Climate, in brief

Australia's High Court ruled on Wednesday that the approval to expand the Mount Pleasant coal mine in New South Wales was invalid. [1][2]

The judges split three to two, and it is the first climate case Australia's highest court has decided. [1][2]

The majority said the state's planning commission had to consider conditions to cut the mine's emissions as far as practicable, and it did not. [1][2]

That duty covers the coal burned overseas, which is 98% of the mine's expected emissions. [1]

These are called scope 3 emissions: the carbon released by whoever buys and burns the product, not by the mine itself. [1]

The expansion would have doubled output to 21 million tonnes of coal a year and kept the mine digging until 2048. [1][2]

Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan, retired science teachers from the Hunter Valley, brought the case and fought it through the courts for more than four years. [1][2]

MACH Energy, which runs the mine, said it was disappointed but accepts the ruling, and will pursue all options to keep the mine going. [1][2]

The ruling is not a ban, and Lonergan said it is not the end of coal overnight. [2] MACH says a smaller change approved in August already extends the mine's life by six years. [1]

A week earlier the same commission approved Hunter Valley Operations, the biggest coal project in the state's history, whose emissions are also about 98% from coal burned abroad. [3]

The commission reasoned that those emissions would be counted in the countries that burn the coal. [3]

A state Greens MP said that approval is now open to challenge, because its environmental statement did not count the overseas emissions at all. [1]

The Minerals Council of Australia, the mining industry's lobby group, called the ruling a blow to selling Australian coal to customers abroad. [1]

Why it matters. Watch whether anyone takes the Hunter Valley Operations approval to court on the same ground, and what conditions the planners write if MACH applies again. [1]

Constellation Energy, the biggest owner of nuclear power plants in the US, signed a 20-year deal on Tuesday to sell Google the extra power from upgrading 11 of its reactors. [6][8] These upgrades, called uprates, fit bigger turbines, pumps and controls so an old reactor makes more electricity. [8] They will add 890 megawatts, about enough for 700,000 homes, at six plants in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. [6][8] Constellation will spend $4.3 billion, and the first upgrade should run in 2028. [6][7]

Why it matters. Uprates can be finished in five years or less, for a fraction of the cost of a new plant, which is why Google wants them. [8][9] The power goes to PJM, the grid across 13 eastern US states, which is about 6.8 gigawatts short of what it needs. [6][12]

The US Energy Department offered Vistra, a big US power company, a $4.2 billion loan on Monday to upgrade its nuclear plants. [10] The money would add 433 megawatts at the Perry and Davis-Besse plants in Ohio and Beaver Valley in Pennsylvania. [10] It would also keep about 4 gigawatts of reactors running for 20 years past their current licences. [10] Meta, the owner of Facebook, agreed in January to buy all the power from the Perry and Davis-Besse plants. [10]

Why it matters. The department says the upgrades need no new power lines, which take years to build. [10] Companies and analysts estimate upgrades across the US could add 6,000 to 8,000 megawatts, about six to eight big new reactors. [8]

Planned new gas power plants in the US have jumped 44% since December, to 60.4 gigawatts due by the end of 2030. [11] The count comes from Environment America and Frontier Group, two campaign groups, using filings to the US government's energy statistics agency. [11] Texas holds a third of it. [11] Over the same months, planned wind farms fell 33.9%, and planned solar stopped growing. [11]

Why it matters. The groups blame demand from data centres, and say gas plants built now will burn for decades. [11] Not every planned plant gets built, so the figure counts plans, not plants. [11]

Texas used about 4% more electricity in the first nine months of 2026 than a year earlier, a Reuters energy columnist calculated from grid data. [12] Power from wind and sun rose more than 11%, so power from gas and coal grew by less than 1%. [12] Solar made more than 18% of Texas's power in July and August, and about a third of California's from May to August. [12] Batteries stretched that daytime solar into the evening. [12]

Why it matters. Critics have long said a grid under strain must burn more fossil fuel. [12] In Texas, the biggest power user among US states, it did not this summer. [12]

