Hurricane Beryl has become the earliest Atlantic storm on record to become a category 5 hurricane, killing six people in the Caribbean, the Associated Press reports. Fuelled by hot sea temperatures, Beryl became a category 5 hurricane on Monday night, and has now been downgraded to a category 4 hurricane as it heads towards Jamaica, AP says. It explains: “A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac and for Haiti’s entire southern coast. Beryl was forecast to start losing intensity on Tuesday but still be near major hurricane strength when it passes near or over Jamaica early Wednesday, near the Cayman Islands on Thursday and into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center.” Reporting on the impact of Beryl so far, AP adds: “Three people were reported killed in Grenada and Carriacou and another in St Vincent and the Grenadines, officials said. Two other deaths were reported in northern Venezuela, where five people are missing, officials said. Some 25,000 people in that area also were affected by heavy rainfall from Beryl.” The storm has set the precedent for a “very dangerous” hurricane season, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said, Reuters reports. The Financial Times speaks to UN climate chief Simon Stiell, the head of the UN’s climate change arm who is from Carriacou. He tells the newspaper: “It’s clear that the climate crisis is pushing disasters to record-breaking new levels of destruction…This is not a tomorrow problem. This is happening right now in every economy, including the world’s biggest, disasters on a scale that used to be the stuff of science fiction are becoming meteorological facts, and the climate crisis is the chief culprit.”

Elsewhere, the Associated Press reports that the WMO has confirmed that Tropical Cyclone Freddy, a deadly storm affecting east Africa last year, was the longest cyclone on record, lasting 36 days.

US president Joe Biden has launched a first-ever federal workplace standard for extreme heat, and “railed against” Republicans working to repeal his climate measures, the Guardian reports. According to the newspaper, Biden said that extreme heat was the largest weather-related killer in the US, adding: “More people die from extreme heat than floods, hurricanes and tornadoes combined.” Biden said the new plans, if finalised, “will substantially reduce heat injuries, illnesses and deaths for over 36 million workers…construction workers, postal workers, manufacturing workers and so much more”, the Guardian says. It adds: “It faces potential legal challenges from trade groups, and if [Donald] Trump wins the November election, his administration could also refuse to greenlight the measure.” The New York Times says that Biden also “called denying the effects of climate change ‘really, really dumb’”. It adds that, speaking about Republican lawmakers working to undo climate measures, he said: “How can you deny climate change for God’s sake? They must be living in a hole somewhere…Anyone who willfully denies the impacts of climate change is condemning the American people to a dangerous future and either is really, really dumb or has some other motive.” Bloomberg has a video of Biden’s remarks. AP says that Biden announced the new rules as “tens of millions” of people in the US remain under heat advisories. The Los Angeles Times reports that California is facing the start of “an extended, life-threatening heatwave”, prompting electricity firms to shut off power over fears that active lines may worsen the risk of dangerous wildfires igniting.  

Elsewhere, there is continued reporting from the Associated Press that a judge has halted Biden’s temporary pause on liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal expansion. It adds: “It was unlikely, however, that any of the projects would be on a fast track for consideration as the US Department of Energy said late on Monday that it disagreed with the court’s ruling and was evaluating its next steps. The White House also voiced disappointment.” MailOnline describes the decision as a “blow” to Biden. In addition, Reuters reports that a group of US Democrat and EU lawmakers has asked the International Energy Agency to develop international standards for measuring the oil and gas sector’s emissions of methane.

Local authorities in China’s Hunan province have declared a “wartime” emergency situation after torrential rainfalls led to “the most severe flooding seen in 70 years” in Pingjiang, a county of 1.2m people, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. It adds that flood water in some areas was said to reach 3m high, and that more than 5,300 people have been evacuated. State-run newspaper China Daily also covers the news, reporting that the level of the river running through the county “was the highest…recorded since 1954”. Bloomberg says that “China’s farmers are continuing to grapple with extreme weather from flooding to drought, threatening crops including rice”. State news agency Xinhua reports that flooding caused by heavy rainfall in Anhui province has caused 195,000 people to evacuate. (None of the reports mention climate change.) The Economist says that climate change means China is likely to “increasingly experience periods of heavier rainfall, as well as longer periods of dryness”, adding that “heatwaves have become 50 times more likely as a result of climate change”, according to World Weather Attribution. (See Carbon Brief’s recent Q&A for more on flooding in China.)

Meanwhile, SCMP covers analysis finding that ASEAN members such as Thailand and Indonesia “ha[ve] also expressed concerns about the negative effects of massive Chinese imports”. A commentary in economic newspaper Nikkei Asia by Sonal Varma, Nomura’s chief economist for Asia excluding Japan, argues that Asia must “embrace protectionism in [the] face of China’s overcapacity”, adding “it boils down to protecting domestic companies and jobs”. The Financial Times says that to “dodg[e] potential future crackdowns” on electrolysers, a technology needed for “green hydrogen”, Chinese manufacturers are “essentially ‘Europeanising’ their products” by establishing factories on the continent. Similarly, Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD will cooperate with French car-leasing firm Ayvens to “expand its presence” in Europe, Bloomberg reports. Bloomberg also reports that Canada is considering blocking Chinese investment in Canadian factories as part of moves aimed at deterring Chinese EVs. Reuters reports that the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) has launched the country’s “first technical centre for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that focuses on standard setting and product research”. A Financial Times Lex comment says other Chinese companies post a bigger threat to BYD’s expansion than Tesla.

