Published

1 year ago

January 11, 2024

Alice Rush

Welcome to Carbon Brief’s China Briefing.

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

Key developments

China’s top climate negotiator interviewed

COAL STANCE: China News Weekly recently interviewed Su Wei, China’s lead climate negotiator, about China’s stance at COP28 and its energy transition. Su affirmed China’s position on fossil fuels, saying that it is “impossible to completely phase out fossil fuels, given limitations of the resources China possesses”. He argued that countries did not have to “be utterly opposed” to fossil fuels as long as the central question of emissions is solved, through technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS). Substituting fossil fuels with renewable energy should follow the principle of “establish [new rules] before breaking [old ones]”, he added. This means a “process” needs to be followed – namely, after “large-scale development” of renewable energy and non-fossil fuel energy, “coal power will be gradually reduced and the proportion of coal stock will also decline”.

DEVELOPED VS DEVELOPING: Su also highlighted the role of developed countries as a key debate at COP28. He described the current international environment as the “biggest challenge to realising the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity globally”, with some developed countries imposing tariffs on or launching investigations into Chinese products. He also criticised developed countries’ failure to provide the $100bn in climate finance they committed to in 2009, describing it as a “muddled account”.

US-CHINA OPTIMISM: Nevertheless, Su was relatively optimistic about the potential for US-China climate cooperation. He raised how US-China alignment at COP28 “made an important contribution” to its success, with the Sunnylands statement jointly released by the two countries allowing them to “propose wording for the text and help[ing] to unlock difficult issues in the negotiation”. Climate change, Su said, “remains one of the few positive elements that China and the US can mobilise to promote the stable development of their relationship”, allowing the two countries to “talk” despite other tensions. (In a recent issue of the Pekingnology newsletter, noted international relations scholar Da Wei concurred, saying the US and China “have some agreements on the climate change issue”. He added: “I believe that the two sides will declare more on climate change in the following months.”)

China ‘needs 324tn yuan’ to meet climate goals

‘ENORMOUS AMOUNT’: China needs to “spend about 324tn yuan” ($45.5tn), which is equal to 2.7 times its 2022 GDP, between 2021 and 2060 to achieve its goals of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2060, reported state-run newspaper the China Daily. The figures were included in China’s fourth national communication on climate change, which was submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2023. China “will need to spend far more to reach carbon neutrality than to achieve carbon peaking”, the document added. China’s previous national communication was submitted more than four years ago in 2019.

GROWING INVESTMENT: Meanwhile, China’s annual national economic work conference – held in December 2023 – announced “promotion of…green and low-carbon development” as one of nine key economic tasks in 2024, with “green” development becoming the “driving force for China’s high-quality development”, according to China News. The 2024 national energy work conference, also held in December, established that China aims to build 200 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar capacity in 2024, as well as 5GW of nuclear energy, the newspaper added. China5E reported that China’s top economic planner, the national development and reform commission (NDRC) said in its first meeting of 2024 that it would develop “tangible policies” to attract private capital to invest in nuclear power and other major energy projects, as well as environmental protection schemes. Investment in renewable energy in China “seems increasingly to be driven by the profit motive”, a Financial Times editorial argued, adding that this trend is accelerated by increasing adoption of “cleantech” by China’s state-owned enterprises.

MARKET FORCES: China is also developing financial platforms to boost “green” and low-carbon investment in the new year. On 2 January, it launched a stock index to encourage “investment products that grant greater weightings for sectors such as renewables”, reported the Financial Times. Meanwhile, should China’s voluntary carbon market, the China Certified Emissions Reduction (CCER) program, relaunch this year, it could encourage finance to flow to projects that, together, could reduce carbon emissions by tens or even hundreds of millions of tonnes, Jiemian noted.

Updated industry guidelines to ‘encourage green tech’

INDUSTRY CATALOGUE: China’s top economic planner, the national development and reform commission (NDRC), released an updated 2024 version of its catalogue for guiding industry restructuring, designed to “promote high-end, intelligent and green manufacturing”, Xinhua reported. The catalogue divides industries into three categories: encouraged; restricted; and eliminated, reported China Environment. The “restricted” category refers to technologies, equipment and products that, among other things, “are not conducive to the realisation of the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”, it explained. The “eliminated” category contains technologies that “seriously waste resources, cause pollution…[or] impede the realisation of the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”, the outlet added. China Environment also reported that the catalogue said it would “encourage green technology innovation and the development of green environmental protection industry, promote energy saving…and resolutely curb the blind development of high-energy-consuming, high-emission and low-level projects”. (The phrase on curbing “blind development” has been in use for several years.)

