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China Briefing handpicks and explains the most important climate and energy stories from China over the past fortnight. Subscribe for free here.

Key developments

China’s equipment ‘trade-in’ act could reduce emissions

EQUIPMENT UPGRADE: On 13 March, the State Council, China’s top administrative authority, released an action plan to “promote the large-scale renewal of equipment and the trading-in of consumer goods”, reported state news agency Xinhua. According to the official document, “the scale of equipment investment, in areas including industry, agriculture, construction, transportation, education, culture, tourism and medical care, is planned to increase by more than 25% by 2027 compared with last year”. The upgrade in “key industries” will also help “reduce emissions” and “increase efficiency”, the document said. Chinese financial outlet Yicai said that, under the plan, the government also aims to double the volume of scrapped cars being recycled and increase the recycling of household appliances by 30%. 

DOMESTIC DEMAND: Bloomberg said that the equipment upgrade action plan was a “pillar” of the government’s plan for economic expansion: “The programme will get support from the central government budget alongside tax breaks and targeted lending from banks…The statements didn’t specify the amount of government funding for the programme, which was first mentioned by President Xi Jinping in February as a way of boosting demand for goods.” The outlet quoted one economist saying the plan would add 0.7 percentage points to GDP growth each year until 2027, with most of the boost coming from support for car purchases. It reported an economist that advises the Chinese government saying that “China needs to boost domestic demand and adjust its industrial policy to counter rising criticism from the US and Europe”.

New rules to boost renewables

GUARANTEED PURCHASE: China’s top economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released measures to provide “fully-guaranteed purchase of renewable energy electricity” from 1 April, industry news outlet BJX News reported. The rules update an existing policy from 2007, according to an analysis published by Jiemian, to clarify the scope of the “fully guaranteed purchase” programme. The report added that the  purchase mechanism was designed to allocate “purchase responsibilities” based on “market behaviour (need)”. An analysis republished on WeChat by BJX News said that the rules also clarify there might be legal “consequences” for both the renewable energy producer and grids that purchase the power, if they failed to meet their targets of production and purchase. For power purchasers, it is their “responsibility” to purchase a certain amount of renewable power under the purchase mechanism, added the outlet.

CURTAILMENT TOLERATED: Elsewhere, local media in China suggested that the country may soon “end its policy of limiting [renewable power] installations when power curtailments rise above 5% of installed capacity for a given source”, Bloomberg reported, adding that “solar manufacturers have seen their shares rebound in recent days as speculation mounts”. It noted that the local outlets did not provide a source for this information. However, Yu Qing, chief executive of an electricity company in Hangzhou, wrote in an analysis on social media platform WeChat that he was sceptical about the benefit for solar. He said that while easing curtailment rules would allow some previously restricted projects to connect to the grid, it was only a “planning method” and that market signals and other constraints would still cause problems for solar developers. 

Carbon market expands to aluminium industry

NEW JOINER: China’s national emissions trading scheme (ETS) is about to expand beyond the power sector to cover aluminium production, Chinese economic media outlet Caixin reported, but the details have not yet been finalised. Electrolytic aluminium production emits “the most carbon in the non-ferrous metals sector in China” and was responsible for 4.5% of the national total carbon emissions in 2020, added Caixin. (For more, see Carbon Brief’s Q&A on the ETS, China country profile and China Briefing of 8 February.)

WHAT TO EXPECT: Yan Qin, lead analyst at London Stock Exchange Group, told Carbon Brief that the consultation draft of the official document hinted the ETS will cover “indirect emissions from aluminium production”, related to the electricity used in the process. She added that, “as previously announced, industry sectors will only conduct ‘simulation trading’ at the beginning” of their entry into the ETS. The recently closed “two sessions” political gathering (see below) sent a signal that the ETS will involve more industries in the future, said an analysis published by the Chinese government-backed China clean development mechanism fund. Chinese media outlet Lintan-energy posted on its WeChat account that the cement industry is likely to be the third sector to join the ETS, after power and aluminium, and could enter the market by the end of this year.

Booming EV industry faces export difficulties 

‘INTENSIFYING’ MARKET: The number of newly registered companies selling electric vehicles (EVs) in 2023 was six times higher than in 2019, said Chinese outlet Science and Technology Daily, citing a report on trends in the country’s manufacturing industry. China’s technology giant Xiaomi will start EV sales this month, according to BBC News, which said the move “comes as a price war in China’s EV market has been intensifying”. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported on a “zombie” combustion-engine car factory in China – referring to unused production lines due to lack of demand – and said analysts were predicting hundreds more over the next decade “as buyers opt for EVs”. The head of Chinese EV giant BYD said “new energy vehicles” – including EVs and plug-in hybrids – made up 48% of new cars sales in China last week, Australian outlet the Driven reported, which quoted him saying that, “if it continues at this rate, I estimate that the penetration could cross 50% in the next three months”. 

