Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Crisis responses
OIL SUPPLIES: The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that oil supply disruptions will worsen in April due to the Iran war, reported CNBC. The outlet added that the IEA was considering another release of strategic oil reserves. Meanwhile, US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) reached an “all-time high” in March, with shipments to Asia more than doubling from the previous month, said Reuters.
‘SLOWER GROWTH’: The International Monetary Foundation (IMF) warned that “all roads lead to higher prices and slower growth worldwide” if the war continues to choke oil, gas and fertiliser supplies, reported the Guardian. The IMF said the UK and Italy were “especially exposed by their reliance on gas-fired power”, the newspaper added.
EU PREPARES: The EU is considering “reviving energy-crisis measures” it used at the start of the Ukraine war, including “grid tariffs and taxes on electricity”, according to Reuters. France is considering new actions to electrify its economy and cut dependence on fossil imports, said Le Monde. Elsewhere, BBC News rounded up crisis responses from around the world – including fuel rationing, fuel tax cuts, home working and free public transport.
COAL ‘SHORT-LIVED’: Some countries announced plans to delay coal-plant shutdowns. Italy plans to push back its coal-power phaseout to 2038, according to Reuters. Germany will review whether to reactivate reserve plants, reported Bloomberg. South Korea also extended three plants set to close this year, said the Korea Times. However, a separate Bloomberg comment piece stated that “any shift to burn more coal in 2026 will be short-lived”
Around the world
- GAS SCRAPPED?: New Zealand’s government cast doubt over plans to build an LNG import terminal as rising gas prices have worsened the economics, said the New Zealand Herald. Separately, plans for Vietnam’s largest LNG power plant may be scrapped in favour of a new renewable energy project, according to Reuters.
- PHASEOUT SUMMIT: Climate Home News reported that 46 countries – including major oil producers – have confirmed they will attend the fossil-fuel phaseout summit being held in Colombia later this month.
- INDIAN SUMMER: India is “forecast to experience higher than normal heatwave days through June, raising the risk of power shortages” as the Middle East conflict worsens energy strains, reported Bloomberg.
- AFGHANISTAN FLOODS: Heavy rainfall and floods across Afghanistan have killed at least 48 people and damaged communities, following years of drought, said Kabul Now.
- WIND BUYOUTS: In an effort to halt remaining US offshore wind projects, the Trump administration is offering buyouts to developers in exchange for fossil-fuel investments, according to the Financial Times.
66%
The annual increase in forest loss in Indonesia in 2025, according to Indonesian biodiversity thinktank Auriga Nusantara, reported by Reuters.
Latest climate research
- New research explores “patterns of distributional justice” in the mitigation scenarios used in the IPCC’s sixth assessment | npj Climate Action
- Antarctic surface melt will expand by more than 10% by 2100, if future greenhouse gas emissions continue to be high | Nature Communications
- The evolution of the urban heat island effect in Chinese cities is “not unidirectional, but depends on localised urbanisation and greening dynamics” | PNAS Nexus
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.)
Captured
Carbon Brief analysis found that Great Britain has generated record levels of combined wind and solar output so far this year. The chart above shows monthly wind and solar output, which reached 11 terawatt hours (TWh) in March 2026. At current high gas prices, this saved the UK nearly £1bn worth of gas imports for the month, according to the analysis.
Spotlight
How ‘plug-in’ solar could reduce bills
This week, Carbon Brief analysis finds that plug-in solar panels could save a typical household £1,100 over a 15-year lifetime.
In response to the ongoing energy crisis, the UK government announced on 15 March a package of clean-energy measures to “boost” energy security. Among these was the introduction of “plug-in” solar panels to the UK.
Plug-in panels
Compared to rooftop solar, smaller plug-in solar systems consisting of one to two panels can be easily installed on balconies, in gardens and other outdoor spaces. They can be plugged directly into home sockets without the need for additional wiring, reducing electricity taken from the grid and thereby cutting bills.
Plug-in solar has already taken off in Germany, with official registrations already exceeding 1m installations (the actual number could be up to 4m). Other growing markets include France, Spain, the Netherlands and the US.
Panels could be available in the UK “within months” at retailers, such as Lidl and Sainsbury’s, according to the government. (Many of the products from EcoFlow, one of the main providers of plug-in solar in the UK, are already sold out online.)
The government said it will work with relevant bodies to update electrical regulations to allow the use of plug-in solar. The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has advised homes to get their wiring checked before installing.
