The “de facto ban” on building new onshore wind turbines in England has been lifted by the new Labour government, the Guardian reports. Rules brought in by the Conservatives in 2015, led by then-prime minister David Cameron, meant that a single planning objection would be enough to block onshore wind construction, the newspaper explains. These rules were set out in two footnotes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which have now been deleted in a new draft NPPF released by Labour, it continues. This change, which Labour pledged in its manifesto as part of its plans to expand low-carbon energy, comes into effect immediately, the newspaper adds. The Daily Mail reports that chancellor Rachel Reeves described the ban as “absurd” and said it would hold back progress towards Labour’s ambition to make the UK a “clean-energy superpower”. The Times notes that, under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives had committed to lifting the ban. “However, the planning changes made by his government were so modest that not a single public wind farm was submitted for planning permission last year,” it states. The newspaper says Labour will also consult on whether to bring onshore wind under the “nationally significant infrastructure projects” system – meaning central government, rather than local councils, would decide whether to approve projects. In more energy news, Reuters reports that renewable energy companies have called on the government to increase the budget in its “contracts for difference” (CfD) auction by hundreds of millions of pounds to help meet the UK’s target for building offshore wind. CfDs are UK government-backed price guarantees to developers, but the last auction in 2023 failed to attract any bids for offshore wind projects as the incentives were deemed too low by developers, the article explains.

Alongside the end of the onshore wind ban, Reeves also announced mandatory house building targets, planning reforms and other measures to get “Britain building again”, Sky News reports. The Guardian speaks to experts who warn that the new government must resist demands from house building companies, which will likely “argue against fitting out new homes to stringent green standards” in order to save money on construction. Under the Conservatives, rules that would have forced these firms to build homes to low-carbon standards – with insulation, heat pumps and solar panels – were scrapped, the article says. [Carbon Brief analysis shows this decision has added £3bn to energy bills over the past decade.] BusinessGreen says Labour’s review of the country’s planning policy framework is meant to make it “easier to develop essential infrastructure, including…gigafactories, and grid transmission projects”. Among the new government’s proposals are plans to allow construction in some parts of the “green belt” zones around major cities, the Daily Mail reports. The Daily Telegraph says that Darren Jones, Labour’s chief secretary to the Treasury, has “refused to rule out” reinstating plans for the HS2 railway line north of Birmingham – which was cancelled under the previous government. Another Daily Telegraph article reports on comments by Michael Dnes, the head of future roads technology at the Department for Transport, who says the new Labour government should consider a “per mile” charge on drivers as electric vehicles replace petrol and diesel cars – a process that will result in the government losing revenue from fuel duty. [In a since-deleted thread on Twitter, Dnes had suggested introducing a pay-per-mile charge that would only apply to drivers of newly-bought electric vehicles.]

In a piece for the Conversation about how the new Labour government should interact with the EU, international relations researcher Nick Whittaker writes that “climate and environmental regulations is one area where the UK is already notably out of step with the EU”. Finally, the Daily Mail reports that, on a podcast with right-wing Reform UK leader and newly elected MP Nigel Farage this week, controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson said that “the influx of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the fossil fuel industry into the atmosphere…is actually a net ecological good”. He was referencing the idea that CO2 was leading to global plant growth, but the article notes that scientists from Nasa, where Peterson said he had sourced the information, “offer a far different take on that data”.

