Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Trump ‘SOS’
‘CHAOS’ GRIPS: More than 1,900 scientists from US national academies of sciences, engineering and medicine wrote an “SOS letter” warning of the risks to science imposed by the current administration’s grant cuts and mass layoffs, reported the Guardian. The Guardian also said a “sense of chaos has gripped” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, after Trump-sanctioned layoffs have affected 20% of staff.
WEAKER STANDARDS: Trump is weighing returning to weaker car emissions standards from 2020, saying pollution limits introduced by Joe Biden are “too onerous” for motor companies, Bloomberg reported. The US transportation sector is the country’s leading source of greenhouse gas emissions.
TARIFFS TURMOIL: The New York Times said that the renewable energy industry in the US is “bracing for particularly large effects” from Trump’s ongoing tariffs war with the rest of the world. It noted that the turmoil is “expected to drive up the costs of nearly every component of clean-energy production in the US, from the steel in wind turbines to the batteries in electric vehicles”.
Around the world
- SOFTENING GOALS: EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra is considering softening the bloc’s 2040 climate goal amid a “backlash” from some quarters, Politico said. A second Politico story reported that the release of the goal will be delayed while Hoekstra “struggles” to rally support.
- COAL STICKS: The world’s total coal-fired power “inched up” by 18.8 gigawatts in 2024, the lowest rise in two decades, with new additions in China and India continuing to offset closures elsewhere, according to Reuters coverage of a new Global Energy Monitor report.
- ASIA HEAT: Large swathes of India will experience intense heatwaves this summer with above normal temperatures expected across much of the country, the nation’s meteorological office has warned, according to BBC News.
- RENEWABLE AFRICA: Africa increased its renewable energy capacity by 6.7% last year, equivalent to 4.2GW, according to an International Renewable Energy Agency report covered by Energy Capital and Power. Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa were among countries to build the most clean power.
40%
The percentage by which the “average person would become poorer” if the world warmed by 4C, according to an Environmental Research Letters study covered by the Guardian.
Latest climate research
- An “extraordinary” heatwave in Central Asia in March was made up to 10C hotter by human-caused climate change, a new World Weather Attribution analysis found.
- A Proceedings of the National Academy of Science study found that the limits of human heat tolerance are lower than previous estimates.
- Climate change has played a dominant role in destabilising communities of plankton, microorganisms that form the basis of the food web for marine wildlife, a new study in Communications Earth and Environment found.
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
China’s exports of solar panels to the global south have doubled in the past two years, overtaking global-north sales for the first time since 2018, according to data from the thinktank Ember explained in a new Carbon Brief guest post. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were among the top importers of Chinese solar panels in 2024.
Spotlight
Deep-sea mining talks
Carbon Brief explains the outcomes of the latest deep-sea mining talks held last week in Jamaica.
The deep sea has emerged as a new mining frontier in the global race towards energy security, with countries vying to explore and exploit its reserves of metals, such as nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese.
These minerals – critical to the energy transition – are held in the deep ocean’s nodules, hydrothermal vents and crusts, but the impacts of mining these deposits are still far from being fully understood.
In 2021, the Pacific island state of Nauru triggered a legal process for countries to agree rules around mining the seabed, or – in their absence – allow commercial mining of the deep sea to begin by 2025.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty that provides a framework to regulate the use of the world’s seas and oceans.
Among other bodies and orders, UNCLOS established the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which is based in Kingston, Jamaica, and oversees all resource extraction in the deep sea.
From 17-28 March this year, the ISA held the first part of its 30th annual session, with the aim of making progress on draft rules to govern commercial deep-sea mining.
Jamaica talks
The ISA said that there was “significant progress” on various aspects at the meeting and other areas that “require further deliberation”.
Some of this progress is the agreement to use the term “harmful effects” rather than “serious harm” to the marine environment, which aligns with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Earth Negotiations Bulletin noted.
However, it added that there were “major issues unresolved”, related to “regulations” crucial for the protection of the marine environment, such as environmental impact assessments and the rights and interests of coastal states.
Duncan Currie, the international legal advisor to the Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition, said parties did not agree on any of the 55 reviewed regulations, but rather just discussed their positions on those regulations.
He also pointed out the lack of discussion over financial matters, liability, the royalties that are paid and the benefit sharing from deep-sea mining, telling Carbon Brief:
“There are 80 standards and guidelines that can’t be developed until [countries] have developed the regulations. I think most people think that they’re quite a long way away from being adopted.”
