Climate, in brief

EU countries have spent more than 100 billion euros ($113.5 billion) extra on energy imports since the Iran war began, AP reported on Tuesday. [1]

Dan Jorgensen, the EU's energy commissioner, told energy ministers meeting in Dublin that all that money had bought no extra gas or oil. [1]

Drivers in some European countries now pay nearly 50% more at the pump than before the war, the same as more than $11 a gallon. [1]

In the UK, diesel reached a record 199.18p a litre on Monday, and filling an average family car now costs almost 110 pounds, 31 pounds more than before the war. [3]

The UK buys nearly 55% of its diesel from abroad, and two of its six oil refineries closed last year. [3]

Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, said Europe is one of the regions most exposed to a diesel shortage as winter comes. [1]

The Trump administration has asked the EU to release some of its emergency diesel stocks to bring world prices down, two sources told Reuters. [2]

US officials say France and Germany released less than they promised in March, when about 30 countries agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil. [2]

President Trump has also backed a ban on US diesel exports, and diesel prices jumped last week after he said so. [2][3]

Jorgensen said the EU must weigh cheaper fuel now against keeping stocks for a worse emergency, and it has not decided. [2]

Jorgensen said the ministers would discuss moving faster from imported oil and gas to electricity made inside the EU. [1]

This winter Europe will also compete with Asian buyers for gas, which a Kpler analyst says could keep prices high until at least the end of the year. [7]

Why it matters. Watch whether EU governments and the International Energy Agency agree to release more emergency diesel, and whether the US decides on its export ban: either would change what Europeans pay for diesel this winter. [2]

Oil leaving the Persian Gulf rose sharply in September, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. [4] Kpler, a firm that tracks tankers, counts about 10 million barrels a day through the Strait of Hormuz and 6 million by routes around it, against 19 million before the war. [4] Big tankers wait at least a day and a half in the Gulf of Oman for oil from ships that shuttle through the strait under US guard. [5] Hiring one for that trip cost $1 million a day on 11 September, against a usual $30,000 to $50,000. [5]

Why it matters. At that rate, shipping was about a quarter of what the oil cost, against the usual 1% to 3%. [5] Rystad, an energy research firm, says new routes, oil from storage and lower demand together keep crude near $100 a barrel, not $140 to $150. [5]

Saudi Arabia has started loading tankers again at Yanbu, its oil port on the Red Sea, according to traders and shipping data. [6] Yanbu is fed by the East-West pipeline, which carries oil across the country from the Gulf. [5] Drones shut the pipeline on 11 September. [6] It now carries about 2 to 2.65 million barrels a day, far below its 7 million capacity, and Kpler says a full return could take another month. [6] On another detour, tankers still queue offshore at Sidi Kerir, a terminal in Egypt. [6]

Why it matters. Oil from Yanbu reaches buyers without passing through Hormuz. [5] News of the restart pushed world oil prices down on Monday. [6]

Most Asian countries have found replacements for the Gulf oil and gas they lost, a Kpler analyst told the New York Times. [7] China drew on its large oil reserves, imported about a third less oil in July and August, and was helped by its growing number of electric cars. [7] Japan and South Korea bought more crude from the US, and US oil shipments to Asia rose to 2.3 million barrels a day in July. [7] In Pakistan and Bangladesh, high gas prices forced rationing and rolling blackouts. [7]

Why it matters. Asian buyers of gas for quick delivery now pay more than double what they paid a year ago. [7] This winter they will bid against Europe for the same cargoes. [7]

TotalEnergies, the French oil and gas company, will spend $2.5 billion in the last three months of the year buying back its own shares, which hands cash to its owners. [8] That is up from $1.5 billion in recent quarters. [8] Its profits are up this year on higher oil prices, strong trading and bigger refining margins, with second-quarter earnings the highest in nearly three years. [8] It plans to invest $14 billion to $17 billion a year from 2027 to 2032, slightly less than it planned last year. [8]

Why it matters. The war's higher fuel prices have cost EU countries about $113.5 billion extra. [1] At TotalEnergies they have become bigger profits, and those now go back to its shareholders. [8]

