Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
World court’s ‘landmark’ climate opinion
POLLUTERS ‘ACCOUNTABLE’: The UN’s highest court has told “wealthy” countries “they must comply with their international commitments to curb pollution or risk having to pay compensation to nations hard hit by climate change”, reported Reuters. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a much-awaited advisory opinion that small island states have described as a “legal stepping stone to make big polluters accountable”, the newswire added.
‘INHERENT RIGHT’: The Associated Press said that, during a two-hour hearing to present the unanimous opinion, Japanese judge Yuji Iwasawa told the court that the “human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is…inherent in the enjoyment of other human rights”. The newswire said activists described this as a “turning point in international climate law”.
‘LEGAL WEIGHT’: The Times noted that the “view is non-binding on governments, including the [UK], and the US does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction”. However, the “ICJ’s advisory opinions carry great legal weight and are seen to contribute to the clarification of international law”, the newspaper added. Carbon Brief has just published an in-depth Q&A on what the opinion means for climate change.
Renewables ‘breakthrough’
BRINK OF BREAKTHROUGH: UN secretary-general António Guterres said on Tuesday that the “world is on the brink of a breakthrough in the climate fight and fossil fuels are running out of road”, the Guardian reported, as two new reports were published illustrating the growing dominance of renewable energy. In his online speech, Guterres said the global energy transition is now “unstoppable” due to “smart economics”.
RENEWABLES ‘CHEAPER’: The first of the new reports, from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), said that around 90% of renewable power projects globally are now cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives, Reuters said. The second, from the UN drawing on data from multiple international agencies, found that renewables made up 92.5% of all new electricity capacity additions and 74% of electricity generation growth in 2024, the Financial Times reported. Carbon Brief pulled out five key takeaways from both reports.
Around the world
- IN DANGER: The Trump administration has “drafted a plan to repeal a fundamental scientific finding”, known as the “endangerment finding”, that “gives the US government its authority to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions and fight climate change”, reported the New York Times.
- EU-CHINA SUMMIT: The EU and China have “committed to leading the world in the fight against climate change” in a joint statement released on Thursday following a meeting between the two superpowers, Bloomberg said. Carbon Brief’s China Briefing newsletter provided more details.
- JAPAN EYES NUCLEAR: A Japanese utility has become the first since the Fukushima nuclear disaster 14 years ago to take steps towards building a new reactor, reported Channel News Asia.
- SHELL QUITS INITIATIVE: Shell and other fossil-fuel companies have “abandoned” a six-year-long attempt to define a net-zero emissions strategy “after being told that such a standard would require them to stop developing new oil and gas fields”, according to the Financial Times.
- FLASH FLOODS: Ongoing flash flooding in Pakistan has killed at least 266 people over the past month, the Hindu reported.
50C
The temperature in some parts of Iran this week – as authorities asked people to limit drinking water amid an ongoing drought crisis, reported the Guardian.
Latest research
- Climate change is creating “new vulnerabilities” for pandemics | Carbon Brief
- South American lands stewarded by “Afro-descendant” people coincide with areas with “high biodiversity” and are associated with a 29-55% reduction in forest loss, compared to control sites | Communications Earth & Environment
- The “true price” of solar geoengineering is “much higher than its modest technical costs would indicate” | npj Climate Action
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
New research covered by Carbon Brief this week found that one in three people in informal settlements in the global south live in floodplains and are at risk of a “disastrous flood”. The chart above draws on data from the study, published in Nature Cities, to illustrate where in the world has the highest number of “slum residents” living in floodplains.
Spotlight
Antarctica’s oldest ice arrives in UK
Carbon Brief recently visited British Antarctic Survey scientists responsible for uncovering the secrets of Antarctica’s oldest ice.
Standing in a freezer in Cambridge – with a -25C chill licking at his nostrils – British Antarctic Survey (BAS) lab manager Jack Humby excitedly opens up an unassuming polystyrene box.
Using his bare hands, he pulls out its contents. Long square-shaped sections of crystal clear ice – wrapped in plastic labelling which way is up – are revealed.
Little about the appearance of the ice gives away that it is at least 1.2m years old.
It has journeyed to the BAS headquarters on the outskirts of Cambridge from an ice core drilling camp in East Antarctica.
In January, scientists at the camp vertically drilled a 2,800m-long ice core, with on-site tests revealing it was likely to be at least 1.2m years old. The ice was then flown to a nearby port and shipped to Europe aboard the Italian icebreaker Laura Bassi.
The ice was drilled as part of the Beyond Epica Oldest Ice project, a large-scale field operation involving multiple research teams and laboratories across Europe.
‘One shot’
Owing to its specialist equipment and research expertise, BAS has been tasked with analysing the ice to reveal its secrets.
Though not visible to the human eye, the ice contains organic compounds and tiny pockets of air from periods stretching back hundreds of thousands of years.
