Climate, in brief

EU leaders argued late into the night over the bloc's carbon market at their summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. [1][2]

The carbon market, called the ETS, makes power plants, heavy industry, airlines and shipping pay for each tonne of carbon dioxide they release. [1]

The European Commission, the EU's executive, says emissions from the industries it covers have fallen 51% since it began in 2005. [1]

Energy prices have climbed since the war on Iran began, and leaders came to the summit under pressure over bills at home. [5][6]

Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland, backed by Italy and Greece, blamed carbon costs for the price rise and asked to reopen the rules. [1][2]

Andrej Babis, the Czech prime minister, said someone was "making billions" from the market while European industry declines. [1]

Finland, Denmark and Sweden wrote to the other leaders that weakening it would hurt firms that have already invested in clean technology. [1]

The six also tried to delay ETS2, a second carbon market that puts a price on fuel for cars and home heating, until 2030. [1]

Most countries rejected that, and EU diplomats told Politico the offer was "unacceptable", Carbon Brief reports. [3]

Instead the leaders asked the Commission for a new study of ETS2's effects, and to look at short-term help. [1][3]

Nikos Christodoulides, Cyprus's president, said the agreed wording satisfied him and that the Commission seemed ready to delay ETS2 again. [4]

Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission's president, said member states have "very different energy mixes", so there is "no silver bullet". [5]

Why it matters. Watch whether the Commission's new study of ETS2 leads it to propose a second delay, which Cyprus's president already expects. [4]

A meeting of the IPCC, the UN body that sums up climate science for governments, was suspended in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Friday. [8] Its 195 member states could not agree when to publish the next big review of the science. [8] The fight has run for nearly three years. [8] India, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China want more time, while 30 countries, including small island states, want the reports ready for the 2028 UN climate talks. [8]

Why it matters. Governments are due to check their progress on the Paris climate deal in 2028, and may now do it without the panel's review. [8] Tina Stege, the Marshall Islands' climate envoy, called the delay "a shameful play for time". [8]

Scotland's government, run by the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2007, is set to drop its "presumption against" new oil and gas fields in the North Sea, two senior members told Politico. [9] The SNP lost a by-election in Aberdeen, Scotland's oil city, to the pro-drilling Conservatives this summer. [9] Its conference voted on Friday that oil and gas produced at home is "clearly preferable" to imports. [9] Britain's government, which grants the licences, says decisions on the Jackdaw gas field and the Rosebank oil field are coming soon. [10]

Why it matters. Scotland cannot approve fields itself, but its stand has been a pressure on Britain's government. [9] Jackdaw's operators say it could be linked to Britain's gas network within months. [10]

Unite, a trade union, called on Britain's government and Centrica, the owner of British Gas, to keep the Rough gas store open. [11] Rough, 18 miles off the East Yorkshire coast, holds about half of Britain's space for storing gas. [11] Centrica will invest 2 billion pounds only if Britain's government guarantees it a minimum return, and its licence ends in April 2027. [11] Unite says 100 jobs, and 350 more at suppliers, are at risk. [11]

Why it matters. Britain's energy department says storage gave only 5% of supply last winter. [11] Centrica's boss says that without a deal, the business decision will be to close it. [11]

Hurricane Trudy grew fast on Friday and reached winds of about 120 mph (195 km/h) off Mexico's Pacific coast. [12] It is forecast to pass 60 to 65 km from the coast of Jalisco and Colima states late on Saturday. [12] Mexico's weather agency said any turn towards land would make it worse. [12] Up to 38 cm of rain could fall, and the coast is still recovering from storms in recent weeks. [12]

Why it matters. People in Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco face floods and landslides even if the eye stays at sea. [12] Last week Tropical Storm Rachel damaged 1,500 homes in Baja California. [12]

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, told governments on Friday in Yerevan, Armenia's capital, that "subsidising fossil fuels is subsidising suicide". [13] The UN counts $2.6 trillion a year in public subsidies that harm nature and the climate. [13] He spoke before COP17, the UN nature summit that opens there on 19 October. [13] A UN report found that if every country's plans were carried out, only 27% of land and 12% of the sea would be protected by 2030, against a goal of 30%. [13]

