There is continuing media coverage of the multiple wildfires sweeping across South Korea’s southeastern region. Reuters reports that at least 18 people have died, with “thousands of firefighters aided by the military deployed in a bid to contain one of the country’s worst forest fires in decades”. The newswire adds: “The deadly wildfires have spread rapidly and forced more than 27,000 residents to flee their homes, the government said. The blazes, fuelled by strong winds and dry weather, have razed entire neighbourhoods, closed schools and forced authorities to transfer hundreds of inmates from prisons.” It quotes Lee Byung-doo, a forest disaster expert at the National Institute of Forest Science, who says the scale and speed of the fires is “unimaginable”, adding: “Climate change is projected to make wildfires more frequent globally, Lee said, citing the unusual timing of wildfires that ravaged part of Los Angeles in January and a recent wildfire in northeast Japan. ‘We have to admit large-scale wildfires are going to increase and for that we need more resources and trained manpower,’ he told Reuters.” BBC News says: “The ‘unprecedented’ crisis remains critical, according to acting president Han Duck-soo, who said the fires are ‘rewriting the record books for the worst wildfires in our nation’s history’.” The Associated Press says: “An ancient Buddhist temple, houses, factories and vehicles were among the structures destroyed in the wildfires that have burned 43,330 acres.” The Japan Times says a “recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea [have been] linked to climate change”.

In other extreme weather news, the Arizona Republic reports that “Phoenix is already setting heat records and it’s only March. The temperature reached 99F [37.2C] at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at 2:05pm, according to the National Weather Service, breaking the previous daily record from 2022…Meteorologists were monitoring temperatures March 25 as if it hit 100F, it would be the earliest 100F day on record.” The New York Times says Phoenix has “shattered” its heat record. The Associated Press carries a news feature looking at how, “after the Lahaina fire [in 2023], Hawaii residents address their risk by becoming ‘firewise’”.

Euractiv says it has seen a “coalition paper” showing that a “future federal government of Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and Social Democrats (SPD) plans to decommission Germany’s lignite coal power plants depending on how quickly gas-fired power plants can be added to the grid”. The “leaked” document is reported to say: “We stand by the agreed phase-out path for lignite-fired power generation by 2038 the latest.” The outlet adds: “The outgoing government coalition between SPD, Greens and Free Democrats had favoured completing the country’s ‘coal and lignite exit’ by 2030, which now seems off the table. Another favourite project of the Christian Democrats – reintroducing nuclear energy into the mix – assigns the technology a potentially ‘important role’, mostly in the shape of future technologies like small modular reactors (SMRs) and fusion reactors, the paper said. In contrast to the parties’ preliminary agreement and the Christian Democrats’ election manifesto, however, dismantling Germany’s decommissioned nuclear plants would now ‘be stopped immediately’. A group of inspection authorities would assess the possibility they could be recommissioned again in the future. The document also contains the sentence: ‘Companies in Germany can only invest in new climate protection technologies once the economy is growing at a noticeable scale again’. This could indicate deprioritising state aid to decarbonise Germany’s emission-heavy industry sectors.”

In other German news, Reuters reports that “Swedish power utility Vattenfall said on Tuesday it has made a final investment decision for two windfarm projects in the German North Sea, Nordlicht 1 and 2, the first of which is expected to become Germany’s biggest offshore windfarm…Construction for Nordlicht 1 and 2, which will have a total capacity of 1.6GW [gigawatts], is planned to begin in 2026, Vattenfall said.”

The UK government has “been granted an additional six months to deliver an updated plan for meeting the UK’s legally-binding climate targets, after the High Court agreed to push back the deadline for modifying the current strategy until the autumn”, reports BusinessGreen. The outlet continues: “The existing carbon budget delivery plan was first published in 2023 by the previous government, setting out its plans for meeting the UK’s legally binding emissions targets…But the official strategy was subject to a legal challenge from green groups, which alleged it was not sufficiently detailed and was too reliant on emerging technologies that may struggle to deliver promised emissions reductions. In May last year, the High Court ruled the plan was unlawful in its current form, as it was too reliant on early-stage technologies to meet emissions targets through to 2037 and did not adequately consider the risk of those targets being missed. It ordered the government to produce a new climate strategy within 12 months, which would have seen the deadline for the new Labour administration fall in early May…It means a new UK strategy…could be published just days before [COP30] kicks off in Brazil’s Amazon region in early November.”

