The UK government has pledged to provide £21.7bn of funding to support the country’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, the Financial Times reports. The newspaper continues: “Ministers said the funding, over 25 years, would support two undersea carbon storage sites and pipelines, with the capacity to store over 8.5m tonnes of carbon dioxide per year combined, as well as carbon capture at three planned projects to produce hydrogen, power and energy-from-waste. The projects are in Teesside and Merseyside, northern England.” The government said the funding should attract around £8bn of private investment into the projects, it adds. The Guardian reports on its frontpage that this is “expected to be one of the biggest green spending promises of the parliament”. It adds that the chancellor, prime minister and the energy secretary will explain the details later today. BusinessGreen says the first projects should be running by 2028. It adds: “[The government] expects the investment to directly create 4,000 new jobs while supporting around 50,000 jobs in the long-term, and provide a path to decarbonising energy-intensive industries.” BBC News reports that “some green campaigners have said the investment would ‘extend the life of planet-heating oil and gas production’”. Reuters says that in 2023, the Conservative government promised £20bn of funding for CCS in 2023, but the money was “never fully awarded”. It adds that “oil and gas majors Equinor and BP are involved in developing a project in Teesside that would store captured emissions under the North Sea”. The Press Association and the Independent also cover the story. Elsewhere, BBC News reports that chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she will “prioritise and increase investment in major projects at this month’s Budget”. It adds: “She criticised plans she inherited from the previous government to cut investment as a share of the economy, saying she would not repeat ‘those mistakes’. But the Conservatives said it was thanks to them that funding had already been announced for the carbon capture projects.”

In other UK news, BusinessGreen says that energy secretary Ed Miliband “has formally given Ofgem permission to over-allocate vouchers through the heat pump grant scheme, effectively taking the budget for the current financial year up to £200m”. DeSmog reports that Conservative leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch “borrowed evidence from a US climate denial group to criticise climate action and advocate for more fossil fuel extraction”. It says: “Badenoch published a 40-page document that draws on findings from a group run by former Donald Trump advisors that has called climate science a ‘contradiction in terms’.” The Daily Telegraph reports that SNP and Labour ministers have warned that “plans for giant floating offshore wind farms threaten to destroy Scotland’s fishing industry”. The Times reports that “the first phase of a project to build one of the world’s largest wind farms in British waters has been pushed back to the second half of next year”. And the Daily Telegraph says “Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s North Sea oil and gas company has plunged to a £280m loss after being hit by a huge tax bill”.

The European Union is “expected to confirm the imposition of punitive tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles”, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. The paper continues: “Frantic efforts by the governments of China and Germany to stop the tariffs are expected to fall short, meaning duties of up to 35% will be slapped on imports of the cars from Saturday. Blocking the tariffs requires 15 member states, accounting for 65% of the bloc’s total population, to vote against them during the confidential procedure.” Four German officials told Politico that Germany will “oppose EU duties on Chinese electric vehicles in a bloc-wide vote on Friday after Chancellor Olaf Scholz managed to strong-arm his Green coalition partners into doing his bidding”, the outlet says. German outlet Tagesschau says that economy minister Robert Habeck and foreign minister Annalena Baerbock opposed a “no” vote, while finance minister Christian Lindner supported it. It explains that the European Commission “accuses” China of distorting the market by heavily subsidising its EV value chain, making Chinese cars about 20% cheaper than those made in the EU. Reuters reports that a “powerful German labour union” released a statement saying Germany should vote against the tariffs. German carmaker BMW has also urged Germany to oppose the plan, according to Chinese state-supporting newspaper Global Times. Reuters says Hungary will “veto” the proposal, calling it “harmful and dangerous”. The newswire reports that Spain has called for the EU to “keep negotiations open” and reach a compromise with China. Reuters also explains that there is “a very high hurdle” to block the tariffs, but adds that “the European Commission has said it is willing to continue negotiating an alternative to tariffs with China even after tariffs are imposed”. 

Meanwhile, Politico reports that France and Germany “can’t seem to agree” on how to compete with China . Agence France-Presse says “China’s meteoric rise” as an EV powerhouse “makes western efforts to curb their exports a tough sell”, which may in turn “stifle the fight against climate change”. In a commentary, Chinese state news agency Xinhua says “Washington is again coercing its allies… to marginalise China”. A Euractiv comment piece says “EU member states should vote in favour of imposing definitive trade tariffs on China-made electric vehicles on Friday as China will never take seriously a Europe that can be divided and conquered by waving a stick at fearful member states, warns a group of high-profile economists”. The Mercator Institute for China Studies – a German thinktank – finds that China has “relied less on [imports from] Europe and the US over the past 24 years” while they have “increased their dependence on Chinese goods”, according to SCMP.