ROAD BUMPS: Despite the phenomenon of combustion car “zombie” factories, Volkswagen said it still believed the market for petrol-powered cars remains “lucrative” in smaller Chinese cities, said the Financial Times. The report added that poorer cities’ “lack of charging infrastructure” has frustrated EV industry growth. In related news Caixin, citing data from consultancy firm McKinsey China, reported that there was significant “disillusionment” among Chinese EV owners in 2023, with 22% stating they would not consider an EV for their next car, a sharp rise from 3% in 2022. It said the number of EV owners in small cities and rural areas regretting their purchase was at a “striking” 54%, due to inconvenient charging infrastructure. 

EXPORT CONUNDRUM: Following investigations in the EU and US over the growth of Chinese EV exports, the UK is expected to launch its own probe, reported the Daily Telegraph, adding that transport secretary Mark Harper warned of “robust” trade sanctions to prevent what the newspaper called a “flood” of cheap Chinese EVs. Responding to the moves, He Yadong, spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Commerce, expressed “concerns” and added that China’s exports will not “damage” the EU market, reported BJX. Italy has already approached Chinese EV firms and setting up manufacturing in Italy would be “a big win for China’s auto industry”, which sees Italy as a “strategically positioned bridgehead” to get into European, African and Middle Eastern markets, reported Quartz

Spotlight 

What does the economic signal from China’s ‘two sessions’ mean for global emissions, geopolitics and trade?

Every spring, China’s top leaders use the annual political event lianghui (两会), which is also known as “two sessions”, to send signals to the world about how they would like to lead the country in the coming year.

As the “two sessions” drew to a close, experts, academics and foreign investors moved on to interpreting those signals and drafting strategies in response to them. In the previous issue of China Briefing, Carbon Brief analysed the “two sessions” domestic impact.

But, as the world’s second-largest economy and largest emitter, China’s influence does not stop there. This week, Carbon Brief looks into the bigger picture and asks leading experts to interpret how geopolitics, international trade and global emissions could be impacted. Their responses have been edited for clarity and length.

Dr Li Fang, China country director at World Resources Institute:

The most impressive takeaways from this year’s “two sessions”, for me, are the emphasis on how to vitalise development through internal-driven forces, how to improve its market allocation, and how to establish a more low-carbon, ecological and equitable business environment.

The discussion surrounding high-standard international economic and trade rules integrating considerations for climate, ecology and human welfare signals that China is exploring how to achieve a better combination of “effective government” and “efficient market”. 

It is speeding up efforts to incorporate new production elements like carbon into its considerations. I believe there’s a growing inclination among China’s decision-makers to propose proactive strategies aligning economic development with addressing sustainability challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss. I believe there are emerging opportunities for markets and businesses to play more significant roles in China’s future transition.

Nis Grünberg, lead analyst at MERICS:

The “two sessions” did not offer anything surprising or substantively new, but confirmed the approach of the past months, prioritising energy security and economic stability before an accelerated, potentially disruptive, exit of fossil fuel. No new ambitions on emission cuts or coal consumption were announced.

On the positive side, officials plan to continue the massive buildup of renewable energy capacity and systematic support of clean-tech industries. In the short run, this means no quick departure from fossil fuel and large emissions, but, in the long run, the added renewables and China’s rapidly growing clean-tech sector will displace fossil fuel and bring down emissions.

The strong focus on technology apparent throughout the government work report means continuing the substantial political and economic investment in clean tech, which has become a key sector for growth. This also means there is no end in sight to trade conflicts over Chinese exports of electric vehicles (EVs), solar and batteries, which were singled out as success stories. China is signalling that it is not building its clean-tech industry for domestic consumption only, but seeks to double down and expand its export capacities.

Yao Zhe, policy analyst at Greenpeace East Asia

At a time when China’s economy is in dire need of confidence, clean-energy industries offered a rare success story. At this year’s “two sessions”, renewable energy and EVs received the highest recognition for their contributions to economic growth and industrial upgrading. Where the low-carbon economy was once a catchy concept seeking political buy-in, it has now established itself. That signal is clear: China will not waste this potential. The global race for net-zero economies will only accelerate.