NEW ADDITIONS: The “encouraged” category adds a “detailed explanation of carbon capture and application”, reported BJX News. The category also adds “green” hydrogen produced by electrolysis of water and synthesis of “green methanol” from carbon dioxide, as well as new solar materials for use in the construction industry, reported the news outlet. The “restricted” category has raised and added limitations for the power sector, such as new coal power units that cannot meet “ultra-low emission” requirements, said the report. Under the “elimination” category, thermal power plants will be phased out in accordance with the principle of “establish first, then modify” (先立后改) with plants eliminated “in an orderly manner, in accordance with an “annual phase-out plan”, added the report. The least efficient coal-fired boilers will be phased out in air pollution priority areas, the outlet added.

OFFICIAL REACTION: Officials from the NDRC told Jiemian that the new edition of the catalogue aims to promote “high-end, intelligent, and green manufacturing industry” in China, they added. The updated catalogue “will encourage green technology innovation and the development of green environmental protection industries, promote energy conservation, carbon reduction and green transformation in key areas”, they told the outlet.

BYD surpassed Tesla, claiming the top spot in EV sales

BYD VS TESLA: Chinese firm BYD’s sales of battery-only vehicles “outpaced” its US rival Tesla in the final quarter of 2023 for the first time, according to BBC News. BYD sold 526,000 units while Tesla delivered 484,000 units. However, for the whole of 2023, Tesla still sold more with 1.8m compared to nearly 1.6m for BYD, the broadcaster added.

SUCCESS STORY: CNN said that China’s fast transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is “thanks to strong government support”. The article quoted analysts from investment bank Natixis Asia saying “first-mover advantage and government support through infrastructure investment and subsidies have made it easy for Chinese EV makers to expand domestically and internationally”. (Consultant David Fishman noted on Twitter that domestic EV sales grew by 36% in 2023, “despite the end of the supporting subsidies”.) According to Bernstein research, “BYD batteries are among the lowest cost in the world”, reported the Financial Times. Michael Dunne, chief executive of Asia-focused car consultancy Dunne Insights, told the FT: “No one can match BYD on price. Period.” In his Bloomberg column, David Fickling attributed BYD’s edge to its in-house battery supply chain and cheaper cells. “More importantly”, he said, “on almost every financial metric, [BYD] is either advancing on, or overtaking [Tesla] — with its gaze already set on the wider car industry.”

FORECAST FOR 2024: Looking ahead to this year, S&P Global Mobility predicted battery electric vehicles (BEVs) sales would reach 13.3m units globally in 2024, accounting for 16.2% of total global passenger vehicle sales, with China’s BEV sales growing 28.6% year-on-year. BloombergNEF’s outlook forecast a milestone will be achieved by the end of 2024 – it will see the first quarter in which consumers buy more than five million electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, with China being the main contributor.

Spotlight

What to watch in 2024

In 2023, several significant energy and climate stories came out of China. Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rose, driven by increases in China, but analysis for Carbon Brief found that renewable energy growth could cause a “structural decline” of emissions from 2024. New coal “capacity payments” continue policy support for the fuel.

Meanwhile, the US and China issued the Sunnylands statement, which signalled a turning point in bilateral relations and played a part in theCOP28 outcome.

For the first China Briefing of 2024, Carbon Brief asks leading experts what they are watching for in China in the year ahead. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Joanna Lewis, provost’s distinguished associate professor of energy and environment, and director of the science, technology and international affairs program, Georgetown University:

The key thing I will be watching is the development of China’s new nationally determined contribution (NDC) and associated 2035 climate goals. Given the Sunnylands statement and COP28 decisions, we can expect that China’s next NDC will include the country’s first economy-wide target covering all greenhouse gases. As China’s emissions are slated to peak before 2030, it will also likely be China’s first absolute emissions target.

Beyond the NDC, I will also be watching China’s coal consumption. While consumption increased in 2023, many predict a slowing in 2024 and possible peaking by 2025 (or earlier). So watching trends over the coming year may signal what is to come. Also important to determining coal trends will be the rate of renewable energy growth. With an estimated 230GW of new wind and solar power installed in China last year – twice that of the US and Europe combined – and major advances in energy storage that are helping address the curtailment issue, China’s renewables sector is poised for continued rapid growth, which can help offset the demand for coal in the power sector.