Electric lorries bought in 2026 are now cheaper to own and run over five years than diesel ones in six EU countries, the Brussels campaign group Transport & Environment found on Monday. [9] The six, including Germany and the Netherlands, make up 46% of the EU's heavy-truck registrations. [9] Dearer diesel since the Iran war tipped the sums. [9] Owners win back the higher price of an electric lorry in about two years, and save up to 100,000 euros in the Netherlands, 85,000 in Germany and 69,000 in Denmark. [9]

Why it matters. It also lands on Europe's lorry makers. [9] The group puts a Chinese-built electric lorry at about 210,000 euros, against 265,000 for a European one. [9]

Floods and storms have killed 56 people in India, Reuters reported on Tuesday. [10] Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, got 66.5mm of rain in two days, against a normal 7.6mm. [10] In Thailand, floods since 16 September have hit 41 provinces, killed at least eight people and disrupted more than 580,000 homes. [10] In western Nepal, a government building in Baglung fell into a river on Sunday, and nobody was hurt. [11]

Why it matters. Thailand's floods could cost at least 11 billion baht, about $327 million, a Rangsit University economist estimates. [10] Nepal has warned of flash floods in 49 of its 77 districts. [10]

Sea ice around Antarctica reached its third-smallest winter peak in 48 years of satellite records, provisional data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center show. [12] A scientist told Carbon Brief, a climate news site, that it is concerning to see such low values continue. [12] Scientists say they need more time to tell whether this is a lasting change. [12]

Why it matters. At the other end of the planet, Arctic sea ice tied for its 10th-smallest summer low on 12 September, NASA says. [25]

Thirty countries pledged 211 million euros at the UN General Assembly last week to OceanEye, an EU-led system for watching the world's oceans, Carbon Brief reports. [12] Canada, Costa Rica, South Korea and the UK are among them. [12] The money supports the Global Ocean Observing System, the largest network of ocean sensors, and aims to fill gaps in the southern hemisphere, the Arctic and the deep sea. [12]

Why it matters. Ocean data feeds weather forecasts and climate predictions. [12] Scientists had warned the network was at risk after the Trump administration threatened to cut parts of it. [12]

Metals in the bodies of people who lived through the 2023 Maui wildfires are linked to weaker lungs, a University of Hawaii study published on Monday finds. [13] The fires killed at least 102 people and razed the town of Lahaina. [13] Tests on 1,400 residents found 40 times the reference level of antimony and more than twice that of manganese, barium and arsenic. [13] The worst lung readings came from Lahaina and Kula, the places hit hardest. [13]

Why it matters. The researchers cannot yet prove the metals came from the fires. [13] Their next phase will look at older pollution left from Maui's plantations. [13]

Just 2.4% of US properties are covered by federal flood insurance, but 8.4% are at severe or extreme flood risk, an Associated Press analysis found. [14] Ordinary home insurance does not cover floods, and the federal flood insurance scheme dates from 1968. [14] In the part of eastern Kentucky flooded in 2022, only about 2.1% of properties are insured, while about 47% face severe or extreme risk. [14]

Why it matters. A typical policy now costs $1,100 a year, up about 90% in five years, as prices were set closer to each home's real risk. [14] The least insured places tend to be poorer. [14]

At least 400 trees at London's Kew Gardens will have died this summer, its tree curator Kevin Martin estimates, as many as in the record year of 2022. [15] Half the young trees the charity Trees for Cities planted in London in the past year died this summer. [15] Normally 80% to 90% survive. [15] South-east England is moving towards a semi-arid climate, with hotter summers and no more rain, Martin says. [15]

Why it matters. London's trees cool the city by up to 5C on hot days. [15] A 2025 study by Martin's team found 73% of London's public trees would struggle by 2090 if emissions stay high. [15]

A second US federal judge has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency broke the law when it scrapped Solar for All, a $7 billion programme to help low-income households get solar power. [16] Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled on 22 September in a case brought by Harris County, Texas, home to Houston. [16] She said her decision covers every grant in the programme. [16] A Rhode Island court ruled against the cancellation days earlier, and the agency says it is considering an appeal. [16]

