Climate & Energy · Tuesday, 15 September 2026

01 Briefing what happened

Japan is buying six times more Indonesian wood pellets than two years ago, and biomass permits now cover 750,000 hectares of Indonesian forest

Climate & Energy 14 sources

Japan pays some power plants for up to 20 years to burn wood. Indonesia has granted at least 45 biomass permits over natural forest, and most of what they produce is exported, with Japan the biggest buyer.

402,310 tonnes

of wood pellets Japan bought from Indonesia in 2025

about six times the 66,460 tonnes of 2023, inside record total pellet imports of 8.64 million tonnes [1]

750,000 hectares

of natural forest inside at least 45 biomass permits in Indonesia

about 7,500 square kilometres, though few pellet mills run yet [1]

20 years

that an already-certified biomass plant in Japan can keep its subsidy

Japan no longer offers the subsidy to new large projects [1]

under 6%

of Japan's electricity came from biomass in 2024

a small share, but a growing one [1]

The lead story — what happened

Japan imported a record 8.64 million tonnes of wood pellets in 2025, 35% more than in 2024, according to trade data cited by AP. [1]
Pellets from Indonesia rose from 66,460 tonnes in 2023 to 402,310 tonnes in 2025, an increase of more than 500%. [1]
Timer Manurung runs Auriga Nusantara, an Indonesian group that helped write a new analysis. He said at least 45 biomass permits have been granted, covering over 750,000 hectares of natural forest. [1]
Only a few biomass mills are running in Indonesia so far, Manurung said. The number of permits is what is growing. [1]
Biomass means burning plant material such as wood to make electricity. Many coal power plants can be changed to burn it alongside coal. [1]
Japan has stopped subsidies for new large biomass plants. Plants that were already certified keep receiving subsidies for up to 20 years after they start running. [1]
South Korea used to be the biggest buyer of Indonesian pellets. That changed when its government sharply cut biomass subsidies after criticism linking them to forest loss. [1]
Scientists and environmental groups quoted by AP say burning wood can release more carbon than coal. Cutting trees also reduces how much carbon a forest takes out of the air. [1]
The Polahi, an isolated Indigenous community, live inside permit areas. The same forests are home to tarsiers, which are small primates, and to rare buffalo and pigs. [1]
Japan's Forestry Agency, which promotes biomass, declined to comment on the link to forest loss. Indonesia's environment and energy ministries did not respond to AP. [1]

Who is involved

Auriga Nusantara

an Indonesian environmental group; it helped write the analysis of biomass permits
Japan's Forestry Agency

the part of Japan's government that promotes burning biomass; it did not answer AP's questions on keeping imported pellets free of forest loss
Global Environmental Forum

a research group based in Japan; its researchers say gaps in Japan's checks will let pellets linked to forest loss in for years
The Polahi

an isolated Indigenous community in Indonesia whose forest lies inside the permit areas

How it unfolded

2023 Japan buys 66,460 tonnes of pellets from Indonesia [1]
2024 Biomass makes less than 6% of Japan's electricity [1]
2025 Japan imports a record 8.64 million tonnes of pellets, 402,310 of them from Indonesia [1]
14 Sept AP reports the analysis counting 45 permits over 750,000 hectares of forest [1]
Next 20 years Japanese plants already certified keep receiving subsidies [1]

Where this points

Watch whether Japan tightens its checks on where imported pellets come from; researchers at the Global Environmental Forum say loopholes will let pellets linked to forest loss into Japan for years. [1]

What is pushing on the whole day

The bar and the word are our reading of how hard each one is pushing today. The arrow is where it is heading. The evidence is in the stories below.