Why it matters. Global Witness, a campaign group, found that Turkey and Australia, the hosts of next month's climate summit, are both raising oil and gas output. [13] Woodside, an Australian gas company, is set to double its liquefied gas output by 2032. [13]

113 of 196 countries have now sent the UN new plans for protecting nature, up from 55 a year ago, Carbon Brief counts. [14] They were due in October 2024, and only 15% arrived on time. [14] Brazil and many African countries filed in the past year. [14] The US, Russia, Peru, Papua New Guinea and South Africa have not. [14] COP17 is the first check on the 23 targets for 2030 agreed in Montreal in 2022. [14][15]

Why it matters. The UN's report on progress, which the summit will review, draws on these plans. [14] Many developing countries have said a lack of money stopped them writing one. [14]

FERC, the US agency that approves gas pipelines, proposed on Thursday to stop requiring air-pollution models in its reviews of gas projects. [16] The models show how a plant's fumes spread and mix with other pollution nearby. [16] It also proposed letting some work at gas export plants go ahead with no application. [16] Laura Swett, FERC's chair, said the only limit on American gas is getting it to market. [16]

Why it matters. Judy Chang, the one commissioner who voted against, said the models are the best tool for knowing how nearby people are affected. [16] Projects that once had to model their air pollution may now be approved without it. [16]

New rules for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), run by the US Department of Agriculture, took effect on 16 October. [17] They effectively shut solar projects out of its grants and loans. [17] The scheme, created by the US Congress in 2008, helped farmers and rural shops put up solar to cut bills and sell power. [17] The Iowa Farmers Union is among groups suing, and their lawyers say the department is ignoring what the US Congress told it to do. [17]

Why it matters. Farmers facing higher costs for fuel and fertiliser lose a way to cut their power bills. [17] The lawsuit argues the department broke the law that set the scheme up. [17]

NextEra Energy, a big US power company that owns Florida's main utility, gave $4 million to President Trump's White House ballroom, The Washington Post reported from an internal list of donors. [18] NextEra is asking federal regulators chosen by Trump to approve its purchase of Dominion Energy, Virginia's main power company. [18] The deal would create the world's largest regulated power company, with 10 million customers. [18] NextEra did not comment. [18]

Why it matters. Public Citizen, a consumer group, called the gift "obviously very problematic" while the merger waits for approval. [18] The money cannot be charged to customers of NextEra's Florida utility, a watchdog group said. [18]

The NRC, the US nuclear safety regulator, gave Holtec permission to lift a fuel bundle that tipped inside its Palisades reactor in Michigan. [19] Holtec bought the plant after it shut in 2022 and is trying to restart it. [19] The NRC also found a "chilled work environment" in two departments, where staff fear punishment for raising safety concerns. [19] A source close to Holtec said it hopes to restart by March 2027. [19]

Why it matters. Don't Waste Michigan, a campaign group, calls it an unprecedented restart of a closed reactor. [19] It says the plant sits a hundred yards from the Great Lakes, drinking water for more than 40 million people. [19]

China's commerce and science ministries proposed on 16 October to ban exports of the know-how for making its most efficient solar cells. [20] The list covers tandem cells, which stack a new crystal called perovskite on silicon, at 30% efficiency or more. [20] Finished panels are not covered. [20] Firms must now register any plan to sell or license this know-how abroad, and comments close on 15 November. [20]

Why it matters. Factories abroad that hoped to buy Chinese production lines may be delayed or blocked. [20] It is part of a wider list of 40 technologies, including AI and medicine, that China wants to keep. [20]

Americans bought 262,649 new electric cars from July to September, a second quarter of growth, Cox Automotive counts. [21] That is well below the record 437,487 a year earlier, when buyers rushed before a tax credit ended. [21] Petrol has stayed above $4 a gallon. [21] An analysis in The Conversation found new electric cars on dealers' lots fell from about 130 days of supply early this year to 78 days in August. [22]

Why it matters. Carmakers cut electric car production after the tax credit ended, so buyers found too few to choose from. [22] Used electric car prices rose 13% by late June. [22]