Over the next seven weeks, the research team at BAS will work around the clock to analyse these features. However, in order to do so, they will have to melt the ice.
Dr Liz Thomas, head of the ice cores team at BAS, told journalists:
“It’s a huge responsibility because this is a one shot. Given how much effort has gone into drilling these cores, we have to get this absolutely right.”
To conduct their analysis, the team plan to use a gold-plated instrument to melt the square-shaped sections of ice being stored in the freezer room.
The meltwater will then be piped into a specially designed lab next door, which contains millions of pounds worth of analysis equipment, according to Humby.
Climates past
The analysis will help scientists work out how old the ice actually is. Though initial tests suggest it is at least 1.2m years old, but the team believe it could be up to 1.5m years old or even older.
It will also enable researchers to paint a more detailed picture of Earth’s past climates.
In turn, this could inform scientists’ understanding of how large swings in temperature in the past have affected various parts of the Earth climate system, including its ice sheets and ecosystems.
Ultimately, this could help researchers to make more informed projections about the likely impacts of human-caused climate change, Thomas explained:
“As climate scientists, it’s our job to provide as much information as we can. What we’re relying on to understand the next steps is climate models. They are fantastic, but they’re only as good as the information we put into them. That really is the justification for looking back in time.”
Watch, read, listen
COP30 LOOMS: A long-read in the Brazilian culture magazine Piauí examined the fraught road that the nation faces to host the next UN climate summit in November.
ARCTIC ‘MELTING POINT’: In Nature Communications, researchers recounted how the Arctic island of Svalbard is facing a “dramatic shift” to high air temperatures and rainfall in the depths of winter.
STUDENT VICTORY: The Guardian spoke to a group of students from the Pacific islands who started the campaign for the world’s top court, the ICJ, to take on the issue of climate change.
Coming up
- 23-31 July: COP15 of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- 30 July: International Energy Agency electricity mid-year update
- 30 July: Advancing the implementation of the Chilean framework Law on Climate Change, Santiago, Chile
Pick of the jobs
- Boston Globe, climate science and environment reporter | Salary: Unknown. Location: Boston, US
- Science Museum London, curator of climate and earth sciences | Salary: £41,770. Location: London
- Netflix, manager, sustainability standards and partnerships | Salary: Unknown. Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
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 25 July 2025: World court delivers climate ‘turning point’; Renewables ‘unstoppable’; Antarctica’s oldest ice examined appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Climate Change
‘This is a fossil fuel crisis’, Greenpeace tells Senate gas tax Inquiry, citing homegrown renewables as path to energy security
CANBERRA, Tuesday 21 April 2026 — Greenpeace Australia Pacific has slammed gas corporation war profiteering and environmental damage in a scathing Senate hearing today as part of the Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources, urging fair taxation of gas corporations and the transition to secure, homegrown renewable energy to protect Australian households and the economy from future energy shocks.
Speaking at the hearing, Greenpeace said the US and Israel’s illegal war on Iran has laid bare the fundamental flaws of an energy system built on fossil fuel extraction, geopolitical power plays and corporate greed, and will be a defining moment for how the world thinks about energy security.
Greenpeace’s submission and full opening remarks can be found here.
Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:
“This is not an energy crisis, it’s a fossil fuel crisis. The crisis we’re all facing lays bare the dangers of fossil fuel dependence, for our energy security, our communities, and for global peace and stability.
“Gas corporations like Woodside, Santos, Shell and Chevron — the same companies whose CEOs refused to front this Inquiry — are making obscene war profits, using the illegal war on Iran to price gouge, profiteer and push for more gas we don’t need — while people and our environment pay the price.
“Australians are getting smashed by soaring bills and the impacts of climate disasters — gas corporations should be paying their fair share to help this country, instead of sending billions offshore, tax-free.
“But we’re at a turning point — while gas corporations cynically push to open up more of our oceans and land to drilling for fossil fuels, our allies like the UK are doubling down on renewables in response to the fossil fuel crisis. Our trading partners in Asia are making the same reassessment of fossil fuels.
“Which is why the hearing today is crucial: an effective and well-designed tax on the gas industry’s obscene war time profits is a chance to channel funds to people and communities, fast-track the rollout of clean, secure homegrown wind and solar energy, while holding polluters accountable.
“Our dependence on fossil fuels leave us overexposed to the whims of tyrants like Trump — it’s in Australia’s national interest to end the fossil fuel chokehold for good and usher in the era of clean energy security.”
-ENDS-
Media contact
Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org
HOW WOODSIDE’S BROWSE GAS PROPOSAL THREATENS SCOTT REEF’S GREEN TURTLES AND PYGMY BLUE WHALES
Woodside’s Browse to NWS gas project is under assessment by the WA and Federal Governments right now. This is a project that involved drilling up to 50 gas wells around Scott Reef off the coast of WA. Gas would be extracted directly underneath Scott Reef and Sandy Islet and pumped through a 900-kilometre subsea pipeline to the NWS gas processing facility.