Oil above $100 a barrel High↑

Brent crude, the main world oil price, rose from $72.48 to $104.61 a barrel since February. [5] Syria's government raised the price of diesel by 40% on Saturday. [5] China's 70% electric car target is likely to be reached early because high oil prices are pushing buyers to switch, Bloomberg reported. [2]

The US government stepping back Building↑

Two development lenders are discussing dropping their climate targets after US pressure, the Financial Times reported. [2] US federal money for air pollution monitors has fallen by more than 35% in twenty years, after inflation. [3] The Trump administration cancelled a $500,000 grant that was meant to pay for air monitoring in 27 Louisiana communities. [3]

Land that stores carbon Building↑

Biomass permits in Indonesia now cover over 750,000 hectares of natural forest. [1] On the Isle of Man, a British island, bare peat left by old peat cutting is still collapsing into reservoirs. [13] Farmers in Uganda are less likely to join tree-planting carbon projects when the price they will be paid is uncertain, a study found. [12]

Fires in new places Building↑

The European Union's pool of firefighters lent between countries grew from 236 in 2022 to nearly 800 this summer. [11] Two grass fires in Stourbridge, in the English Midlands, destroyed 19 homes on the hottest day of the year. [14] Wildfire smoke is reaching more communities in the US, Grist reports. [3]

The rest of the day

16 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

02
Development lenders may drop climate targets

At least two big development lenders, which lend to poorer countries for things like roads and power, are discussing scrapping their climate-finance targets, the Financial Times reported. [2] They are the Inter-American Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank, according to people familiar with the talks. [2] It follows the World Bank, which said in June it would retire its goal of sending 45% of its money to projects that also help the climate. [2] The FT said this came after intense US pressure. [2]

Why it matters — Countries agreed to raise at least $300bn a year for developing nations by 2035. [2] Removing the targets would make that harder for rich countries to meet, the FT says. [2]
03
China aims for 70% electric car sales

China's new five-year plan for its car industry sets a goal for 70% of new passenger cars and 40% of new commercial vehicles sold by 2030 to be 'new energy vehicles', Bloomberg reported. [2] That is China's term for battery, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen cars. Bloomberg said the 70% goal is likely to be reached early, because high oil prices are pushing buyers to switch. [2] The plan also wants several Chinese carmakers among the world's ten biggest by sales. [2]

Why it matters — The goal covers the world's biggest car market, and the plan also backs Chinese car companies in growing their business abroad. [2]
04
US air monitors are halving, and states limit residents' own

The number of government air pollution monitors in the US fell by nearly half over 20 years, according to EPA data analysed by the newsroom Floodlight. [3] Louisiana, Ohio and Kentucky have passed similar laws, backed by chemical or manufacturing trade groups, that stop regulators using residents' own air readings for enforcement unless the equipment meets EPA standards. [3] That equipment typically costs tens of thousands of dollars. [3] For 71 of the 100 biggest industrial polluters studied, no government monitor in the state measures the chemical they release most. [3]

Why it matters — Black and low-income Americans carry a larger share of the cancer risk from toxic air, according to the EPA. [3] In three states, residents living near that pollution now have fewer public monitors and less use for their own. [3]
05
China Gas signs a 20-year deal for US gas

China Gas Holdings, a Chinese gas company, will buy 500,000 tonnes a year of US liquefied natural gas from Venture Global for twenty years from 2030, the companies said on Monday. [4] Liquefied gas is gas chilled into a liquid so it can travel by ship. [4] China stopped importing US liquefied gas in March 2025 after its own tariffs on US energy took effect, and it still charges a 15% tax on it. [4] The deal came ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's expected trip to the United States this month. [4]

Why it matters — A Chinese buyer is committing to US gas for two decades while a tariff is still in place. The deal brings Venture Global's long-term sales to China Gas to 2.5 million tonnes a year. [4]
06
BRICS summit backs a role for fossil fuels

The 11 BRICS nations, a club of big emerging economies including Brazil, Russia, India and China, issued a declaration at their summit in New Delhi on Saturday. [2] It said fossil fuels have an 'important role' and called for a 'just, orderly, equitable and inclusive' move to clean energy. [2] It also said each country's path should depend on its own circumstances. [2] The declaration called for more cooperation on smart grids, energy storage and critical minerals, the Times of India reported. [2]

Why it matters — It sets out where these eleven governments stand two months before COP31, the UN climate summit in Turkey. [7] Xi Jinping told the summit that poorer countries must push for the Paris Agreement to be fully carried out. [2]
07
Syria raises diesel 40%, and protests spread