David Fishman, senior manager, the Lantau Group:

China spent 2023 implementing incremental reforms to its power sector and energy policy – still trending in the right direction for power market decarbonisation and liberalisation, but taking smaller steps than in the previous few years. This is a return to normalcy for China, which has typically adopted a measured approach to policy reforms: preferring to make small changes and observe the outcomes of limited pilots, rather than big changes all at once.

I expect 2024 to be more of the same, with spot-trading in the power exchanges becoming more common and renewable consumption quotas expanding to more sectors. At the same time, the surging growth in renewable capacity, especially from desert mega-bases, should allow renewable generation growth to exceed power consumption growth. This will cap coal consumption in the power sector and send China’s carbon emissions into long-term structural decline from 2024 onward.

Ryna Cui, research director, Center for Global Sustainability, University of Maryland:

It is crucial to watch how coal plants will be utilised in the power system, whether as expected to back up an increasing share of intermittent renewables or to continue as “baseload” generation, where the emissions impact can be significant. It is also critical to watch whether and how China moves from a continued preference for coal to other solutions for grid stabilisation, such as cross-region grid balancing, demand-side management, battery and other storage technologies.

Methane is an emerging area that is finally receiving the policy attention it requires – both in China and globally. China’s methane action plan is the first published national policy targeting methane as a greenhouse gas (GHG). The document is brief, setting up overall guidelines and main task areas. So it is important to watch how more detailed policies and targets will continue to develop.

Internationally, the US-China Sunnylands statement set up the expectation for the next round of NDCs to cover all GHGs and all economic sectors. It will be exciting to watch how Sunnylands and the previous joint Glasgow declaration will be implemented.

Yan Qin, lead carbon analyst at the London Stock Exchange Group:

This will be an exciting year for China’s national carbon market and the newly relaunched offset market. The national emissions trading scheme (ETS) has just completed its second compliance period, with allowance prices rising to as high as 80 yuan per tonne ($11.25/t) due to tightening of benchmarks.

The scheme will see more progress this year, both on the regulatory side, with the newly released state council regulation on national carbon trading, and on the expansion to more industry sectors, with the first new batch possibly including the cement and aluminium sectors. We might also see more clarity on the role of the carbon market in China’s “dual carbon” targets against the backdrop of moving from energy dual control to carbon dual control. The revamped China Certified Emissions Reduction (CCER) offset market will also see issuance of new credits resume this year.

Tu Le, founder and managing director, Sino Auto Insights:

It was another record year for “new energy vehicle” (NEV, mainly electric vehicle) sales in China, largely on the back of a serious price war ignited by Tesla in January 2023. I’ll be watching to see whether the market can keep it up – and who will blink first this year. Will there continue to be foreign direct investment by Chinese electric vehicle and battery companies outside of China and, if so, where?

Chinese automakers exported a record number of vehicles in 2023, catching many observers’ attention. With the Inflation Reduction Act making the US market unattractive for now, the EU is the most attractive major market to Chinese EV firms. EU automakers will also begin shipping Chinese-built vehicles to their home markets. How the EU will ultimately react to this – and the growth of Chinese EV exports more widely – remains uncertain.

Watch, read, listen

BIG READ: China submitted its fourth national communication on climate change to the UNFCCC in December 2023 – the first since June 2019 – with sections on China’s greenhouse gas emissions by sector, “key objectives” and financial needs.

DE-RISKING RISKS: Henry Sanderson argued in Foreign Affairs that western countries must prioritise in order to compete with China on “clean energy” technologies.

WASTE UNREST: The New Books in East Asian Studies podcast interviewed Dr Jean Yen-chun Lin on research into environmental protests against waste incineration in Beijing.

CLIMATE ADAPTATION: China and Africa will “jointly promote climate resilience”, ministry of ecology and environment minister Huang Runqiu said in remarks, recently posted on YouTube, made at the September 2023 Africa Climate Summit.

New science

Hotter days, dirtier air: The impact of extreme heat on energy and pollution intensity in China
Energy Economics

Researchers have identified a “causal impact from ‘local temperature shocks’ on pollution intensity” in China between 2008 and 2017, finding that extreme heat increases energy demand, diminishes energy efficiency and increases consumption of coal, which leads to a rise in pollution intensity. The researchers said that this shows that extreme weather caused by climate change “will perpetuate an adverse impact on pollution intensity” across China.