At least four people have been killed as hurricane Beryl hit Texas, including the sprawling city of Houston, the Washington Post reports. It says that at least a foot (30cm) of rain has been dumped onto the region’s flat, waterlogged ground – leading to flooding – alongside high-speed winds of up to 80mph. The storm, which “likely bears the fingerprints of climate change”, reached category 5 strength earlier this month earlier than any other hurricane on record, the newspaper explains. It adds that Beryl has “set records for its intensity so early in the hurricane season, fueled by extraordinarily hot Atlantic waters”. MailOnline notes that “scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms like Beryl, since there is more energy in a warmer ocean for them to feed on”. The Associated Press reports that Beryl came ashore in the US as a category 1 hurricane, knocking over 10 transmission lines and trees that in turn took down power lines. The news outlet says nearly 3 million homes and businesses have been left without power. As Beryl moved east, it weakened into a tropical storm and then a tropical depression, the newswire continues. In its live coverage of the storm’s progress, the Texas Tribune reports that Republican Texas senator Ted Cruz [who has extolled the supposed benefits of rising CO2 levels] told a news conference that he was confident US president Joe Biden would issue an emergency declaration for the region. Fox News reports that Beryl, which has already killed 10 people as it travelled through the Caribbean, is expected to weaken further as it moves northwards through the US.

Meanwhile, more than 146 million people in the US were living under extreme heat alerts on Monday, according to the Guardian. In particular, it notes that a “fierce” heatwave in the western part of the country has “shattered” temperature records and been linked to at least four deaths. The article highlights the Oregon town of Salem reaching 39.4C, but says heat warnings have been in place from California on the west coast to Florida on the east. Sky News reports that Las Vegas reached a new record temperature of 49C. Meanwhile, the Independent says a motorcyclist touring California’s Death Valley – not far from Las Vegas – has been killed as the region reached a near-record temperature of 53.3C. The Associated Press reports that hundreds of tourists have continued to visit Death Valley even as it was “punished by a dangerous heat”. Separately, an article in Bloomberg reports on how difficult it is for doctors and scientists to track how many people are being killed by extreme heat around the world. It notes: “Extreme heat isn’t going anywhere. Rising greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have already warmed the planet by about 1.2C compared to the pre-industrial era, and heatwaves are becoming more frequent and more intense. That trajectory makes it increasingly critical to appreciate heat as a lethal threat.” Finally, in the Climate Brink, climate scientist Andrew Dessler asks: “Can we air condition our way out of extreme heat?”

International Energy Net reports that, in the first quarter of 2024, China’s wind power generation overtook hydroelectric power to become the second largest source of electricity, accounting for 11% of the country’s total. Bloomberg reports that Chinese solar manufacturer Longi told analysts that the solar industry may see oversupply “for up to two years”. Financial newspaper Caixin reports that power reform in China “appears to be at something of a crossroads”, quoting several anonymous industry participants saying that “next steps will focus on clarifying the rights of power distribution and trading, as well as defining the role of local authorities in implementing these reforms”. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reports that Chinese scientists have developed a solid-state lithium battery that matches the performance of other “next-generation” batteries at “less than 10% of the cost”. State news agency Xinhua reports that Chinese researchers have created a material that can cool buildings, which could cut carbon emissions “significantly”.

Separately, Xinhua reports that exports of new energy vehicles (NEVs) from China reached 80,000 units in June, up 12.3% year-on-year, with total NEV exports from January to June 2024 reaching 586,000 units, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Economic newspaper Yicai reports that the CPCA said car sales in China continued to fall in June, as “slack demand” for gasoline-powered vehicles “offset a surge” in NEV sales, which jumped nearly 29% year-on-year. Caixin says that Chinese car brands “topped” car sales in Israel in the first six months of 2024, adding that almost 70% of the NEVs sold in Israel were from China. Reuters says that, according to the CPCA, provisional EU tariffs on Chinese NEV imports “cut 20-30 percentage points off” the growth rate of China’s NEV exports, which has fallen to only 10%. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), says that it is “disappointed at and cannot accept” the EU’s additional tariffs, Yicai says. Bloomberg quotes Jorge Toledo, the EU’s ambassador to China, saying on Sunday that China responded “only nine days ago” to the EU’s requests for talks in the bloc’s anti-subsidy probe, despite Brussels having “offered consultations” to Beijing on the case “for months”. Xinhua reports that Chinese president Xi Jinping sent a “congratulatory letter” on Monday to the Green Development Forum of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Countries, saying member countries want to “protect the environment and promote green development”.