In other European news, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reports that Scholz has promised relief to the energy-intensive industries regarding electricity prices. Speaking at a business conference in Berlin, he assured that transmission network fees would not continue to rise and, in the short term, this could be achieved through a €5.5bn federal subsidy for transmission fees from the Economic Stabilisation Fund, notes FAZ. In addition, Merkur highlights that gas prices in Germany surged by two-thirds compared to 2021. Robert Habeck attributes this “sharp increase” to the high use of air conditioning systems, explains the outlet. Der Spiegel reports on a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, which reveals that Germany is “falling behind in its energy, transportation, and heating transitions” compared to Denmark and Norway, which are on track “to achieve full decarbonisation by mid-century.” The study says Germany’s progress is hindered by underdeveloped power grids and the slow expansion of electric vehicle infrastructure.

Finally, the Financial Times reports that the Italian government “will seek to raise more taxes from companies currently earning windfall profits”. And Reuters has published a warning from the president of a wind energy lobby that “Spain needs to speed up the rollout of new wind energy projects if it is to achieve its 2030 target of doubling existing capacity”. 

UK electric car sales hit a record high in September, says the Guardian, “even as bosses from big carmakers told the chancellor that government targets were putting too much pressure on the industry”. According to data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group, the British industry sold 56,300 electric cars during the month, the highest on record, the newspaper explains, adding: “That meant that 20.5% of sales during the month were electric.” The Times says that the SMMT has penned an open letter to chancellor Rachel Reeves, warning her that car manufacturers were likely to miss the targets for zero-emission vehicle sales set by the government. Under the rules, electric vehicles need to make up at least 22% of every brand’s new car sales and 10% of new van sales this year, according to the newspaper. The letter warns that British car buyers have “no fiscal incentive” to buy electric cars, the Financial Times reports. It adds: “The industry is asking for a halving of VAT on new purchases of electric vehicles for three years, and for the VAT on public charging to be brought down to the same level as home charging to support those who cannot charge their EVs at home.” The government is expected to hold a consultation with carmakers this month about the ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars from 2035, the paper adds. The Daily Telegraph reports that manufacturers warned that “sales of diesel cars are growing faster than those of electric vehicles”. The Press Association notes that these figures relate to private buyers. [The figures therefore exclude sales of “fleet” cars, which are owned or leased by a company. EVs are often leased to private buyers in this way.]

In related comment, an editorial in the Times says that “the car industry cannot meet expectations amid stalling demand”. It says: “Achieving net-zero car production by 2035 may be a noble ambition but it is hopelessly unrealistic. The demand for EVs in such quantities is simply not there at present. The costs are too high for most people…But the industry’s demand that VAT on new EV purchases should be cut by half is unrealistic, given the current fiscal situation. The measure would cost the exchequer £7.7bn over three years (the bailout of British Leyland cost £11bn – adjusted for inflation – over nine years).” And chief business commentator of the Times Alistair Osborne says the government should “put the brakes on electric subsidies” to save money.

Crude oil prices have reached their highest level in more than a month amid “fears that Israel may conduct retaliatory strikes on Iranian oil facilities”, the Times reports on its frontpage. The newspaper continues: “Oil prices have risen sharply this week amid fears of an escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that could lead to a full-scale war in the Middle East. Before the Iranian missile attacks on Israel, oil was trading near a two-week low after weak global demand and the outlook for increased supply outweighed concerns over the conflict. The Opec cartel has agreed to bring back about 180,000 barrels of output a day from December, after delaying the unwinding of its production cuts by two months.” The Financial Times reports – also on its frontpage – that when asked whether the US would support Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities, Joe Biden said: “We’re in discussion of that,” although in his truncated comment the US president went on to say: “I think that would be a little . . . anyway.” The Guardian reports that the governor of the Bank of England has warned that worsening conflict “will make it impossible to stabilise oil prices and leave the global economy vulnerable to a 1970s-style energy shock”. Politico says energy markets are “noting” the risk, but “not panicking”. Reuters reports that Opec oil output fell to its lowest this year in September. Separately, Reuters reports that Kazakhstan increased crude oil production in September by 10%, exceeding Opec+ quotas. The Associated Press reports that Libya will restart full oil production, “almost two months after shutting down operations in two of its major fields amid a political crisis”. The i newspaper says, in a frontpage story: “The UK does not import oil from Iran due to international sanctions. But any disruption to its oil production could have a knock on oil prices globally. It could also influence the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which the UK does import.”

