The UK government says the decision to approve a coalmine in Cumbria in 2022 was unlawful, because emissions from burning coal were not considered in the planning decision, the Guardian reports. The newspaper continues: “This follows a precedent set by a supreme court judgement last month, when Surrey county council’s decision to extend planning permission for an oil drilling well at Horse Hill, on the Weald, was quashed. Campaigners argued it should have accounted for greenhouse gas emissions from using the oil when assessing the environmental impacts of the project, not only the drilling site itself. These are known as ‘scope 3’ or downstream emissions.” BBC News reports that Angela Rayner, the newly appointed secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, said there was an “error of law” in the decision to grant planning permission for the mine in December 2022. The Press Association says that campaign groups including Friends of the Earth had brought a high court claim against the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which was set to be heard next week. But yesterday, the government withdrew its defence and told the high court that the “decision to grant planning permission should be quashed”, the newswire says. The Daily Telegraph calls the decision “a potentially lethal blow to what would have been Britain’s first new coalmine in 30 years”. Sky News also covers the news, while the Times puts the story on its second page.

In other UK news, the Guardian reports that the UK government is “grappling with a legal dilemma” over whether its plan to end new North Sea exploration licences should apply to the licensing round that began last October. The newspaper notes that Labour came to power with a pledge to end new North Sea licences, which it says was “central to its promise to turn Britain into a clean energy superpower”. It continues: “But cancelling the mechanism, which is run by the industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), could leave the new government vulnerable to a volley of legal actions from the companies, which may have spent millions preparing their bids. The government is expected to take legal advice on how to implement its North Sea policy, without risking a legal challenge from oil and gas companies, before taking a final decision on the live licensing round.” The newspaper quotes a government spokesperson, who said: “As previously stated, we will not issue new licences to explore new fields. We will also not revoke existing oil and gas licences and will manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan.” The Financial Times reports: “The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero denied a report published earlier [yesterday] by the Daily Telegraph that Miliband had already over-ruled his officials and ordered an ‘immediate ban on new drilling’ that would stop the final applications in the 33rd round.  Yet the government did not deny that Miliband’s eventual intention was to stop those licence applications from being granted by the North Sea Transition Authority. Ministers are considering the situation carefully before making any firm decision, according to government figures.” City AM adds: “Miliband’s department hit back at the claims, telling City AM: ‘This [Daily Telegraph] piece is a complete fabrication – it invents meetings and decisions that have not taken place.’” Despite the government response, the Daily Telegraph places the story on the frontpage of its Friday print edition. Elsewhere, the Financial Times reports that RWE, the UK’s largest electricity generator, has “urged the government to boost the budget for supporting new offshore wind projects if it wants to meet its stretching targets for decarbonising the electricity system”. 

The Biden administration is awarding $1.7bn in grants to carmakers, including General Motors and Stellantis, to help boost their electric car manufacturing, the Associated Press reports. The White House says the grants will “create or retain thousands of union jobs and support auto-based communities that have long driven the US economy”, according to the newswire. It continues: “The grants cover a broad range of the automotive supply chain, including parts for electric motorcycles and school buses, hybrid powertrains, heavy-duty commercial truck batteries and electric SUVs, the White House said.” Reuters adds: “The awards are for plants in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia – several of which are crucial in the November presidential election. President Joe Biden has prodded US automakers to assemble a rising number of EVs, introduced new tax incentives and funded EV charging stations. Regulators have also issued stricter emissions rules that will boost EV sales.” The Washington Post says the funding “underscores how the Biden administration is racing to get climate money out the door before the November election, even as it faces criticism for not moving faster on green lending”. It adds: “Should former president Donald Trump win a second term, he could try to scrap billions of dollars worth of federal spending aimed at accelerating America’s shift to clean energy and electric vehicles.” CNN reports that the money comes from the “landmark” Inflation Reduction Act. The outlet also notes that earlier this year, Biden “quadrupled tariffs on electric vehicles from China”. 

Elsewhere, the Financial Times reports that Tesla’s share of US EV sales has dropped below 50% for the first time. Separately, the Financial Times reports that the world’s biggest electric vehicle battery maker – Chinese tech supplier CATL – has “held talks with overseas sovereign wealth funds and the private offices of the super-rich about raising a $1.5bn fund to build out its global supply chain”. The paper continues: “The offshore fund would help Fujian-based CATL, a supplier to Tesla, Volkswagen and Ford, to finance an ecosystem of companies needed to expand production in Europe and other foreign markets.” The Daily Telegraph reports that Chinese electric car maker BYD “is among brands testing technology that will allow British homeowners to draw power from vehicles parked in their driveway”. And the Press Association reports on a new battery technology that “could allow electric vehicles to drive for a million kilometres, according to the researchers who created it”.

