar panels under a headline that describes this land as “lost”.

In other news from the UK, BusinessGreen reports that the government is to host an energy security conference, during the second quarter of 2025, with the International Energy Agency. The Guardian says a Scottish beach is being eroded by 7m a year “owing to climate change”. The Daily Telegraph reports: “Rolls-Royce is poised to sell a stake in its mini-nuclear power stations venture as it races to become the first company to deploy the technology in Britain.” The Sunday Times says Chinese car firm Geely has “pumped £120m into the Coventry-based black cab maker LEVC to further its push into electric vehicles”. Another Guardian article says chancellor Rachel Reeves has been “urged to reverse her ‘ill-advised’ decision to strip most pensioners of their winter fuel payments”. The Daily Telegraph says Reeves has been “urged to consider pay-per-mile road tax as £9bn fuel duty black hole looms”. Another Daily Telegraph article says drivers have been “warned to brace for fuel tax rise under Labour”. Separately, Reuters says the Financial Conduct Authority has widened rules on “dormant” assets, potentially adding £880m to the Dormant Assets Scheme that funds “social and environmental projects”. The Bank of England has acknowledged “material climate-related financial risks” to its holdings in its latest disclosure report, BusinessGreen reports. 

In further coverage, a feature in the Sunday Times magazine reports on “life inside Britain’s last coal power station”. The Guardian has a feature on “rising block tariffs” that it says “can tackle fuel poverty, improve crumbling housing stock and reduce energy demand”, according to advocates. A Times interview is titled: “Auto Trader boss: I don’t want people priced out of buying EVs.” A feature in the Guardian looks at the “UK residents retrofitting their homes amid the climate crisis”. A Sunday Times feature reports from “inside the rural pylon row”. The Guardian also reports on “opposition to pylons” that it says “puts UK carbon targets at risk”. Reuters, the Financial Times and the Press Association report that Spanish utility firm Iberdrola has bought grid operator Electricity North West for about €5bn. BBC News says Cornwall Council has warned that renewable energy expansion in the region “is at risk if it is unable to properly access the electricity grid”. The Scottish Daily Mail asks if offshore windfarms “could…sound death knell for Scottish seafood industry”. A feature in the Daily Telegraph says Labour’s electoral gains in Scotland are “uniquely vulnerable”, under the headline: “Why Ed Miliband’s net-zero idealism is about to hit cold, political reality.” And a headline in the Daily Telegraph on data centres says “Britain’s net-zero dream could be crushed by big tech.”

Japanese carmakers Nissan and Honda are to collaborate on rolling out a new electric vehicle by the end of the decade, the Financial Times reports, adding that they “outlined a sweeping alliance to compete against Tesla and Chinese rivals”. It quotes Honda’s chief executive saying: “In the fields of electrification and intelligence, the speed of change…is well beyond what we had expected…If we don’t move now, we won’t be able to catch up [with the new players].” The newspaper adds: “Japan’s second- and third-largest carmakers have both faced questions from investors about whether they had enough scale and financing to compete in the EV race, having lost its market share in China, the world’s largest car market.” For Reuters Breakingviews, columnist Katrina Hamlin writes about Japan’s largest carmaker Toyota, saying “the company’s late embrace of electric vehicles remains a strategic headache”. On her Sustainability by Numbers substack, meanwhile, Hannah Ritchie looks at plug-in hybrid EVs: “Plug-in hybrids are still going strong in some markets. Their climate benefits strongly depend on who is buying them.” 

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) has replaced its secretary-general, with Brazilian oceanographer Leticia Carvalho taking the helm after an election “that could change the course of the deep-sea mining industry”, Mongabay reports. It explains: “Advocates of deep-sea mining say seabed minerals are needed to fulfil metal shortages and provide materials for renewable energy technologies like electric car batteries. Yet critics say deep-sea minerals are unnecessary for such technologies and that deep-sea mining could irreparably damage the seabed and overall marine environment.” The New York Times says the ISA voted on Friday to replace its previous leader “after accusations that the British lawyer [Michael Lodge] running the agency was too closely aligned with the mining industry”. The newspaper continues: “Lodge has been a polarising figure at the seabed authority, which has jurisdiction over any future mining in international waters. Environmentalists have argued that he worked behind the scenes with private contractors to try to accelerate the start of mining. Lodge has vehemently rejected those claims, arguing that he has tried to impartially lead the agency as it works toward opening up small pieces of the ocean floor to mining. More than 30 countries have called for a delay or moratorium on the start of seabed mining. Carvalho has said she does not support a moratorium on seabed mining or a formal pause in the start of the effort. But in an interview, she said that she did not believe industrial-scale mining could start until environmental regulations are finalised and that it could take several years to do so.” Bloomberg says Carvalho’s election “could slow the rush to strip-mine deep sea ecosystems for electric vehicle battery metals”. (See the Carbon Brief new in-depth Q&A on deep-sea mining.)