Syria's government raised the price of diesel by 40% on Saturday, to 175 Syrian pounds, or $1.32, a litre. [5] Protesters burned tyres and blocked the highway between Damascus and Aleppo, the widest protests since Bashar al-Assad was toppled almost two years ago. [5] Diesel has more than doubled since February. [5] The energy ministry said the rise was temporary and caused by higher world prices, Syria's reliance on imports and a three-month shutdown of its biggest refinery, at Baniyas. [5]

Why it matters — The United Nations estimates 90% of Syrians live below the poverty line. [5] Syria has relied on Russian crude, and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries have led Russia to limit its diesel and petrol exports. [5]
08
Virginia merger offer moves credits off data centres

NextEra Energy, which owns Florida Power & Light, and Dominion Energy, which powers about 3.6 million homes and businesses in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, want to merge. [6] On Monday they offered Virginia more: a $10 monthly bill credit for households would last four years instead of two. [6] That would mostly be paid for by ending credits that were meant to go to large data centres. [6] They also promised 600 new jobs. [6] Virginia's regulator holds a hearing in mid-November. [6]

Why it matters — Virginia hosts a huge cluster of data centres, and voters are frustrated about their effect on power bills. [6] Governor Abigail Spanberger has said she is deeply sceptical that the deal is good for the state. [6]
09
UK puts off a decision on the Jackdaw gas field

UK ministers have pushed back a decision on Jackdaw, a new gas field in the North Sea, until October at the earliest, the Financial Times reported. [2] The Labour party faces a by-election, a single-seat election, against the Green party in the seat of former prime minister Keir Starmer. [2] The Green party's leader, Zack Polanski, is standing and has said a vote for him is a vote against Jackdaw. [2] A Labour official disputed that anything had been delayed, saying no date had ever been set. [2]

Why it matters — Jackdaw has been stuck in years of legal and political fights, the FT says. [2] One Labour figure called the delay a political decision. [2]
10
Turkey says it has the final word at COP31

Turkey will host COP31, the UN climate summit, in November. [7] Australia will chair the negotiations, under a deal in which it withdrew its own bid to host. [2] Turkey's environment minister, Murat Kurum, told journalists that the final decision lies with Turkey, Climate Home News reported. [2] It is the first UN climate summit with its powers split between two countries. [2] Australia's climate minister Chris Bowen, who leads the talks, said he needs all 194 countries to agree. [7]

Why it matters — Climate Home News says it is still unclear how the summit will be run if the two hosts disagree. [2] Bowen also says renewables now make about half of Australia's electricity, up from 33% when his government took office. [7]
11
French energy workers plan a strike over cheap power

French energy unions said on 8 September they were preparing to strike the following Tuesday, 15 September. [8] They oppose a July recommendation by France's Court of Auditors, a public spending watchdog, to limit pay rises and phase out cheap gas and electricity for workers and retirees. [8] The auditors estimated the discount cost EDF, France's state-owned power company, over 700 million euros in 2024. [8] Unions see the discount as a core part of their pay. [8]

Why it matters — A strike could disrupt gas deliveries while Europe refills its storage before winter, and could cause power cuts. A government official said changes such as an allowance based on use were being discussed. [8]
12
Used US oil rigs are shipping to Venezuela

Trucks, rigs and pumps sold at US auctions are being shipped from a yard near Houston to the Venezuelan oil ports of Guanta and Maracaibo, Reuters reported. [9] The rush began after the US raid that captured Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro on 3 January. [9] The US government has switched from sanctions to backing a $100 billion plan to rebuild Venezuela's oil industry. [9] Venezuela pumps about 1.25 million barrels a day, down from over 3 million in the late 1990s. [9]

Why it matters — Much of the gear has thousands of hours of use and no warranty, and insurers are reluctant to cover it without maintenance records. [9] The shipping firm's next two loads carry its largest rigs yet. [9]
13
A study finds drought is not speeding up

A study published on 11 September in a Nature journal found no significant speed-up in drought across about 99% of the world's land from 1981 to 2024. [10] Earlier studies found drought accelerating using a common way of estimating how much water the air pulls out of the land. [10] The authors say that method overstates it, producing drying trends at least six times stronger than a method based on energy. [10]