Petroleum company Marathon Oil will pay a record $64.5m penalty and invest around  $177m in “pollution-cutting measures”, to resolve ​​alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, the Washington Post reports. The newspaper continues: “The penalty is the largest ever for Clean Air Act violations at stationary sources, which include oil refineries, power plants and factories, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.” It adds that the EPA and justice department had alleged that Marathon had violated Clean Air Act requirements at nearly 90 facilities, resulting in “thousands of tonnes of illegal pollution”. It continues: “Under the agreement announced Thursday, Marathon is required to take steps to reduce more than 2.25m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over the next five years – roughly equivalent to the emissions avoided by taking 487,000 cars off the road for a year, the EPA said in a news release. The settlement will also prevent nearly 110,000 tonnes of volatile organic compound emissions, according to the agency.” Reuters quotes Todd Kim, assistant attorney general with the Department of Justice’s environment and natural resources division, who called the decision “historic”. It adds that the $65m penalty is “more than double the combined total of the administration’s 11 previous oil and gas Clean Air Act settlements, officials said”. The Associated Press reports that this is “the largest ever civil penalty for violations of the Clean Air Act at stationary sources”.

Elsewhere, the Associated Press reports that the Centre for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit against the federal government to “force the US Department of Interior to reassess the long-term environmental effects of delays in shutting down inactive oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico”. According to the newswire, the lawsuit “argues that the department has failed to properly account for harms caused by deteriorating, unused wells and other inactive oil and gas infrastructure over the past two decades”. Reuters reports that “a Maryland judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit by the city of Baltimore seeking to hold energy giants such as Exxon Mobil, BP and Chevron responsible for climate change, saying the case went beyond the limits of state law by trying to address the effects of gas emissions globally”. And Inside Climate News reports that “a landmark climate change lawsuit reached Montana’s supreme court on Wednesday, with the justices hearing arguments that a state law promoting fossil fuel development violated Montanans’ constitutional rights”.

In other US news, the Associated Press reports that, in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, about half a million homes and businesses in and around Houston will still be without electricity next week. CNN says: “Frustrations are mounting across south-east Texas as residents enter a fourth day of crippling power outages and heat, a combination that has proven dangerous – and at times deadly – as some struggle to access food, gas and medical care.” The Washington Post reports that “record flooding and powerful tornadoes ravaged parts of Iowa for weeks this spring, destroying or damaging thousands of homes, closing roads and bridges and costing over $130m in infrastructure damage, officials said Thursday”. According to the paper, the storms damaged more than 5,000 homes – 2,000 of which are “likely irreparable”. Finally, the New York Times reports that a “downpour” in Vermont has forced more than 100 overnight rescues and evacuations. 

China did not approve any coal-based steelmaking projects in the first half of 2024, for “first time since announcing its major climate neutrality goals in 2020”, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Bloomberg reports. Provincial governments permitted 7.1m tonnes of steelmaking capacity, all of which used electric arc furnaces, the newspaper adds. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) also covers the report, quoting lead author Shen Xinyi saying “as China’s steel demand peaks and more scrap becomes available, [there is] a major opportunity to reduce emissions”. Chinese steelmakers are “racking up losses” as they suffer from “weak domestic demand”, economic newspaper Nikkei Asia says. 

Meanwhile, Reuters covers a new study by Global Energy Monitor (GEM) finding that China has built a total 339GW of utility-scale wind and solar, which accounts for “almost two-thirds” of the world’s total, adding that “the new capacity pushed renewable generation to record highs recently, according to a separate analysis published by Carbon Brief”. (Read the analysis here.) The figure “far exceeds the second-ranked nation, the US, which is building a total of just 40 GW”, Agence France-Presse cites the GEM report saying. The Guardian also covers the report, saying that “between March 2023 and March 2024, China installed more solar than it had in the previous three years combined”. 

Elsewhere, the European Commission has broadened its investigation into state subsidies in China’s wind industry, after an initial probe in April prompted “wind developers and turbine manufacturers [to come] forward with new information, tipping the Commission off to potential distortions…in other member states, including in Germany”, the SCMP reports. Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yongqian has urged the EU to ensure that its decisions in its anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles are “based on facts and rules”, state news agency Xinhua reports. Consulting firm AlixPartners states that only 19 of China’s 137 current electric car brands “will be profitable” by the end of 2030, Bloomberg says. 

Finally, the Ministry of Water Resources has “issued flood warnings” on 34 rivers throughout that country, including Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing and Yunnan, China News reports. “Incessant rains unleashed landslides and floods” that have stranded more than 130 people in a remote town in Tibet, Reuters says. And “very heavy rains” have been reported in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing, the Communist party-affiliated People’s Daily reports. None of the above articles mentioned climate change.