Methane mitigation potentials and related costs of China’s coal mines
Fundamental Research

A new study estimated that “through continuous coal cuts and available…mitigation measures, China’s [coal mine methane] emissions can be reduced by 65%-78% [from 2021 levels] in 2060”. The study also found that methane emissions from abandoned coal mines “will far exceed those from coal mining under the 2060 carbon-neutral scenario, especially in northeastern China”. While coal mine methane mitigation may not currently be economically feasible, it added, it could become “the most cost-effective solution as [carbon dioxide] prices increase”.

Who is most affected by carbon tax? Evidence from Chinese residents in the context of ageing
Energy Policy

New research has discovered “significant differences” in the rate by which different age groups in China are affected by carbon taxation, with the “vulnerable elderly” being particularly affected. The results show that the “indirect carbon payment burden rate on the elderly…is 1.2 times that of the general population”, with low-income seniors facing a slightly higher than average rate at 1.4 times that of the general population.

China Briefing is compiled by Anika Patel and edited by Wanyuan Song and Simon Evans. Please send tips and feedback to china@carbonbrief.org

The post China Briefing 11 January: Expectations for 2024; Top climate negotiator interviewed; NDRC promotes ‘green’ industry appeared first on Carbon Brief.

China Briefing 11 January: Expectations for 2024; Top climate negotiator interviewed; NDRC promotes ‘green’ industry

Climate Change

Electricity demand surges, expanding both renewables and fossil fuels in 2024

Published

13 hours ago

March 24, 2025

Alice Rush

Despite record additions, clean energy sources could not fully meet a surge in electricity demand in 2024, driven mainly by the effects of rising temperatures, an annual review by the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed on Monday.

Renewables and nuclear energy provided four-fifths of the rise in electricity generation, which increased by 4% last year – marking “a significant acceleration” from the average annual growth seen in the last 15 years, the IEA said. The rest of the growth was covered by coal – still the largest source in the total global electricity mix – and by an expanding supply of fossil gas power.

Record temperatures push up power demand

Soaring use of cooling technologies like air conditioning in response to extreme heat was a key factor in the growing appetite for electricity, especially in China and India, which are heavy users of coal power, the IEA said.

Last year was the hottest on record and the global average temperature for 2024 exceeded the Paris Agreement benchmark of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for the first time.

It’s time for shipping to launch first global tax on a polluting sector

Growing electricity consumption by industry, the rollout of electric vehicles and the expansion of data centres also drove power demand, the Paris-based watchdog said.

Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said in a briefing on Monday that “even though oil and gas will remain essential energy carriers, we hear the footsteps of the age of electricity coming”.

He also noted that demand for all major fuels and energy technologies rose in 2024 as a result of rapidly growing electricity use.

World uses more coal, gas and renewables

Power generation from solar panels and wind turbines increased at a record pace thanks to a rapid rate of new installations, while nuclear power output was boosted by new projects and the restarting of reactors in France and Japan, the report noted.

But electricity generation from fossil gas and coal kept growing and, overall, fossil fuels still represented 60% of the global electricity mix last year.

While almost all regions saw an acceleration in electricity consumption, China and Southeast Asia saw the fastest increases in 2024, according to the IEA report.

After a decline in 2023, advanced economies led by the United States saw a return to growth in electricity consumption driven by strong demand for cooling, growth in the data-centre sector and a pickup in industrial production.

China continued to lead global expansion of renewables, making up almost two-thirds of all
renewable capacity connected to the grid in 2024. The United States, India and Brazil also saw record levels of solar photovoltaic roll-outs last year.

But intense heatwaves pushed coal and gas use higher in both China and India, while the United States and Eurasia also saw strong increases in gas demand for electricity, the IEA report noted.

Energy-related emissions still rising

Rising gas and coal use fuelled a 0.8% increase in global carbon dioxide emissions generated by the energy sector in 2024, the IEA said – but trends varied widely across regions.

While energy-related emissions dipped in advanced economies, whose growth has become less polluting, the decline was outweighed by marked increases in emerging economies – especially India – and the international aviation sector.

