The planet’s average temperature “shattered” the previous September record by more than 0.5C (0.9F), which is the largest monthly margin ever observed, according to the Washington Post. It notes that this is “even further than what scientists said seemed like astonishing increases in July and August”. These conclusions are based on early, separate data analyses carried out by European and Japanese climate scientists, the newspaper adds. The extreme warmth is the latest sign of both human-caused climate change and the climate pattern El Niño, the paper explains, quoting Carbon Brief contributor and climate scientist Dr Zeke Hausfather describing it as “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas”.

Meanwhile, after the northern hemisphere “sweltered through the hottest summer in human history”, New Zealand’s usually cool start to spring has also hit record high temperatures, according to the Guardian. Data from the National Institute of Water and Atmospherics shows the nationwide average temperature was 11.9C, which is 1.3C warmer than the 1991-2020 September average and the hottest since records began in 1909.

France and eight central and eastern European nations that rely on nuclear power have put forward a plan to “break the deadlock over state support to extend the life of ageing reactors”, Bloomberg reports. It adds that the “hard part” will be “winning over Germany”. The dispute is key to the redesign of the EU’s electricity market, the article explains, as the bloc seeks to bolster its energy security and “weaken the role of natural gas in setting prices while also spurring the take up of renewables”. It says that France wishes to obtain more stability and finance to extend the life of its nuclear reactors, but Germany, which has phased out nuclear energy, has blocked such efforts out of concern that French energy company EDF would be able to sell power at uneconomical costs. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that, according to German state climate secretary Sven Giegold, Germany is seeking a “grand bargain” with France to resolve their current stand-off over nuclear power. The Green politician tells the newspaper: “We believe we should have a larger compromise…But we are not there yet.” The article notes that Germany has proposed a compromise whereby “contracts for difference” could occasionally be used to financially support existing nuclear plants, such as when new investments are made to extend the lifespan of the reactor, but not for all existing plants as France has pushed for.

Meanwhile, Politico reports on the European Parliament approval process for the two new candidates for the European Commission’s most important climate jobs. “After interrogating Wopke Hoekstra and Maroš Šefčovič for more than three hours each, MEPs on Tuesday decided to postpone their confirmations to the European Commission’s top climate jobs until both candidates answer more questions in writing,” the article states. Hoekstra is a centre-right candidate and Šefčovič is a socialist, and, according to Politico, their fates “became entangled after the two groups threatened to vote down each other’s candidates”. Parties will “reconvene [on] Wednesday morning around 8:30am to make a decision on whether to back both or either of them”, the outlet says. Climate Home News reports that, in his European Parliament hearing, Hoekstra pledged to “drum up support across the world” for a global tax on high-emissions plane fuel.

The Guardian reports from the UK Conservative party conference in Manchester, where it says “green politics is under attack”. It says that while, at previous events, “Tory MPs lined up to proclaim their green credentials”, this year many “eco-friendly” MPs have “simply stayed at home”.The article notes that after energy and net-zero secretary Claire Coutinho attacked those who “view net-zero as a religion” she turned up to a Conservative Environment Network (CEN) event “to remind them she is a member”. The Sydney Morning Herald has a piece on the recent decision by UK prime minister Rishi Sunak to scale back some of the government’s key climate policies, including delaying the phaseout of petrol and diesel car sales. According to the newspaper, Australia’s top diplomat in London, Stephen Smith, “says Britain needs to explain to the international community that it is not retreating from net-zero”, despite these actions.

Meanwhile, the Guardian has published an investigation that shows at least one-tenth of the money donated to the Conservative party and its MPs since 2010 has come from property developers and others in the construction industry. The £40m in donations came during a period when Conservative governments repeatedly delayed low-carbon building regulations, the paper says, which it says “save[d] builders and developers billions”. The newspaper adds that the construction industry has “saved at least £15bn since 2015 by building homes to old, high-carbon standards, without solar panels and batteries, heat pumps and effective insulation”. Separately, the Daily Telegraph reports on comments by energy efficiency minister Martin Callanan about moving “green levies” from electricity bills to gas bills, a move designed to encourage households away from high-carbon gas use onto lower-carbon electricity. The newspaper runs the piece under the headline: “Household gas bills expected to rise under heat pump rollout.” The piece itself notes: “The green levy shift on household energy bills will make electricity cheaper and gas more expensive.”

Elsewhere, BusinessGreen reports on a call from more than 1,800 business figures for “committed and measurable action” from the government to accelerate decarbonisation and nature restoration, noting that “prosperity requires stability”. Finally, there is continued coverage in the Times of the news that Canadian investor Brookfield Asset Management, chaired by former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, is buying family-run British renewable energy company Banks Renewables in a deal worth nearly $1bn. The newspaper says: “It appears to be a vote of confidence in Britain’s renewables sector at a time when several wind developers are abandoning or halting proposed investments amid concerns over soaring costs and punitive taxes.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that countries cannot rely exclusively on public funds to cut greenhouse gas emissions and meet Paris Agreement climate targets, emphasising the need for a big boost from the private sector, Axios reports. Overall, the IMF says the private sector will need to supply about 80% of the needed investments for the developing world’s energy transition through 2030, but this share rises to 90% when China is excluded, the article continues. The Times of India also covers the new report released by the IMF, which it says concludes that emerging market economies will need a fivefold increase in investment in emissions-cutting measures, reaching £2tn by 2030, in order for the world to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The IMF also notes the potential for rising commodities costs to jeopardise the world’s net-zero targets, stressing that advanced economies should attempt to keep commodities trade open, according to City AM.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that India and Japan have launched a $600m fund to support low-carbon projects. It is a joint venture between the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and India’s first state-backed fund, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), with each one providing roughly half of the fund, the newswire notes. 

