The Guardian devotes its frontpage to the results from a new “rapid attribution” study which has found that the “human-caused climate crisis is undeniably to blame for the deadly heatwaves that have struck Europe and the US in recent weeks”. The newspaper adds: “Both would have been virtually impossible without the global heating driven by burning fossil fuels, their analysis found. Another searing heatwave, in China, was made 50 times more likely by the climate crisis. The results make it crystal clear that human-caused global heating is already destroying lives and livelihoods across the world, making the need to cut emissions ever more urgent.”

Many other outlets cover the findings, including BBC News which notes the scientists behind the research warned that “almost all societies remain unprepared for deadly extreme heat”. The New York Times reports that, according to the study, in today’s climate, “the US and Mexico could expect heatwaves like the one this July about once every 15 years”. It adds: “In southern Europe, there would be a one-in-10 chance each year of a similar event. In China there’s a one-in-five chance each year of a reoccurrence.” Politico adds that events like this could occur every 2-5 years if global temperatures reach 2C above preindustrial levels. The Press Association says: “Heatwaves were 2.5C warmer in southern Europe, 2C warmer in North America and 2C warmer in China compared with what they would have been if people had not warmed the atmosphere by emitting greenhouse gases.” The findings are also covered by, among others, Inside Climate News, Bloomberg, the Washington Post and the Independent. Carbon Brief has also covered the study in detail.

Separately, the Press Association covers the latest annual “State of the UK Climate” report by the Met Office. The newswire says the “experts have said extreme heat and temperatures of more than 40C are becoming increasingly likely in the UK due to climate change”.

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has pledged not to “unnecessarily” add costs and “hassle” to households on the path to meeting the nation’s legally binding climate targets, BBC News reports. According to the outlet, Sunak “said he remained committed to achieving net-zero by 2050, but any new measures would have to be ‘proportionate and pragmatic’”. It continues: “The [Uxbridge and South Ruislip byelection result, where opposition to the Labour mayor’s incoming and expanded ULEZ charge for high polluting vehicles was seen as the reason why the Conservatives clung to the seat] has reignited debates over the cost and pace of measures to reduce carbon emissions.” Sunak has said he will “‘continually examine and scrutinise’ measures including a ban on new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, phasing out gas boilers by 2035, energy efficiency targets for private rented homes and low-traffic neighbourhoods”, according to the Guardian. It adds: “However, environmental groups could challenge any decision to water down green policies in court as the government has a legal obligation to set out in detail how it will meet its net-zero target by 2050 with clear carbon budgets for different sectors.” Separately, the Guardian has published an analysis on which “green” policies the Conservatives might “ditch”. The i newspaper has published a similar analysis. The Times says: “​​Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, is planning to press ahead with next month’s expansion of the £12.50 daily charge for older petrol and diesel vehicles, while Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, insists that the party’s policies should not put up people’s bills.” The Daily Telegraph focuses on Sunak’s refusal to explicitly say a ban on diesel and petrol cars will be implemented in 2030. It tries to claim that this means the government is “casting doubt” on the policy. The Daily Mail frames the same story as “sources say” Sunak is “poised to order a review” on the ban. The Independent adds that Sunak has faced “days of pressure on the government from Tory backbenchers to delay or drop plans to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, in a bid to win back voters”. The Financial Times adds that Sunak “wants to create a dividing line between the Tories and Labour on environmental policies”.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that “a cross-party group of influential politicians has urged Rishi Sunak to set an example by attending the UN climate summit this November, as both major parties come under pressure over their net-zero policies”. And the Daily Express reports that “Tory MP Craig Mackinlay, who chairs the [small climate-sceptic] Net Zero Scrutiny Group [of right-leaning policiticians], said a 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars and vans was ‘looking increasingly flawed’”. Speaking to the Financial Times ahead of the Uxbridge election, the former chair of the Climate Change Committee Lord Deben has warned that “dangerous” UK politics has deterred the government from tackling climate change. This comes as the Guardian reports that “new oil and gas licences for the North Sea that the UK government has approved in the past two years will produce as much carbon dioxide as the annual emissions of nearly 14m cars, or the entire yearly emissions of Denmark”.