Colombia’s state-run oil company, Ecopetro, has discovered an offshore natural gas deposit that could provide up to 800m cubic feet of gas per day, Bloomberg reports. According to the company’s CEO, the gas may take between five and seven years to become “productive”, but it could meet up to 80% of the country’s demand, the outlet says. Agence France-Presse reports that this is the largest “discovery” since the 1990s. However, it adds: “The announcement came just a day after the government of Colombia’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro, announced plans to seek $40bn in investment for its green energy transition plan. Petro last year halted all new concessions for oil, coal and gas exploration towards Colombia’s goal of becoming a net-zero emitter of greenhouse gases by 2050.” Reuters adds: “The oil industry and some politicians in Colombia have repeatedly sounded concerns over the country’s ability to maintain gas self-sufficiency. Reserves through the end of 2023 fell to 2.4tn cubic feet – equivalent to 6.1 years of consumption – amid a dearth of new gas projects.”

China could cut its carbon emissions by at least 30% by 2035 and “align with the goals of the Paris Agreement” if it “submits more ambitious pledges [NDC] to the UN early next year”, Reuters reports, citing the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The newswire quotes CREA’s China policy analyst, Belinda Schäpe, who says that China is “on course to meet its 2030 climate goals with relative ease”. But, she adds: “There is a risk that Chinese policymakers may be lowballing China’s climate targets for 2035 amid current policy inertia.” Bloomberg covers the same study. Prof Teng Fei of Tsinghua University tells Agence France-Presse that the “extreme goal of a 30% emissions cut is too ambitious to be achievable”. 

Meanwhile, trade association China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing says that the “purchasing managers’ index” (PMI) of the domestic steel industry “rose 8.6 percentage points month-on-month to 49% in September to end three consecutive months of decline”, indicating “the steel industry has bottomed out and rebounded”, Shanghai-based news outlet  the Paper reports. Gavin Maguire, Reuters’ energy transition columnist, says the markets have reacted positively to China’s “most aggressive stimulus measures” announced last month, but warns: “Any sustained rebound in Chinese industrial activity will also trigger a fresh climb in associated emissions, as the world’s largest pool of steel mills, chemical plants, refineries and cement kilns potentially crank up simultaneously.”

Finally, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planner, says China has “made significant progress” in delivering its “14th five year plan” (2021-25), with “notable achievements seen in sectors such as transportation infrastructure, energy systems and green development”, according to state news agency Xinhua. Financial news outlet Caixin says China has been “deploying renewable capacity at a breakneck speed”, yet it “has not relinquished its focus on coal”. 

Nearly 60 US lawmakers have asked US secretary of state Antony Blinken to “press Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev to uphold human rights protections and release political prisoners ahead of the COP29 climate summit that will be held in its capital Baku next month”, Reuters reports. According to the newswire, they wrote a letter which says: “We urge the state department to press for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, hostages, and POWs, including ethnic Armenians, to enable a more conducive environment for successful diplomacy at COP29.”

In other US news, the New York Times reports that a “key federal office for monitoring the global climate has been “knocked offline” by Hurricane Helene. It says that organisations including NASA and Berkeley Earth use data from the National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville – run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – to estimate the globe’s average temperature each month. Updates from NASA and Berkley Earth will probably be delayed, according to the paper. The Associated Press says “the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene has brought climate change to the forefront of the presidential campaign after the issue lingered on the margins for months”. The outlet says the hurricane “featured prominently” in Tuesday’s vice presidential debate. Both men called for a strong federal response, but only Walz “put the storm in the context of a warming climate”, the newswire says. The Economist says Helene was America’s deadliest storm in nearly two decades. The Daily Mail says that “victims of Hurricane Helene are being advised to brace themselves once again as a new tropical storm may be heading their way this weekend”. The Associated Press reports on flooding in Appalachia after the storm “dumped trillions of gallons of water hundreds of miles inland, devastating communities nestled in mountains far from the threat of storm surge or sea level rise”. And the Times reports that “warm seas mean more hurricanes on the way”.

British prime minister Keir Starmer writes in the Sun that Labour’s decision to invest £22bn in carbon capture and storage (CCS) is “a game-changer in our efforts to fulfil our legal obligations to reach net-zero by 2050 in a sensible way, while supporting jobs and industry”. He says that Britain is “one of the few places on earth” that can implement the technology “safely”, adding that “it sets us apart from our international competitors, attracting business and hard cash from countries around the world”. He continues: “I know some like Extinction Rebellion will lecture me on carbon capture investment. They’ll say it isn’t the right choice. But it’s working people who come first. Without this tech, heavy industries such as cement, glass-making and chemicals will risk having to down tools…To those drum-banging, finger-wagging extremists I say: I will never sacrifice Great British industry. But this is a third way that brings industry with us on our path to net-zero – while creating 4,000 jobs, reigniting our industrial heartlands and pumping £5bn into the economy every year once it is up and running.” 

