Los Angeles is expected to face extreme “fire weather” today, as conditions remain dry and “hurricane-force winds” of up to 70 miles per hour are forecast, Reuters says. It reports that 8,500 firefighters from seven states and two foreign countries “held the line” against two of the biggest fires on Tuesday, with the largest, the Palisades Fire, now 18% contained. The fires have now collectively burned through an area the size of Washington DC, the newswire reports. The National Weather Service said the strong winds have created fire conditions that are “as bad as it gets”, National Public Radio reports. The Associated Press reports that a further 84,000 people could face evacuation orders, and the death toll from the disaster has now hit 25. The Guardian reports that analysts have estimated that the damages from the fire now total at least $250bn, the costliest disaster in US history. The New York Times reports on how the fires have devastated a thriving Black community in Altadena. CNN has maps tracking the devastation from the wildfires. 

Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Times reports that California governor Gavin Newsom has asked legislators to approve a $2.5bn wildfire response fund. Politico reports on how Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass has “lost control of the narrative” surrounding the fires, after a social media campaign against her based on “half-baked assertions” and falsehoods pushed by figures including Elon Musk. Separately, the Associated Press reports that California has withdrawn its request to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for permission to implement stricter limits on pollution from diesel-powered trains and large trucks, ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.

US president Joe Biden has urged the incoming Trump administration to “tackle China’s ‘overcapacity’ and dominance in clean energy supply chains”, adding that the US must win the “competition”, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. The outgoing president also says that China’s economy “will never suppress that of the US”, the news outlet adds. The Biden administration is also finalising rules that will “effectively bar nearly all Chinese cars and trucks” from the US as part of a “crackdown on vehicle software and hardware from China”, Reuters reports, although, it adds, the US has made some changes in the final document “such as exempting vehicles heavier than 10,000 pounds …which would let China’s BYD continue to assemble electric buses in California”. SCMP publishes another article examining whether Chinese solar companies still believe the US market is worth investing in, given “uncertainties in the green energy sector and hostility” from the next administration. China’s state oil companies and large private refiners are “snapping up crude cargoes” from places such as the Middle East to prepare for “potential disruption in fuel supply” under tighter sanctions on Russia and Iran, Bloomberg reports. Reuters says China’s recent record import volumes of coal are “only possible because seaborne prices have dropped to multi-year lows”. Nikkei Asia reports that Russia and China are “leveraging their supply of low-enriched uranium for nuclear power plants” to pressure the US and Europe. The Financial Times explores whether the energy transition will drive another “commodities supercycle” in China.

Elsewhere, China Electric Power News says that new renewable energy installations have pushed “new energy” to make up the largest share of energy capacity in 14 of China’s 31 provinces. SCMP reports that some major Chinese provinces and cities have released “ambitious” economic goals for this year, signalling that Beijing’s policymakers will “stick to at least a 5% growth target for the nation at large”. According to experts, China’s biomass and hydropower industries will become “investment hot spots” by 2025 due to their “long-term viability and environmental benefits”, state-run newspaper China Daily reports. Business news outlet Caixin publishes an article saying that producing hybrid vehicles could offer a “lifeline” for makers of internal combustion engine vehicles to “survive the green transition”.

In its fourth “biennial update report” (BUR) submitted to the UN’s climate change body, India reported a “7.93% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 compared to 2019”, says the Economic Times. According to the newspaper, India’s energy sector accounted for 75% of the country’s total emissions that year while “land-use activities sequestered approximately 522m tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e), reducing the country’s total emissions” by 22%. The reduction in 2020 “is an unusual occurrence for a developing country with growing energy needs” and contrasts with previous years (2016-2019) where India’s emissions grew by 3.35% on average, Down to Earth reports, adding that “the decline can be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic” that saw emissions decline globally. Down to Earth says the BUR reports that while non-fossil fuel sources made up 45.52% of India’s installed power capacity, “as of November 2024, coal accounted for approximately 71.75% of power generation”. Emissions from the country’s agriculture sector “represent 13.72% of overall emissions”, largely generated by animal husbandry and crop production, while “emissions from chemical industries increased significantly” by 73%, it adds. While the country’s land-use and forestry sector “remains the sole absorber of carbon dioxide”, emissions from deforestation were “notably” not mentioned in the report, it further adds. (As Carbon Brief reported previously, India’s climate goal for the land sector remains unclear.)

