The UK government has unveiled a “clean power action plan” on how the island of Great Britain can move to a decarbonised power system, with 95% low-carbon electricity by 2030, the Press Association reports. The strategy has been “developed over the last few months in collaboration with industry” and includes various reforms that ministers will introduce over 2025 to boost renewables, change the planning system, increase flexibility in the electricity grid and support energy storage projects, the newswire explains. These include plans to bring large onshore wind projects back under the nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP) regime in England, according to BBC News. This means the government, rather than councils, would have the final say on approving projects larger than 100 megawatts (MW), it adds. Other measures in the plan include prioritising renewable energy projects to enable an early connection to the electricity grid, given that thousands of projects are currently “waiting in a queue to be approved”, the broadcaster says. The government will also launch a call for evidence on building canopies of solar panels on outdoor car parks next year, and says there is also scope to install solar panels on warehouse and factory roofs, the Guardian reports. It mentions other measures such as “speeding up decisions on planning permission by empowering planners to prioritise critical energy infrastructure” and “expanding the renewable auction process to allow funding to be secured before planning permission”. The newspaper explains that the state-owned National Energy System Operator (NESO) recently said that the government’s plan for clean power by 2030 was “immensely challenging” but still “credible” if ministers took urgent action to fix the country’s planning system. The Financial Times says the government’s plan “broadly accepts” NESO’s recommendations for which technologies are needed to meet the target. “To try and hit those targets, ministers are preparing a record-breaking auction of renewable subsidy contracts next year,” it says. The Times reports that the government is considering giving households discounts on their energy bills as compensation for living near renewable energy projects. The newspaper explains that “independent experts said that the [clean power] plan was not guaranteed to bring down energy bills but should make them more stable for households by insulating them from volatile wholesale energy prices”. It adds that the spike in energy bills that began in 2021 was driven by the high price of gas. Bloomberg says that, by implementing its reforms, the government hopes to spur £40bn a year in private investment through to 2030 to support the shift away from fossil fuels. Other changes mentioned in the new 136-page document released by the government include “moves to accelerate the take-up of smart energy tariffs, boost the number of green jobs, and catalyse the development of next generation clean technologies and supply chains”, according to BusinessGreen.

In a frontpage story, the Daily Telegraph says that the government’s plans will “overrule local residents” and leave the approval of new renewable energy projects to “unelected planning officers”. [The changes would mean onshore wind being treated in the same way as other major infrastructure.] The Daily Mirror notes that the government’s plans will put it in “direct conflict with communities bitterly opposed to the building of new electricity pylons, solar and windfarms, and power stations nearby”. The Daily Mail cites the Conservative shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho who it says has accused the government of “betraying voters” by “dropping” a pledge to save households £300 from their bills. This is based on the plan itself not mentioning the figure, and Miliband only referring to “lower bills” in a speech set to be given today, the newspaper says. In its coverage, the Sun says the government’s plans “will lead to higher bills and risk a million jobs”. These claims are based on a quote from Andy Mayer, an analyst at the right-wing, free market thinktank the Institute of Economic Affairs, and another quote from the GMB union, which represents thousands of UK oil and gas workers. The Sun also has an editorial calling Miliband a “muddled climate zealot”, and stating that the UK needs “a fleet of new nuclear power stations” instead of renewables. A Daily Mail editorial that focuses on government plans for house building says: “Alongside plans to bulldoze our precious countryside, energy secretary Ed Miliband wants to cover every other field with solar panels and wind turbines.”

Another Daily Telegraph article says the UK had to burn “record amounts of gas to keep the lights on” on Thursday due to low renewables output, during what it describes as a “dunkelflaute” weather event with low wind and sunlight. The article links this to the government’s plans to increase reliance on renewables, which will nevertheless still see the country maintaining gas power plants as a contingency. The article quotes Adam Bell from the consultancy Stonehaven, who says the 2030 system is not that different from today in terms of managing this issue: “The big difference is how much you run [gas plants] outside of a dunkelflaute. In essence, by 2030, they’ll only be used for this.” 

In other news, Politico reports that Miliband is set to visit China in early 2025, according to “two business figures familiar with government plans”. The article says “climate change and trade in green goods [are] likely to dominate the agenda”.