Clean hydrogen hype fades as high costs dampen demand

Speaking to journalists, Laura Cozzi, the IEA’s director of sustainability, noted that planet-heating emissions could have been exponentially higher without the rapid adoption of clean technologies – a development that is keeping 2.6 gigatonnes of CO2 out of the atmosphere.

“Those are fossil fuels that are being displaced,” she said, adding that the transition is moving “very fast” in the electricity sector.

The post Electricity demand surges, expanding both renewables and fossil fuels in 2024 appeared first on Climate Home News.

Electricity demand surges, expanding renewables and fossil fuels in 2024

Climate Change

It’s time for shipping to launch first global tax on a polluting sector

Published

19 hours ago

March 24, 2025

Alice Rush

Ambassador Ali Mohamed is Kenya’s Special Envoy for Climate Change.

Kenya is a frontline casualty of the climate crisis. Escalating temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, and prolonged droughts are slashing food production, depleting water resources, and destabilising our economy. Our coastal ecosystems, vital to the “blue economy”, are besieged by rising sea levels, coral bleaching, and accelerating erosion.

These are not abstract threats; they are dismantling the livelihoods of millions of Kenyans who depend on agriculture and marine resources. Yet Kenya’s plight is not self-inflicted. Industrialised nations, with their outsized historical emissions, bear primary responsibility for this crisis. Under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, those who fuelled climate change must lead in funding solutions.

A proposed carbon levy on the shipping industry offers a transformative opportunity, one Kenya urgently supports, to deliver climate finance where it’s most needed while decarbonizing a critical global sector.

Global tax on shipping emissions faces choppy waters despite growing support

The shipping industry, a linchpin of global trade, stands poised to pioneer a new era of climate finance. At the UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO), governments are nearing agreement on a carbon levy on shipping emissions, with a decision slated for April 2025 at the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) 83 summit in London.

If enacted, this would be the first universal tax on an international polluting sector, a precedent-setting move. The World Bank estimates this levy could raise $60 billion annually, channeling vital funds into climate adaptation and mitigation for vulnerable nations like Kenya.

Kenya endorses this initiative unequivocally. It aligns with our national commitment to cut emissions and advance sustainable development, and it amplifies our role as co-chair of the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force, which champions levies on under-taxed, high-emission sectors.

Africa is not merely a bystander in this effort. From scaling renewable energy to modernising port infrastructure, we are active architects of a decarbonized maritime future. The levy promises not just revenue, but a framework for equitable progress, if designed with precision.

3% of global emissions

But why target shipping, some might ask? Well, for starters, shipping accounts for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to Japan or Germany, the sixth-largest emitter worldwide. Unchecked, this figure will climb, intensifying climate pressures on coastal nations.

Decarbonising shipping isn’t optional; it’s a strategic imperative for a sustainable global trade system. Yet, the transition must not deepen existing inequities. African economies, heavily reliant on maritime trade, cannot afford levies that inflate export costs and widen global market disparities. Safeguards – such as reinvesting levy proceeds into affordable green technologies – are essential to level the playing field.

Investments in zero-emission vessels, renewable fuels, and resilient port infrastructure can ensure developing nations thrive in a low-carbon economy. A well-crafted levy would hasten this shift while funneling revenue to communities hardest hit by climate change. Kenya’s coastal populations, reeling from eroded shorelines and depleted fisheries, exemplify the stakes.

Direct funding for the Global South

Support for the levy is surging. Over 60 countries, commanding two-thirds of the global fleet, back the proposal, an encouraging signal ahead of MEPC 83. The IMO’s 176 member states already agree a carbon price is critical to hit net-zero emissions by 2050. But ambition matters.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that a levy of between $150 and $300 per tonne of emissions would both accelerate shipping’s energy transition and generate substantial climate finance. Anything less risks stalling progress.

A strong carbon tax on shipping can give hope to climate-vulnerable communities

Equity is equally critical. Funds must flow directly and predictably to developing nations, bypassing the bureaucratic quagmires that have long throttled Global South access to climate finance. Revenues should prioritise adaptation and resilience – especially for Africa, where sea-level rise and extreme weather already wreak havoc. Landlocked states, too, deserve support for broader climate projects, ensuring the levy’s benefits transcend the maritime sector. Without these guardrails, the mechanism risks perpetuating rather than dismantling historical injustices.

