Climate, in brief

The UN Environment Programme, the UN's environment agency, says the world can no longer keep warming to 1.5C without first going past it. [1][2]

Its yearly Emissions Gap report, published on Wednesday, says the policies countries have in force now lead to about 2.8C of warming by 2100. [1][2]

1.5C above the temperature before the industrial age is the safer of the two limits countries set in the Paris Agreement, the 2015 climate deal. [2][4][5]

The best path left lets warming peak at about 1.7C to 1.8C, then brings it back to 1.5C by 2100 by pulling carbon dioxide out of the air. [1][2]

That path needs world emissions cut 18% by 2030 and 45% by 2035, compared with 2025. [1][2] Countries' current promises would cut them by only 5-8% and 11-15%. [1][2]

The world released 58.4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2025, counted as carbon dioxide, about the same as in 2024. [1] The report calls these figures provisional. [1]

Of the six biggest emitters, only the US rose clearly in 2025, by 133 million tonnes, as electricity use grew and coal power came back. [1]

If every country kept every promise and reached its net-zero goal, warming would be about 2.1C. [1][2] Last year that figure was 1.9C. [2] The report blames mostly the US leaving the Paris deal, and partly higher counts of past emissions. [1][2]

For every five years that cuts are put off, about another 0.1C of warming is locked in, the report says. [1]

One thing ran ahead of plan: renewable power grew three times faster than forecasts made in 2015 expected, so emissions from energy rose 40% less than predicted. [1]

Under the Paris deal countries set their own targets, and a check every five years, the 'global stocktake', is meant to push them to do more. [4] The next one ends in 2028. [4][6]

The IPCC's meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was suspended on 16 October without a deal, after Saudi Arabia, Russia, India and others pushed for more time. [3][5]

Why it matters. The next test is the Cop31 talks in Turkey next month. [5] Another is whether the IPCC agrees a date for its report before the end of 2026, which its chair said a 2028 report needs. [6]

Britain's government approved the Jackdaw gas field on Wednesday, as the Guardian and the BBC had reported it would. [7][8][41] Jackdaw lies about 150 miles east of Aberdeen, in the North Sea, and is run by Shell and Equinor, a Norwegian company. [7][8] A court ruled last year that its earlier approval was unlawful, because it ignored the carbon from burning the gas. [7][8] The Labour government promised no new licences, and says Jackdaw's licence is not new. [7][8]

Why it matters. When fully running, Jackdaw would make 6% of the North Sea's gas, and Uplift, a campaign group, says it would meet about 2% of Britain's demand for about 10 years. [7] A decision on Rosebank, a bigger oil field, is expected later this year. [7]

Lee Zeldin, who runs the US Environmental Protection Agency, says it will propose new rules on methane from oil and gas this month, Inside Climate News reported. [9] Methane is the main part of natural gas. [9] Over 20 years it traps more than 80 times as much heat as carbon dioxide. [9] The Biden administration's stricter rules, including a fee on excess methane, were blocked. [9] The agency has also proposed ending all duties on companies to report greenhouse gases. [9]

Why it matters. In the Permian Basin of Texas, the largest US oilfield, most releases are never reported to state regulators, a study by RMI found. [9] A researcher at Fieldnotes, an oil and gas watchdog, says many firms want rules that look strict and have big gaps. [9]

In Sunbury, Ohio, a town of about 9,000, voters will decide in November whether to ban data centres that use 25 megawatts or more. [13] Amazon wants to build one there, and the vote shares a ballot with a US Senate race between Jon Husted and Sherrod Brown. [13] Groups set up to fight data centres more than doubled to 833 early this year, a research firm counted. [15] Pennsylvania already has 70 data centres, and 93 more are proposed. [14]

Why it matters. Pennsylvania lawmakers link rising power bills to data centres, and one family in four there struggles to pay energy bills. [14] Husted has softened his support for data centres, and Texas's governor, Greg Abbott, has backtracked on them. [15]

Abigail Spanberger, Virginia's governor, asked the state's utility regulator to approve the $67 billion merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy only on strict terms. [10] Dominion is Virginia's main power company, and the merger would make the world's largest regulated power company. [10] She wants home power rates frozen for six years. [10] The companies offered $10 a month off bills for four years, and her office asked for $29 a month. [10]