Why it matters — Drought estimates feed into how countries plan for climate risk, the authors say. [10] This is one study, set against several earlier ones that found drought speeding up. [10]
14
Europe's shared firefighters grew to nearly 800

The European Union sends firefighters on loan from one country to high-risk regions in another, coordinated from a round-the-clock centre in Brussels, the New York Times reported. [11] The programme started in 2022 with 236 firefighters and had nearly 800 this summer. [11] Estonian crews fought fires in Sardinia and Romanian crews in France. [11] Sardinia used the programme to place firefighters in advance for the first time this year, and the EU is building its own fleet of firefighting planes and helicopters. [11]

Why it matters — Fire seasons are getting longer and reaching more of Europe. [11] Whether the shared force can grow as fast as the fires is still an open question. [11]
15
What makes Ugandan farmers join carbon projects

A study published on 14 September looked at why farmers in rural Uganda join projects that pay them to grow trees among their crops, in return for carbon credits. [12] Each extra dollar of pay raised the chance of joining by about 1%. [12] Farmers who had grown trees before were 22% more likely to join, and those hit by climate disasters 14% more likely. [12] Uncertainty about the price lowered it by 4%. [12]

Why it matters — The researchers put a benchmark payment at about $54 per hectare a year in that setting. [12] They point to predictable payments and floor prices as ways to bring more farmers in. [12]
16
The Isle of Man is repairing its peat bogs

Peat is soil built from half-rotted plants over thousands of years, and it stores more carbon than any other soil. [13] On the Isle of Man, an island between Britain and Ireland, people cut peat to burn for heat for generations, until it was banned in 2020. [13] The bare faces are still collapsing into reservoirs. [13] A team of three now reshapes them with a light digger and covers them with netting so plants can grow back. [13]

Why it matters — Wet, healthy peat can be up to 90% water, so it holds back floods and resists fire. After one repair last year, dragonflies laid eggs in the new pools almost at once. [13]
17
Stourbridge families face two years to rebuild

On 13 August, the hottest day of the year, two fires started by accident and spread through dry grass into a housing estate in Stourbridge, in the English West Midlands. [14] Nineteen families lost their homes. [14] One couple who had lived there for 19 years lost every family photograph and were told a rebuild could take up to two years. [14] After a month with friends and in a hotel, they were due to move into a temporary home that weekend. [14]

Why it matters — The loss runs on long after the fire. The couple say they will rebuild, but getting over it will take far longer than two years. [14]

02 Lesson why it matters

Why people build on money they can count on for years

Biomass plants already certified in Japan are paid subsidies for up to 20 years, and a buyer that steady lets pellet firms in Indonesia plan years ahead.

The twist

A pellet firm, a gas seller or a farmer will commit years of work only if they believe the money will still arrive in year ten. A good price that might disappear moves fewer of them.

How it works

Someone promises to pay for many years
The seller can plan, borrow and build against that promise
Forest gets cleared, gas deals get signed, farmers sign up
When the payment is uncertain, fewer people commit, even if the pay is good
Once a long promise is signed, it keeps pulling long after new offers stop

The same force, elsewhere today

Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

What makes Ugandan farmers join carbon projects

The study measured the step: uncertainty about the price cut the chance of joining by 4%, as much as four extra dollars of pay would add.
China Gas signs a 20-year deal for US gas

The buyer locked in gas from 2030 to 2050 while a 15% tariff is still in place, and the seller gained two decades of sales it can build on.
Virginia merger offer moves credits off data centres

To win approval, the companies stretched a household bill credit from two years to four, so families can count on it for longer.
French energy workers plan a strike over cheap power

Workers count cheap power as part of their pay, so every union in the sector called a strike against a proposal to phase it out.

Where you've seen this

Pensions

workers accept a job with lower pay if a pension is guaranteed for decades

Renting a flat

a landlord takes a lower rent for a tenant who signs for three years

Government bonds

they pay less than shares because the payments are much more likely to arrive

The catch

A long promise is hard to take back. Japan stopped offering subsidies to new large plants, but the plants already certified keep being paid for up to 20 years.