But while Chinese policymakers are eager to embrace the future, the past has proven tricky to discard. Coal power continues to receive special treatment, slotted as a safety net for China’s energy consumption, fueling concerns that China will miss its key 2025 climate targets. China’s carbon emissions may soon reach a tipping point. But this year’s “two sessions” did not reveal how or on what near-term timetable policymakers will navigate this historic change.

Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy advisor on US-China relationship, International Crisis Group

Chinese leaders emphasised cultivating “new productive forces“. [“Productive forces” is a central idea in Marxist theory referring to the combination of human labour with technology and infrastructure, explained a recent article in the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post. It added that Chinese president Xi Jinping coined the phrase “new productive forces” last year and quoted him saying it means “advanced productivity freed from traditional economic growth models’, feature “high technology, high efficiency and high quality” and “align with the country’s new development philosophy”.] 

With [leaders] emphasising the concept, the “two sessions” underscored China’s hope that investing in leading-edge industries including advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and renewable energy will sustain its growth more reliably than investing in traditional drivers, such as real estate.

Domestic demand is unlikely to keep pace with the new capacity that this push generates, however, so economic frictions between China and advanced industrial democracies, especially in the West, are poised to intensify further.

Watch, read, listen

WOMEN AND CLIMATE CHANGE: Chinese climate and investment consultancy firm 2060 Advisory produced a podcast on International Women’s Day about female entrepreneurship in the climate industry.

CLIMATE COOPERATION: The Legal Planet, a climate policy and environmental law blog, released a video recording of Joanna Lewis, writer of the book “Cooperating for the Climate, giving a lecture on how to cooperate with China at UCLA’s Emmett Institute

‘TWO SESSIONS’ AND JAPAN: UK thinkthank Chatham House recorded a podcast discussing China’s National People’s Congress – the legislative body that hosted the recent “two sessions” – and China’s relationship with its close neighbour Japan.

STEEL EMISSIONS: Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post published an article based on data from US thinktank Global Energy Monitor (GEM), which found China’s steel sector could cut carbon emissions by more than 10% in 2025 with a “faster shift to clean production”. 

New science 

Health cost impacts of extreme temperature on older adults based on city-level data from 28 provinces in China
Environmental Research Letters 

New research into the impact of extreme temperatures on medical costs for “older adults” found that in western Chinese provinces, costs will more than triple by 2030, compared to a 2016-20 baseline. The authors found that under the very high emissions RCP8.5 scenario, older adults could cost 2.7tn Chinese yuan by 2050. However, costs can be reduced by 4.6% and 7.4% by limiting emissions in line with the medium-emissions RCP4.5 and low-emissions RCP2.6 scenarios, respectively.

Assessing the supply risks of critical metals in China’s low-carbon energy transition
Global Environmental Change

China has “grown increasingly susceptible to disruptions” in critical metal supplies as it transitions to low-carbon technologies, according to a new study. The nation is the largest consumer and importer of these metals, leaving it vulnerable to geopolitical shifts and volatile prices, the researchers say. They model supply risks for 30 metals and conclude that the risk facing China for nine metals – including copper and chromium – “exceeds that of other countries that consume large amounts of critical metals”.

China Briefing is researched and written by Wanyuan Song, Anika Patel and other contributors. Please send tips and feedback to china@carbonbrief.org

The post China Briefing 21 March: New ‘trade-in’ policy; China ETS expands; ‘Two sessions’ geopolitical impact appeared first on Carbon Brief.

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Cropped 25 February 2026: Food inflation strikes | El Niño looms | Biodiversity talks stagnate

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We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight.

This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter.
Subscribe for free here.

Key developments

Food inflation on the rise

DELUGE STRIKES FOOD: Extreme rainfall and flooding across the Mediterranean and north Africa has “battered the winter growing regions that feed Europe…threatening food price rises”, reported the Financial Times. Western France has “endured more than 36 days of continuous rain”, while farmers’ associations in Spain’s Andalusia estimate that “20% of all production has been lost”, it added. Policy expert David Barmes told the paper that the “latest storms were part of a wider pattern of climate shocks feeding into food price inflation”.

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NO BEEF: The UK’s beef farmers, meanwhile, “face a double blow” from climate change as “relentless rain forces them to keep cows indoors”, while last summer’s drought hit hay supplies, said another Financial Times article. At the same time, indoor growers in south England described a 60% increase in electricity standing charges as a “ticking timebomb” that could “force them to raise their prices or stop production, which will further fuel food price inflation”, wrote the Guardian.