Why it matters. The companies say the merger would help build power for data centres more cheaply. [10] Her terms would also lower the profit Dominion is allowed to earn, by counting more of its money as borrowed. [10]

The US International Trade Commission, which rules on trade complaints, found last week that solar cell imports from India, Indonesia and Laos hurt US makers. [39] The US Commerce Department is now expected to set final duties on 2 November. [39] The makers who brought the case say India faces dumping duties of 123% and subsidy duties of 126%. [39] They are led by First Solar and Qcells, two big panel makers in the US. [39]

Why it matters. The same makers say imports from Ethiopia rose more than 3,000% in a year, and they suspect Chinese firms are moving production again to avoid duties. [39] Their lawyer called the duty rates 'prohibitive', meaning high enough to stop the imports. [39]

Sales of battery electric cars in Europe rose 70% in September from a year earlier, Reuters reported, according to Carbon Brief's daily summary. [37] Nearly a third of new cars sold across 17 big European markets last month ran only on batteries. [37] Sales so far this year are 38% higher than in the same months of 2025. [37] High oil prices, subsidies and cheaper models drove the rise. [37]

Why it matters. It came as France and Germany agreed to soften planned EU limits on car emissions. [37] EU rules on car emissions are also why Subaru will sell only electric cars in Europe. [28]

Clean sources, meaning water, nuclear, wind and sun, made 36.8% of China's electricity in the first nine months of 2026, an official at its statistics bureau said. [37] China's power output in September was 1.2% lower than a year earlier, Chinese industry news reported. [37] Power from coal and gas plants fell 1.4%. [37] Wind power rose 10.6% and solar power 19.5%. [37]

Why it matters. The UN report found China's emissions flat in 2025. [1] A fall in coal and gas power in September points the same way, though one month is not a trend. [37]

On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump declared a 'national energy emergency' in the US. [16] His energy department used it to order old coal plants to stay open. [16] Keeping the J.H. Campbell plant in Michigan running has cost Midwest power customers almost $300 million, Grist reported. [16] A court blocked that order in September, and about a dozen states challenge the emergency itself, with a hearing set for 20 October. [16]

Why it matters. Petrol costs over $4 a gallon in the US and diesel a record of over $6, mainly because the war with Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. [16] The emergency powers have not brought those prices down. [16]

ABB, a Swiss maker of switches, breakers and transformers for power grids, took a record $12 billion of orders in July to September. [11] That was 40% more than a year earlier, and US orders rose 82%. [11] Its finance chief said orders from data centres more than doubled. [11] Profit fell 2% to $1.9 billion, partly because of costs tied to buying Rotork, another equipment maker. [11]

Why it matters. ABB said power companies are also replacing old equipment to avoid blackouts and meet rising demand. [11] Its unit selling equipment for buildings, data centres and grids booked a record $7.67 billion of orders, up 70%. [11]

The European Union set out a new plan for the Arctic on Tuesday, the AP reported. [36] The Arctic is warming about four times faster than the world average, opening new shipping routes. [36] The EU wants more icebreakers, a centre to guard undersea cables, and a cable to Greenland. [36] It will still refuse to buy oil and gas drilled in the Arctic, but will stop pushing for a world ban on drilling there, the Financial Times reported. [36][37]

Why it matters. Europe has about 10 icebreakers against Russia's 40, and Trump has threatened to take Greenland, which belongs to Denmark. [36] Dropping the drilling-ban push split officials in the European Commission, the EU's executive. [37]

Storm Austen, the first named storm of this autumn, will bring gales and heavy rain to southern Britain from Thursday night, the BBC reported. [17] The Met Office, Britain's weather service, issued a yellow warning for wind from midnight Friday until midday. [17] Gusts of up to 70mph are expected in south Wales, south-west England and along the south coast. [17] Damage to buildings, travel delays and power cuts are likely. [17]

Why it matters. Scotland and Northern Ireland will mostly miss it, but another deep low will bring more wind and rain on Saturday. [17]

Britain's fire chiefs told MPs that crews struggled to get water to fight wildfires during this year's record-hot summer. [18] Refilling one water carrier at a fire in Stourbridge took almost 40 minutes because of low pressure. [18] In a survey by their council, 81% of fire services said they had changed plans where water was short. [18] MPs want a law setting out what water companies must supply in a big fire. [18]

