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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 to play major role in global energy shift
ELECTRIFICATION: As the world moves into the “age of electricity”, China’s per-capita demand for electricity will grow to overtake that of all advanced economies combined by 2030 under current policy settings, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2024. The report said this is due to the country’s rising electrification, pushed forward by adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and other low-carbon technologies, as well as economic growth.
LOW-CARBON POWER: China accounted for 60% of worldwide renewable installations in 2023 and its solar power generation alone will, by 2035, exceed the US’ current total electricity demand, WEO said. A separate IEA report released last week found that China will add 60% of new renewables installations globally between 2024 and 2030. This rapid expansion, according to WEO, will help China lead a global decline in carbon emissions after 2030, with China’s emissions falling to 8% below 2023 levels by 2030 and 24% below by 2035, based on current policy settings. (These figures rise to 17% and 45%, respectively, if China meets its announced pledges.) However, to align with the IEA’s scenario for net-zero emissions by 2050, China’s clean power would need to expand 1.5-times faster than current rates and investment – particularly in grids and energy storage – would need to double.
OIL SLOWS, COAL RISING: China, the world’s largest importer of oil, is currently spurring a “major slowdown” in oil demand growth, largely due to its rapid adoption of EVs, said the report. However, the IEA also said that China will overtake the US as the world’s largest oil consuming country by 2030 and remain the largest oil importer until 2050. Similarly, China is also the largest coal user. It consumed around 55% of the coal used to generate electricity globally and added 73% of the world’s new coal-fired power capacity in 2023, WEO said. (Bloomberg reported that China is also still developing new coal-fired power overseas.) Nevertheless, WEO added that China’s coal consumption for power is likely to peak “in the next few years”.
High-level environmental meeting held
ANNUAL MEETING: The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), a high-level environmental advisory body to the Chinese government, held its annual general meeting on 10-12 October, Earth Negotiations Bulletin reported. About 400 people, including global experts, such as WWF director general Kirsten Schuijt, and high-profile Chinese officials attended the meeting, said China Environment News. Following discussions supervised by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, CCICED revised a series of draft recommendations, which included: combining “ambitious goals with pragmatic actions” in China’s “nationally determined contribution” under the Paris Agreement and establishing an absolute emissions reduction goal for 2035; setting a target of 2,400 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind capacity by 2030 and 6,000GW by 2040; and accelerating the expansion of the national carbon market and shifting to auctions for carbon allowances, which are currently given for free.
HEAVY HITTERS: Several influential political figures spoke at the meeting, including executive vice-premier Ding Xuexiang, who reiterated China’s willingness to “work with all parties” on building “a clean and beautiful world” and said it will follow the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” in “global environmental challenges”, according to the Communist party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily. Environment minister Huang Runqiu told delegates that, to advance climate goals, China will focus on six key areas: better “prevention” of emissions; more “precise” emissions control; building “norms” and standards in climate policy; “market guidance”; scientific and technological “empowerment”; and “openness and win-win cooperation”, state news agency Xinhua said. Chinese climate envoy Liu Zhenmin said that “many of the concerns of developing countries at COP28 have not been adequately addressed”, adding that “developed countries…[need to take] the lead in reducing emissions”, according to news outlet China News. Liu’s predecessor, Xie Zhenhua, said in a speech that, “compared with mitigation, in developing countries, adaptation…needs to be solved more than anything else”, said the Paper, a Shanghai-based newspaper.
Diversifying critical mineral supply chains
GROWING FRUSTRATION: The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) confirmed that it is “courting new investors” in order to “diversify ownership” in its mining industry, currently dominated by China, Bloomberg reported. It quotes mines minister Kizito Pakabomba saying the country “is looking to make strategic choices about who runs Congo’s mines”. The outlet added that the DRC has “grown increasingly frustrated by its lack of influence over its mining industry, particularly in cobalt”, a mineral central to the production of some types of EV batteries. The Wall Street Journal said the US is encouraging companies to purchase cobalt producer Chemaf in DRC, after blocking its sale to the Chinese state-backed Norin Mining.
MINERALS ALLIANCE: Meanwhile, the US and India have agreed to “cooperate on strengthening supply chains in India and US for lithium, cobalt and other critical minerals”, the Indian Express reported, adding that the agreement “still fall[s] short of a full critical minerals trade deal” allowing India to access US tax credits for EVs. The newspaper also noted that India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal aimed to “include other countries in the partnership, especially those who are already mineral rich like countries in Africa and South America”. In response to the agreement, an editorial in the state-run newspaper China Daily said the US, “understandably, does not want to put all its eggs in one basket in the face of rising tensions with China” and described a similar minerals deal with Vietnam as “lip service”, adding that “the US helps none but itself”.