TINDERBOX’ AND TARIFFS: A study, covered by the Guardian, warned that major extreme weather and other “shocks” could “spark social unrest and even food riots in the UK”. Experts cited “chronic” vulnerabilities, including climate change, low incomes, poor farming policy and “fragile” supply chains that have made the UK’s food system a “tinderbox”. A New York Times explainer noted that while trade could once guard against food supply shocks, barriers such as tariffs and export controls – which are being “increasingly” used by politicians – “can shut off that safety valve”.

El Niño looms

NEW ENSO INDEX: Researchers have developed a new index for calculating El Niño, the large-scale climate pattern that influences global weather and causes “billions in damages by bringing floods to some regions and drought to others”, reported CNN. It added that climate change is making it more difficult for scientists to observe El Niño patterns by warming up the entire ocean. The outlet said that with the new metric, “scientists can now see it earlier and our long-range weather forecasts will be improved for it.”

WARMING WARNING: Meanwhile, the US Climate Prediction Center announced that there is a 60% chance of the current La Niña conditions shifting towards a neutral state over the next few months, with an El Niño likely to follow in late spring, according to Reuters. The Vibes, a Malaysian news outlet, quoted a climate scientist saying: “If the El Niño does materialise, it could possibly push 2026 or 2027 as the warmest year on record, replacing 2024.”

CROP IMPACTS: Reuters noted that neutral conditions lead to “more stable weather and potentially better crop yields”. However, the newswire added, an El Niño state would mean “worsening drought conditions and issues for the next growing season” to Australia. El Niño also “typically brings a poor south-west monsoon to India, including droughts”, reported the Hindu’s Business Line. A 2024 guest post for Carbon Brief explained that El Niño is linked to crop failure in south-eastern Africa and south-east Asia.

News and views

  • DAM-AG-ES: Several South Korean farmers filed a lawsuit against the country’s state-owned utility company, “seek[ing] financial compensation for climate-related agricultural damages”, reported United Press International. Meanwhile, a national climate change assessment for the Philippines found that the country “lost up to $219bn in agricultural damages from typhoons, floods and droughts” over 2000-10, according to Eco-Business.
  • SCORCHED GRASS: South Africa’s Western Cape province is experiencing “one of the worst droughts in living memory”, which is “scorching grass and killing livestock”, said Reuters. The newswire wrote: “In 2015, a drought almost dried up the taps in the city; farmers say this one has been even more brutal than a decade ago.”
  • NOUVELLE VEG: New guidelines published under France’s national food, nutrition and climate strategy “urged” citizens to “limit” their meat consumption, reported Euronews. The delayed strategy comes a month after the US government “upended decades of recommendations by touting consumption of red meat and full-fat dairy”, it noted. 
  • COURTING DISASTER: India’s top green court accepted the findings of a committee that “found no flaws” in greenlighting the Great Nicobar project that “will lead to the felling of a million trees” and translocating corals, reported Mongabay. The court found “no good ground to interfere”, despite “threats to a globally unique biodiversity hotspot” and Indigenous tribes at risk of displacement by the project, wrote Frontline.
  • FISH FALLING: A new study found that fish biomass is “falling by 7.2% from as little as 0.1C of warming per decade”, noted the Guardian. While experts also pointed to the role of overfishing in marine life loss, marine ecologist and study lead author Dr Shahar Chaikin told the outlet: “Our research proves exactly what that biological cost [of warming] looks like underwater.” 
  • TOO HOT FOR COFFEE: According to new analysis by Climate Central, countries where coffee beans are grown “are becoming too hot to cultivate them”, reported the Guardian. The world’s top five coffee-growing countries faced “57 additional days of coffee-harming heat” annually because of climate change, it added.

Spotlight

Nature talks inch forward

This week, Carbon Brief covers the latest round of negotiations under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which occurred in Rome over 16-19 February.

The penultimate set of biodiversity negotiations before October’s Conference of the Parties ended in Rome last week, leaving plenty of unfinished business.

The CBD’s subsidiary body on implementation (SBI) met in the Italian capital for four days to discuss a range of issues, including biodiversity finance and reviewing progress towards the nature targets agreed under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

However, many of the major sticking points – particularly around finance – will have to wait until later this summer, leaving some observers worried about the capacity for delegates to get through a packed agenda at COP17.