Why it matters. Harris County says the money pays for solar-powered community hubs to use when the Texas power grid fails. [16]

Two environmental legal groups and a solar installer sued the US Department of Agriculture on Monday for stopping solar grants under its Rural Energy for America Program. [17] The programme, created in 2002, sent nearly 70% of its awards to solar projects from 2011 to early 2025. [17] The lawsuit cites an internal email in which an official, asked to back up the department's claims about solar, wrote that the press office should find the reasoning behind the statistics. [17]

Why it matters. Farmers who built solar after being told they qualified now face losses, the plaintiffs say. [17] The department says farmland should be kept for growing food. [17]

A group of US lawmakers including Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees US power grids, to reject the sale of AES, a big power company, Reuters reported on Tuesday. [18] Global Infrastructure Partners, owned by the investment firm BlackRock, and partners including EQT agreed in March to buy AES for about $33.4 billion including debt. [18] The letter says the deal could push up electricity bills. [18]

Why it matters. Record US electricity demand, driven largely by data centres, has set off a wave of deals for power companies. [18] Some would take public utilities private. [18]

Exus Renewables North America, a power developer based in Pittsburgh, has bought four large solar projects in Louisiana and Wisconsin from ibV Energy Partners, Reuters reported on Tuesday. [19] Together they add up to about 715 megawatts, enough for more than half a million homes, and nearly double Exus's portfolio. [19] Both states are fast-growing places for data centres, and Exus is in talks to sell the power to them. [19]

Why it matters. Projects that already have a grid connection now sell at a premium. [19] ibV began securing these connections about five years ago. [19]

Energy Vault, a US energy storage company, is buying a 2.3-gigawatt pipeline of battery projects from Goshe Energy Storage, including 350 megawatts ready to build that could come online in early 2028. [20] It told Utility Dive it is checking each project against President Trump's order limiting foreign-made parts in the power grid. [20] It also has a deal for up to 1.5 gigawatt-hours of US-made sodium-ion batteries, which use sodium instead of lithium. [20]

Why it matters. Its sales chief said a battery can store power but cannot add power lines. [20] So its projects still depend on getting a grid connection. [20]

Nio and Geely, two of China's leading electric carmakers, said on Monday they will combine their battery-charging and battery-swapping businesses. [21] Nio will also buy a 10% stake in another part of Geely. [21] The deal comes two weeks after Guangzhou Automobile Group announced a tie-up with First Automotive Works. [21] China has enough car factories to build every car sold in China plus everything the US and Europe make. [21]

Why it matters. Car sales in China fell 20.8% in the first eight months of the year. [21] Makers are merging and exporting more, and China's car exports are expected to reach at least 10 million this year. [21]

Tata Steel is in talks with the UK government after reports that its new 1.25 billion pound electric steel furnace at Port Talbot, in Wales, may not start until late 2028. [22] The hold-up is the connection to the national grid, Wales Secretary Stephen Kinnock said this week. [22] The UK government is already putting 500 million pounds into the project. [22]

Why it matters. Tata is reported to be seeking compensation for the delay. [22] Kinnock said the UK government would consider any request for financial support. [22]

Volkswagen will sell an electric Tiguan, its best-selling car, from early 2027, starting in Europe, replacing its ID.4 and ID.5 electric models. [23] More than 950,000 ID.4s and ID.5s have been sold since 2021. [23] In the past year Volkswagen delivered over a million Tiguan and Tayron cars worldwide, all with petrol, diesel or plug-in hybrid engines. [23] The electric car is due to be shown in early October. [23]

Why it matters. Buyers will be able to choose the same car with or without a fuel tank. [23] Diesel is at a record price in the UK. [3]

Tiny particles that form in Arctic air and help clouds make droplets could rise 3% to 16% over the high Arctic by 2090-2100, a study in Nature Geoscience estimates. [24] Over the Arctic's seas they could fall 15% to 31%. [24] The authors used field measurements from across the Arctic from 2003 to 2024, plus satellite data, and found three regions that behave differently. [24]

Why it matters. Clouds can warm or cool the Arctic, depending on their height and the season. [24] How they change is one of the biggest uncertainties in forecasts of Arctic warming. [24]