According to forecasts by “leading Wall Street financial institutions…the world is on track for disastrous global heating – but this will create profits for some air conditioning companies”, reports the Guardian. Analysis from Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and the Institute of International Finance all “make clear the finance sector considers the Paris climate agreement limiting global temperatures, signed a decade ago by nearly 200 nations, is effectively dead and investors should plan accordingly”, the article continues. Morgan Stanley states that the company now expects a “3C world”, which would cause “catastrophic heatwaves, floods, economic strife and other upheavals”, the newspaper adds. The company forecasts predict a “windfall” for air-conditioning companies due to the heatwaves, with the global market having the potential to grow by 41% and be worth $331bn by the end of the decade, the Guardian adds.

In other US news, oil prices fell by as much as 3% following US president Donald Trump announcing “sweeping new tariffs that investors worry will spark a global trade war that will curtail economic growth and limit fuel demand”, reports Reuters. Trump announced a 10% minimum tariff on most goods imported to the US on Wednesday as part of what he called “liberation day…kicking into high gear a global trade war that threatens to drive up inflation and stall US and worldwide economic growth”, adds the newswire. The New York Times says “tariffs are likely to hit US renewable energy”. Ahead of the tariff announcement, Scientific American explored their potential to undermine the energy transition. 

Elsewhere, US Democratic senators have urged energy secretary Chris Wright to follow the laws that require his department to fund clean-energy projects, reports Reuters. The US energy department is weighing funding cysts to four of seven hydrogen hubs in a $7bn programme that was part of former president Joe Biden’s plans to reduce emissions, it adds. The hubs are “intended to jumpstart the production of “clean hydrogen” and infrastructure needed to get it to steelmakers, cement plants and other industrial users”, notes Reuters. 

The world’s coal-fired electricity generation capacity “inched up” by 18.8 gigawatts (GW) in 2024, the lowest rise in decades, reports Reuters. According to a new report from US thinktank Global Energy Monitor, new additions in China and India continued to offset closures of coal-fired power stations elsewhere. In 2024, 44GW of new coal power was commissioned by 12 countries, more than the 25.2GW of retirements, it adds. The report found that global coal generation capacity now stands at 2,143GW, 12% higher than it was when the Paris Agreement was signed, the article notes. China added 30.5GW of capacity last year, more than 70% of the world’s total and its new builds were at the highest in a decade, it adds. The article quotes Christine Shearer, who runs GEM’s Coal Plant Tracker programme: “Arguably, what we are primarily seeing are Chinese coal interests continuing to pursue and build new coal plants, enabled by lax government enforcement of its own guidelines and pledges.” 

Electric-vehicle (EV) maker Tesla’s deliveries “tumbled” in the first three months of 2025, reports the Financial Times. The company has “faced a consumer backlash in Europe, fierce competition in China and a delayed revamp of its flagship model”, the article adds. Tesla has delivered 336,681 vehicles between January and March, down 13% of the same period last year, reports the Daily Telegraph. This represents its biggest year-on-year fall since the second quarter of 2012, when “electric cars were in their infancy and the company only sold a handful of vehicles a month”, it adds. Tesla sales across Europe fell 40% in February, while overall EV sales increased, reports Sky News. The figures covering the EU, UK and European Free Trade Association nations show that the company sold fewer than 17,000 cars compared to more than 28,000 in February 2024, it adds. Tesla shares “tumbled” after the release of the sales figures, which the firm has blamed on the transition to a new version of its most popular car, reports BBC News. Experts also believe that Tesla boss Elon Musk’s “controversial role in the Trump administration had an effect too”, it adds. However, shares later rallied following reports that Musk might soon stand back from his role in the Trump administration. Reuters reports that, in response to Musk’s “right-wing activism, Tesla cars and dealerships have become targets for vandalism”, adding:  “Dozens of cars were burnt and showrooms spray painted in several European cities including Rome, Berlin and Stockholm in recent days.” The Guardian says it is not yet clear how much the fall in sales is due to the protests or other factors. The article adds that “electric car sales have been sluggish in general and Tesla in particular is suffering”. This story is also covered by the Times, Forbes, the Associated Press and the New York Times, among others. 