Equinor, Norway's state oil company, warned that Britain may become 'uninvestable' if it rejects two new North Sea fields, Rosebank and Jackdaw. [13] Both were first approved by the last government, then held up when a Scottish court ruled their climate impact had not been fully considered. [13] Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh now makes the final decision. [13] Rosebank, north-west of Shetland, may hold 500 million barrels of oil and gas. [13]

Why it matters. Jackdaw is 99% built and could send gas to British homes this winter, its operator says. [13] Uplift, a campaign group, says Rosebank's oil is mostly for export and will not cut bills. [13]

Britain's finance minister, Chancellor John Healey, plans to spend more than £1 billion in this month's budget to help poorer households with energy bills. [14] Ministers were alarmed by forecasts that bills will rise by hundreds of pounds in January. [14] Most of the money would raise the discount for households on some benefits. [14] Healey is expected to turn down the energy secretary's call to spend billions removing levies from bills. [14]

Why it matters. Sources say final decisions have not been made. [14] Officials are also drawing up rules to limit what energy companies can charge, instead of paying part of the bill. [14]

Ireland's government cut taxes on heating oil and gas in this week's budget, and froze them for the rest of its term. [15] Temporary tax cuts on petrol and diesel, brought in earlier this year, will be extended. [15] The whole budget package is worth 8.65 billion euros. [15] Ireland can afford it because taxes on big companies bring in more than it spends, and it expects a surplus of 6.7 billion euros this year. [15]

Why it matters. Britain is planning help of its own, so two neighbouring governments plan to pay part of their voters' fuel bills this winter. [14][15]

Diesel in Britain reached a record 200.01p a litre, the RAC motoring group says, so filling a family car costs more than £110. [16] Petrol has risen by a third since the Iran war began at the end of February. [16] On Scottish islands such as Shetland and the Hebrides some stations sold diesel above 220p, because there is little competition and fuel must be shipped in. [16] One North Uist resident paid £2.28 a litre. [16]

Why it matters. People there rely on their cars for work and for the school run, as one father of three told the Guardian. [16]

Goldman Sachs, a big US bank, says diesel prices may need to stay high through 2027. [17] Refineries cannot make enough, and governments and companies are refilling the stocks they drew down. [17] It expects the extra price of diesel and jet fuel over crude oil to average above $40 a barrel in 2027, about twice the usual. [17] That is even with crude itself settling near $80. [17]

Why it matters. A high price is what holds demand down while refineries run near their limit, Goldman's analyst said. [17] So diesel would stay dear even if crude oil gets cheaper. [17]

Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, announced talks on Tuesday about Europe's shrinking oil refineries. [18] The EU, the UK, Norway and Switzerland had 72 big refineries at the end of 2025, with about a fifth less capacity than in 2009. [18] So Europe buys more ready-made diesel and jet fuel from the Middle East, the US and India. [18] The EU's energy commissioner says it has paid over 100 billion euros extra for oil and gas imports since the US and Israel bombed Iran on 28 February. [18]

Why it matters. Europe can still buy crude oil despite the blockades, but its refineries cannot make all the diesel and jet fuel it needs. [18] EU leaders meet on 15 October. [18]

At an oil industry forum in London this week, Amin Nasser, head of Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state oil company, said it has not cancelled one promised delivery during the war. [19] He credited its East-West pipeline across Saudi Arabia, built with spare lines. [19] Patrick Pouyanne, head of TotalEnergies, a French oil company, said the war has moved the industry from 'just in time' to 'just in case'. [19] Nasser said three export routes may not be enough, and a fourth and fifth should be built. [19]

Why it matters. The pipeline kept oil moving despite blockades in the Strait of Hormuz and, more recently, at Bab al-Mandeb, the southern entrance to the Red Sea. [19]

Poland is building a floating gas terminal two miles off Gdansk, on the Baltic Sea, and the ship at its centre is named Solidarity. [20] It will store liquefied natural gas, which is gas cooled into a liquid for shipping, and turn it back into gas. [20] From early 2028 it will add 6.1 billion cubic metres a year to Poland's 8.3 billion of import capacity. [20] Poland bought more than half its gas from Russia before 2022. [20]

Why it matters. The new capacity is more than Poland needs, so it can pass gas on to Slovakia, the Baltic states and other neighbours. [20]