Bloomberg reports that “another exceptionally hot summer, accompanied by drought, flooding and typhoons, is risking Chinese crop harvests and lifting power demand”. Science and Technology Daily reports that China has allocated 200m yuan ($27.5m) to help Hunan and Jiangxi “quickly restore normal production and living conditions” following extreme weather events in both provinces. The Paper reports that Zhengzhou, provincial capital of Henan, has issued a blue flood warning as “rainfall…has continued for nine hours, accumulating by more than 110mm”. The latter two articles do not mention climate change.

South Africa’s new energy minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has suggested a major change in direction for the coal-dependent country, telling journalists he wants to accelerate the nation’s shift to renewable energy, Reuters reports. According to the article, Ramokgopa, who runs the newly-created Energy and Electricity Ministry, said: “I am going to be ultra-aggressive on…renewable energy. You are going to see an exponential share.” The newswire says this marks a break from “a predecessor who opposed swift decarbonisation and pledged to keep burning coal for a long time”. South Africa’s Engineering News also has the story, noting that the minister said the rollout of renewables should contribute to the modernisation of South Africa’s electricity distribution, improved energy affordability and universal access to power. It adds that he said there would be “mega bid windows” for the procurement of renewable energy.

Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 homes in informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa, have been destroyed by winds “as the city braces for a week of damaging storms”, according to the Associated Press. The disaster has displaced around 4,000 people, the news outlet adds. South Africa’s TimesLive reports that the settlements have also been struck by flooding and mudslides.

The Associated Press reports that deforestation in Colombia fell 36% in 2023, compared to the previous year, according to environment minister Susana Muhamad. The drop was due to less environmental destruction in the Amazon, and it marked the second year in a row of decline, the article notes. Muhamad told reporters that this meant 44,262 hectares of deforestation was avoided in Colombia last year. The article attributed the decline to “advancing peace talks between the government and guerrilla groups in the area, along with financial incentives for farmers in the Amazon to help with conservation”. However, Reuters notes that deforestation had increased in 2024 so far, “amid dry conditions exacerbated by a strong El Niño weather phenomenon”.

Separately, the Guardian has an article about Latin American countries pursuing a “new oil frontier”. It says: “About half the countries in the region are experiencing a rush in oil exploration that threatens the global drive to achieve net-zero. But many argue that they have a right to enrich themselves in the same way the west has.”

A Daily Telegraph editorial criticises the “top-down, centralised, interventionist approach” that the new Labour government has taken to reforming the nation’s planning system. It takes aim at the decision to end the ban on onshore wind and says Labour will likely approve the construction of new data centres in the south east that have previously been blocked due to concerns about the local environment. The article says: “The government believes it has a mandate to override local objections to nationally important projects and has the majority to push them through, even in the green belt.” It concludes that the “collateral damage” of Labour’s push for national growth will be “the environment and local democracy”. Elsewhere, Daily Mail commentator Alex Brummer writes that Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves “underestimates the sheer power of nimbyism, of local people who understandably don’t want housing estates in their backyard, and the wrecking power of green and environmental activists determined to see off every single housing, science or commercial development that is proposed”. Instead of Labour’s approach, he recommends “lower taxes and less intrusive regulation which unlocks capital for investment”.

Meanwhile, Frank Aaskov, energy and climate change policy manager at the trade association UK Steel, has a piece in BusinessGreen in which he lays out how he thinks Labour should support the decarbonisation of heavy industry. His key recommendations are ensuring low electricity prices for industry and pushing through a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) so that UK industry can compete with imports.

Climate change-driven desertification in the Gobi Desert could threaten several species of dung beetle, new research finds. The research uses 14 years of genetic and distribution data for multiple dung beetle species in the Gobi Desert and Mongolian Steppe region to investigate how the insects could respond to desertification driven by climate change. The authors say: “This is the first study to predict the response of insects to desertification in the Gobi Desert. Our findings highlight that dung beetles in the Gobi Desert and Mongolian Steppe might experience high rates of occupancy turnover and genetic loss, which could reshuffle the species composition.”