Climate, in brief

The IPCC, the UN panel of the world's leading climate scientists, is meeting this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. [1]

It is discussing its seventh assessment report, known as AR7, a survey of everything known about climate change. [1]

AR7 is due in 2028, in time for Cop33, the UN climate summit late that year. [1]

At Cop33 countries hold a 'global stocktake', a check on whether their plans to cut emissions are enough under the Paris agreement. [1]

A group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, and including India and China, wants AR7 pushed back to 2029. [1]

They say the extra time would let developing countries add more to the science. For 30 years the EU, the UK and the US have done most of it. [1]

On Friday, ministers from 34 members of the High Ambition Coalition, a group of poor and at-risk countries, asked for AR7 to come out sooner. The EU and the group of least developed countries were part of the call. [1]

Jess Gasper, a minister from the Marshall Islands, said political interests must not decide 'which science the world is willing to hear'. [1]

Every government that takes part must approve the report's short 'summary for policymakers' line by line.

Since the last report in 2021 and 2022, greenhouse gases kept rising. Carbon dioxide in the air jumped by record amounts in both 2023 and 2024. [1][2]

Claudio Angelo of Observatorio do Clima, a Brazilian climate network, said a few months' delay will not fix the bias in climate models, and delegates must not leave without a decision. [1]

Some campaign groups sympathise with the call for more science from developing countries, and some are considering backing a delay. [1]

Why it matters. Watch whether the Addis Ababa meeting ends this week with the 2028 date kept, which campaigners say must be settled before delegates go home. [1]

On Friday 9 October, the US Interior Department asked a federal court to let it reconsider its 2023 approval of Revolution Wind. [4] The 704-megawatt wind farm off Connecticut and Rhode Island cost $6.2 billion and has made power since March. [4] Orsted, the Danish company that built it, put up the last of its 65 turbines in September. [4] The request comes in a lawsuit by Green Oceans, a Rhode Island group that says the permits cut corners. [4] Experts say the farm keeps running for now, and the case could last into early next year. [4]

Why it matters. The farm can power more than 350,000 homes and is meant to ease strain on the region's grid in heat waves and cold spells. [4] Its permits took more than nine years to win, across several agencies. [4]

The US Energy Department issued an emergency order on Monday for PJM, the company that runs the power grid across 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwest US states. [5][6] It lets PJM tell data centres and other big users to switch to their own backup generators if supply runs short. [5] The department said many power plants are shut for autumn repairs, which raises the risk of blackouts. [5] The order lasts until 16 October, and PJM called a maximum generation alert for 13 and 14 October. [5]

Why it matters. The department says the US has 35 gigawatts of unused backup generators. [5] A week earlier it told PJM that data centres, not households, must pay for the new power they need. [6]

Niger's petroleum ministry declared an environmental incident of 'exceptional severity' on Monday, after a blowout at the Goumeri W8 oil well. [7] The blowout began on 25 September, about 1,700km from Niamey, the capital. [7] Oil and gas sprayed more than 10 metres into the air, and a slick spread for hundreds of metres. [7] Niger's ministry said it was partly contained but not under control, and ruled out an attack. [7] The well is run by a local arm of CNPC, China's state oil company. [7]

Why it matters. Niger has pumped oil since 2011, mostly around Agadem, and a military government has ruled since a 2023 coup. [7] An armed group has attacked the 2,000km pipeline that carries Niger's oil to the coast in Benin. [7]

Tanzania expects to finish the agreements for a $42 billion project to export liquefied natural gas, gas chilled into a liquid so ships can carry it, its finance minister told Reuters. [8] Khamis Mussa Omar said 'it's almost there'; officials had expected it signed before June. [8] Equinor, Norway's state oil company, and Shell lead it, with Exxon Mobil among the partners. [8] It would tap 47 trillion cubic feet of gas. Most will be sold abroad and some kept for Tanzania. [8]

Why it matters. Tanzania now pays for two-thirds of its budget from its own revenue as foreign aid shrinks, and wants projects that pay for themselves. [8] It also plans to double its power plants to 8,000 megawatts by 2030. [8]