And the whole of it

A power plant in Japan, a pellet firm in Indonesia and a farmer in Uganda each ask whether the money will still be there in ten years. The plant in Japan never sees the forest where the Polahi live. Anyone who pays a power bill sits somewhere in a chain like this and sees only their own part of it.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

Japan pays some power plants for up to 20 years to burn wood, and its imports of Indonesian wood pellets rose about six times between 2023 and 2025. [1] In Indonesia, at least 45 permits to cut forest for biomass now cover over 750,000 hectares, including land where the Polahi people live. [1]

Who gains

Biomass plants in Japan that are already certified — They keep receiving subsidies for up to 20 years after they start running, even though Japan no longer offers them to new large projects. [1]
Venture Global, a US gas exporter — It has sold China Gas 500,000 tonnes a year for twenty years from 2030, lifting its long-term sales to that buyer to 2.5 million tonnes a year. [4]
Households served by Dominion in Virginia — Under the merger offer, their $10 monthly bill credit would last four years instead of two. [6]
Chemical and manufacturing trade groups in Louisiana, Ohio and Kentucky — Laws they backed stop regulators using residents' own air readings for enforcement unless the equipment meets EPA standards. [3]
Firms shipping used oil equipment to Venezuela — Guanta Express says it will be at full capacity until the end of the year, with orders lined up for its next two ships. [9]

Who pays

The Polahi and other forest communities in Indonesia — Their forest lies inside biomass permit areas, and Auriga's director says clearing would erase the cover their living and culture depend on. [1]
Large data centres in Virginia — The merger offer pays for longer household credits mostly by ending credits that were meant to go to them. [6]
People in Syria — Diesel went up 40% in one day and has more than doubled since February, in a country where the UN estimates 90% live below the poverty line. [5]
Developing countries counting on climate money — If more lenders drop their targets, rich countries will find it harder to meet the $300bn a year promised by 2035, the FT says. [2]
People living near unmeasured industrial plants in the US — For 71 of the 100 biggest industrial polluters Floodlight studied, no government monitor in the state measures the chemical they release most. [3]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

How much of the 750,000 hectares has actually been cleared.

The figure counts permits granted, and only a few biomass mills are running so far. Indonesia's environment and energy ministries did not respond to AP. [1]
02

Whether the pellets reaching Japan come from cleared natural forest.

Japan's Forestry Agency declined to comment on the link and did not answer questions on how it checks imports. Researchers say gaps in Japan's checks leave this open. [1]
03

Whether the Inter-American and Asian Development Banks will really drop their climate targets.

The report comes from people familiar with the talks, quoted by the Financial Times. Neither lender has announced a decision. [2]
04

When, or whether, the UK approves the Jackdaw gas field.

The FT reports the decision was pushed back to October at the earliest, and a Labour official disputes that any date had ever been set. [2]
05

Whether Syria's fuel price rise stays.

The energy ministry calls it temporary and says it could be revised up or down as conditions change. [5]
06

Whether the French energy strike cuts gas or power supplies.

Fluxys, which runs gas terminals, said it was too early to judge, and Elengy could not say what the impact would be. [8]
07

Whether drought across the world is speeding up.

A study published on 11 September says earlier findings came from a method that overstates drying. Several earlier studies found the opposite, and no single analysis settles it. [10]
08

Who decides at COP31 if Turkey and Australia disagree.

Turkey's minister says the final decision is Turkey's, and Australia chairs the negotiations under their deal. [2] Climate Home News says uncertainty persists over how the summit will be run. [2]
09

How safe the used US rigs shipped to Venezuela are.

Much of the equipment was sold at auction with no warranty, and insurers say maintenance records are often missing. [9]

04 Hope carry this

On the Isle of Man, a team of three is repairing the bogs left bare by generations of peat cutting. After they laid coir logs on one site last year, dragonflies were laying eggs in the new pools straight away.

Also true today

The European Union's pool of firefighters lent between countries grew from 236 in 2022 to nearly 800 this summer. Estonian crews fought fires in Sardinia, and Romanian crews fought them in France.