The Canadian environment ministry has announced a new target to cut the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions to 45-50% below 2005 levels by 2035, Reuters reports. This builds upon an existing goal of cutting emissions to 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030, the newswire explains. The article adds that Canada, a “leading oil-and-gas producer”, has “missed every one of its greenhouse gas emission targets”. The Globe and Mail explains that Canada was required to set the new goal by the end of 2024 under its own climate accountability laws. It adds that the new target “would require major acceleration of the country’s emissions-reduction trajectory, even as Ottawa struggles to balance its climate goals with other domestic economic and political realities”. The article adds that while Canadian emissions have “finally” begun falling in recent years, partly due to federal carbon pricing, they were just 8% below 2005 levels in 2023. The Toronto Star points out that the new target “falls short” of the 2035 target of at least a 50% cut proposed by the government’s Net-Zero Advisory Body in September. It quotes environment minister Steven Guilbeault, who said the goal was based on advice from a range of organisations, and that it is “both an ambitious and achievable target”. Guilbeault said internal government analysis suggests emission reductions above 50% are possible, but unlikely without co-operation from Canada’s provincial governments – some of which are “refusing to act on climate change”, CBC News reports. The article notes that major emitting provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario have all challenged federal climate action in court.

Meanwhile, Doug Ford – the premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province – has threatened to cut off energy supplies to the US if incoming US president Donald Trump brings in the tariffs he has proposed on Canadian goods, CBS News reports. The Associated Press notes that around 60% of US oil imports and 85% of US electricity imports are from Canada.

Separately, Canada’s government has considered making up to CA$15bn (US$10.5bn) available to encourage major domestic pension funds to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) data centres powered by low-carbon electricity, according to the Globe and Mail. According to Reuters, utilities, power regulators and researchers in “a half-dozen countries” have told the outlet that the growth in power demand by AI is currently “being met in the near-term by fossil fuels like natural gas, and even coal”. Meanwhile, oil sands company Imperial – a branch of ExxonMobil – is calling for more government funding to support a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Canada, according to Bloomberg.

The opposition right-wing Coalition in Australia is releasing its plan for the future of the Australian electricity system, which is based on the construction of several nuclear power plants, according to the West Australian. The price tag for the plan to build six nuclear power stations on the east coast of Australia would be at least AU$331bn (US$211bn), the newspaper says, plus “an extra one” in western Australia. This marks the first time the opposition party has revealed details of its “signature energy policy”, which includes building government-owned nuclear power stations on the sites of seven retiring coal-fired generators between 2035 and 2050, the article explains. Right-leaning media outlets such as the Australian Daily Telegraph point to analysis commissioned by the Coalition that claims this strategy would be around AU$260bn (US$166bn) cheaper than the ruling Labor party’s renewables-centric approach. The Australian Financial Review says the costings have been conducted by the consultancy Frontier Economics, and they will be released on Friday by opposition leader Peter Dutton. The newspaper explains that the analysis estimates the capital and operating costs of the Coalition’s nuclear-driven net-zero electricity by 2050 policies. Sky News Australia says the opposition has emphasised the “massive savings” it can provide to families struggling with power bills with its approach, which the news outlet says is “significantly cheaper because the Coalition’s policy is due to the lesser need of new transmission infrastructure compared to what the government is chasing”. However, it adds that the policy also assumes that “coal-fired power stations can continue to run while contracts are decided and that electricity demands will not rise as quick as what Labor is predicting”. ABC News notes that renewables would still be “the majority power source under the Dutton plan”, emphasising that it relies on burning coal for longer as the first nuclear plant is not expected to come online until 2036. It also explains that analysis by government scientists has found that nuclear power is “significantly more expensive than renewables once construction, transmission and storage costs are considered”. The Guardian quotes various energy experts and trade groups who say Australia should focus on renewables, with one telling a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday there was “not a hope in hell” of nuclear reactors producing power before 2040.

China has tightened controls on methane emissions from coal extraction “to reduce emissions of the powerful climate-warming gas”, Reuters reports. The newswire adds that under the new rules announced by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), from April 2025 new mines “releasing emissions with methane content of 8% or higher” – down from the threshold of 30% set in 2008 – have to capture the gas. State-run newspaper China Daily says the revised law, which is an update to a draft policy released in late July, is a “concrete measure to implement [last year’s] action plan on methane emission control”. An MEE spokesperson said the revision reflects the “urgent need to combat climate change”, and use “advanced technology…to meet emission control needs”, according to China News.

Separately, president Xi Jinping told policymakers that “synergistically promoting carbon reduction, pollution reduction and green growth” was one of nine “key tasks” for 2025 at the central economic work conference (CEWC), which ended yesterday, Xinhua reported. The state news agency added that the meeting readout called for “step[ping] up the overall green transformation of economic and social development”, such as by creating a “healthy ecosystem” for low-carbon industries and “cultivating new growth points, such as green buildings”. China Daily coverage of the meeting says that the country is “planning a fresh set of policies to propel growth in the equipment manufacturing sector, focusing on nurturing new growth engines such as new energy vehicles”. The CEWC meeting included “pledges to take a more proactive approach” in stimulating economic growth, “but gave no details on new stimulus measures”, the Associated Press reports.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg says the Trump administration’s threat to “slash the funding” for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could “give China a shot at being the next weather superpower”. Researchers found “more than half of the 902 lakes” they surveyed in the Himalayan mountains have swelled in size since 2011, some by more than 40%, due to “climate change”, China Science Daily reports. China Daily says “climate change” has also “intensified typhoons and flash floods” in Southeast Asia this year.