El Nino, the warm phase of a Pacific pattern that shifts weather around the world, has kept strengthening weeks before its expected December peak. [3] Water above 30C has been measured in parts of the tropical Pacific for the first time. [3] Forecasters in Australia and the US now use a measure that removes the ocean's general warming, so past events can be compared. [3] On that measure, Australia's weekly readings, which go back to 2008, now pass the record December of 2015. [3]

Why it matters. Past super El Ninos brought drought and fires to south-east Asia and drought to southern Africa. [3] Zeke Hausfather of Berkeley Earth, a climate research group, called it unprecedented in the historical record. [3]

Forests, grasslands and swamps took in 2.36 billion tonnes of carbon in 2025, early research led by Philippe Ciais in France estimates. [2] That is 0.71 billion tonnes more than the average for 2015 to 2022. [2] In 2023 and 2024, El Nino and fires in the Amazon almost wiped out this uptake, and carbon dioxide in the air rose by record amounts. [2] The rebound came mainly from tropical forests in Africa and the Amazon growing again. [2]

Why it matters. Scientists expect the super El Nino now under way to cause another sharp slump next year. [2] They warn that repeated shocks may be weakening the land's ability to store carbon over the long run. [2]

Africa needs almost $70 billion a year to protect people from the effects of climate change, a report by Power Shift Africa, a climate campaign group, finds. [9] It received about $14 billion in international help in 2021 and 2022. [9] African governments spend more of their own money on adapting than they get from abroad, it says. [9] Africa owes about $746 billion, at average interest near 9.8%, against 2.5% in the US. [9] The report wants help given as grants, not loans. [9]

Why it matters. Africa had 35% of the world's climate-related deaths from 1970 to 2021, while producing a tiny share of emissions. [9] Money for adapting will be argued over at COP31, the UN climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, in November. [9]

African regions made the world's fastest gains since 2023 in people's ability to cope with and recover from disasters, the World Risk Poll finds. [10] Gallup, the polling firm, surveyed more than 143,000 people in 140 countries for Lloyd's Register Foundation, a safety charity. [10] North Africa rose five points on a 100-point scale and Southern Africa four. [10] Better internet access, household planning and savings drove it, in countries including Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt. [10]

Why it matters. Only 47% of adults hit by a disaster in Central and Western Africa said they got a warning. [10] Worldwide, 77% of people who got no warning owned a mobile phone. [10]

Campaigners from Greenpeace Africa and Extinction Rebellion, a climate protest movement, picketed African Energy Week in Cape Town, South Africa, on Tuesday, and police removed them. [11][12] They want no new oil and gas exploration anywhere in Africa. [11] South Africa's government wants more gas to bring in investment, and says gas plants can cover times when wind and solar drop. [11] Shell plans to drill up to five deep-sea wells off South Africa's west coast, and its approval faces appeals. [11][12]

Why it matters. The same day, Tanzania said its $42 billion gas export deal is almost done. [8] In Niger, an oil well has been gushing since 25 September. [7]

Indonesian officials said at an event last week that the country no longer needs to clear forest to grow rice. [13] Since 2023 it has been turning 7 million acres of forest in New Guinea into rice and sugarcane farms, which critics call the world's largest deforestation project. [13] A similar 3-million-acre project runs on Borneo. [13] Officials said rice self-sufficiency came three years early, and future farms will use damaged land. [13]

Why it matters. A spokesperson for Indonesia's forest ministry said its government cannot yet say whether work already under way will stop, or when. [13] Indonesia's forest loss reached an eight-year high last year. [13]

Tesla sold 381,088 cars to buyers in China in the first nine months of 2026, down 11.9%, figures from China's passenger car association show. [28] Exports from its Shanghai factory more than doubled, to 361,972, already more than in any whole earlier year. [28] On Monday, China's government said its tax refund on electric car exports will fall from 13% to 9% on 1 April 2027. [28] China exported over 4 million electric and plug-in hybrid cars in nine months. [28]