South Africa’s Cape Town has been hit by a series of storms that “ripped roofs off houses and caused widespread flooding, forcing at least 4,500 people out of their homes and damaging at least 15,000 structures”, the Associated Press reports. According to the newswire, the “devastating weather” began a week ago, and is expected to continue into the weekend. The newswire says that three major rivers have burst their banks, schools were closed, and many people have been evacuated. It adds: “Cape Town and other parts of the southwest coast of South Africa are often affected by cold fronts in the winter months in the middle of the year which bring heavy rain and strong winds. But it’s unusual for multiple fronts to hit in a short space of time.”

Germany will import more than 250,000 tonnes of “green” ammonia produced with wind and solar in Egypt by the United Arab Emirates company Fertiglobe, reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). The German newspaper details that according to the economy ministry, the agreement will cover 2027-33. The outlet explains that ammonia is “easier” to transport than hydrogen, but then needs to be converted back into “green” hydrogen in Germany. Tagesschau notes that this pilot tender marks the first concrete indication of the “green” hydrogen cost. According to the ministry, production costs are estimated at around €4.50 per kilo of hydrogen, based on the ammonia price. The outlet also details that the agreement stems from an initial tender launched in late 2022 under the H2Global funding programme, which aims to create an international market for “green” hydrogen by acting as a bridge between producing countries in the southern hemisphere and industrialised countries. It also adds that the production price of ammonia is expected to be around €800 per tonne, plus transport costs. Reuters also has the story.

Meanwhile, Handelsblatt reports that German economy minister Robert Habeck “has promised relief to energy-intensive industries” such as the glass industry, highlighting the need “to further reduce electricity prices” through renewable energy expansion and favourable market designs. During Habeck’s visit at the German glass factory Ardagh, managing director Jens Schaefer emphasised the need for electricity price relief to prevent “non-decarbonised, cheaper glass imports from abroad”, notes the outlet. 

Finally, Bloomberg reports that German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has announced she will not be the Greens’ chancellor candidate in the upcoming election, “paving the path” for Robert Habeck, amid preparations by Germany’s major political parties for the autumn 2025 elections, where Habeck joins Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz as potential competitors.

Robbie MacPherson, senior political adviser at the NGO Uplift, writes in the Daily Express that work towards Keir Starmer’s promise to cut energy bills to achieve British energy independence is “well underway”. He writes: “In 72 hours the Labour government scrapped the ban on onshore wind which had been in place for more than nine years – in doing so they made a major leap towards lifting families out of fuel poverty and tackling climate breakdown, the cause of the more frequent and intense weather we’re seeing across the country.” However, “stories circulating this morning about the UK government’s actions on oil and gas licensing are not true”, he continues: “While it is still the policy of the government to ban new oil and gas licensing – a promise they were elected on – but the government has yet to enact it.” MacPherson says that ending licencing would be “a first step towards fixing the UK’s broken energy system”, but says that “to get the transition right, Labour in Westminster must work constructively with Holyrood, trade unions and communities in Scotland to ensure a plan that fairly and properly supports workers”. He concludes: “Building a fairer energy system will take time, and hard graft, but it is heartening that this mission has begun.” The Daily Telegraph has published an editorial, under the subheading “Ed Miliband’s decision to overrule his own officials and order a ban on drilling will prove to be a mistake for Labour”. It says: “Despite Miliband’s own views on the matter, while we still require fossil fuels it is clearly beneficial to have resources of our own with which to supplement imports. It is deeply unfortunate that Labour’s ideological predilections have been put ahead of our national interest.” [The editorial relates to the frontpage Daily Telegraph story that has been described by a government spokesperson as a “complete fabrication”, see Climate and energy news above.]

Separately, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard – international business editor of the Daily Telegraph – has published a piece under the headline “Just Stop Oil was right”. He argues that BP’s decision to “go full steam to back oil and gas is the worst corporate decision of our time”. He notes the rise of electric vehicles, and projected decline in oil demand, and says that “BP has based its central forecast on existing technology”. And John Barrettt – professor of energy and climate policy at the University of Leeds – lists four “crucial climate targets the new UK government should adopt immediately” in the Conversation. 

Warming temperatures will reduce rice yields in the US by 22-41% by 2070, although up to 42% of this loss will be compensated by the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2, according to a new study. Using climate models and a crop model, researchers examine potential changes in rice yields across six rice-growing states. They find that rice crops in California and the northern part of the Mississippi Delta were more vulnerable to the projected warming, but that heat-resistant rice crops could help alleviate some of the losses. They conclude that there is a “need for integrating crop genetic and region-specific adaptation strategies to maintain sustainable rice production”.