Costs and benefits
To assess the potential impact of plug-in solar, Carbon Brief conducted a cost-benefit analysis for an 800-watt (W) installation in a typical two-to-three bedroom home in London. The assumptions are approximate and will vary for different locations and set-ups.
Optimally placed panels – south-facing and tilted at around 40 degrees – would generate around 820 kilowatt hours (kWh) each year in London – at a “load factor” of 12% – according to the EU’s PVGIS database.
Actual output is likely to be lower, due to sub-optimal placement – such as vertically on balconies – as well as orientation and shading.
A report by trade body Solar Power Europe noted these factors could cut 30-60% from optimal output. This analysis assumes a 45% reduction from optimal output.
If a household is able to use 90% of the output – typical for such installations – then the panels would provide 400kWh of electricity each year, enough to meet 15% of typical demand.
This will vary on the household usage patterns, but running appliances such as washing machines during peak daylight hours could improve capture rates.
This could save £110 on electricity bills each year, meaning the upfront cost of around £500 could be paid back within 5 years, according to Carbon Brief’s analysis.
Assuming the panels last 15 years, total net savings over their lifetime could reach £1,100.
These savings assume a fixed unit cost of 27p/kWh, based on predictions for July 2026.
If electricity prices surged to 34p/kWh for a prolonged period – as they did during the 2022 gas price crisis – then annual savings could increase to around £140, further reducing the payback time.
If module costs fall over time as more suppliers enter the market, this could reduce the upfront cost and payback time.
If 3m households take up plug-in solar – comparable to Germany’s current deployment – this would generate 1.2 terawatt hours (TWh), less than 1% of UK demand.
While this would not significantly cut UK emissions overall, it could still save the households more than £330m in total and avoid around two tankers’ worth of imported liquified natural gas (LNG) each year, according to Carbon Brief’s analysis.
Unlocking participation
Aside from its economic benefits, plug-in solar could unlock participation in the clean-energy transition for a wider percentage of the population.
For example, renters make up around one-third of UK households and lack control over the installation of rooftop solar and heat pumps. Plug-in solar would enable them to engage in and benefit from clean energy in their homes.
This spotlight was also published on Carbon Brief’s website.
Watch, read, listen
HEAT HEADS: The BBC’s Climate Question podcast spoke to two women from Sierra Leone and Mexico about their role as “chief heat officers” for their cities.
OYSTER DIE-OFF: A feature in the Guardian explored how warming seas are causing mass die-offs of Japan’s oysters, threatening the shellfish trade.
SOLAR SWITCH: Climate Home News examined how Nigerian homes and businesses are increasingly switching from backup generators to solar power.
Coming up
- 8 April: International Energy Agency rare earth special report launch, Paris
- 10 April: Djibouti presidential election
Pick of the jobs
- Grantham Institute for Climate Change, research fellow | Salary: £49,017-£57,472. Location: London (hybrid)
- Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, advocacy lead | Salary: £35,000. Location: Scotland (remote)
- The 19th News,contract climate reporter | Salary: $50 per hour. Location: US (remote)
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
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The post DeBriefed 2 April 2026: Countries ‘revive’ energy-crisis measures | Record UK renewables | Plug-in solar savings appeared first on Carbon Brief.
In the thick of the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in 2024, the UN climate talks were rattled by what can only be described as a major PR disaster. The BBC, Reuters and The Guardian all carried headlines, attributed to leading climate policy experts, that the COPs were “no longer fit for purpose”.
The articles outlined a series of reforms called for in an open letter signed by 22 eminent scientists and politicians, including a former UN secretary-general and previous UN climate chief, with a further 150 lending their support. The headlines shook confidence in the COP process, just as governments were wrestling over a new climate finance goal.
The Club of Rome – which handled the media relations for the letter – hurried to say that its “constructive, supportive ideas” had been “misinterpreted”. Negotiators kept calm(ish) and carried on, in the end landing the finance goal after some high-stakes drama on the final day.
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Early speakers’ list suggests few powerful leaders will attend COP31
Just 77 heads of state or government are scheduled to address the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, a third less than the COP28 peak -
Africa wants adaptation finance on COP31 agenda, raising risk of a fight
The African Group wants dedicated space on tripling adaptation finance, the Green Climate Fund and trade, setting up a possible clash
To my surprise, when I went back this week to read the letter again, I could not find the offending line about the COPs not being fit for purpose. The Club of Rome has yet to respond to my query about its disappearance.
Whatever happened to the wording, that sentiment has been widely shared. COPs have ballooned in size while the importance of their outcomes seems to have diminished since the 2015 Paris Agreement (with the exception of the 2023 COP in Dubai where countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems).