The SBI, along with the subsidiary body on scientific, technical and technological advice (SBSTTA) will both meet in Nairobi, Kenya, later this summer for a final round of talks before COP17 kicks off in Yerevan, Armenia, on 19 October.

Money talks

Finance for nature has long been a sticking point at negotiations under the CBD.

Discussions on a new fund for biodiversity derailed biodiversity talks in Cali, Colombia, in autumn 2024, requiring resumed talks a few months later.

Despite this, finance was barely on the agenda at the SBI meetings in Rome. Delegates discussed three studies on the relationship between debt sustainability and implementation of nature plans, but the more substantive talks are set to take place at the next SBI meeting in Nairobi.

Several parties “highlighted concerns with the imbalance of work” on finance between these SBI talks and the next ones, reported Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB).

Lim Li Ching, senior researcher at Third World Network, noted that tensions around finance permeated every aspect of the talks. She told Carbon Brief:

“If you’re talking about the gender plan of action – if there’s little or no financial resources provided to actually put it into practice and implement it, then it’s [just] paper, right? Same with the reporting requirements and obligations.”

Monitoring and reporting

Closely linked to the issue of finance is the obligations of parties to report on their progress towards the goals and targets of the GBF.

Parties do so through the submission of national reports.

Several parties at the talks pointed to a lack of timely funding for driving delays in their reporting, according to ENB.

A note released by the CBD Secretariat in December said that no parties had submitted their national reports yet; by the time of the SBI meetings, only the EU had. It further noted that just 58 parties had submitted their national biodiversity plans, which were initially meant to be published by COP16, in October 2024.

Linda Krueger, director of biodiversity and infrastructure policy at the environmental not-for-profit Nature Conservancy, told Carbon Brief that despite the sparse submissions, parties are “very focused on the national report preparation”. She added:

“Everybody wants to be able to show that we’re on the path and that there still is a pathway to getting to 2030 that’s positive and largely in the right direction.”

Watch, read, listen

NET LOSS: Nigeria’s marine life is being “threatened” by “ghost gear” – nets and other fishing equipment discarded in the ocean – said Dialogue Earth.

COMEBACK CAUSALITY: A Vox long-read looked at whether Costa Rica’s “payments for ecosystem services” programme helped the country turn a corner on deforestation.

HOMEGROWN GOALS: A Straits Times podcast discussed whether import-dependent Singapore can afford to shelve its goal to produce 30% of its food locally by 2030.

‘RUSTING’ RIVERS: The Financial Times took a closer look at a “strange new force blighting the [Arctic] landscape”: rivers turning rust-orange due to global warming.

New science

  • Lakes in the Congo Basin’s peatlands are releasing carbon that is thousands of years old | Nature Geoscience
  • Natural non-forest ecosystems – such as grasslands and marshlands – were converted for agriculture at four times the rate of land with tree cover between 2005 and 2020 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Around one-quarter of global tree-cover loss over 2001-22 was driven by cropland expansion, pastures and forest plantations for commodity production | Nature Food

In the diary

Cropped is researched and written by Dr Giuliana Viglione, Aruna Chandrasekhar, Daisy Dunne, Orla Dwyer and Yanine Quiroz.
Please send tips and feedback to cropped@carbonbrief.org

The post Cropped 25 February 2026: Food inflation strikes | El Niño looms | Biodiversity talks stagnate appeared first on Carbon Brief.

Cropped 25 February 2026: Food inflation strikes | El Niño looms | Biodiversity talks stagnate

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Dangerous heat for Tour de France riders only a ‘question of time’

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Rising temperatures across France since the mid-1970s is putting Tour de France competitors at “high risk”, according to new research.

The study, published in Scientific Reports, uses 50 years of climate data to calculate the potential heat stress that athletes have been exposed to across a dozen different locations during the world-famous cycling race.

The researchers find that both the severity and frequency of high-heat-stress events have increased across France over recent decades.

But, despite record-setting heatwaves in France, the heat-stress threshold for safe competition has rarely been breached in any particular city on the day the Tour passed through.

(This threshold was set out by cycling’s international governing body in 2024.)

However, the researchers add it is “only a question of time” until this occurs as average temperatures in France continue to rise.

The lead author of the study tells Carbon Brief that, while the race organisers have been fortunate to avoid major heat stress on race days so far, it will be “harder and harder to be lucky” as extreme heat becomes more common.

‘Iconic’

The Tour de France is one of the world’s most storied cycling races and the oldest of Europe’s three major multi-week cycling competitions, or Grand Tours.