With just a short time until the IMO summit, member states must commit to bold, constructive dialogue. The world has a rare shot at a levy that’s fair, potent, and capable of delivering tangible climate finance. For Kenya, it’s a lifeline to shield our people and ecosystems from a crisis we did little to create. For the globe, it’s a chance to pivot toward sustainability while holding polluters accountable.

The post It’s time for shipping to launch first global tax on a polluting sector appeared first on Climate Home News.

It’s time for shipping to launch first global tax on a polluting sector

Climate Change

DeBriefed 21 March 2025: Germany’s climate win; Conservatives’ net-zero row-back; Key messages from major UK climate conference

Published

3 days ago

March 22, 2025

Alice Rush

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

This week

Germany’s €100bn climate funding

BILLIONS IN FUNDING: Germany’s parliament on Tuesday voted to create a €500bn defence and infrastructure fund and relax “constitutionally-protected debt rules”, the Guardian reported, with “the last-minute backing of the Greens” in return for “guarantees that €100bn of the funds destined for infrastructure would be allocated for climate and economic transformation investments”. The deal came following “clumsy” initial negotiations from Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, Bloomberg said. It reported that the Greens “finally came around” after Merz’s negotiators “conceded to their key demands”, which also included adding Germany’s 2045 climate-neutrality target into the constitution.

TAKING CLIMATE ‘SERIOUSLY’: The Greens said in a statement on social media that the agreement “finally takes the challenges of the future seriously”, according to the New York Times. Paula Piechotta, a member of the Greens in the German Bundestag, told the German newspaper Tagesspiegel that the deal was a “great success for democracy in our country, for sustainability and intergenerational justice”. The newspaper added that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Left party, “unsurprisingly”, criticised the agreement.

UK opposition breaks cross-party climate consensus

BREAKING AWAY: In a speech, Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK opposition Conservative party, said it was “impossible” for the UK to meet its net-zero target by 2050, marking a “sharp break from years of political consensus”, BBC News reported. She did not offer an alternative target for the goal, the broadcaster said, quoting her telling reporters that if the Conservatives “do find a target is necessary, then yes we will have one”. Badenoch “failed to cite any evidence in support” of her arguments, according to a factcheck published by Carbon Brief, which concluded that much of the existing evidence “contradicts” her claims.

TORY BACKLASH: In response, Conservative former prime minister Theresa May, who was responsible for passing the 2050 target into law, warned the move “will hurt future generations and cost Britons”, the Times reported. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) also criticised the speech, warning that “now is not the time to step back from the opportunities of the green economy”, according to the i newspaper. In the Daily Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard said Badenoch’s “rant comes close to political tragedy”.

Around the world

CARNEY CUTS: New Canadian prime minister Mark Carney removed the country’s “consumer carbon tax”, CBC News reported, adding that the policy had been a “potent point of attack” for his political opponents.
GREENPEACE BILL: Greenpeace has been ordered to pay $660m in damages over its protests against the Dakota Access pipeline in 2016, which could “bankrupt its US operations” if upheld, the Financial Times said.
UK-CHINA FORUM: The UK and China agreed to establish an “annual climate dialogue”, with the first meeting to be held in London later this year, the Times reported.
CHEQUES AND BALANCES: A US judge has “temporarily barred” attempts by the Trump administration to recoup at least $14bn in “grants issued by the Biden administration for climate and clean-energy projects”, the Washington Post said.
EXTREME HEAT: “Severe heatwave conditions” have begun affecting several areas across India “unusually early in the season”, the Hindustan Times reported.
SOUTH AFRICAN SUPPORT: The EU will fill a “$1bn hole” in South African’s “just energy transition partnership” left by the US, the Financial Times reported. The US is also “stalling” $2.6bn of climate finance for South Africa, Bloomberg said.

152

The number of “unprecedented” extreme weather events that occurred in 2024, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate 2024 report. Heatwaves were the most common type of unprecedented events – defined as events “worse than any ever recorded in the region” – followed by “rain or wet spells” and floods.

Latest climate research

New research in Climate and Development explored how environmental justice featured in the climate action plans of rust-belt cities in the US, finding that few “provided enough details” to determine if it was a priority.
A new Science Advances study identified “increasing storminess” in the south-western Caribbean, which was attributed to “industrial-age warming”.
Marine heatwaves are now 5.1 times more frequent and 4.7 times more intense since records began, new research in Communications Earth & 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

The UK’s high electricity prices are primarily driven by gas prices, according to an analysis published by Carbon Brief, with the UK typically seeing gas set electricity prices 98% of the time – compared to an average in the EU of 40%.