In other EV news, many second-hand electric cars are cheaper up-front than their petrol equivalents, notes Hannah Ritchie on her Sustainability by Numbers SubStack. Four of Europe’s biggest EV charging firms have teamed up to create the largest public charging network on the continent, reports Reuters.

Households in the UK paid £10 on their energy bill to “support a controversial wood-burning power station” in 2024, reports the Times. Analysis by thinktank Ember of energy company Drax’s annual report found it received £869m from public subsidies last year to support its biomass facility in North Yorkshire, the newspaper continues. The support is the equivalent of more than £2m a day for Drax, a company that reported record profits of almost £1.1bn last year, the article adds. The company receives two types of subsidies, renewables obligation certifications (ROCs), under which it received £652.6m, and contract for difference (CfDs), under which it received £216m, reports the Daily Mail. The article quotes Frankie Mayo, a senior analyst at Ember: “Drax’s record-breaking earnings are coming at the expense of the British taxpayer and all for something that is polluting, costly and increases import dependence. The UK must commit to long-term phase-out of biomass burning.” An editorial in the climate-sceptic Daily Mail (not yet online) responding to the news argues that “Labour must surely recognise by now that its messianic devotion to net-zero is inflicting grievous harm to the UK’s self-sufficiency and to our all-important economic growth”.

In other UK news, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee Emma Pinchbeck has said that “rich people should cut down on flying to ensure poorer families can take one sunny holiday abroad a year”, reports the Financial Times. Speaking during an evidence session at the House of Lord, she said “higher-income travellers should aim to take one fewer flight a year…rather than taking that flight off low-income households”, it continues. Elsewhere, BusinessGreen reports that the UK has set a new solar generation record, topping 12GW of generation between 12:30pm and 1pm on Tuesday. 

As part of plants to ease requirements on the EU’s businesses, the European Commission is considering revising its “landmark energy legislation”, reports Politico, adding: “The EU executive has vowed to slash red tape for its ailing firms, which are facing stiff competition from global rivals along with a flagging economic outlook and a looming threat of tariffs from the US. Last month Brussels proposed cuts to green reporting rules and exemptions for most firms from an upcoming carbon border levy”. According to several people “familiar with the plans”, the commission is also considering “targeting green energy plans”, the article continues. In particular, it adds, the commission is looking at the rules meant to reduce energy consumption, as well as exploring whether to reopen laws on renewable energy and green renovations.

In other EU news, the European parliament has backed plans to postpone the application of new social and environmental reporting and due diligence rules, reports BusinessGreen. Elsewhere, EU members are looking to make this year’s gas storage target more flexible, “people familiar with the matter” tell Bloomberg.

State news agency Xinhua reports that China has issued a guideline to “further deepen price reform and improve the price governance mechanism”, targeting five “critical” areas, including “energy pricing to support green transition” and “public utilities for sustainable development”. Another Xinhua report explains that the “market-oriented reform of prices in the field of energy resources is the focus and difficulty of the reform. The opinions clearly state that…the improvement of the power grid agency power purchase system should be accelerated…a sound price mechanism for regulating resources such as natural gas power generation and energy storage should be established and the price policy for local transactions of new energy sources should be improved; and a unified national green electricity certificate trading system should be improved.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that China has “pulled more than 37bn yuan ($5bn) of investor bids for its first-ever sale of a green sovereign bond”. Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says that China will continue to “boost green development and make positive contributions despite some countries’ suppression of green technologies”, reports state-supporting newspaper Global Times. Liu Liehong, head of China’s National Data Administration, says that, by the end of this year, more than 80% of “newly built large-scale data centres will be powered by green electricity” in China, International Energy Net reports. Another Bloomberg report says that the shift by large Chinese energy companies to “cleaner-burning fuel” is becoming “more urgent” with the electric vehicle (EV) boom.

Elsewhere, around 6.2% of wind power and 6.1% of solar power were “curtailed” in January and February this year, according to data released by China’s National Energy Administration (NEA), Bloomberg reports. BJX News says that electricity “transactions” in January and February this year increased by 0.6%. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) publishes a report under the headline: “Chinese scientists make seawater uranium extraction 40 times more efficient.” Bloomberg reports that China’s exports of EVs worldwide have fallen 18% year-on-year in February. 

Finally, Global Times carries an article under its “GT Voice”, arguing that if the US “continues to adopt unilateral and protectionist trade policies”, other countries will have to “readjust their supply chains and lessen their reliance on the American consumer market”.