Current and future outlook
So far, 32 ISA member states are in favour of a moratorium on deep-sea mining, while other countries are seeking to exploit minerals in the seafloor “as soon as possible”.
Among those promoting the deep-sea mining industry are India, China and Norway, while countries such as Palau, Fiji and Samoa are promoting a “pause on deep-sea mining until its ecological impacts are better understood”, Carbon Brief previously reported.
In a surprise move that sent “alarm bells ringing” in the ISA and beyond, the US subsidiary of the Metals Company announced on 27 March that it is moving ahead with applying for deep-sea exploration permits under existing US legislation in the second quarter of 2025.
The announcement came on the last day of the ISA talks, where it dominated discussions at the end of the meeting.
On 31 March, Reuters reported that the Trump administration is “weighing an executive order” that could let miners bypass the ISA, its safeguards and “fast-track” permits. The US is not a party to UNCLOS.
Both developments signal that the ISA is “at a crossroads”, according to the Earth News Bulletin, and its next session in July will be closely watched for how the body responds to a potential unilateral action to allow deep sea-mining.
Watch, read, listen
NOT WITH SPORTS: A Discovery+ documentary explored how extreme weather is already affecting sport events.
STRENGTHENING MENTAL HEALTH: A psychologist writing in the Revelator offered strategies to reduce the effects of climate change on mental health.
FOSSIL LOBBY: Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres and political strategist Tom Rivett-Carnac addressed the fossil fuel lobby within COPs on their Outrage and Optimism podcast.
Coming up
- 2-5 April: Global Youth Climate Summit, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- 7 April: International Mother Earth Day
- 7-11 April: International Maritime Organization Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting (MEPC 83), London
Pick of the jobs
- Sky News, senior news editor – science, climate and technology | Salary: Unknown. Location: London
- Australian National University, postdoctoral research fellow in climate systems | Salary: AU$85,010-$131,227. Location: Canberra, Australia
- Dialogue Earth, social media officer | Salary: £36,035 per annum. Location: London
- Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, policy officer (adaptation policy and governance) | Salary: from £42,679-£54,730. Location: London
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
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The post DeBriefed 4 April 2025: Scientists issue Trump ‘SOS’; EU climate goal in jeopardy; Deep-sea mining talks appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Climate Change
Duke University Plans a Data Center It Says Will Boost ‘Environmental Responsibility and Sustainability’
The small project is underway at Central Campus, with room for expansion. Its energy usage could complicate the university’s climate goals.
DURHAM, N.C.—Duke University plans to build a small data center at Central Campus, potentially the first of several similar-size projects, which has raised questions among some faculty about whether the energy- and water-intensive endeavors could derail the institution’s climate commitments.
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a “historic” resolution calling on countries to comply with their climate obligations, as outlined in a landmark advisory opinion issued last year by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Last July, in the opinion first requested by the Pacific island state of Vanuatu, the world’s top court ruled that harming the climate by increasing fossil fuel production may constitute an “international wrongful act”. This could result in affected countries claiming compensation from those responsible, the court said.
To follow up on the ICJ ruling, a dozen nations led by Vanuatu submitted a proposal to the UN’s main deliberative body to recognise the advisory opinion and identify ways of implementing it.
Several large oil-producing nations mounted a late push to weaken the text by introducing last-minute amendments, but the General Assembly rejected those and adopted the resolution with 141 countries in favour at a plenary session in New York.
The resolution urges countries to implement measures to cut carbon emissions, including by tripling renewable energy capacity, “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems”, and phasing out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies.
It also requests the UN Secretary-General to draft a report “containing ways to advance compliance with all obligations in relation to the court’s findings” by next year’s UN General Assembly in September 2027.
Pacific islands celebrate “historic” resolution
The group of Pacific island nations, which led the diplomatic push for the resolution, as well as Latin American nations and the European Union, celebrated its adoption as a “historic” moment, while some countries noted the persistence of diverging views.
Belize’s UN representative Janine Coye-Felson said in a statement on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) that the General Assembly resolution, as well as the ICJ advisory opinion, are important because “climate change is not governed only” by the Paris Agreement, but that “climate justice requires the application of the full breath of international law”.
