The Trump administration continues to cut climate spending across government, including $20bn in grants awarded through a “green bank” known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, Bloomberg reports. Set up under Joe Biden’s flagship Inflation Reduction Act, the $27bn fund awards grants to community development organisations, credit unions, housing agencies and solar-energy projects in order to cut emissions, the article explains. The Trump administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a statement accusing it of “programmatic fraud, waste and abuse, and misalignment with agency’s priorities”, although Bloomberg notes it “did not provide evidence for the accusations”. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has “spent the past month criticising the spending and contending without evidence the program was rife with fraud”, according to Politico. The latest move comes a day ahead of a lawsuit, in which a grant recipient is seeking access to funds held in a Citibank account that the Trump administration “had frozen while it probed the programme”. 

Meanwhile, the New York Times Climate Forward newsletter says programmes aiming to help disadvantaged communities adapt to climate change have also been “caught up in the Trump administration’s spending cuts”. It says dozens of non-profit groups were given the money through the agency’s $1.6bn “community change” grants, but report not being able to access the government’s payment system. US transport secretary Sean Duffy has rescinded Biden-era memos that he said called on state agencies to factor a “social justice and environmental agenda” into infrastructure projects, according to the Associated Press. The Trump administration is also considering cancelling the lease of the support office for the Mauna Loa Observatory, a “renowned Hawaiian climate research station” that is crucial for “tracking the impact of carbon emissions on global warming”, Reuters reports. The cut would save just $150,692 a year, it adds.

In US foreign policy, Trump has halted a plan to double US tariffs on Canadian steel and metal “just hours after first threatening them”, after the Canadian province of Ontario suspended new charges of 25% on the electricity that it sends to some northern US states, BBC News reports. Politico has an article on the “climate blow” of this tariff war, noting that imported hydropower from Canada is helping north-eastern US states “shore up the grid by moving away from natural gas” and meet their climate goals.

Greenland has elected the centre-right Demokraatit party in an election that took place “in the shadow” of Trump’s “stated goal of taking control of the island”, the Associated Press reports. It notes that Greenland has rich deposits of the rare-earth minerals needed to make renewable energy technology. “Climate change has made mining for rare-earth deposits possible and the receding Arctic ice will soon make new shipping routes available,” the New Yorker explains. Bloomberg says that Trump’s interest has “energised” the Greenlandic movement for independence from Denmark, but notes that the “moderate” Demokraatit party advocates for a “cautious approach” to full independence.

The European Commission is seeking feedback on a proposed state-aid framework to support the Clean Industrial Deal, according to Politico. It explains that the new rules would enable member-state governments to speed up the provision of aid to renewable energy, help pay the costs of industrial decarbonisation and drive more demand for clean technologies. Industrial decarbonisation efforts could get state aid of up to €200m, up to 50% of the cost of a project that allows hydrogen use, up to 35% for renewable energy projects and 30% of carbon capture equipment, it continues. The “looser rules” would aim to boost EU companies and help them better compete with rivals in the US and China, Reuters says. It adds that they are expected to be adopted in June and be valid until 2030. “The guidelines will also make it easier for pension funds, insurers and other private investors to co-invest in green projects,” the article continues. As Euractiv highlights in its coverage, the proposed rules also require governments to insist that hydrogen investments mostly use “green” – or renewable – hydrogen.

In Germany, Euronews says “chancellor-in-waiting” Friedrich Merz, from the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is relying on votes from the Green party to “push through parliament a special fund for infrastructure and defence”. Both the CDU and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) have “agreed to loosen the country’s constitutionally enshrined debt brake” to supply this funding, the article explains. However, the Greens have threatened to block the plan to create a €500bn special fund, partly because they want to guarantee that the funding supports climate action, according to Deutsche Welle.

European ministers and executives have told the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas, that buyers are unlikely to return to Russia’s energy sector if sanctions are lifted, as the EU has “diversified its power mix with renewable energy and alternative gas suppliers”, Reuters reports.

The Beijing and Guangzhou power exchanges have jointly conducted China’s first “green power trade”, supplying Shanghai with 53 gigawatt hours (GWh) of “green” electricity from Guangxi and Yunnan provinces in southwest China, says State Grid News, a news outlet run by China’s State Grid Corporation. The deal marks the “optimisation of green energy distribution” on a larger scale and the advancement of a unified national electricity market, the outlet adds. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) quotes Jin Zhijun, dean of the Institute of Energy at Peking University, saying Beijing should address “uneven distribution” of energy resources by “relocat[ing] energy-intensive facilities or enterprises from coastal areas to central and western regions…to help address power-transmission bottlenecks caused by grid-system constraints and limited energy-storage capacity”. Business news outlet Caixin reports that industrial enterprises in China’s eastern provinces are seeking “direct supply” of “green” electricity generated in western provinces rich in renewables resources to help cut costs and meet export requirements.