HARSH RHETORIC: Meanwhile, the US Department of State’s under secretary for economic growth, energy and the environment Jose Fernandez criticised China for producing too much lithium for global consumption and alleged it was triggering a “predatory” price drop in an “intentional response” to the US’ Inflation Reduction Act, in comments covered by Reuters.
Spotlight
China’s birth policy ‘could raise emissions 20% by 2060’
A study published in Nature Climate Change finds that China’s current population policies – allowing families to have three children – could increase its future carbon emissions.
However, lead author Prof Zhifu Mi, who researches climate change economics at University College London’s (UCL) Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, tells Carbon Brief that this finding is not to imply that China should reverse its demographic policies.
In an interview, Mi says that, in response to the findings, China could consider a “synergistic approach” to both “fertility policies” and “climate action strategies”.
Carbon Brief: What impact does China’s current population size and demographic makeup have on its carbon emissions?
Zhifu Mi: Population size and demographic composition significantly influence a country’s carbon emissions. Population is one of the primary drivers of greenhouse gas emissions. China has long been the most populous nation, contributing to its status as the largest carbon emitter all over the world. [In 2023, India overtook China as the world’s most populous nation.]
Age structure also plays a role in emissions. The per-capita carbon footprint of younger people (under 30) in China is approximately 1.8 times that of older people (60 and above). This pattern contrasts with developed countries, where older individuals often have higher carbon footprints.
CB: To avoid demographic pressures, China is encouraging families to have three children and its workforce to delay retirement. You found that relaxing limits on family size would make it harder to meet China’s carbon neutrality goal. Could you explain these findings?
ZM: Both relaxing fertility policies and delaying retirement would increase carbon emissions via boosting the labour force. The impact of relaxing fertility policies [and allowing families to have more children] is notably greater than delaying retirement. Shifting from a two-child to a three-child policy would result in a roughly 20% increase in China’s total carbon emissions by 2060.
CB: How are the emissions profiles of China’s young people different to its elderly?
ZM: Younger individuals in China have higher per-capita carbon footprints due to age-related income differences. Their higher per-capita carbon footprints are related to clothing, goods and transport, while older Chinese have higher per-capita carbon footprints related to healthcare.
CB: Some previous research, suggesting that having fewer children is one of the best ways for individuals to cut their carbon footprints, has been criticised for ignoring the impact of climate action, which could reduce the per-capita emissions of the next generation. What do you think about the wider debate on population growth and climate change?
ZM: I disagree with the idea that having fewer children is one of the best ways to cut carbon footprints. Beyond climate change mitigation, we have many other Sustainable Development Goals to consider. While reducing population growth can lower carbon footprints to some extent, population also drives socio-economic development.
Our research indicates that relaxing fertility policies would increase China’s household carbon footprint. We present this objective phenomenon with the hope that this impact of fertility policy will be integrated into climate action strategies.
CB: The paper states that your results should not be read to imply that China must reverse its three-child and retirement-delay policies, but that the policies should be synergised with emissions reductions targets. In your view, what steps could the Chinese government take to do so?
ZM: Yes, our result is not to imply that such policies should be avoided to reduce environmental pressure. We recommend a synergistic approach, considering both population policies and climate goals.
First, climate policies should be tailored to the specific demographic structures of different regions in China – promoting greener consumption and sustainable lifestyles among younger people is crucial. Second, addressing income and consumption disparities across age groups can help mitigate the carbon impacts of fertility and retirement policies. Third, when setting climate targets for each province, population size and demographic composition should be key considerations.
CB: Your paper talks about the need to explore what would happen if China misses its 2060 target, which, as China’s NDC notes, is a challenging goal to meet. What do you see as the key hurdles in this effort?
ZM: Achieving carbon neutrality is a significant challenge for China, particularly because the country has only 30 years to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero after peaking. In contrast, developed countries have had much longer timelines. For instance, the EU…[has allowed] for about 70 years to reduce emissions [from its peak to net-zero]. The US, with a peak in 2005, has 45 years to reach net-zero. China’s more compressed timeline, coupled with the higher volume of emissions to be reduced, makes the challenge more daunting.