For the Independent, Extinction Rebellion co-founder Gail Bradbrook says since starting the organisation in 2018 “we have been clear that it is the underlying system that is at fault, rather than one or other of the dominant political parties. One of our key demands has been for an intervention into the system that has the potential to bypass the corrupting influence of narrow private interests – a citizens’ assembly on nature and climate.” She continues by explaining that XR has been staging a “mass occupation” at Windsor to call for such an assembly. Separately, an editorial in the Guardian on the Paris Olympics says: “Paris 2024 has pointed the way towards a brighter future for urban waterways in post-industrial cities.” It adds: “As global heating delivers hotter summer temperatures, the availability of cool bathing areas in the heart of the city will be an invaluable public good. Wildlife is returning to the cleaner water, including catfish and crustaceans, shrimps, sponges and perch. Beyond leisure and recreation, there are also plans to develop the Seine as a major carbon-free transport route for businesses.”

In other UK comment, Daily Telegraph, associate editor Ben Marlow criticises the previous UK government’s “confused rhetoric” on energy and climate, under a headline that focuses on current energy secretary Ed Miliband. Marlow says that Shell has “just generated $6.3bn (£4.9bn) of profits in the last three months alone”, adding: “Much of this continues to be made off the back of the Kremlin’s devastating war in Ukraine and astronomical household bills…Nor is Shell alone in raking in vast sums of money – BP has posted bumper quarterly profits too – while energy bills remain alarmingly high.” He says that Shell’s recent climate rowbacks were “emboldened” by “the last government’s confused rhetoric about the need to double down on homegrown oil and gas in the name of energy security”. He continues: “The idea that hydrocarbons produced in the North Sea made us less reliant on hostile foreign regimes was always a giant red herring anyway, given that international markets dictate prices.” Marlow adds: “Ministers were also guilty of rowing back on net-zero at the same time as peddling the myth that energy bills are high because of green taxes when in fact they represent just a tiny proportion of the overall cost. Voters have been fooled into thinking that the energy transition will forever be prohibitively high but economies of scale and continually evolving technologies mean the costs of many types of green energy are falling rapidly. Yet, that doesn’t mean we should go hell for leather without being mindful of the costs, which is the danger with someone as ideologically driven as Miliband.” Marlow concludes: “The reality is that the energy behemoths of yesteryear cannot solely be relied on to build the energy system of tomorrow. But it makes more sense to ensure they are a part of it. The risk with Miliband’s crusade is that he alienates them further, setting back attempts to decarbonise by decades.” Finally, climate-sceptic columnist Dominic Lawson writes for the Daily Mail attacking the government’s energy and climate policies in a piece that repeats misleading claims previously debunked by Carbon Brief.

In the New York Times, columnist Peter Coy writes about the permitting bill being debated in the US Congress: “This week Senator Joe Manchin, independent from West Virginia, called a committee vote on a bill to speed up approval of energy projects that puts environmentalists in a tough spot. It gives them something they badly want, along with something they strongly oppose. The bill boosts solar and wind by making it easier to build transmission lines to carry green power from where it’s generated to where it’s needed. But it also boosts fossil fuels by opening public lands and waters to oil and gas leasing, and makes it easier to export liquefied natural gas.” He concludes: “Being an environmentalist in 2024 means making vexing political choices, all the while trying desperately to rally people to your cause as the mercury rises and rises.”

In other comment from US media, WWF’s Anita van Breda writes for CNN under the headline: “Why there is no such thing as a ‘natural’ disaster.” In the Daily Telegraph, meanwhile, fossil fuel industry veteran David Blackmon writes under the headline: “President Kamala would make Biden’s green energy madness look like nothing.” 

The authors of a new study argue that it is not possible to “robustly predict” when climate tipping points will be crossed by using observations to detect “declining system stability”. The authors note uncertainties – including in modelling assumptions and in the preprocessing of observational datasets – for both the “general” climate and for a more specific example of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. They conclude that “even under the assumption that a given Earth system component has an approaching tipping point, the uncertainties are too large to reliably estimate tipping times by extrapolating historical information”.

New research investigates the evolution of the ocean-atmosphere-sea ice system in the year leading up to the record-low sea ice extent recorded in Antarctica in February 2023. Using a regional ocean-sea ice coupled model, the authors find that the 2022-23 sea ice annual cycle saw “consistently low sea ice extent”. The paper finds that warmer-than-average air temperatures inhibited sea ice growth in most areas. It adds that strong southerly winds in the Amundsen-Ross Sea resulted in “notable volumes of sea ice” moving northwards, resulting in an “unusually active ice-albedo feedback”.