Greece’s wildfires continue to dominate many frontpages. More than 29,000 hectares have burned in Greece so far this year – almost 2.5 times the average for “recent years” – the Times reports. According to the newspaper, about 800,000 tonnes of carbon have been released into the atmosphere so far by the fires. It notes that the previous July high for Greece was 470,000 tonnes in 2007, while most years the number is below 200,000. This comes as Politico reports that wildfires continued to burn across the country yesterday, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate from popular tourist destinations. The outlet continues: “The outlook is dire, with strong winds forecast that will fan the flames amid ongoing scorching temperatures. The mercury reached 43C in Athens on Sunday afternoon, while a record-breaking maximum temperature of 46.4C was recorded in Cytheio, Peloponnese, according to the Athens National Observatory. The most serious blaze firefighters are battling is on the island of Rhodes in the southern Aegean Sea. ‘We are in the seventh day of the fire and it hasn’t been controlled,’ Rhodes deputy mayor Konstantinos Taraslias told Greek state TV ERT on Monday, as new evacuations were ordered.” More than 2,000 holidaymakers were flown home on Monday, Reuters says. The Daily Mail says that “Greek firefighters suspect arson is to blame” for starting the fires, saying a group of suspects are currently being questioned. It adds: “The heatwave which has been sweeping across Europe will not have helped either.” [See the tweet by the Met Office scientist Prof Richard Betts where he explained: “The source of ignition – accident, arson, etc – is not the point here. Once a fire starts, for whatever reason, if the landscape in tinder-dry due to baking hot weather then it is far more likely to become severe. And extremely hot, dry weather is happening more often in the Med.” And Reuters reports that “the German government is to convene a crisis meeting on Monday to discuss the impact of wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes on German holidaymakers”. Many other outlets, including the Independent, the Evening Standard and the Washington Post, also cover the fires in Greece.

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph asks when Europe’s extreme heat will end. The paper reports that the intense heat is due to a “wavy” jet stream, which it says is “set to straighten out within days”. The i newspaper reports that worsening extreme weather events will drive up travel insurance premiums. And Reuters says that people in southern Europe have “rushed out to buy fans and even invest in air-conditioning to keep cool”. Separately, Reuters reports that “the death toll as wildfires sweep across regions of Algeria has risen to 34 people including 10 soldiers on Monday, the interior ministry said, as a heatwave spreads across north Africa and southern Europe”.

Finally, New Scientist says that “fears of record-breaking El Niño event this year raise climate alarms”, adding: “We don’t yet know how strong the developing El Niño climate pattern will be, but even a weak one risks severe global disruption.” Reuters reports that “Indonesian authorities said on Monday the number of areas where wildfire could occur has doubled over the past week due to dry weather, raising concerns over widespread forest fires even before the country hits peak dry season”. The Independent says that “at least 31 people have been killed, 74 left injured and 41 others missing in Afghanistan after flash floods hit parts of the country over the weekend, authorities said on Monday”. And the Los Angeles Times has a news feature on how homeless people in California are trying to deal with the extreme heat.

A US-China “dual track on climate finance dialogue” has been jointly hosted by Tsinghua University, Columbia University and the National Committee on United States-China Relations, reports China Energy News. Participating experts “generally agreed” that the carbon market is “a good policy tool for achieving China’s ‘dual-carbon’ targets”, the state-run industry newspaper adds. The state-run Beijing News covers the same meeting. CNN carries an analysis by analyst Simone McCarthy, titled: “China and the US are finally talking again – but can they really work together?” 

Separately, the European Commission has issued a joint press release following the fourth EU-China high level environment and climate dialogue held on 4 July. The press release says that “both sides agreed to hold a dialogue on the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) to understand and address Chinese concerns”. The Chinese financial outlet Caixin has published a “weekend long read”, titled: “What lies ahead for China-EU climate collaboration.”

Meanwhile, Yicai reports that, since the beginning of summer, the electricity load in China has “continued to climb”. As of 22 July, the power load of the Southern Power Grid has broken the generation record “four times” this year, reaching its maximum of 231 gigawatts (GW), the Chinese financial outlet adds. The state broadcaster CGTN writes that, according to meteorological authorities, “parts of Xinjiang, northern Gansu and western Inner Mongolia can expect another week of extreme heat”. The state news agency Xinhua reports that the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says that “the negative impacts of climate change, such as high temperatures, will continue until at least the 2060s”. 