In other energy news, the Economic Times cites industry executives saying that sectors “with a heavy reliance on China” including solar panels and EVs are facing “severe challenges” in accessing capital equipment, with “India’s far east neighbour almost halting supplies”.  Meanwhile, Mongabay looks at how “[r]ecord heat is worsening pollution and public health” in India, particularly for gig and outdoor workers in the country. At the same time, a comment in the Wire argues for “integrating climate risks” into India’s economic models. Separately, India Meteorological Department (IMD) chief Mrityunjay Mohapatra is quoted telling the Hindustan Times that “the prediction of highly-localised extreme weather events resulting from the climate crisis will be at the heart” of its planning, as the agency celebrates its 150th year.

Former UK prime minister Liz Truss and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage attended the launch of a new UK arm of the Heartland Institute, a powerful US climate sceptic organisation, the Guardian reports. The UK arm will be headed by Lois Perry, the former leader of the anti-immigrant UK independence party (UKIP) who has previously called climate change a “scam”, the Guardian says. The appearance of Farage, who is now an MP with his anti-immigrant party Reform, comes as he “seeks to make hostility to net-zero a centrepiece of Reform’s electoral pitch”, the Guardian reports. It comes as DeSmog reports that the Conservative shadow net-zero and energy minister, Claire Coutinho, made a post on X/Twitter calling for the government to “bring in” a group of people associated with a climate sceptic thinktank to help craft energy policy. BusinessGreen reports on a new analysis finding that climate scepticism has entered a new phase of “response scepticism”, where actors are more likely to be critical of the solutions to climate change rather than its underlying causes.

In other UK news, the Daily Telegraph says the future of the proposed Sizewell C new nuclear plant in Suffolk is “in doubt” after the French state auditor advised the state energy firm behind the project, EDF, to focus on developments within France. The Guardian carries news first reported yesterday morning that building Sizewell C could now cost £40bn, double the amount first projected. The government is due to make a final investment decision on the project in this year’s spending review, it adds. Elsewhere, the Guardian examines whether the government’s AI push could threaten its climate targets. The Daily Mirror reports that potholes in UK roads have reached a five-year high, with extreme weather linked to climate change thought to play a role. The Daily Telegraph has a comment piece saying “tariffs on electric cars would damage Britain”.

A “leading” climate investment alliance, the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, has suspended its activities after BlackRock, the world’s biggest investment group, pulled out last week, the Times reports. It says: “BlackRock is one of a number of firms across Wall Street that are distancing themselves from climate organisations as they prepare for Donald Trump to return to the White House on Monday.” Elsewhere, the Times also reports that UK fossil-fuel firm BP has delayed an event for investors at which it is expected to curtail its clean energy investment targets “as its chief executive recovers from a medical procedure”. DeSmog reports that the Norwegian fossil fuel company Equinor “has retracted a claim that it stores about a million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually at its flagship carbon capture project after DeSmog obtained data showing the real figure was as little as a tenth of that amount”.

An editorial in the Washington Post warns that the US insurance system is unprepared to deal with rising extreme weather events worsened by climate change. Citing the fires in Los Angeles, it says: “LA’s nightmare should serve as a warning to other states: Climate change is crushing insurance markets, and the solution is not to artificially lower premiums or rely on public options. States must act to protect homeowners from hazards – before the next natural disaster strikes.” Elsewhere, a Financial Times column by science communicator Anjana Ahuja examines research warning of rising “climate whiplash” events globally.

Boniface Mwangi, a photographer and human rights activist, writes in African Arguments calling for African nations to join a small number of countries in signing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. He writes: “All African governments should support the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, which calls for an end to new coal, oil, and gas projects and demands a justice-based energy transition. It is a bold proposal grounded in global justice and equity that is premised on the basic fact that fossil fuels are fuelling climate breakdown. Coal, oil and gas are responsible for nearly 90% of the carbon emissions driving the climate collapse this decade.”

A new paper finds that delivering all announced “green hydrogen” projects by 2030 without carbon pricing would require “enormous subsidies” of $1.3tn, a figure which “far exceeds” currently-announced policy support. The study says this “implementation gap” comes as the green hydrogen project pipeline has nearly tripled to 422 gigawatts (GW) within three years, surpassing the requirements of some 1.5C climate scenarios. After tracking the progress of 190 green hydrogen projects over 2021-23 the researchers find that just 7% of capacity planned for 2023 finished on schedule. They caution that “policymakers must prepare for prolonged green hydrogen scarcity”.