Why it matters. Electrek, an electric car news site, estimates the refund cut will cost Tesla about $1,235 a car, around $600 million a year. [28] Electrek expects carmakers to rush exports out before April. [28]

Tesla has stopped taking Canadian orders for its Shanghai-built Model 3, priced at C$39,490, saying it has used up its import quota. [29] Canada cut its tariff on Chinese electric cars from 100% to 6.1% in January, but capped them at 49,000 a year. [29] Canada's own official tracker showed 33,069 permits still unused on 9 October. [29] Tesla expects to take orders again in March 2027, when a new quota year starts. [29] Canada's notice lets it set permits aside for other carmakers, including newcomers. [29]

Why it matters. Electrek suspects Canada held back permits for BYD and Geely, two Chinese carmakers still building dealer networks. [29] Canada's government has not published how many permits each carmaker got. [29]

Electric cars in oil-importing countries replaced about 200 million barrels of crude between March and August, worth about $20 billion, Ember, an energy research group, estimates. [23] China accounted for about $14 billion and EU countries for $3.1 billion. [23] Those months cover the oil shortage caused by fighting around the Strait of Hormuz. [23] Fully electric cars made up 18% of new car sales worldwide in the first eight months, up from 16%. [23]

Why it matters. In the US they were 6% of sales, after the federal tax credit ended in September 2025. [23] Fifteen countries, including India and Brazil, passed the US on that share for the first time this year. [23]

Volkswagen sold 1,421 electric cars in the US from July to September, 90% fewer than a year earlier, InsideEVs, a car news site, reported. [24] Its ID.4 fell from 12,470 to 989. [24] Volkswagen stopped building the ID.4 at Chattanooga, Tennessee, in April, so the plant could make the petrol Atlas instead. [24] Its electric minibus, the ID. Buzz, starts at $61,545, and brand chief Thomas Schaefer says it is 'in the wrong cost base'. [24][25]

Why it matters. In Europe, fully electric cars took 29% of new registrations in August. [24] There, Volkswagen's worry is Chinese brands, which took a record 10.9% of the market in June. [24]

FERC, the US regulator of power grids, voted 4-1 on Friday to approve new rules from Duke Energy Carolinas for very big electricity users. [14] Duke has about 3 million customers in North and South Carolina. [14] A new big user that needs grid upgrades must pay as if it used at least 75% of the power it booked, for 15 years. [14] Commissioner Judy Chang voted against, saying the rules hold too little money as security. [14]

Why it matters. The rules aim to stop households paying for grid work if a data centre never arrives or leaves early. [14] Commissioner David Rosner said protections for consumers are 'inadequate across the country'. [14]

Georgia's Public Service Commission, which sets what the state's utilities charge, voted last week to let Google help pay for nuclear upgrades. [15] Georgia Power, the state's main utility, will upgrade four reactors at its Vogtle and Hatch plants so they make more electricity. [15] From 2028, Google pays a fee on top of its bill and counts the power toward its goal of carbon-free energy by 2030. [15] The upgrades should add 96 megawatts. [15]

Why it matters. Georgia Power says other customers gain about $900 million over the reactors' lives. [15] Upgrading an old nuclear plant takes about five years, while a new one can take decades. [15]

A political group tied to the Solar Energy Industries Association, the US solar trade body, is spending $250,000 on ads for two Democrats running for Georgia's Public Service Commission. [16] Democrats won two of its five seats last year, and November's vote could give them control. [16] The commission has approved six requests to raise customer rates since 2023, the solar group notes. [16] Last December it approved 10 gigawatts of new gas plants and batteries for data centres. [16]

Why it matters. That approval adds an estimated $20 a month to household bills. [16] Whoever controls the commission decides how much of Georgia's new power comes from gas, or from solar and batteries. [16]

Researchers at MIT compared US home electricity prices with each state's power sources from 1998 to 2023. [17] A rise of 10 percentage points in large solar farms' share went with prices just over 8% lower. [17] A rise of 5 points in rooftop solar's share went with prices about 16% higher. [17] The authors say these are links, not proven causes, and the paper has not yet been checked by other researchers. [17]