In other China news, online news site Jiemian writes that Sinopec, a state-owned oil and gas enterprise, says that China’s demand for “refined oil products” will “peak around 2025” and China’s installed geothermal power capacity will “exceed 100 megawatts by 2025”. Xinhua reports that “the output of unconventional natural gas in north China’s Shanxi province increased by 5.7% year on year to 6.8bn cubic metres in the first half of 2023”, reaching a “new historical record”. The energy website IN-EN.com reports that China’s coal imports from Australia were up “516% year-on-year in the first half of 2023”. The energy website bjx.com, citing an article published on China Energy News, writes that most experts believe that “to construct a new energy system, or to build a new type of power system”, all kinds of power are needed, “especially coal power”. Energy Monitor quotes Grace Yuhe Gao from Greenpeace East Asia, who says that the “pro-coal argument”, which “maintains that coal will eventually become a secondary power source”, is an “extremely risky strategy”. 

Finally, CNBC reports that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the China’s top economic planner, said in a 17-point statement on Monday that it will “support private investment in sectors – such as transportation, water conservancy, clean energy, new infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and modern agriculture facilities”. It adds that the NDRC has also published a 10-point plan to “increase car ownership”, particularly for “new-energy” [electric] vehicles. Reuters says that Mercedes-Benz’s CEO has told German magazine Automobilwoche that the company “is making China, the world’s top auto market, central to its next electric vehicle (EV) campaign starting in 2025”.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has been fined in a Swedish court after she was found guilty of disobeying police orders during a protest last month, the New York Times reports. The newspaper adds that Thunberg and others were blocking traffic in Malmo and did not comply with police orders to leave. According to Emma Ohlsson, the public prosecutor in the case, Thunberg “told the court that she heard and understood the order, but that she chose not to obey it,” the outlet says. It continues: “In court, Ms Thunberg was allowed to ask questions to a police officer involved in the episode, according to local media reports, and she asked how he thought an individual could best slow down the climate crisis. The officer said that it was a good question, according to the Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan, and that he did not have a good answer.” BBC News reports that Thunberg was ordered to pay 3,500 Swedish krona – equivalent to £187. Reuters says her fine was calculated in proportion to her reported income. According to the Guardian, this is her first conviction for a climate protest. Sky News reports that hours after receiving her fine, Thunberg headed back to Malmo port and was “forcibly removed” by police again. Other outlets, including Politico, the Hill and the Daily Telegraph, also cover the story.

In the Guardian, columnist Polly Toynbee asks how a “spectacular week for Labour somehow ended up with an assault on the party’s green policies, amid hints of internal wobbling”. She writes: “Labour always struggles to make its narrative heard against the wall of sound from the massed foghorns of the Tory media, but the party needs more nimbleness to duck being defined by the enemy. Keir Starmer’s public rebuke to Sadiq Khan to ‘reflect’ on his ULEZ policy was a badly pitched red-on-red news story. Instead, they should have publicly agreed more generous car-scrappage schemes so that the cost of cleaning up child-killing pollution doesn’t have to fall on lower-paid drivers.” Writing in the Times, former Conservative leader William Hague writes: “Cost of living, high rents and long waiting lists are bound to be big issues for voters. But they also need hope for the longer term and a belief in where we are going. Green issues are an obvious example. The lesson of Uxbridge is not that environmental policies are a mistake: it is that they need to be practical and fair. The future of this country still lies in promoting new, green technologies that raise investment, achieve net-zero and create jobs in areas that need levelling up. Leaders need to be inspirational about that future to justify the steps needed along the way and ensure they are well thought through.” In the Financial Times, economist and former adviser to the Treasury Tim Leunig says that Sadiq Khan’s extended ULEZ cost Labour the Uxbridge byelection. He writes: “A sensible policy would let people keep their current vehicles, be stricter on replacements without hitting the poor and be much stricter on taxis and minicabs.”