“When future generations look back at this moment, they will ask whether we rose to meet the defining crisis of our time with the full force of international law. Today, this General Assembly answers: yes,” she told the plenary.
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Electrification emerges as COP31 priority
The Turkish COP31 President has called for “a truly global conversation” about shifting the global energy system from fossil fuels to electricity -
Santa Marta summit kick-starts work on key steps for fossil fuel transition
The conference offers some 60 nations help to develop roadmaps to shift their economies away from coal, oil and gas, and make international trade green
The EU said in a statement during the session that, with the adoption of the resolution, countries are moving beyond “simply recognising” the ICJ’s work and instead “actively upholding the legal integrity” of the multilateral system by seeking to implement the court’s recommendations.
Yet the bloc also warned the process that follows must not “seek to establish new mechanisms or engage in any determination of state responsibility”, referring in particular to the upcoming report by the Secretary-General. Earlier drafts of the resolution contained proposals to establish a register of climate-driven loss and damage and a dedicated compensation mechanism, but these were removed during negotiations on the text.
France’s ambassador to the UN, Jérôme Bonnafont, highlighted the resolution’s provision to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and said “science clearly establishes their role in climate change”. The recent increase in oil and gas prices, which have soared because of the war in Iran, “underscores the cost vulnerability of this dependence”, he added.
Push-back by oil-producing nations
Some oil-producing countries – among them the US, Saudi Arabia and Russia – were critical of the new resolution, arguing that it creates “quasi-binding” obligations from an advisory opinion that should be non-binding, and rejected the request for a report from the Secretary-General.
“This is a direct duplication of work that is being done at the [UN climate convention],” said Russia’s delegate. “Creating a parallel process will waste resources, will undermine the fragile consensus at the conference of the parties and will lead to the fragmentation of the climate regime.”
In an effort to weaken the resolution, a group of seven oil-producing Middle Eastern states – including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran – tabled four last-minute amendments proposing to delete certain paragraphs and softening the language on the obligations of states.
Webinar: From Santa Marta to Bonn – where next for the fossil fuel transition?
In response, Pacific island nations said these amendments sought to “reopen provisions that were [the] subject of extensive negotiation”, while the EU added that they were “difficult to reconcile with the spirit of cooperation”. They were all rejected in a series of votes.
The US, for its part, described the resolution as “highly problematic” and denied the obligation of preventing climate harm beyond its borders, as well as the assertion that climate change is an “unprecedented civilizational challenge”. The country urged others to vote against the resolution.
India, which abstained, said the text failed to address the need for climate finance flows from developed to developing countries, which is “a serious omission”. The Indian delegate pointed to the absence of the term “climate finance” in the text, which “deserves more attention in a resolution that deals with the obligations of states”.
“Turning point in accountability”, activists say
WWF’s climate chief and former COP president Manuel Pulgar-Vidal said the General Assembly’s vote was a step forward that “raises the pressure on all states to act in line with their obligations”.
Rebecca Brown, CEO of the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), said the UN resolution shows that “multilateralism works” and with it, countries “carry the ICJ’s historic ruling forward as a roadmap for climate action and accountability”.
“By acting together, we can prevent further climate harm, in line with science and the law, by speeding up a just and equitable transition away from fossil fuels, protecting climate-vulnerable communities, and advancing climate justice,” she added in a statement.
Vishal Prasad, director of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change – a group of young people who first made the push for an advisory opinion from the ICJ – said “the world has not only reaffirmed that ruling, but committed to making it a reality”.
“This must be a turning point in accountability for damaging the climate. Communities on the frontlines, like in the Pacific, have been waiting far too long and continue to pay too high a price for the actions of others,” he said. “The journey of this idea from classrooms in the Pacific to The Hague and the United Nations gives us continued hope that when people organise, the world can be moved to act.”
The post UN General Assembly backs “climate obligations” set by world’s top court appeared first on Climate Home News.
UN General Assembly backs “climate obligations” set by world’s top court
A controversial land swap orchestrated by the megarich could be “a harbinger of what’s to come” for public lands under Trump.
This story is from Floodlight, and produced in partnership with High Country News. Sign up for HCN’s newsletter here.
Trump Officials, Billionaires and the Quiet Reshaping of America’s Public Lands
Duke University Plans a Data Center It Says Will Boost ‘Environmental Responsibility and Sustainability’
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