Separately, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published draft rules for comment on the national carbon market, targeted at “reducing an oversupply of permits to compel large polluters to accelerate their green transitions”, reports Bloomberg. SCMP covers comments by a research body under the National Energy Administration (NEA) that China’s solar and wind power expansion means the country will “meet its 2030 renewable targets” by the end of 2024, “six years ahead of schedule”. Energy newspaper BJX News publishes data showing China’s utilisation rate of solar power generation reached 97.5% in May, while wind power stood at 94.8%. Finally, Xinhua reports that China’s first “comprehensive green-designed offshore oil field” began operations on Monday.

Heavy rains in northeastern India “triggered floods and landslides in the region”, killing “at least 16 people” over the last two weeks and displacing more than 300,000 from their homes, Deutsche Welle reports. The state of Assam is among the “worst hit”, with military helicopters assisting in rescuing 13 fishermen who “had been stranded for four days on a small river island on the Brahmaputra”, and authorities calling on people in more than 2,000 island villages “to seek higher ground”, it adds. The outlet says elephants in the flooded Kaziranga National Park are migrating towards the neighbouring state of Arunachal Pradesh, “which is also badly hit”, according to locals. BBC News places the death toll in Assam from flooding at 34, with chief minister Hemanta Biswas Sarma telling the broadcaster that the next few days could be “critical” as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts even more rain in some districts. The IMD has placed the entire northeast region under red alert, according to the Hindustan Times. Torrential rain has also hit the country’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, where “nine people died in rain-related incidents in the last 24 hours”, Reuters reports. 

Despite the floods, India’s June rainfall was 11% “below normal” and the fifth lowest since 2020 after seeing a delayed onset, according to another Indian Express story. Down to Earth describes the monsoon’s first month, bringing “droughts or floods or both”, as a “tell-tale sign of climate change”. It adds that while the forest-rich Wayanad in Kerala has seen a 38% rain deficit, the cold, northern desert of Ladakh “received a whopping 385% more rains than normal”. At the same time, the IMD has “predicted ample rains” in the “crucial” month of July, Bloomberg reports. However, it adds that “[a]ny failure in the monsoon this month will not only hurt farm output but also prevent reservoirs storing enough water for use in winter crops”, including wheat and rapeseed.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press examines the impact of extreme heat on garbage pickers in Jammu and Delhi, while Mongabay covers studies that show marginalised caste groups “were less likely to have access to adaptation measures and were more exposed to heat stress”, observing that “survival for the poorest is driven, in part, by sheer luck”. In a comment for the Hindu unpacking a recent supreme court order on climate change, climate experts Navroz Dubash, Aditya Pillai and Shibani Ghosh write that a new national climate law should “provide a way of mainstreaming and internalising climate change considerations into how India develops”.

Elsewhere, Business Standard reports that the Indian government has made its first “policy-level intervention…towards [its] net-zero goal”, three years after it was declared at COP26 in 2021. The government thinktank Niti Aayog has announced six “multi-sectoral committees” to work on the “macroeconomic implications of [energy] transition, climate finance [and] critical minerals”, it adds. Meanwhile, another Business Standard story reports that the World Bank has approved a $1.5bn loan to “promote a market for green hydrogen, electrolysers, and increased renewable energy penetration”. 

The Financial Times reports that opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer, who is expected to become the next prime minister after tomorrow’s election, will focus on signalling that the UK is “back” on the global stage in his first weeks in power if elected, prioritising three foreign policy strands including Europe, the global south and climate change. The Labour leader tells the FT: “There’s going to be a reset for the UK on the international stage. We will be serious about our obligations, we want to play more of a leading role on the global stage, and say that we’re back.” David Lammy, shadow foreign secretary, tells the newspaper that the focus on climate change would centre on building an international “clean power alliance” to accelerate the “energy transition”, to align with the party’s plans to create new green jobs at home. 

