A group of former world leaders is urging the EU to keep taking stronger action on climate change despite growing global political instability, Reuters reports. Ireland’s former president Mary Robinson told the newswire on Tuesday that the Elders, a group set up by former South African president Nelson Mandela, are due to meet the EU and NATO later this month “amid moves to water down impending corporate climate disclosure rules in response to concerns around competitiveness”. Robinson tells Reuters: “The crisis of a federal withdrawal in the US from everything to do with climate and science is an opportunity for the EU, the UK and, frankly, the rest of the world. Moving as fast as the EU can on the green transition is exactly how to respond…it’s really important Europe sticks to its principles, sticks to its green industrial policy and doesn’t renege at all.” 

Elsewhere, EurActiv reports that the EU Commission is proposing a three-year delay on CO2 fines for carmakers. A second EurActiv story says the leader of Germany’s climate agency has called for more measures to help low-income people “manage the costs of climate policy” to prevent “social unrest”.

The UK government will announce new plans today to set new objectives for the country’s two leading environmental protection and conservation agencies to ensure they are not “blocking” development and nature restoration projects, the Financial Times says. The newspaper reports that the Environment Agency and Natural England will be given new remits by environment secretary Steve Reed to “work for the public” and not “get in the way of progress”. Reed tells the FT that the new measures will make sure regulators are “prioritising economic growth”. The Guardian says that several wildlife groups are alarmed by the new plans. It quotes Joan Edwards, the head of policy at the Wildlife Trusts, saying: “Slashing red tape won’t work for this government any more than it worked for the last because protecting wildlife and wild places is essential to achieving truly sustainable growth.” The Times also has the story.

Elsewhere, the Daily Telegraph reports on figures from the Office of Budget Responsibility showing that the cost of subsidising renewable energy will rise to £19.7bn by the end of decade, up from £12.3bn in the last financial year. The newspaper says the increase is the “equivalent of £255 a year per household”. However, a government official says it is “misleading” to argue that household bills would increase by £255 a year because the costs were also borne by businesses. The spokesperson added: “As shown by National Energy System Operator’s independent report, clean power by 2030 is achievable and will deliver a more secure energy system, which could see a lower cost of electricity and lower bills.” The Daily Express also has the story. Another Daily Telegraph story covers a letter from energy suppliers to the UK government urging ministers to address the imbalance on levies households pay on electricity in comparison to gas, which currently makes it less financially attractive to switch from a gas boiler to a heat pump. The Press Association covers new analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) finding that the government will need to import around 20% more gas from abroad to meet home heating demand if it fails to drive up heat pump uptake. In addition, the Daily Mail reports that people buying new electric family cars from today are likely to be stung by a £2,125 “luxury” tax as part of wholesale changes to vehicle excise duty. The Times reports on thinktank analysis finding that up to 25,000 jobs in the UK motor industry are at risk from US tariffs on car imports.

Meanwhile, DeSmog reports on how Arron Banks, who is standing as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK candidate for West of England mayor, has repeatedly rejected basic climate science through a string of posts on Twitter. And the Daily Mail reports on how Dame Andrea Jenkyns, a Reform local election candidate who claims to be “anti net-zero”, previously opened a solar farm when working as a Conservative politician.

Finally, BBC News reports that England and Wales experienced their driest March for 60 years last month. The Daily Telegraph reports that the dry conditions have led to a wildfire warning being put in place across much of the country. The Times carries the news on its frontpage.

The sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), including EVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles, in China are expected to exceed 16m in 2025, according to Ouyang Minggao, a prominent scholar from the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences, state-supporting newspaper China Daily reports. The newspaper adds that “in 2024, China’s sales of NEVs amounted to 12.9m units, marking a year-on-year increase of 35.5%”.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that plans to launch pilot projects in nine cities that “would use the country’s growing fleet of electric vehicles as batteries to shore up power supply on the grid during spikes in demand”. A second Reuters story says China is to launch its first global green sovereign bond on Wednesday. Bloomberg covers a new report finding new measures from the Chinese government to address solar “overcapacity” have not yet been successful. Bloomberg also reports that the 10bn yuan ($1.4bn) Shanghai Future Industry Fund, established by the Shanghai government last September, is planning to invest in nuclear fusion technology. Reuters reports that China’s consumption of oil will increase 1.1% this year, amid “better than expected economic growth and increasing demand for petrochemicals”. State-run media Science and Technology Daily cites a recent report by the China Association for the Promotion of Industrial Development, which says that China’s hydrogen sector will “achieve full industrial chain self-sufficiency with competitive domestic products” by 2030. 

In other news, state news agency Xinhua reports that 18 national standards for “corporate greenhouse gas emission accounting” will take effect from 1 April, which will help enterprises “implement targeted energy-saving and carbon-reduction measures” and support them to “address international carbon trade barriers”. China Electric Power News publishes an article saying that the National Energy Administration in 2025 will continue to drive the “rapid development” of China’s “green electricity certificates (GECs)” and achieve “comprehensive” GECs issuance to support the consumption of green electricity. China may start construction on 28 new ultra-high-voltage (UHV) power transmission lines “in the coming years”, according to a report by China Energy News. In its “green daily” newsletter, Bloomberg talks about China’s sovereign green bond, saying that its “debut” comes at a time when “the market is stuttering elsewhere”, with the sales of green bonds “showing signs of a slowdown” since the start of 2025. 

Finally, industry news outlet BJX News reports that China and Chile have signed agreements on energy cooperation. Reuters also covers the story. And an Economist publishes an article under the headline: “China can greatly reduce its reliance on coal, but probably won’t.”