Germany has “abandoned” plans to allocate €350m to hydrogen projects after failing to agree on terms with the European Commission, reports Bloomberg. The EU had imposed a price cap of €1.44 per kilogram of hydrogen, which many German companies deemed “too low” due to “high” power prices in the country, the outlet says. The article quotes Kerstin Andreae, chair of the country’s largest energy industry association, BDEW, criticised the cap, saying it “has not been helpful for German companies”. The outlet adds that Germany aims to have 10 gigawatts (GW) of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, but experts consider this goal “optimistic”. Nevertheless, Merkur adds that since 2022, the German economy and climate ministry, led by Robert Habeck, has provided “millions” in funding for project initiatives, primarily focused on hydrogen and energy. 

Meanwhile, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reports that Germany’s renewable electricity is expected to reach 54% of supplies this year, a new high, according to the German Environment Agency (UBA). Despite this, UBA president Dirk Messner stressed the need for faster expansion of renewables to meet the target of 80% by 2030, notes FAZ.

Elsewhere in German news, Bayerischer Rundfunk reports that during his visit to Prague, Bavarian prime minister Markus Söder and Czech prime minister Petr Fiala signed a memorandum of understanding, aiming to establish a “strategic energy partnership”. The focus for Söder is on accessing Czech nuclear power, but energy expert Felix Matthes from the Öko-Institut warns that “an exclusive” supply from the Czech Republic to Bavaria is not feasible under EU market rules because electricity cannot be bought nor sold by governments, Der Spiegel reports. 

Finally, Bild reports that Habeck is concerned about “sluggish” electric vehicle sales and has proposed a €1,000 charging credit for EV buyers to stimulate demand.

Climate change fuelled a string of back-to-back typhoons that struck the Philippines this year, and boosted the chances of the storms making landfall, accordion to a new study from the World Weather Attribution research team, covered by Agence France-Presse. The article notes that five typhoons and a tropical storm hit the nation in a 23-day period in October and November, killing more than 170 people and causing at least $235m in damage. It notes that the study concluded the warmer seas and atmosphere that helped form and fuel the typhoons were made twice as likely by climate change. According to Reuters, the researchers found that the “unprecedented” formation of four typhoons around the Philippines last month was made 70% more likely by climate change. Carbon Brief has also covered the study.

Meanwhile, Politico reports on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announcing that 2024 will be the hottest year on record, breaking the previous record set only last year. (This follows similar findings from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service earlier this week.) The Guardian has an article in which it interviews climate scientists about the record heat. It says “scientists are still puzzling over the reasons behind a streak of unexpected, record heat that scorched 2023 and into this year, sparking fears that the climate crisis could be moving faster than previously thought”. A Daily Telegraph article cites the UK Met Office, which says next year will likely not be as hot as the previous two.

The Washington Post has an article about a marine heatwave in the Pacific Ocean that began a decade ago, which it describes as “the largest bird-killing event in modern history”. It says “the die-off was one of the most visible and extreme examples of how climate anomalies in the warming world can throw wildlife populations into turmoil”.

Adam Morton, the Guardian Australia’s climate and environment editor, has an article about the right-leaning Coalition – which is currently in opposition to Australia’s Labor government – and its new plan for building nuclear power. “Despite all the oxygen dedicated to talking about it, the nuclear element of the opposition’s plan won’t – can’t – be more than a speculative side issue to the main game of how the country will get electricity over the next couple of decades,” he writes. Morton explains that it would take at least a decade before construction of a regular nuclear power plant could even begin, while small modular nuclear reactors “still don’t exist, commercially”. By contrast, he says there are elements of the Coalition’s plan that could be enacted quickly, namely blocking renewable energy construction and burning more coal and gas. “Given that this is likely to be the early focus on the ground it seems reasonable to call the Coalition’s plan what it primarily is: a proposal to expand fossil fuels,” Morton says. 

A new study finds that at 2C of warming, 2.8% of farmers worldwide “would be subject to several days of uncompensable heat stress yearly”, while at 4C, 15% of farmers would face that heat stress. Using a model that takes into account human physiology as well as climate variables, researchers project the future heat stress that farmers and water-gatherers will face. They find that 3.5% and 23% of people who have to gather water outside will be affected under 2C and 4C of warming, respectively. They conclude: “Outdoor work would need to be completed at night or in the early morning during these events.”