Separately, the Hill reports that more than 40 countries are pledging to raise $12bn to protect the world’s coral reefs from threats including climate change. The new Coral Reef Breakthrough initiative will be discussed further at the COP28 climate summit taking place in Dubai later this year, the piece notes.

The China Development Bank, one of China’s major policy banks, has increased “financial support for infrastructure construction and green development” in the transport sector, reports the state news agency Xinhua. The bank says it has released “more than 530bn yuan (about $73.8bn) of loans” mainly to “promote the country’s green and low-carbon transformation of transport” such as through charging points for “new energy vehicles” (NEVs, mainly electric vehicles). 

Meanwhile, the state-run China Environment News publishes analysis that during the transition period for the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), which lasts until the end of 2025, companies “do not need to bear the cost of purchasing additional CBAM certificates”. The newspaper quotes Fan Tiejun, the director of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, saying that he estimates that when the “carbon tariff” becomes effective, the export costs for China’s steel industry will increase by 4-6%, with approximately “$2m to 4m to be paid to the EU annually”. IN-EN.com also covers the CBAM, adding that, under the policy, the EU will impose additional taxes on imported “steel, aluminium, cement and fertilisers”. The South China Morning Post reports that “voluntary carbon credit markets, including those in Hong Kong and mainland China, should adopt a newly launched global quality assessment regime” in order to address trust and transparency concerns in climate funding.

Separately, Xinhua quotes Ouyang Chuying, co-president for research and development of Chinese battery developer CATL, saying that China has “seized the historic opportunity to develop the NEV sector at a time when traditional automobile giants lack impetus to embrace [them]”. The state broadcaster CGTN carries an analysis by Zhang Ying, an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, saying that China’s NEVs are “reshaping the global automotive landscape”. The Communist Party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily has published a commentary, which says that “at a time when humanity faces huge challenges[, such as] the worsening climate emergency”, the world must adhere “to the common values of the whole mankind”.

Ten coal mines in Australia could increase their greenhouse gas emissions until 2030 while being financially rewarded under a climate policy that is meant to cut industrial emissions, according to a new analysis obtained by the Guardian. The Labor government “revamped” the existing “safeguard mechanism” earlier this year so that 215 large polluting facilities have to reduce emissions “intensity” by up to 4.9% a year or use carbon offsets, the newspaper says. However, it adds that coal mines “have proved challenging to fit within this model” due to varying levels of emissions emanating from mines, and as a result the owners of some mines could be financially rewarded with “safeguard credits”, without taking action to cut emissions.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that “less than 24 hours since residents in parts of Australia’s Victoria state fled bushfires, state authorities are now warning of flooding as heavy rain douses flames and lifts rivers in the southeastern state”. BBC News also covers the story, reporting: “The country has reeled from disaster to disaster in recent years, as it feels the effects of climate change.”

Planting trees in large schemes to offset carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions may threaten biodiversity, according to new research from the University of Oxford, covered by the Times. The scientists note that commercial plantations of single tree species in tropical regions were being planted with only carbon in mind, according to the paper, which quotes the study noting: “It is broadly assumed that maximising standing carbon stocks also benefits biodiversity . . . this is often not the case.” The Guardian says scientists have urged governments to prioritise the conservation and restoration of native forests, cautioning that planting swathes of non-native trees in tropical regions “threatens important flora and fauna for a negligible climate impact”. Specifically, the paper says the popularity of commercial pine, eucalyptus and teak plantations in the tropics for carbon offsetting is “drying out native ecosystems, acidifying soils, crowding out native plants and turbocharging wildfires”. The Daily Mail also covers the study, noting that “celebrities and tycoons” including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Elton John, Emma Watson and Jeff Bezos have all used carbon offsetting to “cancel out” emissions from activities such as using private jets. Yet it notes that offsets produced from tree-planting projects can “actually degrade the environment”. (For more on carbon offsetting, see Carbon Brief’s special series on the topic published last week.)

Financial markets specialist Adrian Murdoch writes in Capital Monitor about UK prime minister Rishi Sunak’s recent rollback of some net-zero commitments. He writes: “While much of the attention over the past week has been on reputational damage, too little has been written about the immense financial cost of Sunak’s policy U-turn.” Murdoch cites experts who suggest the U-turn leaves the UK “out of step” with investors in sectors such as electric-vehicle production. He continues: “Asset managers now have a headache too. Many have committed to investing an increasing portion of their assets in climate solutions and announced strict engagement frameworks to support businesses across all sectors to reach 2030 interim net-zero targets.” Murdoch adds that committing to a “movable goalpost” could be a business risk. He concludes: “The biggest global sustainability embarrassment this year had been expected to be the COP28 meeting in Dubai…But the UAE now has competition in its tangential approach to sustainability. Its crown this year could well be taken by the British government.”

New satellite data suggest that global biomass carbon stocks increased from 2010 to 2019 at a rate of 0.5bn tonnes of carbon per year and highlight the importance of “forest demography”. The main contributors to the global carbon sink are boreal and temperate forests, the researchers find, while “wet tropical forests are small carbon sources, from deforestation and agriculture-related disturbances”. The study also finds that tropical deforested and degraded old-growth forests (those more than 140 years old) are “nearly carbon neutral”, whereas temperate and boreal young (less than 50 years old) and middle-aged (50 to 140 years old) forests are “the largest sinks”. In an accompanying research briefing, the authors explain that such detailed estimates of the global carbon balance “are essential to establishing climate mitigation goals for the implementation of the pledges of the Paris Agreement”.