Meanwhile, in other UK news, the Daily Telegraph reports that Anas Sarwar, Labour’s leader in Scotland, has told a conference in London that “ending our reliance on volatile markets controlled by dictators like Putin” means “maximising our existing resources” in the North Sea. The newspaper says that, “despite [UK climate secretary] Ed Miliband wanting to curb drilling”, Sarwar argued that “new oil and gas” was preferable to “expensive imports” from hostile countries such as Russia. In related news, Bloomberg reports that conservation group Oceana UK is “challenging Britain’s government in a London court over 31 North Sea oil and gas exploration licenses that it says could put marine protected areas and climate stability at risk”. The Financial Times says Oceana UK’s action is the “latest test for Labour energy policy”. The Scotsman reports that UK ministers are “under mounting pressure over Scotland’s first carbon capture site Acorn”.

Elsewhere, the Guardian says: “Ministers have vowed to tackle forced labour in supply chains to mollify MPs after asking them to remove legal protections from the Great British Energy bill.” The Daily Telegraph reports that “Labour MPs have voted to block a ban on the government buying solar panels where there is ‘credible evidence’ of modern slavery in the supply process”. It adds: “Peers concerned that China has used forced labour to make the panels had amended legislation in an attempt to stop GB Energy, Britain’s new publicly owned energy company, buying such products. But ministers whipped Labour MPs to vote against the proposed amendment.” The Daily Mail also covers the story. (See Comment below.)

Separately, the Guardian reports that Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch “enjoyed a £14,000 week-long ‘residential’ with her family along with a small group of the shadow cabinet courtesy of the Tory donor Neil Record, who chairs a climate sceptic lobby group”. It adds: “The trip took place about a month before Badenoch U-turned on the party’s commitment to achieving net-zero by 2050, saying it was ‘impossible’ for the UK to meet – one of her first major policy pivots since taking over in the autumn.” (See Carbon Brief’s “Factcheck: Why Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is wrong about UK’s net-zero goal”.) The Daily Telegraph covers remarks made by Badenoch in an interview yesterday on TalkTV where she said: “What I am not going to do is say yes, we are going to open coal-fired power stations. From what I have seen, nobody actually wants to work in coal mines in this country. But let’s come up with a new plan, let’s come up with a plan that works, rather than make an announcement and start scrabbling things together. The same goes for things like fracking. A lot of people think that we should be fracking, but I also know that many communities don’t want it where they are, that it causes problems for them. We need to make sure that we have got local consent for things like that, not just imposing it.”

Finally, the Daily Mail reports that “Britain’s largest and ‘most advanced’ electric vehicle (EV) charging station has officially opened its doors in Hampshire, setting a new standard for ultra-rapid charging stations across the UK…The InstaVolt Superhub, located near the A34 and junction 9 of the M3, boasts 44 charging points which promise to have you back up to full capacity in just 20 minutes.” The Daily Telegraph continues its anti-net-zero campaigning via its news pages with headlines such as “Miliband could kill off fish and chip shops with net-zero drive” and “Net-zero could make flying ‘something for the privileged’”. And BusinessGreen reports that Drax has agreed a “£200m deal for UK battery storage investor Harmony Energy Income Trust”.

China’s environment ministry has released plans to “expand its carbon trading market into the steel, cement and aluminium smelting industries, a move that will require an additional 1,500 firms to purchase credits to cover their emissions”, reports Reuters. The newswire adds: “The expansion will bring the total volume of climate-warming carbon dioxide covered by the trading scheme to 8bn tonnes, more than 60% of China’s total emissions, ministry spokesman Pei Xiaofei said at a briefing. Incorporating new sectors into the scheme would not only support China’s climate goals but also create a market mechanism to help heavy industries close outdated, polluting plants and adopt low-carbon technologies, Pei said. China’s emissions trading scheme, launched in 2021, currently covers around 5bn tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from more than 2,200 power companies.”

In other China news, Guo Fang, vice minister of China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), has said at the China Development Forum that China remains “committed to green and low-carbon development”, despite “increasing uncertainty in green and low-carbon policies among major economies”, adding that the country will accelerate its “comprehensive green transition” by focusing on five key areas, state news agency Xinhua reports. The news agency adds that these key areas include “actively responding to climate change”, according to Guo.

Meanwhile, China “firmly opposes” the decision by the US to “penalise countries that buy oil and gas from Venezuela with tariffs on trades with the US”, according to Reuters. China’s foreign minister Wang Yi has called for “closer ties” between China and the EU during a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart, says Reuters. China News reports that the Boao Forum for Asia – an NGO conference attended by Asian leaders – has released a report on climate change, saying that Asia is poised to become a “key hub for carbon trading” while making “rapid progress in emerging green technologies”. Xinhua also covers the report, saying that China is at the “forefront” of Asia’s “green hydrogen” industry, with the continent accounting for around 70% of the world’s hydrogen electrolyser capacity.