Why it matters. They suggest some states' bills move the fixed cost of the wires from rooftop owners onto everyone else. [17] California's public advocate puts that shift at $8.5 billion, while a solar industry report finds a $1.5 billion net benefit. [17]

In an April survey of 1,068 US adults, 56% said they would oppose a data centre in their area and 15% would support one. [18] The survey was run by climate communication programmes at Yale and George Mason universities. [18] About three-quarters of liberal Democrats and half of conservative Republicans opposed one. [18] And 59% expected their electricity bills to rise if one opened nearby. [18]

Why it matters. Massachusetts now refuses state permits for data centres that lack the local town's approval. [18] Some towns in Vermont have banned them. [18]

PG&E, the main power company in northern and central California, warned that more planned power cuts are likely from Wednesday to Saturday. [19] It switches lines off on purpose when hot, dry winds raise the risk that they start fires. [19] The cuts could reach more than two dozen counties. [19] On 9 October it cut areas holding up to 12,200 customers in 17 counties and three tribal areas. [19]

Why it matters. A heat wave pushed California's demand to about 46,000 megawatts on 5 October, and the grid operator issued six alerts. [19] San Diego Gas and Electric began its own shutoffs on 2 October. [19]

Failures of big lithium-ion battery systems, counted against how much storage exists, fell 98% from 2018 to 2025, EPRI, a US power research institute, reports. [20] They halved from 2024 to 2025 alone. [20] Each year 0.04% to 0.14% of systems fail, close to the 0.1% rate for oil-filled transformers on the grid. [20] And 93% of incidents worldwide hurt nobody. [20]

Why it matters. In the US, no one has been hurt by a battery failure since an explosion in Arizona in April 2019. [20] Older systems, built before stricter safety codes, fail more often, and EPRI says owners should check them. [20]

Qcells, a big solar maker owned by South Korea's Hanwha, plans a gigawatt-sized factory for tandem panels in 2029, its technology chief told Canary Media. [21] A tandem panel stacks a layer of perovskite, a crystal that can be made from many ingredients, on top of the usual silicon to catch more light. [21] The best panels now turn about 24% of sunlight into power. [21] A Qcells tandem cell reached 28.6% in 2024. [21]

Why it matters. So far perovskite layers break down too fast outdoors, and no tandem panel has run for 20 years yet. [21] In July Qcells' tandem panel passed the industry's standard stress tests. [21]

Researchers in China made a perovskite solar cell that turned 27.5% of sunlight into electricity, pv magazine reports. [22] They mixed three similar molecules in one of its layers, which helped it hold up under heat. [22] An independent test body in Tianjin certified 27.31% for one cell. [22] That is just below the 27.41% another Chinese-led team reported in May. [22]

Why it matters. The cells were tested at 85C, because heat is what wears these cells out. [22] Qcells' plan shows the harder step: making panels that last outdoors for decades. [21]

The average price paid for a new electric car in the US rose 2.4% in September, to $55,879, says Kelley Blue Book, a car-pricing firm. [26] That is still 3% below a year earlier. [26] Discounts shrank to 11% of the price, the lowest this year. [26] Chevrolet raised the starting price of its Blazer EV by $300, to $45,000. [27]

Why it matters. Electric cars now cost about 11% more than comparable non-electric cars, down from nearly 18% in 2025. [26] Blazer EV sales are down 78% since the federal tax credit ended last year. [27]

BYD, China's biggest electric carmaker, began selling its Great Han saloon in China on Tuesday, from about $35,000. [30] The base model is rated at 1,008km on China's official range test. [30] BYD says it charges from 10% to 70% in five minutes. [30] It is slightly bigger than a Tesla Model S. [30]

Why it matters. BYD's Great Tang, a bigger SUV, sold over 10,000 a month in its first three months. [30] Tesla in China still sells mainly two models, while BYD and others launch cheaper new ones every few months. [28]