The same on the surface
Two years on from those painful headlines in Baku, has anything changed for the better? You might be forgiven for thinking not. Official decisions are still made by consensus rather than the majority voting some have called for to stop blockers.
Tens of thousands of officials, activists and business execs still scurry around the halls to an ever-growing list of side events, roundtables and dialogues, while deals still come down to rows, all-nighters and jargon-filled texts adopted to rounds of applause.
But it would not be true to say that COPs have completely failed to respond to the very real need to translate the words of the Paris Agreement into action in the outside world.
Global warming is projected to be around 1.3C lower this century than it would have been if the world had not committed to tackle the climate crisis under that accord. Developing countries have a valued space at COPs in which their voices have equal weight in decision-making, unlike in many other international fora. And most importantly, perhaps, there has been a subtle shift, tipping the balance away from negotiating towards doing.
Brazil branded last year’s summit in Belém as the “COP of Implementation”, corralling the sprawling Action Agenda into six axes. This was a bid to impose some structure on the mushrooming efforts between governments, UN agencies, cities, businesses and civil society to set targets and spur faster results on their pet issues, from methane emissions to health and adaptation in conflict zones. COP30 alone saw the launch of 120 “plans to accelerate solutions”.
COP30 roadmaps off the cuff
Meanwhile, as the formal negotiations drew to a close, it was clear that consensus decision-making was evolving into something a little more improvised.
With only around half of all countries on board with the idea of a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels, COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago announced his team would put one together over the coming year, along with another on how to meet a global goal to halt deforestation by 2030. Those roadmaps will be launched next week, presented and discussed at COP31, though it’s still unclear whether or how they’ll be incorporated into the formal negotiating agenda.
Some leading policy-makers don’t think that matters too much. Speaking to journalists before the Antalya summit, COP30 CEO Ana Toni and Dutch climate minister Stientje van Veldhoven said “coalitions of the willing” can move ahead without needing consensus from the COPs. This, they said, was evident this year at the first global conference on TAFF, co-chaired by van Veldhoven and attended by 60 countries.
“Consensus or no-consensus in the general COP doesn’t make a difference for the choices I have to make in my country to get my country to phase out fossil fuels,” said the Dutch minister. The Netherlands recently became one of the first to publish a national TAFF plan.
COP31 banks on flagship voluntary initiatives
This thinking has permeated the management and expected outcomes of this year’s COP too. Earlier this year, Türkiye, supported by international energy agencies, floated the idea of a voluntary goal to boost electrification to 35% of the world’s final energy consumption by 2035 – and this is now being touted as one of the main results to be expected from Antalya.
Türkiye is also championing a pledge on AI and climate, while co-host Australia is pushing to ease access to climate finance for least developed countries and small island states.
COP31 presidency announces AI pledge as UN climate chief says Big Tech ‘on thin ice’
None of these needs consensus. But with a political cover decision already in the works, as trailed by the COP presidents, they – and perhaps the fossil fuel roadmap – may find a home in the official text if language acceptable to most can be found, giving them them additional weight.
UNFCCC reform process in the shadows
Formal reform is underway too, if quietly. UN climate chief Simon Stiell is leading a review informed by ongoing consultations with a group of 15 well-respected climate policy experts, three of whom signed the open letter in 2024.
Among them is leading Swedish climate and sustainability scientist Johan Rockström who has strong ideas about how to make COPs function better, including a switch to majority voting. He told the same press briefing nothing stands in the way of this, because the rules of procedure for making decisions at COPs have never been formally agreed.
Still, to get away from the default setting of consensus would require agreement on a new system that may be impossible to achieve given the rise in bullying tactics by fossil fuel heavyweights.
Comment: The UN climate process was built for negotiation – now it must support implementation
The deliberations with the high-level policy gurus, as reflected in a summary of June’s session in Bonn, largely echo what’s already happening organically, calling for stronger partnerships and accountability both in and between the Action Agenda and negotiations. It doesn’t mention voting.
A general overview of the reform exercise says that “improving and optimizing the [UN climate] process over the medium to long term… will be critical to fostering trust, enhancing collaboration, and catalyzing increased ambition”.
In the short term, don’t hold your breath for anything concrete on reform at COP31 but watch for signs in what ends up dominating the headlines from Türkiye.
The post Editor’s Desk: COP reform is happening quietly, behind the headlines appeared first on Climate Home News.
Editor’s Desk: COP reform is happening quietly, behind the headlines