An editorial in the Daily Telegraph takes a different approach under the headline: “Change the ludicrous net-zero timetable.” [The UK’s net-zero by 2050 legally binding target was set following detailed advice from the government’s independent advisory Climate Change Committee (CCC), in order to meet the temperature targets of the internationally agreed Paris climate deal.] The climate-sceptic newspaper says the Uxbridge byelection is “an opportunity for the Tories to demonstrate they have the interests of people at heart and understand the financial consequences of moving too quickly to a zero-carbon future”. [The CCC has shown that UK GDP would be higher if it pursues the net-zero target, not lower. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility has warned that delaying action to reach net-zero “could double” the costs and that unmitigated climate change could have “catastrophic economic and fiscal consequences”.] In the Guardian, sketch writer John Crace says: “For the Tories, Uxbridge was a clear opportunity. Labour had lost a byelection that it would otherwise have won on a single issue. A green issue. Therefore, the message was clear. The environment was a vote-loser. So what better time to appease all the halfwits on the Conservative right and start ditching green policies?”

For the Washington Post, columnist Henry Olsen writes under the headline: “Backlash to climate policies is growing.” He continues: “Around the world, nations are choosing to prioritise economic growth and national interest over climate policy. That’s perhaps unsurprising for poor or developing countries…Even more alarming for the climate activist community should be the backlash to climate policies in Western Europe. There’s no major area in the world where policymakers are more aligned with green objectives than there, yet popular pressure in nation after nation is forcing governments to curtail measures designed to quickly progress toward net-zero carbon emissions.”

An editorial in the Times says the wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes “have exposed a worrying degree of unpreparedness” for the impacts of climate change. It begins: “One swallow does not make a spring and one particularly serious wildfire on Rhodes does not denote a tipping point in the vast and complicated process that is climate change. But there is reasonable cause to believe that sudden and intense wildfires will become an even more common feature of the Mediterranean summer as global temperatures rise.” It concludes, not with a call for further action to limit warming, but as follows: “Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, has warned that his country is at war with climate change, as is the whole Mediterranean. There are lessons for the British government and tourist industry in this. Travel advisories that are more local and more focused on events like wildfires and floods must become the norm, possibly involving a traffic-light system. And tour operators who profit from the Mediterranean trade need to establish protocols for evacuating and compensating customers. Leaving it to the locals will not do.”

In the Daily Telegraph, columnist Suzanne Moore writes under the headline: “The world is burning – stop pretending everything is fine.” The piece is subtitled: “The extreme heatwave that caused the massive fires in Greece spread is the latest clear sign of an impending climate catastrophe.” Moore writes: “The main parties are ever-more short-termist, committing to net-zero but dropping these policies as soon as they cost anything, or become unpopular. Of course, in a cost of living crisis anything that costs is not a vote winner, but the cynicism is unbelievable. Rishi Sunak is said not to be interested in climate issues. Keir Starmer is outspoken about his dislike for eco-zealots and we know he is not averse to locking up protesters.” She concludes: “We are all potential climate refugees. Just pray you don’t live on a flood plain.”

Also in the Times, human geographer Mike Hulme warns against climate “doomism”, writing: “Doomsday clocks need replacing with the language of possibility. New technologies can limit the extent of future warming and human ingenuity and innovation can develop new strategies to adapt to future changes. Doomism feeds off messages of endings and failures. Its opposite motivates young people to contribute to a future world that does not end in six years’ time.”

Exposure to drought could be linked to people showing less altruism towards members of different ethno-religious groups, according to research based on surveys with refugees from Syria and Iraq. The study is the first in the “climate-conflict” field of research to focus on levels of altruism rather than violence as an indicator of conflict. The researchers conclude: “We show with exposure to severe drought, individuals are more altruistic towards ingroup members compared to outgroup members, especially when the ingroup-outgroup relationship is characterised by antagonism and hostility due to war. This is important as reducing the impact of drought could both increase altruism and reduce parochial tendencies.”

The need for air conditioning in the global south as climate change impacts worsen could lead to local demand for wind and solar outstripping supply by the end of the century, new research suggests. The study uses 12 state-of-the-art climate models to examine how climate change impacts, including rising global temperatures and worsening climate extremes, could affect the ratio between supply and demand in global wind and solar energy systems under an “intermediate” emissions scenario. The results show that, as climate change worsens, demand could outstrip supply globally. In the global north, this impact is expected to be largely offset by reductions in demand for home heating, according to the results. However, in the global south, increasing demand for air conditioning is expected to play a large role in demand outstrippling supply.