Separately, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) has published an article under the headline: “China weeds out bad behaviour in quest to harvest farmers’ untapped solar power.” Another SCMP article says that exports of China’s plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) to the EU, which are not currently subject to extra tariffs from the bloc, have surged by 892%, year-on-year, during the first two months of the year. However, the outlet adds that according to analysts, if PHEV exports continue to increase the vehicles “could similarly find themselves in the tariff crosshairs”. An article by the state-supporting Global Times argues that upcoming US tariffs are “causing considerable upheaval within the global vehicle industry”, but they “won’t change the fact” that the US still needs to import many “critical components” for its EV industry, especially “those sourced from China”.

Finally, business news outlet Jiemian reports that China’s National Meteorological Centre issued alerts for “cold wave, sandstorms and strong winds at the same time” on Tuesday. Temperatures in some regions are expected to drop by more than 20C over the next few days, the outlet adds. And Reuters reports that “China’s glacier area has shrunk by 26% since 1960 due to rapid global warming, with 7,000 small glaciers disappearing completely and glacial retreat intensifying in recent years, official data released in March showed”.

India’s upper house of parliament has passed “controversial” amendments to India’s national disaster management law despite “numerous concerns” raised by activists and opposition parties, the Wire reports, adding that there is “fear that it gives more power to the government in tackling disasters while taking away the power of states”. According to the outlet, “many” members of the house yesterday called the bill “anti-federal” and asked that it be referred to a parliamentary committee “as it affects the lives, livelihood[s] and security of 1.4bn of our countrymen”. It adds that activists called it a “terrible development” that ignores issues raised by citizens “during these times of changing climate and extreme weather events such as cloudbursts, droughts and floods”. While the country’s home minister Amit Shah is quoted by the outlet acknowledging that the “size and scale” of disasters is changing because of climate change, it also quotes him describing the bill as a “proactive…innovative and participatory approach” to disasters. The story also quotes Ritabrata Bannerjee, an opposition MP from West Bengal, pointing out that 250,0000 Indians were ”displaced due to climate-induced disasters” in 2022. The Hindu quotes Shah saying: “The freebies distributed by you [states] cannot be compensated from disaster management funds.” The Press Trust of India also covers the story.

In other India news, the parliamentary panel on science, technology, environment and climate change has “expressed concern over the US withdrawal from global climate efforts and climate funding”, adding that India, “being a large country and a major player in climate change mitigation, must take responsibility”, the Indian Express reports. It says the panel also recommends “formulating and implementing national-level heat action plans” and was “shocked to note” the “gross underutilisation” of funds to mitigate emissions and pollution, with only 1% of funds allocated for 2024-25 spent by India’s environment and climate ministry. Separately, India’s ministry of tribal affairs has “effectively scrapped guidelines” meant to recognise the rights of pastoral communities and particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) over forest land, Article 14 reports. It quotes sources saying that ministry officials are “completely against” issuing any guidelines “particularly on pastoral communities’ rights” as they could “com[e] in the way of infrastructure projects, in particular renewable energy projects” in states where community lands “overlap with land parcels that have a high potential for large-scale solar parks”. Reuters, meanwhile, reports that the Adani group is now defending itself against allegations made in India’s top environmental court that it “started work on a $2bn [coal-fired] power plant without waiting for environmental clearance”.

Elsewhere, Mint focuses on the “alarming climate shifts” already underway in India. IndiaSpend explains what climate change could mean for the “world’s second-largest fish-producing nation”. And the Indian Express has two comment pieces. One by Anjal Prakash headlined: “Melting glaciers is not just an environmental crisis but a humanitarian one.” The other by Ravi Gupta headlined: “A green hybrid for Delhi.”

The Times reports that Shell’s chief executive has “set out plans to develop its gas business, slash its costs and boost share buybacks as he seeks to convince investors that ‘you can be sure of Shell’”. The newspaper adds: “Wael Sawan revived the old marketing slogan to summarise its intentions in a strategy update that also sees Europe’s biggest oil and gas group limit exposure to its nascent green energy business. It vowed that it would have no more than a tenth of its capital tied up in low carbon by 2030 – barely any higher than today…Sawan said it was making the company ‘simpler, more resilient and more competitive’ as he attempts to close a valuation gap with its more fossil fuel-focused American rivals. Shell now aims to increase gas production by about 2% each year while maintaining oil output at current levels, resulting in its overall oil and gas production growing by 1% each year to 2030.” The Daily Telegraph runs the story under the headline: “Shell halves green investment and boosts gas sales. Push to refocus on oil has been welcomed by markets, but angered climate campaigners.” The newspaper quotes Patrick Galey of Global Witness, who describes Shell’s plans as “corporate greed at the expense of people and planet”, adding: “It’s maddening to know that big oil bosses like Sawan are raking it in, as they double down on the oil and gas that’s fuelling climate devastation, and continue to profit from an energy crisis that’s leaving so many of us poorer.” CNBC says Shell is “doubling down” on its LNG (liquified natural gas) push”.