Riders cover around 3,500 kilometres (km) of distance and gain up to nearly 55km of altitude over 21 stages, with only two or three rest days throughout the gruelling race.

The researchers selected the Tour de France because it is the “iconic bike race. It is the bike race of bike races,” says Dr Ivana Cvijanovic, a climate scientist at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development, who led the new work.

Heat has become a growing problem for the competition in recent years.

In 2022, Alexis Vuillermoz, a French competitor, collapsed at the finish line of the Tour’s ninth stage, leaving in an ambulance and subsequently pulling out of the race entirely.

Two years later, British cyclist Sir Mark Cavendish vomited on his bike during the first stage of the race after struggling with the 36C heat.

The Tour also makes a good case study because it is almost entirely held during the month of July and, while the route itself changes, there are many cities and stages that are repeated from year to year, Cvijanovic adds.

‘Have to be lucky’

The study focuses on the 50-year span between 1974 and 2023.

The researchers select six locations across the country that have commonly hosted the Tour, from the mountain pass of Col du Tourmalet, in the French Pyrenees, to the city of Paris – where the race finishes, along the Champs-Élysées.

These sites represent a broad range of climatic zones: Alpe d’ Huez, Bourdeaux, Col du Tourmalet, Nîmes, Paris and Toulouse.

For each location, they use meteorological reanalysis data from ERA5 and radiant temperature data from ERA5-HEAT to calculate the “wet-bulb globe temperature” (WBGT) for multiple times of day across the month of July each year.

WBGT is a heat-stress index that takes into account temperature, humidity, wind speed and direct sunlight.

Although there is “no exact scientific consensus” on the best heat-stress index to use, WBGT is “one of the rare indicators that has been originally developed based on the actual human response to heat”, Cvijanovic explains.

It is also the one that the International Cycling Union (UCI) – the world governing body for sport cycling – uses to assess risk. A WBGT of 28C or higher is classified as “high risk” by the group.

WBGT is the “gold standard” for assessing heat stress, says Dr Jessica Murfree, director of the ACCESS Research Laboratory and assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Murfree, who was not involved in the new study, adds that the researchers are “doing the right things by conducting their science in alignment with the business practices that are already happening”.

The researchers find that across the 50-year time period, WBGT has been increasing across the entire country – albeit, at different rates. In the north-west of the country, WBGT has increased at an average rate of 0.1C per decade, while in the southern and eastern parts of the country, it has increased by more than 0.5C per decade.

The maps below show the maximum July WBGT for each decade of the analysis (rows) and for hourly increments of the late afternoon (columns). Lower temperatures are shown in lighter greens and yellows, while higher temperatures are shown in darker reds and purples.

Six Tour de France locations analysed in the study are shown as triangles on the maps (clockwise from top): Paris, Alpe d’ Huez, Nîmes, Toulouse, Col du Tourmalet and Bordeaux.

The maps show that the maximum WBGT temperature in the afternoon has surpassed 28C over almost the entire country in the last decade. The notable exceptions to this are the mountainous regions of the Alps and the Pyrenees.

Maximum WBGT across France for the month of July from 1974-2023. Rows show the values for each decade and columns show the hourly values for 3:00pm, 4:00pm, 5:00pm and 6:00pm. Lower temperatures are shown in lighter greens and yellows, while higher temperatures are shown in darker reds and purples. Triangles indicate the six Tour de France locations analysed in the study. Source: Cvijanovic et al. (2026)

The researchers also find that most of the country has crossed the 28C WBGT threshold – which they describe as “dangerous heat levels” – on at least one July day over the past decade. However, by looking at the WBGT on the day the Tour passed through any of these six locations, they find that the threshold has rarely been breached during the race itself.

For example, the research notes that, since 1974, Paris has seen a WBGT of 28C five times at 3pm in July – but that these events have “so far” not coincided with the cycling race.

The study states that it is “fortunate” that the Tour has so far avoided the worst of the heat-stress.

Cvijanovic says the organisers and competitors have been “lucky” to date. She adds:

“It has worked really well for them so far. But as the frequency of these [extreme heat] events is increasing, it will be harder and harder to be lucky.”

Dr Madeleine Orr, an assistant professor of sport ecology at the University of Toronto who was not involved in the study, tells Carbon Brief that the paper was “really well done”, noting that its “methods are good [and its] approach was sound”. She adds:

“[The Tour has] had athletes complain about [the heat]. They’ve had athletes collapse – and still those aren’t the worst conditions. I think that that says a lot about what we consider safe. They’ve still been lucky to not see what unsafe looks like, despite [the heat] having already had impacts.”