Tesla sales dropped in several European countries in March, “adding to signs that consumers are shunning Elon Musk’s electric car brand as competition from China stiffens and some protest against his political views”, the Times says. New Tesla sales in France and Sweden declined for the third month in a row, contributing to its lowest first-quarter sales figures in the two countries since 2021. Tesla sales also feel by nearly 50% in the first quarter of 2025 in the Netherlands, Reuters says. In Denmark, Tesla sales fell 56% in the first quarter, Agence France-Press reports. Spain’s sales rose in March but fell overall in the first quarter, a second Reuters story adds. The Financial Times reports that, in stark contrast, Chinese car company BYD’s sales soared by 58% globally in the first quarter of this year.

Elsewhere, the Times reports that some of the world’s largest carmakers and two industry trade bodies have been fined almost £460m for “running a ‘cartel’ over vehicle recycling and green advertising claims”.

Most of India will experience an “intense” heatwave this summer, with several states set to face “more heatwave days than usual this year”, reports BBC News. States such as Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha could see as many as 10 to 11 heatwave days, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, it adds. “From April to June, most parts of north and east India, central India and the plains of north-west India are expected to experience two-to-four more heatwave days than normal,” Mohapatra is quoted as saying. It adds that India’s health ministry “attributed 143 deaths to heatwaves between 1 March and 20 June” last year, but independent experts believe the country is “undercounting the deaths caused by extreme heat”. The Times of India reports that “heatwave days [are] expected to double in several states” this year, with the country witnessing a “record-breaking summer with 536 heatwave days” in 2024, the highest in 14 years. According to the paper, the IMD has warned that “climate change-driven heat stress is a significant factor behind rising energy consumption”, and the country’s power demand is expected to rise 9-10% this summer. Hindustan Times writes that higher temperatures will also drive up coal and diesel consumption to prevent blackouts, adding that “coal stockpiles at power stations have risen by 16% compared to last year”. 

The IMD’s forecast follows a “warmer-than-normal March”, Bloomberg reports, “raising the risk of some damage to wheat crops” and “any decline in production could prompt the government to cut or scrap the 40% import duty on the food grain”. India’s health ministry has asked states to review how ready health facilities are “to handle cases of heatstroke”, Business Standard reports. Delhi’s department of education has “urge[d]” schools to implement a range of heat protocols as schools reopen just as the temperatures are “expected to rise sharply in the coming days, potentially surpassing 40C”, Times of India reports. Meanwhile, the Indian Express reports that Maharashtra and West Bengal have “ordered schools to modify school timings without disrupting the academic calendar.” Separately, a comment article by a pair of researchers in the Indian Express argues that the possibility of power shortages amid the heat “should not be an excuse for making hasty decisions that lead to undesirable lock-ins” and “stranded assets”.

In other energy news, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has “reiterated India’s commitment to sustainable energy through nuclear power”, according to newswire IANS. Modi cited an Indian Express comment article by Earth sciences minister Jitendra Singh, who writes that India’s “heavy dependence on imported fossil fuels not only strains the economy but also increases vulnerability to global price fluctuations”. Singh uses France as an example of how nuclear power “can form the backbone of a low-carbon energy strategy”, adding that “[w]hile hydropower faces seasonal variations and ecological concerns – and coal continues to pose serious environmental challenges – nuclear energy offers a sustainable alternative”. Singh concludes: “India’s nuclear programme, in tandem with renewable energy, could reshape the country’s energy landscape.” According to the country’s renewable energy ministry, India added 25 gigawatts of renewable energy in 2024-25, “marking the highest ever annual increase”, Economic Times reports. Finally, another Economic Times story reports India’s steel industry “could face carbon costs of up to $116 per tonne by 2034” under the EU’s carbon border tax.

A severe storm struck the Greek islands of Paros and Mykonos this week, “triggering widespread flooding and prompting authorities to close schools and impose a ban on all traffic except emergency vehicles”, the Associated Press reports. A second AP story says that Sydney beachfront properties were flooded by an extreme storm surge early this morning. Finally, BBC News reports that a “huge swathe” of North America is bracing for a powerful storm system, due to bring flooding and tornadoes this week.

In a special report, Politico speaks to 27 energy analysts, officials, pollsters and politicians about how the UK government can bring down energy bills and “the size of the political challenge if they fail”. It says: “Many lamented a public debate marked by a lack of honesty on all sides…There are options for driving down bills. But, as the government is finding, each involves a fraught political trade-off.” The article says that, despite the Conservatives and Reform “sharpening their attacks” on net-zero, “few energy experts agree net-zero efforts are the main driver of high bills”. It quotes Adam Berman, director of policy at trade group Energy UK, who says that climate policies “will lower energy bills…but it will take time for that to materialise”. The article says that “privately, some Labour officials admit the same”, quoting an anonymous “senior government official”, who says: “It’s too late in terms of [lower bills contributing to winning] a second parliament, because people want to see their energy bills come down now, not in 2030.”

Elsewhere, the Times has a piece on how much UK bills will go up in April and how to “beat the rises”. The i newspaper carries a story about a father-of-three “sent into debt” by rising energy bills.

More than half of a herd of GPS-monitored pronghorn antelope perished as they travelled hundreds of kilometres to escape a “once-in-two-decades” extreme snowstorm in the US state of Wyoming, according to new research. The study looks at how the animals – known colloquially as “American antelopes” – experienced “novel barriers” during the snowstorm that ultimately hindered their ability to escape snow accumulation. The research finds the “synergistic effects” of movement barriers and extreme weather “drastically reduced” the pronghorns survival, with mortality rates increasing 3.7-fold. The authors describe the research as a “case study” which sheds light on the combined impact of extreme weather and landscape fragmentation on animal mobility and survival.