Meanwhile, on the closing day of China’s “two-sessions” meetings in Beijing, the country’s three leading newspapers have featured articles about the energy transition on their frontpages. The Communist party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily says “green development boosts society’s wellbeing”. It quotes Lv Zhongmei, vice-chairman of the Communist party’s environmental protection and resources conservation committee, saying “industrial [low-carbon] transformation must be forced by improving ecological and environmental protections”. State news agency Xinhua carries a “special report” saying “under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s thought on ecological civilisation, China has created a miracle of green development”. The state-run newspaper China Daily republishes an Economic Daily article saying that China’s energy-intensity goal of 3% in 2025 requires “additional efforts”, adding China must “balance the need for green transformation with economic growth”. 

Elsewhere, the state-supporting newspaper Global Times carries an article by the head of the China automobile dealers association saying the “two sessions” has underscored the need to “vigorously develop intelligent connected new energy vehicles [electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles]”. The People’s Daily says China’s ongoing reduction in energy intensity signals the country’s “firm commitment to eco-friendly and sustainable development”. Xinhua publishes an article saying that many regions in China are building zero-carbon industrial parks – an area mentioned as a policy priority at the “two sessions” – which is a “critical step” in China’s “dual-carbon” goals. A Global Times editorial argues the ambitious targets set at the “two sessions”, including the “steadfast promotion of green development”, align with the “world’s expectations of China”.

In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Azerbaijan’s lead negotiator at COP29 Yalchin Rafiyev has “insisted” that the final long-term finance deal reached in Baku was acceptable to everyone: “​​We have not seen any party until the last moment and even after the adoption that wanted to object [to the climate-finance] decision.” In response, Indian officials tell the newspaper that “​​what happened during the closing plenary is there for everyone to see” and that India had “asked for the floor before the decision was gavelled”, resulting in its “fierce pushback” to what it called a “stage-managed” deal. The article quotes Rafiyev as saying that he does not think developing countries “were not happy with the outcome because [the] starting point for discussions was $250bn” and that his presidency was “proud of our work” to increase that to $300bn, adding that “this goal was never intended to solve the entire climate crisis”. According to the newspaper, Rafiyev also “makes light of” the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and IPCC, adding that the Baku finance target is a “collective target for all parties for next 10 years [that is] bigger than any single party and longer than any single election cycle”. 

Meanwhile, in other news from India, IPCC chair Jim Skea has told journalists in New Delhi that the goal to limit warming to 1.5C is still possible, but “hanging by a slender thread” and the “science that we assess is certainly caught in the political crosshairs”, the Indian Express reports. In a comment piece for the South China Morning Post, C Uday Bhaskar, director of the Society for Policy Studies, writes that “Beijing and New Delhi must show a clear commitment to the necessary political and financial support” for the IPCC, adding: “If there is a consensus, they must create another working group with like-minded nations and leave the door open for a US return.”

Separately, the Indian government has told parliament that renewable energy “accounted for 22.49% of the country’s total electricity generation” from April 2024 until January 2025, the Hindustan Times reports. [This figure includes electricity generated from large hydropower.] Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that, while Donald Trump’s decision to “freeze a law banning business bribes overseas” could offer Indian energy tycoon Gautam Adani a “reprieve from American corruption allegations linked to a major solar project in India”, the case “highlights vulnerabilities” in India’s solar sector and has repercussions abroad. Experts tell the newswire that state power utilities are “chronically short on cash”, “plagued by bad planning”, prone to “crony relationships” and still view clean power as just a “statutory obligation”. Separately, the Hindu carries an explainer on why “India [has] promised” to buy more US oil.

Finally, India’s meteorological authorities have predicted “above normal temperatures and intense, long heatwave spells” this year, the Press Trust of India reports, warning that the “cooling, counter effects of La Nina may not be effective in a warmer future”. BBC News reports that the Indian summer “is early – and India’s economy is not ready for it”. It adds that, while the “scorching heat” is threatening winter staple crops and mango orchards, India’s agriculture minister “has dismissed concerns about poor yields and predicted that India will have a bumper wheat harvest” in 2025. 