Furthermore, China’s energy mix, which is dominated by coal and lacks sufficient oil and gas resources, poses another significant hurdle…Finally, China’s regional economic development is uneven. Eastern regions have witnessed rapid economic growth and industrialisation, while central and western regions lag behind. This imbalance…further complicates China’s path to carbon neutrality.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Watch, read, listen
SUNNY DISPOSITIONS: State broadcaster CCTV’s flagship interview programme Duihua (Dialogue, 对话) aired a discussion of the state of the solar industry with major Chinese solar manufacturers, including Tongwei, LONGi and JingkoSolar.
FIVE-YEAR PLAN: The California-China Climate Institute, a research institute housed at UC Berkeley, issued recommendations for ways Chinese policymakers can take climate goals into account as they prepare for the 15th “five-year plan” (2026-2030).
NDC WATCH: China must avoid setting “conservative near-term climate goals”, an opinion article in Foreign Policy by Lauri Myllyvirta, senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, and Byford Tsang, senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, argued.
GREEN FINANCE: Yuan Yuan, a climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia, wrote in the Shuang Tan newsletter how the asset management industry can improve climate-related risk management and disclosure standards.
51%
The percentage of Chinese citizens who believe that the US and China have “common objectives” on environment and climate change issues, according to a public opinion poll carried out by Tsinghua University on China’s outlook on international security. Respondents also ranked climate change as the 8th most concerning risk from a list of 18 global security challenges.
New science
Can combined wind and solar power meet the increased electricity load on heatwave days in China after the carbon emission peak? A case study in southern Hebei
Journal of Cleaner Production
A new study revealed that wind and solar power generation could meet the increase in electricity consumption in China’s Hebei province on heatwave days from 2039, in part because heatwaves would raise wind and solar power generation as well as power demand. Using data from the south of Hebei province, which boasts the highest combined wind and solar capacity in China, researchers developed load and wind power models and calibrated “a boosting ensemble learning model to simulate solar generation”. Results showed Hebei could “harness” wind and solar energy to address demand but energy storage capacity would be needed to ensure full coverage.
Comparative analysis of embodied carbon in modular and conventional construction methods in Hong Kong
Scientific Reports
Using modular integrated construction, where parts of new buildings are prefabricated elsewhere and brought to be installed on-site, rather than conventional construction methods, reduced embodied carbon in a Covid-19 isolation facility in Hong Kong by 21%, according to a new study. The study used an embodied carbon assessment of the isolation facility. It found that the reduction in embodied carbon was primarily due to “shortened construction timelines, decreased waste generation and optimised material usage”.
Energy transition in China: Is there a role for climate policy uncertainty?
Journal of Environmental Management
New research found that climate policy uncertainty in China “significantly hinders the progress” of China’s energy transition, particularly by “reducing the level of green finance development and hindering the optimisation of [the] energy structure”. The study used data from 277 Chinese cities to assess this dynamic, discovering that in regions with “weak environmental regulations, high fiscal decentralisation and low administrative levels”, uncertainty has a higher impact on energy transitions. It also stated that climate policy uncertainty further limited the “high-quality development” of China’s economy and levels of “green innovation”.
China Briefing is compiled by Wanyuan Song and Anika Patel. It is edited by Wanyuan Song and Dr Simon Evans. Please send tips and feedback to china@carbonbrief.org
The post China Briefing 17 October 2024: China’s electrification to disrupt oil; High-level environment meeting; Aligning China’s population and climate policies appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Greenhouse Gases
Cropped 25 February 2026: Food inflation strikes | El Niño looms | Biodiversity talks stagnate
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
- 2-6 March: UN Food and Agriculture Organization regional conference for Latin America and Caribbean | Brasília
- 5 March: Nepal general elections
- 9-20 March: First part of the thirty-first session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) | Kingston, Jamaica
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
Greenhouse Gases
Dangerous heat for Tour de France riders only a ‘question of time’
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.
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.”
The post Dangerous heat for Tour de France riders only a ‘question of time’ appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Dangerous heat for Tour de France riders only a ‘question of time’
Greenhouse Gases
DeBriefed 20 February 2026: EU’s ‘3C’ warning | Endangerment repeal’s impact on US emissions | ‘Tree invasion’ fuelled South America’s fires
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

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.

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
- 22-27 February: Ocean Sciences Meeting, Glasgow
- 24-26 February: Methane Mitigation Europe Summit 2026, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 25-27 February: World Sustainable Development Summit 2026, New Delhi, India
Pick of the jobs
- The Climate Reality Project, digital specialist | Salary: $60,000-$61,200. Location: Washington DC
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), science officer in the IPCC Working Group I Technical Support Unit | Salary: Unknown. Location: Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Energy Transition Partnership, programme management intern | Salary: Unknown. Location: Bangkok, Thailand
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
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.
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