Russia has started bombing Ukraine's power grid again ahead of winter. [22][23] On 30 September its heaviest attack on energy sites in months killed seven people and forced power cuts in Kyiv and nearby regions. [23] Last winter was Ukraine's coldest in decades. [21] This year it has a gas surplus, concrete walls around key sites and about $250 million of energy equipment on the way, Semafor reports. [21]

Why it matters. A blackout is most deadly in deep cold, so a warm winter from El Nino would blunt the attacks. [21] Germany pledged 350 million euros this week to repair Ukraine's energy system. [21]

Almost two in three Venezuelan households had daily power cuts in 2026, up from 37% in 2024, a survey by ANOVA Policy Research found. [24] Some cuts are deliberate rationing by Venezuela's government, led by interim President Delcy Rodriguez. [24] About 90% of Venezuela's power comes from dams, and Venezuela's government blames El Nino's heat and drought. [24] Nelson Hernandez, a Venezuelan energy expert, blames years of neglect of plants and lines instead. [24]

Why it matters. People are banging pots and blocking roads in protest, in the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves. [24] A dialysis patient told Al Jazeera the cuts keep interrupting his treatment. [24]

Argentina's foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, said his government will stop the Falkland Islands from drilling their offshore oil. [25] Argentina claims the islands, which Britain rules. [25] His target is Sea Lion, an oil project in the North Falkland Basin that the British government has helped move forward. [25] Quirno said the plan is peaceful, and Britain's ambassador left the event soon after he spoke. [25]

Why it matters. President Javier Milei called Sea Lion 'an unlawful act' at the UN last month. [25] So the field is now part of a fight over who owns the islands, as well as an oil project. [25]

Finland's environment agency ordered work to stop at two planned Google data centres, at Muhos and Kajaani, after more than 300 hectares of forest were cleared. [26] It said work at one site was done without a required environmental impact assessment. [26] The sites are part of a 13 billion euro investment Google announced less than a month ago. [26] Google said it had fallen short of its own standards and will follow the order. [26]

Why it matters. Work that changes the land must stop by 23 October, and the company must explain its plans by 14 October. [26] The agency can begin enforcement if Google does not comply. [26]

Drax, which runs a big power station in North Yorkshire that burns imported wood, wants to turn part of it into a 1.2-gigawatt data centre. [27] NRDC, a US environmental group, estimates the data centre would need 4.9 million tonnes of wood a year. [27] It puts the carbon at 8.6 million tonnes a year, nearly twice all flights from Gatwick airport in 2024. [27] The plan has not yet entered planning, and Drax says it could run from 2031. [27]

Why it matters. Drax counts wood as low-carbon because new trees regrow, but researchers say that can take 150 years to pay back. [27] There are 315 data centres waiting to connect to Britain's grid. [27]

Stanlow, one of Britain's four remaining oil refineries, broke its pollution permit 58 times in 2023 and 2024, documents shared with the BBC show. [28] Its operator, EET Fuels, released cyanide into a river at over eight times the allowed level, and oil at over thirteen times. [28] In September 2024 more than a tonne of oil reached the Mersey Estuary, a protected wildlife site. [28] The Environment Agency, England's pollution regulator, is investigating. [28]

Why it matters. Stanlow makes about 18% of Britain's road fuel. [28] EET Fuels already pleaded guilty this year to 12 earlier breaches, from 2018 to 2020. [28]

US households pay 62% more for drinking water than a decade ago, a study by Food & Water Watch, a campaign group, found. [29] Prices across the economy rose 39% over the same years. [29] The average bill in 2025 was $531, ranging from $133 to $1,416 depending on the water system. [29] Systems owned by private companies charged $823 on average, against $494 for publicly owned ones. [29]

Why it matters. The group blames company practices, cuts in federal money and climate change. [29] In 93% of systems, the poorest fifth of households spend more than 1.5% of their income on water. [29]

Seventy percent of restaurant kitchens that cook with gas or propane had more nitrogen dioxide in the air than US and WHO safety limits, a study published on Tuesday found. [30] Nitrogen dioxide is a gas from burning that inflames the lungs. [30] Researchers measured 27 kitchens in California, New York and Pennsylvania. [30] The three all-electric kitchens never reached even a tenth of the WHO limit. [30]