Woodside’s Browse gas project’s impact on Scott Reef’s marine habitats?
Scott Reef is one of Australia’s most ecologically significant marine environments, where green turtles breed, pygmy blue whales feed, and an array of at-risk species, including sharks, dolphins, whale sharks, rays, sawfish and sea snakes thrive. It is home to many threatened species, including some found nowhere else on Earth or in genetically isolated groups, magnifying its importance from a conservation perspective.
This delicate reef’s ecosystem faces multiple threats if Woodside’s Proposed Project goes ahead, including seismic blasting, gas flaring, noise pollution, artificial lighting, pipe laying and fast-moving vessels. The reef also faces the risk of a gas well blowout, which could have catastrophic and irreversible consequences for the region’s reefs and marine parks.
Woodside’s woeful marine impacts management plan
To secure their approvals, Woodside had to develop a plan for how they would manage the significant risks to threatened green turtles and endangered pygmy blue whales if the project proceeds. We’ve had two independent scientists provide a technical assessment of Woodsides management plan for whales and turtles and their findings are gobsmacking.
Their assessment found that Woodsides management plans for these species misrepresents or does not assess the risks the Browse project poses to Scott Reef’s pygmy blue whales and green turtles. They’ve also surmised that if the project goes ahead the impacts contradict the Australian government’s own recovery plan for turtles and Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for Blue Whales.
The State and Federal Governments now have the opportunity to define their legacies on nature protection and save Scott Reef from Woodside’s dirty gas.
Technical Assessment of Woodside’s Browse Pygmy Blue Whale Management Plan
Prepared for Greenpeace Australia Pacific by Dr Ben Fitzpatrick of Oceanwise Australia with Dr Olaf Meynecke of Griffith University.
The full technical assessment is available HERE
Scott Reef is a vital feeding, foraging and resting habitat for pygmy blue whales.
Pygmy blue whales feed, forage and rest in the Scott Reef region every year. Scott Reef is recognised as a Biologically Important Area for the pygmy blue whale and is an important stop-over on their annual migration.
Woodside’s Browse gas project could delay or prevent the population recovery of the endangered pygmy blue whales that rely on Scott Reef, heightening their extinction risk.
- Woodside’s management plan claims of “no credible threat of significant impacts” are not supported by scientific evidence.
- The management plan relies on outdated whale population information.
- Woodside has claimed it is unclear whether Scott Reef is a foraging habitat for pygmy blue whales, despite the presence of pygmy blue whales and significant concentrations of krill being documented in the area.
- The PBWMP ignores the impacts of industrial noise on whale-to-whale communication. This is especially concerning as mother-calf pairs migrate through the Scott Reef Biologically Important Area shortly after calves are born. Mother-calf pairs rely on continuous, uninterrupted communications to maintain their connection.
Woodside’s Browse gas project could delay or prevent the population recovery of the endangered pygmy blue whales that rely on Scott Reef, heightening their extinction risk.
Technical Assessment of Woodside’s Browse Turtle Management Plan
Prepared for Greenpeace Australia Pacific by Dr Ben Fitzpatrick of Oceanwise Australia.
The full technical assessment is available HERE
Scott Reef is a vital nesting ground for unique green turtles.
The green turtles that nest at Scott Reef’s low-lying Sandy Islet sand cay and nearby Browse Island are genetically unique and are classified as ‘Extremely Vulnerable’ in Australia’s Recovery Plan for Marine Turtles.
Woodside’s Browse gas project could make Scott Reef’s unique green turtles extinct.
- The Browse project would operate within 20 kilometres of nesting habitat that’s critical to the survival of Scott Reef’s genetically unique and vulnerable green turtle population.
- Woodside’s Browse Turtle Management Plan (TMP) misrepresents the risks the Browse project poses to Scott Reef’s green turtles.
- Claims in Woodside’s TMP about Scott Reef’s green turtle population size, nesting success and hatchling numbers are not backed by scientific evidence.
- The TMP proposes gathering updated data after the Browse project is approved.
- Woodside’s TMP proposes adding sand sourced elsewhere to Sandy Islet to counter subsidence and erosion, but fails to properly assess the associated risks.
To save Scott Reef and protect our oceans and animals, the State and Federal Governments must reject Browse.
Technical Assessment of Woodside’s Browse Pygmy Blue Whale Management Plan
To secure their approvals, Woodside had to develop a plan for how they would manage the significant risks to threatened green turtles if the project proceeds. We’ve had two independent scientists provide a technical assessment of Woodside’s management plan for whales and turtles and their findings are gobsmacking.
Woodside’s Browse gas project could make Scott Reef’s unique green turtles extinct.
Woodside’s Browse gas project could delay or prevent the population recovery of the endangered pygmy blue whales that rely on Scott Reef, heightening their extinction risk.
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