Brazil will adapt 20 shipping containers to serve as accommodation for COP30 in Belém, O Globo reports. The containers will provide 40 apartments of 15 square meters and will include a “bedroom, kitchen and bathroom”. This is one of the various “solutions” that Brazil’s government is adopting to drive up accommodation capacity for COP30 attendees, including “ocean liners, villages and adapted schools”. Meanwhile, Pará’s government, the state that will host the COP30, has presented the “first stretch” of the Nova Doca linear park, part of the new infrastructure built for the climate summit, Revista Forum reports. Notícia Marajó adds that the government is using “artificial trees” to expand shaded areas along the park, which has “spurred criticism from environmentalists”.

Elsewhere, Amazon Indigenous peoples are advocating for Brazil to include in its nationally determined contribution (NDC) the demarcation of Indigenous lands, InfoAmazonia reports. With this measure, the Coordinator of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon River Basin (COICA) seeks the recognition of Indigenous people’s role in tackling climate change. In a separate article, the Brazilian outlet reports that the Amazon is now emerging as a “new global oil land frontier”. The investigation reveals that “nearly one fifth of the world’s reserves found between 2022 and 2024 are in the region, mainly off the coast of the northern tip of South America, between Guyana and Suriname”. This resource is “attracting attention from oil companies and neighboring countries such as Brazil”, the outlet adds. 

In other Latin American news, Excélsior covers a World Bank report saying 31% of Mexico’s population is “vulnerable to at least one kind of extreme weather event” and one third of this population will “undergo poverty”. In Chile, researchers have found underwater macroalgae forests in the Beagle channel, with high potential to sequester carbon, InduAmbiente reports. The researchers mapped the forests using satellite imagery and calculated the carbon sink potential through advanced mathematical algorithms. These ecosystems could contribute to biodiversity conservation and marine carbon offsets, according to the outlet.

Veteran climate activist and author Bill McKibben writing on his Crucial Years SubStack argues that there are “so many ways to wreck an economy and Trump is trying them all”. He discusses Trump’s imposition of new tariffs and the response from JP Morgan that warns they could push the US and global economy into recession if sustained, as the latest in a string of actions since Trump took office that have, “in a matter of weeks, undone 20 years worth of efforts to do something about the climate crisis”. McKibben points to the impact of Trump’s policies on both the economy and the environment, writing: “Look, the financial future on our current course is painfully clear. Risks of bad stuff happening keep increasing and our ability to hedge that risk keeps decreasing.” McKibben finishes by asking readers to demand “hands off the future”, adding: “We’ve got a chance, but we have to move now.”

In other comment, Brazilian earth system scientist Carlos Afonso Nobre and Transparency International’s climate and environment lead Brice Böhmer argue in Open Democracy that “COP30 must remove fossil fuel interests from climate negotiations”. They add: “The scientific warnings about climate and ecological tipping points have never been clearer. But the diplomacy we need to respond to them is nearing a tipping point of its own. A process designed to hold governments accountable cannot continue to grant privileged access to the very industries driving the crisis.” In the Washington Post, columnist and editorial board member Eduardo Porter argues that “Trump just handed the global auto market to China”.

New research demonstrates how delayed warming in the Southern Ocean, which “rapidly absorbs anthropogenic heat, but releases it with a delay of decades to a century”, contributes to precipitation increases in east Asia and the western US. Using climate models, the researchers identify a “global teleconnection” in which delayed Southern Ocean warming “contributes to broad tropical ocean warming with an El Niño-like pattern, enhancing precipitation during summer in east Asia and winter in the western US”. This finding has “practical implications”, the researchers say: “Even if climate mitigation reduces carbon dioxide levels, the delayed Southern Ocean warming will sustain a wetter east Asia and western US for decades to centuries.”

A new review paper unpacks the phenomenon of “precipitation whiplash”, which involves the rapid shift from drought to flooding, or vice versa. The authors summarise the current state of science of precipitation whiplash events in the US, “analysing event definitions, driving meteorology, impacts and the spatial distribution of the studies”. The review identifies a “wide range of definitions, drivers and impacts”, which will allow researchers to “better understand the phenomenon that is precipitation whiplash while also creating a foundation for future studies to delve deeper into the topic”.