Heat safety protocols

In 2024, the UCI set out its first-ever high temperature protocol – a set of guidelines for race organisers to assess athletes’ risk of heat stress.

The assessment places the potential risk into one of five categories based on the WBGT, ranging from very low to high risk.

The protocol then sets out suggested actions to take in the event of extreme heat, ranging from having athletes complete their warm-ups using ice vests and cold towels to increasing the number of support vehicles providing water and ice.

If the WBGT climbs above the 28C mark, the protocol suggests that organisers modify the start time of the stage, adapt the course to remove particularly hazardous sections – or even cancel the race entirely.

However, Orr notes that many other parts of the race, such as spectator comfort and equipment functioning, may have lower temperatures thresholds that are not accounted for in the protocol, but should also be considered.

Murfree points out that the study’s findings – and the heat protocol itself – are “really focused on adaptation, rather than mitigation”. While this is “to be expected”, she tells Carbon Brief:

“Moving to earlier start times or adjusting the route specifically to avoid these locations that score higher in heat stress doesn’t stop the heat stress. These aren’t climate preventative measures. That, I think, would be a much more difficult conversation to have in the research because of the Tour de France’s intimate relationship with fossil-fuel companies.”

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DeBriefed 20 February 2026: EU’s ‘3C’ warning | Endangerment repeal’s impact on US emissions | ‘Tree invasion’ fuelled South America’s fires

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Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. 
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.

This week

Preparing for 3C

NEW ALERT: The EU’s climate advisory board urged countries to prepare for 3C of global warming, reported the Guardian. The outlet quoted Maarten van Aalst, a member of the advisory board, saying that adapting to this future is a “daunting task, but, at the same time, quite a doable task”. The board recommended the creation of “climate risk assessments and investments in protective measures”.

‘INSUFFICIENT’ ACTION: EFE Verde added that the advisory board said that the EU’s adaptation efforts were so far “insufficient, fragmented and reactive” and “belated”. Climate impacts are expected to weaken the bloc’s productivity, put pressure on public budgets and increase security risks, it added.

UNDERWATER: Meanwhile, France faced “unprecedented” flooding this week, reported Le Monde. The flooding has inundated houses, streets and fields and forced the evacuation of around 2,000 people, according to the outlet. The Guardian quoted Monique Barbut, minister for the ecological transition, saying: “People who follow climate issues have been warning us for a long time that events like this will happen more often…In fact, tomorrow has arrived.”

IEA ‘erases’ climate

MISSING PRIORITY: The US has “succeeded” in removing climate change from the main priorities of the International Energy Agency (IEA) during a “tense ministerial meeting” in Paris, reported Politico. It noted that climate change is not listed among the agency’s priorities in the “chair’s summary” released at the end of the two-day summit.

US INTERVENTION: Bloomberg said the meeting marked the first time in nine years the IEA failed to release a communique setting out a unified position on issues – opting instead for the chair’s summary. This came after US energy secretary Chris Wright gave the organisation a one-year deadline to “scrap its support of goals to reduce energy emissions to net-zero” – or risk losing the US as a member, according to Reuters.

Around the world

  • ISLAND OBJECTION: The US is pressuring Vanuatu to withdraw a draft resolution supporting an International Court of Justice ruling on climate change, according to Al Jazeera.
  • GREENLAND HEAT: The Associated Press reported that Greenland’s capital Nuuk had its hottest January since records began 109 years ago.
  • CHINA PRIORITIES: China’s Energy Administration set out its five energy priorities for 2026-2030, including developing a renewable energy plan, said International Energy Net.
  • AMAZON REPRIEVE: Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has continued to fall into early 2026, extending a downward trend, according to the latest satellite data covered by Mongabay.
  • GEZANI DESTRUCTION: Reuters reported the aftermath of the Gezani cyclone, which ripped through Madagascar last week, leaving 59 dead and more than 16,000 displaced people.

20cm

The average rise in global sea levels since 1901, according to a Carbon Brief guest post on the challenges in projecting future rises.