Why it matters. About 15.7 million people work in US food service, and more than three-quarters of restaurants burn gas. [30] Pilot lights kept polluting overnight, with the fans switched off. [30]

New Zealand's official report on its climate, released on Wednesday, found carbon dioxide in its air has risen 30% since monitoring began there in 1972, and methane hit a record. [31] The country has warmed 1.36C since records began in 1909. [31] Its roughly 3,000 glaciers shrank from 56 to 30 cubic kilometres of ice between 1997 and 2023. [31] Even with low emissions they will very likely lose 14% to 86% of their ice by 2100. [31]

Why it matters. The report says heatwaves are very likely to grow more frequent and longer. [31] New Zealand's seas were found to be warming 34% faster than the world average, linked to kelp and penguin deaths. [31]

Australia's prime minister, Anthony Albanese, warned at a climate meeting in Fiji that Australia expects a summer of floods, cyclones and extreme heat. [4] Fiji's prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, said the 2023 agreement to move away from fossil fuels is 'not open for renegotiation'. [4] Tuvalu's climate director said flood damage could cost $63 million a year by 2100, more than Tuvalu's whole economy. [4] The meeting prepares for COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, from 9 November. [5]

Why it matters. Australia will steer the COP31 talks, and was criticised at the meeting for still approving new coal and gas. [4][5] A fossil-fuel phase-out is not a formal item at COP31. [5]

More than 5,000 people are still missing after last month's flood across the China-Nepal border, and Nepal's government has ended rescue work. [32] Under Nepal's law, a missing person is presumed dead only after 12 years, and its civil code has no rule for a disaster like this. [32] So families struggle to get death certificates. [32] They need them to claim flood compensation, transfer property and inherit. [32]

Why it matters. Relatives can get up to 25,000 rupees, about $162, for funeral costs. [32] The flood has revived calls for rich countries to pay more toward climate damage at COP31. [5]

Singapore's environment agency rated the air unhealthy on Tuesday, as smoke drifted in from huge fires in Indonesia. [33] Rain across the region has been about 80% below normal since June, giving the worst fire season in over a decade, a Singapore scientist said. [33] A strong El Nino is making Sumatra and Kalimantan, two big Indonesian islands, even drier. [33] Formula One's Singapore night race goes ahead this weekend, with masks on hand. [33]

Why it matters. A short spell in the haze mostly irritates healthy people. [33] It can trigger asthma and bronchitis in children, older people and pregnant women. [33]

No hurricane had formed in the Atlantic this year by early October, the latest date since satellites began watching in the 1960s, the BBC reported. [34] El Nino strengthens winds high over the Atlantic, and they tear storms apart before they grow. [34] Now Tropical Storm Isaias is forming in the Gulf of Mexico, and forecasters say it could become a hurricane. [35] It could reach land anywhere from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle this weekend. [35]

Why it matters. The Atlantic records show no year without a hurricane since 1914. [34] Even as a tropical storm, Isaias could be pushed far inland over the US Southeast. [35]

Indonesia's forestry ministry now warns that anyone who downloads its forest data without written permission will be prosecuted, with up to nine years in prison, the news site Mongabay reported. [36] The data covers tree cover, fires and groundwater in its forests. [36] Researchers fear they will lose the means to track illegal clearing. [36] Forest loss in Indonesia hit an eight-year high last year. [36]

Why it matters. Over the last decade Indonesia had cut its forest loss by nearly two-thirds. [36] Legal experts say the new rule breaks Indonesia's own law on public information. [36]

Trees are spreading across the grasslands of the US Great Plains, a change some ranchers call the 'green glacier'. [37] Eastern red cedar, planted as windbreaks, is seeding itself onto open range in places like Nebraska's Sandhills. [37] A Texas A&M farm service puts the lost grazing across 10 Plains states at $4 billion. [37] Putting out prairie fires, which used to kill young trees, helped them spread. [37]

Why it matters. Ranchers lose grass to graze. [37] Ecologists fear for prairie birds, insects and water as thirsty trees move into drier land further west. [37]