Of the 48% of Canadians likely to buy an electric car next, 42% say they will wait for more Chinese models, a survey for Clean Energy Canada found. [23] Canada had matched the US 100% tax on Chinese electric cars. [23] It now lets in 49,000 a year under a deal with China, and the first have arrived. [23] Provinces in the middle of Canada, where farmers grow canola, an oil-seed crop, pushed for it so China would drop its tax on their canola. [23]

Why it matters. Carmakers selling in Canada face buyers who would rather wait than buy their cars now. [23] Few Chinese models are on sale there yet. [23]

The British prime minister's office said on Friday it wants the UK included in the EU's Made in Europe rules, which favour cars built in Europe. [24] A Franco-German plan says Britain would have to match EU taxes on Chinese electric cars to join. [24] China's embassy in London called that "discriminatory". [24] About 80% of British-made cars are sold abroad, more than half to the EU. [24]

Why it matters. Taxes could protect British car factories but raise prices for buyers. [24] BYD, a Chinese carmaker, sold 78% more in September than a year earlier. [24]

Volkswagen is recalling "several thousand" electric cars, including the ID.3, ID.4, ID.7 and ID. Buzz, built from 2023 to 2026. [25] Some battery cells failed a quality check, and charging past 80% could start a fire, the company says. [25] It already recalled 22,524 ID.4s in the US this month. [25] Letters to owners go out on 27 November, but there is no fix yet. [25]

Why it matters. Owners are told to charge only to 80% until a fix is ready. [25] Volkswagen asked SK Battery America, the cell maker, which production dates are affected. [25]

A Guardian-led investigation traced nickel from two mines on Sulawesi, an Indonesian island, through Chinese plants that supply CATL, the world's biggest battery maker. [26] Volkswagen, Ford, Tesla and other carmakers are named as end users of those plants' products. [26] Satellite analysis links the mines to cleared rainforest on land of the Tolaki, an Indigenous people. [26] One mine's owner was sanctioned for clearing more than 450 hectares beyond its permit. [26]

Why it matters. Public filings do not show how much of that nickel reaches any one car. [26] Volkswagen said it could not rule out that the mines are in its supply chain. [26]

The US had 3.52 million clean energy jobs at the end of 2025, about 37,000 fewer than a year before, E2, a business group, found. [27] It is the first fall after four years of growth. [27] Clean vehicle jobs fell 2.4%, while jobs in grid batteries grew 3.2%. [27] Overall energy jobs also fell. [27]

Why it matters. Companies cancelled or shrank nearly 150 clean energy projects in 2025, which were meant to create about 85,000 jobs. [27] Grid batteries kept their tax credit, and they are the part still growing. [27]

Hundreds of children have died of hunger and disease in Sudan's drought, the IPC, a UN-led hunger monitor, says. [28] New Scientist links the drought to El Nino, a warming of the Pacific that shifts rain around the world, which has cut the rain on Sudan's crops. [28] Hunger has reached famine level in two camps in Darfur. [28] Almost 29 million people, 62% of Sudan, are going hungry. [28]

Why it matters. Ninety per cent of Sudan's farms rely on rain, and a civil war has already displaced 14 million people. [28] Donors have given $1.25 billion of the $2.87 billion the UN says Sudan needs this year. [28]

Up to 40.5 million people in South Asia may be forced from their homes by 2050 in the worst case, the IOM, the UN's migration agency, says. [29] Its head, Amy Pope, said in New Delhi on Friday that rising seas, floods and drought threaten homes and farms. [29] She pointed to Nepal's 26 August disaster, when a mountain and glacier collapsed and caused deadly floods. [29] She said heat is also pushing people into India's cities. [29]

Why it matters. Pope said finding money for these programmes is a major obstacle. [29] She said AI weather forecasts can now show which villages are most at risk before a disaster. [29]

South Africa will push to triple money for adapting to climate change by 2035 at COP31, the UN climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, from 9 to 20 November. [30] Adapting means paying for things like flood walls and drought-ready farms. [30] Its environment minister, David Maynier, said a UN fund for climate damage has requests above $1.4 billion and about $450 million to give. [30]