Elsewhere, the Daily Mail speaks to “senior Tories”, including deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, who claim Labour’s “fantasy eco plans” will create more jobs in China than in the UK. Dowden tells the Mail: “Labour aren’t content with destroying jobs in the North Sea oil industry by refusing licences. Now they want to ship them to China. Their fantasy eco plans mean higher bills for families and making us reliant on China for decades, which our own national security strategy identifies as the number one threat to our economy security. Do not let virtue-signalling trump the national interest. Do not surrender this country’s light switch to Labour.” The article includes a response from a Labour spokesperson, who says: “This is more desperate Tory lies. After 14 years of failed Tory energy policy, jobs have gone overseas and our clean energy infrastructure has been imported from China and the rest of the world. Rishi Sunak has no plan to change it. Labour’s plan means investment in 650,000 jobs of the future and creating Great British Energy. That’ll lower people’s bills with cheap, homegrown energy. The only way to stop the Conservatives’ chaos and exporting of British jobs, is to vote for Labour on Thursday.” The Daily Telegraph cites new research estimating that 44% car sales will be EVs by 2030 and 78% by 2035, suggesting this threatens Labour’s pledge to reverse Rishi Sunak’s weakening of the ban on the sale of new petrol cars from 2035 to 2030. The Daily Telegraph also has a piece on Labour’s plans to reverse the effective ban on onshore wind in England, [which Carbon Brief analysis shows has added around £9bn to energy bills since 2015]. The British Port Association tells the Guardian that delays to approving new port infrastructure could be putting net-zero at risk.

The head of the Science Based Targets initiative, who came under fire for a controversial decision to loosen guidelines around carbon offsets, will step down at the end of July, Bloomberg reports. Luiz Amaral is resigning due to “personal reasons” and will be replaced in the interim by chief legal officer Susan Jenny Ehr, according to a statement seen by Bloomberg. It says: “The resignation follows a turbulent period during which SBTi’s staff called on Amaral and the board to resign following an April statement which said SBTi would allow companies to use carbon credits to offset emissions along their entire supply chains, a surprising reversal of the group’s long-held position. The manner in which the statement was released, bypassing staff and advisory groups, raised concerns about SBTi’s governance, not to mention its susceptibility to external pressure.” The FT also has the story.

An editorial in the Guardian argues climate change “should have been a more prominent theme during an underwhelming election campaign”, saying: “[Prime minister Rishi] Sunak has sought to wage culture wars over net-zero, the green transition has been portrayed as an extraneous financial burden, and an unwanted imposition at a time of economic fragility. Yet in reality, as the former UK head of Siemens, Jürgen Maier, has emphasised, massive green investment is a prerequisite of future economic prosperity. As the global economy decarbonises, going green is the starting point of a desperately needed British growth strategy, not a discretionary add-on. Labour, should it fulfil expectations on Thursday and win the election, needs to rediscover this truth and be full-throated in expressing it.” The Times has an editorial that is defensive of Sunak’s rollbacks of climate measures, saying: “Sunak justly points to trade-offs in environmental policy. Bans on polluting technologies are well-intentioned but there is no sense in introducing them swiftly by fiat. Doing so would have scant environmental gain, given that Britain makes only a small contribution to aggregate global carbon emissions, yet have a substantial effect on living standards. Mr Sunak has done no more than delay a prohibition on buying new petrol cars from 2030 to 2035, and a target for eliminating gas boilers, when Britain is already a pioneer in promoting clean energy.” Elsewhere, Andy Palmer, former head of Aston Martin and COO of Nissan, has a column in Auto Express arguing that “only Labour can save the car industry”.

FT chief economics commentator Martin Wolf argues that market forces will not be enough to stop climate change, saying: “A hundred years from now, people are likely to remember our era as the time when we knowingly bequeathed a destabilised climate. The market will not fix this global market failure. But today’s political fragmentation and domestic populism make it almost inconceivable that the needed courage will be forthcoming either. We talk a lot. But we find it effectively impossible to act on the needed scale. This is a tragic failure.”

With another Glastonbury festival just finished, a new “short research article” looks at how the event has “borne the brunt of some of the finest and some of the feistiest British summer weather” over its history. The study “dives into the more extreme weather events in the festival’s history, illustrating the increasing unpredictability and volatility in our changing climate”. The gradual trend towards a warmer and drier climate “poses immense uncertainty for the future of British festivals”, the author says, as they look at “how festival organisers are preparing for this changing environment”.

Exposure to flooding may lead to accelerated “biological ageing”, new research suggests. A person’s biological age “incorporates information from biological markers and may serve as a more accurate reflection of an individual’s physiological state”, the paper explains. Using data from 364,841 participants from the UK Biobank project, the researchers assessed two biological ageing measures against cumulative flooding exposure for each person. The findings show that participants exposed to higher levels of floods “were more likely to have accelerated biological ageing” and that “the risks associated with flooding exposure could last for several years”.

The cities of Hai Phong in Vietnam, Yangon in Myanmar and Bangkok in Thailand all face increases in the peak intensity and duration of tropical cyclones as the climate warms, a new study indicates. The researchers use more than 64,000 tropical cyclones downscaled from an ensemble of nine CMIP6 climate models for the 19th century to the end of the 21st century, for both moderate and very high emissions scenarios. The findings suggest that tropical cyclone formation and the fastest intensification will be “closer to many coastlines” and there is “increased likelihoods of tropical cyclones moving most slowly over mainland south-east Asia”.