Latest climate research

  • Wildfire smoke poses negative impacts on organisms and ecosystems, such as health impacts on air-breathing animals, changes in forests’ carbon storage and coral mortality | Global Ecology and Conservation
  • As climate change warms Antarctica throughout the century, the Weddell Sea could see the growth of species such as krill and fish and remain habitable for Emperor penguins | Nature Climate Change
  • About 97% of South American lakes have recorded “significant warming” over the past four decades and are expected to experience rising temperatures and more frequent heatwaves | Climatic Change

(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)

Captured

US emissions, MtCO2e, under a “current policy” scenario in which the EPA removes key federal climate regulations

Repealing the US’s landmark “endangerment finding”, along with actions that rely on that finding, will slow the pace of US emissions cuts, according to Rhodium Group visualised by Carbon Brief. US president Donald Trump last week formally repealed the scientific finding that underpins federal regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, although the move is likely to face legal challenges. Data from the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm, shows that US emissions will drop more slowly without climate regulations. However, even with climate regulations, emissions are expected to drop much slower under Trump than under the previous Joe Biden administration, according to the analysis.

Spotlight

How a ‘tree invasion’ helped to fuel South America’s fires

This week, Carbon Brief explores how the “invasion” of non-native tree species helped to fan the flames of forest fires in Argentina and Chile earlier this year.

Since early January, Chile and Argentina have faced large-scale and deadly wildfires, including in Patagonia, which spans both countries.

These fires have been described as “some of the most significant and damaging in the region”, according to a World Weather Attribution (WWA) analysis covered by Carbon Brief.

In both countries, the fires destroyed vast areas of native forests and grasslands, displacing thousands of people. In Chile, the fires resulted in 23 deaths.

Firefighters spray water on homes in Vina del Mar, Chile.
Firefighters spray water on homes in Vina del Mar, Chile. Credit: Esteban Felix / Alamy Stock Photo

Multiple drivers contributed to the spread of the fires, including extended periods of high temperatures, low rainfall and abundant dry vegetation.

The WWA analysis concluded that human-caused climate change made these weather conditions at least three times more likely.

According to the researchers, another contributing factor was the invasion of non-native trees in the regions where the fires occurred.

The risk of non-native forests

In Argentina, the wildfires began on 6 January and persisted until the first week of February. They hit the city of Puerto Patriada and the Los Alerces and Lago Puelo national parks, in the Chubut province, as well as nearby regions.

In these areas, more than 45,000 hectares of native forests – such as Patagonian alerce tree, myrtle, coigüe and ñire – along with scrubland and grasslands, were consumed by the flames, according to the WWA study.

In Chile, forest fires occurred from 17 to 19 January in the Biobío, Ñuble and Araucanía regions.

The fires destroyed more than 40,000 hectares of forest and more than 20,000 hectares of non-native forest plantations, including eucalyptus and Monterey pine.

Dr Javier Grosfeld, a researcher at Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) in northern Patagonia, told Carbon Brief that these species, introduced to Patagonia for production purposes in the late 20th century, grow quickly and are highly flammable.

Because of this, their presence played a role in helping the fires to spread more quickly and grow larger.

However, that is no reason to “demonise” them, he stressed.

Forest management

For Grosfeld, the problem in northern Patagonia, Argentina, is a significant deficit in the management of forests and forest plantations.

This management should include pruning branches from their base and controlling the spread of non-native species, he added.

A similar situation is happening in Chile, where management of pine and eucalyptus plantations is not regulated. This means there are no “firebreaks” – gaps in vegetation – in place to prevent fire spread, Dr Gabriela Azócar, a researcher at the University of Chile’s Centre for Climate and Resilience Research (CR2), told Carbon Brief.

She noted that, although Mapuche Indigenous communities in central-south Chile are knowledgeable about native species and manage their forests, their insight and participation are not recognised in the country’s fire management and prevention policies.

Grosfeld stated:

“We are seeing the transformation of the Patagonian landscape from forest to scrubland in recent years. There is a lack of preventive forestry measures, as well as prevention and evacuation plans.”

Watch, read, listen

FUTURE FURNACE: A Guardian video explored the “unbearable experience of walking in a heatwave in the future”.

THE FUN SIDE: A Channel 4 News video covered a new wave of climate comedians who are using digital platforms such as TikTok to entertain and raise awareness.

ICE SECRETS: The BBC’s Climate Question podcast explored how scientists study ice cores to understand what the climate was like in ancient times and how to use them to inform climate projections.

Coming up

Pick of the jobs

DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.

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The post DeBriefed 20 February 2026: EU’s ‘3C’ warning | Endangerment repeal’s impact on US emissions | ‘Tree invasion’ fuelled South America’s fires appeared first on Carbon Brief.

DeBriefed 20 February 2026: EU’s ‘3C’ warning | Endangerment repeal’s impact on US emissions | ‘Tree invasion’ fuelled South America’s fires

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