Brazil’s COP30 president-designate Andre Correa do Lago has said that this year’s UN climate summit in Belém will aim to defend climate action by governments against “serious” geopolitical challenges, while also pushing the private sector to “contribute more to the fight”, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). The newswire says that speaking at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue yesterday, he said that COP30 would be an opportunity to advance and defend the climate agreements “forged through years of cooperation and negotiation to tackle this shared global crisis”. He added, says AFP: “In a time of serious geopolitical, social, economic and environmental challenges…we must reinforce multilateralism.” The newswire continues: “German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, without naming any countries, told attendees that the Paris accord was ‘coming under pressure once again…Anyone who dismisses climate action in these turbulent times as being expensive, onerous or superfluous, cannot count,’ she said.”

Carbon credit registry Verra has, reports Climate Home News, suspended activities by four auditors related to carbon credit projects they vetted in China which claimed “bogus” emission reductions. The outlet adds: “In an unprecedented move, TÜV Nord, China Classification Society Certification Company, China Quality Certification Center and CTI Certification will be prevented from auditing agriculture and forestry offsetting schemes on Verra’s registry. For German certification giant TÜV Nord, the measures will only apply to its operations in China. It is the first time Verra has taken such measures.” It continues: “The auditors certified the activities of 37 programmes that aimed to slash planet-heating methane gas releases from rice fields across China, resulting in the generation of millions of carbon offsets. But Verra revoked the projects in August 2024 after a 17-month review found a string of integrity failures that the auditors had failed to identify…Verra said that it will not accept project registrations or requests to issue credits that rely on audits done by the certifiers affected by the measure. Those that have already undergone an audit carried out by suspended auditors will have to repeat the process with a new entity. A spokesperson for Verra told Climate Home at least 57 projects will be directly affected.”

The UK’s right-leaning newspapers continue their relentless attack on net-zero policies and, in particular, their personal hostility towards Ed Miliband, the UK’s energy and climate secretary. The Sun carries a comment piece by the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith which begins: “Don’t get me wrong, we all want to ­protect our children and grandchildren from the worst effects of climate change. But let’s get real – going green must not mean going blind to the human cost. China’s solar arrays, which Miliband will be ­carpeting the countryside with, are and will be made using slave labour.” (See news above.) The article concludes: “Surely it is time for Miliband and the government to do the decent thing and act on this abuse of human rights in ­pursuit of cheaper products. If not, Miliband will come to be seen as a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.”

The Daily Mail gives its columnist Stephen Glover a whole page to make a similar argument under the print-edition headline: “By putting his net-zero ideology above Uighur slaves forced to make solar panels, Miliband is a true son of the Left.” The newspaper also has an editorial under the headline: “A slave to dogma”. It says: “Despite warnings of human rights abuses, eco-zealot energy secretary Ed Miliband will place these devices [solar panels] on schools and hospitals. Our ancestors gave their blood to abolish slavery. To its great dishonour, Labour now supports the modern form of this evil. We should hang our heads in shame that such morally bankrupt people govern Britain.” The Daily Express also gives a whole page to climate-sceptic commentator Tim Newark to claim: “It’s win-win for China as they exploit our witless obsession with decarbonisation while pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from coal-fired power stations.” The Daily Telegraph joins in, too, with a comment piece by climate-sceptic commentator Matthew Lynn under the headline: “The rush for solar panels is leaving us at the mercy of China.”

Finally, in other UK comment, the Daily Telegraph’s Alan Cochrane responds to comments by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwa (see News above) by posing the question: “Is Labour edging towards Donald Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’?

Climate change attitudes become more politically polarised as countries become more affluent, a new study finds. The research analyses 30 years of survey data from 54 countries – a dataset that covers nearly 285,000 participants – to explore the relationship between political conservatism and lower climate change concern. It notes that, over the past three decades, the size of the inverse relationship between conservatism and climate change concern has grown around the world – and has intensified in countries that have become wealthier. The study also finds that polarisation around climate change is also greater among weather countries, as well as those with higher per-capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.