The UK government’s plan to achieve a clean power system by 2030 will “ensure lower energy bills in the next decade”, but the effect may not be felt over the next five years, according to research by industry body Energy UK covered by the Guardian. Last month, prime minister Keir Starmer reiterated his commitment to the £300 energy bill cut by 2030, the newspaper says. However, Energy UK analysis shows that bills still remain 34% higher than before the 2022 energy crisis, with the average household gas and electricity bill in Great Britain set to rise by £111 from April under the price cap from energy regulator Ofgem, the article notes. The industry body recommends encouraging households to use power more flexibly, including at times of high solar and wind generation, it adds. However, the article says that Energy UK concludes that “reducing reliance on imported gas is the only long-term solution to bringing down energy bills because of the volatility of wholesale gas prices”. In related news, Reuters reports that the UK government will invest £1.8bn in energy efficiency upgrades, including home insulation, solar panels and heat pumps “to help families in social housing save money and curb emissions”. Meanwhile, in Scotland, BBC News reports that the Scottish government is scrapping the draft heat in buildings bill, until it is satisfied that the plan will both decarbonise homes and reduce fuel poverty.

Elsewhere, the Times reports that Natural England – “Britain’s environmental regulator” – will be able to “compulsorily purchase land elsewhere in the country to rewild or turn into nature reserves”, in order to offset the damage caused by new housebuilding and infrastructure projects. The newspaper notes that this is part of the new planning and infrastructure bill, which emerged yesterday. The Daily Telegraph says the government plans to make greater use of domestically produced timber in its drive to build 1.5m new homes by 2029.

Toyota has announced that it plans to continue building electric vehicles in the UK in the future “as it seeks to keep all of its European plants open”, the Guardian reports. Meanwhile, MPs on the public accounts committee have described the rollout of electric vehicle charge points as “patchy”, with too few installed outside south-east England and London, another Guardian story reports. The committee also found that drivers with disabilities were put off electric vehicles due to the location of chargers, and that people relying on public chargers ended up paying more money.

The Net-Zero Banking Alliance – the “top global climate alliance for banks” – will ask its members to vote on abandoning a pledge to align their $54tn in assets with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C, the Financial Times reports. There has been an “exodus of many leading US banks” since the election of Donald Trump as president, but major players such as HSBC and Barclays remain in the alliance, the newspaper says. It says a group of European banks “that now make up its heaviest hitters” had threatened to pull out unless the alliance softened its rules, the article explains. Instead of aligning their assets with the 1.5C goal, under the new proposal members “would be offered greater flexibility to adapt their targets to the markets in which they operate”, according to Bloomberg.

US president Donald Trump has praised his advisor Elon Musk and said he would buy a “brand new Tesla” – despite criticising electric cars in the past – after shares in Musk’s electric-car company plunged, the New York Times reports. On Monday, Tesla shares were down more than 50% from a mid-December peak, their lowest point since before election day, the newspaper says. The Washington Post says the show of support from Trump comes as Musk faces “blowback” because of “his work to advance the president’s political agenda and downsize the federal government”. To mark the announcement, the Associated Press lists “some of the harsh things [Trump has] said about EVs over the years”. These include stating that electric cars “cost a fortune” and that former president Joe Biden sold striking autoworkers “down the river with his ridiculous all electric car hoax”. Time explains how Tesla sales have fallen, even as electric cars sales overall rise, in places including Europe and China. CNN reports that Tesla stock climbed somewhat following Trump’s actions, with the president also saying he would label any violence against Tesla dealerships as domestic terrorism.

A Guardian editorial about the UK’s new planning and infrastructure bill considers the environmental and climate implications of ramping up house construction and other building projects. “By emphasising green infrastructure, the bill portrays planning reform as an environmental cause as well as a social and economic one. But housebuilders have a poor record on delivering nature-friendly features,” the editorial says. It adds that support for renewable energy construction is “welcome”, but adds that “there can be no denying the strain placed on net zero plans by carbon-intensive construction”. The article concludes: “The UK’s housing affordability crisis is the result of rightwing policy choices, above all the decision to cut back on publicly owned housing and a right-to-buy policy that ended up benefiting landlords. It must not become an excuse for an environmentally damaging property boom in which developers are the winners.”

In the Daily Express, meanwhile, climate-sceptic columnist Tim Newark writes about the bill in an article titled: “When Ed Miliband says he’s happy about something, you know it’s bad policy.” (The print edition headline is: “Our countryside is under threat from the fad of net-zero.”) His displeasure with the UK energy secretary primarily revolves around the government’s plan to construct new pylons in order to boost the nation’s electricity transmission.

The widespread fires which accompanied the UK’s record-breaking 2022 heatwave were made “at least” six times more likely by human-caused climate change, according to a new attribution study. To assess the likelihood of the “fire weather conditions” under different climate scenarios, the researchers turn to simulations from the HadGEM3-A climate model and the Canadian fire weather index – a system widely used to quantify fire risk. The authors say the headline finding highlights the “significant role” of human-caused climate change in “emerging” UK wildfires, which they note are likely to increase in “frequency and severity”.