Why it matters. South Africa has asked that fund for $20 million to restore Kruger National Park after floods in January. [30] South Africa's chief negotiator said current plans put the world on course for about 2.8C of warming. [30]

Six civil society groups attacked South Africa's plan to buy 5,000 megawatts of gas power and 4,600 megawatts of batteries. [31] The electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, confirmed the plan on 7 October, with no new wind or solar in the first round. [31] The groups, including 350.org and Fossil Free South Africa, warned imported gas ties bills to world prices and the exchange rate. [31]

Why it matters. The minister says gas will cover hours when wind and sun fall short, and wind and solar come in a later round. [31] The groups say gas costs more than renewables paired with batteries. [31]

Uzbekistan signed six energy deals worth $4.7 billion on Friday, for 3,000 megawatts of power and 400 megawatts of storage, its presidency said. [32] Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power and France's EDF are among the firms. [32] President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said he plans a second and third nuclear plant, after Russia's Rosatom began building the first in June. [32] He wants renewables, including dams, to make 54% of power by 2030, up from 31%. [32]

Why it matters. Future projects will be tendered with grid links fixed in advance, after plants bunched in some regions. [32] Uzbekistan's president admitted "bureaucracy and corruption" still hold investors back. [32]

Researchers at France's CEA, a state research agency, recovered more than 98% of the silver from old solar panel waste without using nitric acid. [33] Most current methods dissolve silver in that acid and give off harmful gases. [33] The new method strips the other metals in under 10 minutes and leaves the silver behind. [33] It has worked in a 20-litre test reactor. [33]

Why it matters. Silver is under 0.5% of the waste by weight but about 60% of the value in an old panel. [33] That makes it the main thing that decides whether recycling pays. [33]

China could make hydrogen from wind and solar power for an average of about $120 per megawatt-hour, an analysis by the University of Cologne's energy institute found. [34] Germany comes second at $175 and the US at $225. [34] Japan would pay over $300 to import it without Chinese supply. [34] China's edge comes from strong sun and wind and cheaper equipment, labour and loans. [34]

Why it matters. Buying from China would be cheaper for Japan than making its own. [34] The researchers call relying on imports a supply risk for Germany. [34]

P2X Solutions is putting e-methane from its plant in Finland into the country's gas network. [35] E-methane is a gas made by joining hydrogen from clean power with captured carbon dioxide, so it can flow through ordinary gas pipes. [35] Gasgrid, Finland's state gas network, issued the first certificates proving its origin. [35] ITM Power, a British firm, signed early terms for a 150-megawatt hydrogen plant at a European oil refinery. [35]

Why it matters. The certificates let buyers pay for clean gas separately from gas dug from the ground. [35] The gas can reach other European markets through the Balticconnector pipeline. [35]

Candidates in eight US states that will decide control of the US Senate are mostly silent on climate change, the Guardian found. [36] Only two of them mention climate on their websites. [36] James Talarico, a Democrat running in Texas, now says "I support our oil and gas industry". [36] A poll by the Environmental Voter Project found 54% of Texas voters more likely to back a pro-renewables candidate, and 19% less likely. [36]

Why it matters. The midterm elections are three weeks away, and US households pay about $2,000 more this year for energy and mortgages, the paper says. [36]

Britain has not had a named storm yet this autumn, the BBC reports. [37] The jet stream, a band of fast wind high up that steers storms, has sat to the north. [37] Parts of Herefordshire have had a tenth of their normal October rain. [37] The Met Office, Britain's weather service, gives double the normal chance of a wet end to the year as El Nino strengthens. [37]

Why it matters. Very low reservoirs have already put parts of southern England in severe drought. [37] A wetter, windier spell may start late next week. [37]

Weather radars across New South Wales, in Australia, are showing rain on nights when none falls. [38] The Bureau of Meteorology says swarms of bogong moths flying to the Australian Alps may be the cause. [38] Radar pulses meant to bounce off raindrops can bounce off insects too. [38] Scientists already use radar to count flying foxes, a kind of bat. [38]

Why it matters. Researchers who have struggled to track the moths' journey call the radar data "absolute gold". [38] It could also show mass flowering or heat events. [38]