In an editorial, the Sun responds: “We admire Keir Starmer’s optimism on the carbon capture technology he says could prove a net-zero game-changer. It is expensive and largely unproven at scale. But at least he is seeking ways to hit zero emissions by 2050 without ­sacrificing working-class jobs on the altar of eco-extremism.” It adds that CCS “could prove crucial…if it works”. Separately, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, has penned a comment piece in the Guardian under the headline: “Today, with our £22bn pledge for carbon capture, Labour’s green revolution for Britain begins”. Reeves writes that the investment will help to “reignite Britain’s industrial heartlands to create good jobs in the industries of the future”.

In an editorial on the closure of Britain’s last coal-fired power plant, the Financial Times says: “The UK’s experience highlights lessons, and pitfalls, for other developed countries – and over time for the likes of India and China, still adding coal-fired plants but committed to cutting carbon emissions long term.” The editorial outlines Britain’s “path to zero-coal electricity”, including discovering gas in the North Sea in the 1960s and Thatcher’s decision to close dozens of coal mines in the ‘80s. The editorial argues that the Labour and Conservative governments both “deserve credit for setting long-term directions and backing them with policies to spur development of renewable energy”. It notes that “critics suggest the fact that UK industrial electricity prices have doubled in five years, putting them among the highest in the developed world last year, shows the folly of its actions”, but explains that “the reality is more complex”, noting the spike in gas prices after Russia invaded Ukraine. 

In other comment, Sabine Mauderer – the chair of the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System – writes in the Financial Times about how the impacts of climate change are influencing the monetary decisions of banks. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, world economy editor of the Daily Telegraph, has penned an article under the headline “Iran cannot set off a global oil crisis without hurting its biggest ally”. He writes that China is the world’s biggest importer of crude oil, and is keeping Iran’s economy afloat. He concludes: “The Middle East may still be America’s political problem. But these days, it is China’s energy supply problem. That entirely changes the geopolitical landscape.” Clyde Russell, Asia commodities and energy columnist at Reuters, writes that “Opec+ still has an Asia dilemma as crude imports remain soft”. And the Wall Street Journal has an editorial that says: “California’s EV rules are already restricting sales of gas-powered rigs”. 

Finally, the Conversation has published multiple pieces by scientists explaining their research, under the headlines “Africa’s famous Serengeti and Maasai Mara are being hit by climate change – a major threat to wildlife and tourism”, “To really be greener, businesses need to look to the boardroom”, “Maasai Mara’s Indigenous forest is disappearing, with drastic consequence” and “‘Carbon contracts for difference’ are not a silver bullet for climate action”.

A new study finds that wildfires – made more frequent and more intense by climate change – will “significantly” reduce global carbon storage even before the world reaches the 1.5C warming threshold set out in the Paris Agreement. Using a fire-vegetation model, researchers explore the impacts of different warming scenarios on carbon storage in land ecosystems. They find that land carbon storage is significantly impacted by just 1.07C of warming above pre-industrial temperatures. The authors write: “Whereas limiting warming to 1.5C is still essential for avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, in many cases, we are already reaching the point of significant change in ecosystems rich in carbon and biodiversity.”

New research finds “considerable risk” to global shark species due to near-term climate change, with those risks “rising with time and severity”. Researchers create a framework for assessing climate-related risk for different marine species and use it to project the threat posed by four different climate change scenarios over the coming decades. They find that climate change will negatively impact sharks in the short term “regardless of the emission pathway”, but in the longer term, the scenarios will have differing impacts. The authors note: “While fisheries are clearly the main cause of populational decline in sharks…[climate change] is rarely acknowledged as a threat to this group and it is of paramount importance.”

Increases in temperature and rainfall may increase the risk of malaria transmission in highland areas of Rwanda that currently exhibit low transmission, according to a new study. Researchers use malaria incidence data over 2010-15 to determine the climatic drivers that influence malaria transmission risk in Rwanda, then use climate models to project future prevalence. They find a “marked increase in malaria incidence in the mountainous areas in the northern region” under both a medium- and a very-high-emissions scenario. They write: “Our findings highlight the impacts of climate change on malaria epidemics in Rwanda, which have implications for other world regions.”