Spotlight

Chatham House talks climate and resilience

Carbon Brief outlines key takeaways from Chatham House’s climate and energy summit.

Chatham House, the UK’s leading international affairs thinktank, held its annual summit on climate and energy on 18-19 March. This year’s theme was: “Securing a resilient future.”

Carbon Brief attended the conference, where speakers including COP30 CEO Ana Toni, UK climate envoy Rachel Kyte and Moroccan minister for energy transition and sustainable development Leila Benali shared their thoughts on encouraging and enacting climate action.

Climate backlash

A sense of urgency permeated discussions at the summit, underpinned by concerns over growing anti-climate narratives.

Toni argued climate scepticism proves climate action is on the right track.

She said: “First people ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you – and this is where we are – then we win.”

COP30 CEO Ana Toni and UK climate envoy Rachel Kyte at Chatham House. Credit: Anika Patel, Carbon Brief

Other speakers said that increasing support for climate action by building new norms and creating overlapping interests could also be effective strategies.

Former US climate envoy Todd Stern pointed to increasing adoption of electric vehicles, while ClientEarth CEO Laura Clarke raised the example of community-owned renewable power.

Fretting over finance

Clean Earth Gambia founder Fatou Jeng warned that climate finance, as ever likely to be an important issue at COP30, has “not progressed much”.

“Blended finance” – using public money to leverage private funds – was heavily criticised in several panels. Ben Parsons, a partner at consultancy firm Oaklin, noted that only 72 such deals were agreed in 2024.

Speakers agreed that innovative mechanisms to derisk climate finance were needed, with Morocco’s Benali critiquing “exclusive” and inflexible private financing options.

Ndongo Samba Sylla, head of research and policy at International Development Economics Associates, argued that using local currencies would significantly boost climate finance.

Resilience through renewables

A key benefit of the UK’s “climate leadership”, Kyte argued, is that the energy transition will “make British people more secure”.

Parsons said the argument – recently deployed by Conservative leader Badenoch – that the energy transition replaced reliance on Russian fossil fuels with reliance on Chinese technology was incorrect.

“Fossil fuels are fuel – they require constant replenishment. Renewables are infrastructure,” he said, adding that arguably the UK should be accelerating its deployment of clean-energy technology.

On cybersecurity challenges in renewable power systems, Alex Schoch, vice president and group director of flexibility and electrification at Octopus Energy, argued that the key issue is how renewable energy “hardware” is managed, rather than where it is sourced from.

Parsons agreed, noting that the UK’s current power system has “plenty of cybersecurity vulnerabilities in it today”.

He said: “We have to make sure we’re putting [cybersecurity strategies] in place…But I don’t think that goes hand in hand with thinking we should avoid buying renewables from certain parts of the world.”

In a session on energy security in war-time Ukraine, held under the Chatham House rule, participants noted that the country was a case study for the importance of energy security.

Speakers said that since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, attacks on thermal power plants have seen growing use of low-carbon energy – particularly distributed solar.

Watch, read, listen

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: The Columbia Energy Exchange podcast explored how the new Trump government underpinned discussions at the energy industry event CERAWeek.

‘CONFLICT BLINDSPOT’: A new report by ODI found that “less than 10% of international climate finance” in 2022 went to fragile and conflict-affected countries.

METHANE INACTION: Leading supermarkets in the global north are “failing to address the methane pollution in their supply chains”, according to a study covered by Desmog.

Coming up

24-26 March: 16th Petersberg Climate Dialogue, Berlin, Germany
24-26 March: IPCC lead author meeting for methodology report on inventories for short-lived climate forcers, Bilbao, Spain
24-28 March: 20th session of the UN FAO commission on genetic resources for food and agriculture, Rome, Italy
25 – 28 March:First G20 climate and environment sustainability working group meeting, online

Pick of the jobs

ClientEarth, lawyer or legal consultant, energy systems, Asia | Salary: 455m-585m Indonesian rupiah. Location: Jakarta
European External Action Service, policy officer for green diplomacy | Salary: Unknown. Location: Brussels
Bloomberg, climate reporter | Salary: Unknown. Location: Hong Kong
The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, project manager | Salary: £42,679-£51,000. Location: London