Why it matters. Rivers and lakes were too low to draw from, and crews were asked to save mains water for paying customers. [18] England's Environment Agency estimates public supply could be 5 billion litres a day short by 2055. [18]

Indigenous leaders from Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador are at a UN conference on organised crime in Vienna this week, the AP reported. [38] They say illegal gold mining, logging and drug gangs are destroying their forests and poisoning rivers with mercury. [38] Six leaders of Peru's Kakataibo people have been killed since 2020. [38] Governments may agree to start talks on a new treaty against crimes that harm nature. [38]

Why it matters. Global Witness, a campaign group, counted 105 land and environment defenders killed in Latin America in 2025, 85% of the world total. [38] Cutting down forest is the biggest source of carbon from land use, the UN report says. [1]

Central Georgia Electric Membership Corp., a power co-operative owned by its customers, will install up to 50 megawatts of home batteries from 2027. [12] Base Power, a Texas company, will put batteries in members' homes at little or no cost and charge them when power is cheap. [12] The batteries give power back at the busiest hours, and up to 36 hours of backup in a blackout. [12]

Why it matters. Data centres want to connect to the co-op's grid, including a 240-megawatt site near Hampton. [12] In Georgia the batteries' main value is cutting what the co-op pays for power lines and spare supply, Base Power said. [12]

Peru's energy minister, Guillermo Shinno, proposed restarting talks with Chile on joining the two countries' power grids, pv magazine reported. [21] One plan is a 1,000-megawatt line from southern Peru to northern Chile, which a 2025 study priced at $550 million. [21] Chile threw away 2,680 gigawatt-hours of solar and wind power from January to July, because its own lines were full. [21] Peru's solar plants made 1,442 gigawatt-hours from January to June, 87% more than a year before. [21]

Why it matters. Chile's sun and wind could reach Peru by day, and Peru's dams and gas plants could help Chile when the sun is down. [21] The two ministers may discuss it at a meeting on 29 November. [21]

A plan for a tunnel of up to 12 miles to carry sewage away from Windermere, England's largest lake, was unveiled this week, the BBC reported. [19] It would cost 3.6 billion pounds. [19] United Utilities, the local water company, and campaigners who blame sewage for green algae on the lake both back it. [19] The UK government must now decide whether to go ahead. [19]

Why it matters. Bills for United Utilities' customers could rise by up to 3.17 pounds a month, or by up to 35p across England if the cost is shared. [19] The UK government promised in March 2025 to stop all sewage going into the lake. [19]

A NASA study used more than 20 years of data from the GRACE satellites, which weigh water by measuring tiny changes in Earth's gravity. [27] It found 40 regions where water stored on land changed with human activity, not only with the climate. [27] Pumping for farms drained groundwater in California's Central Valley and northern India. [27] In northern India, shrinking Himalayan glaciers explained only 15% of the loss. [27]

Why it matters. In four regions, human activity explained the changes better than any climate cause. [27] In parts of Africa, new rain-fed millet fields raised the water table. [27]

South-east England got only 61% of its normal September rain, so its soil is still about twice as dry as usual, the Environment Agency says. [20] Clay shrinks in drought and swells again when wet, which can crack the walls of houses. [20] Insurers paid 307 million pounds for such damage to homes in 2025, 10% more than in 2024. [20] The average paid claim from April to June 2026 reached 20,000 pounds. [20]

Why it matters. The damage keeps growing after the heat ends, because the ground moves again when the rain returns. [20]

Planetary Technologies, a Canadian company, adds a mineral slurry to the water flowing out of a power station in Halifax, Canada, Scientific American reported. [40] The slurry should help the sea absorb more carbon dioxide from the air. [40] But scientists measuring the harbour say the signal is too small to separate from natural changes. [40] Machines on land that pull carbon from the air have removed only a few thousand tonnes so far. [40]

Why it matters. The UN says the world will probably need to remove billions of tonnes a year by 2050. [40] These companies sell carbon credits, and when the removal cannot be measured, each credit rests on a computer model. [40]

Subaru, a Japanese carmaker, will stop selling petrol cars in Europe by the end of 2027 and sell only electric ones, Electrek reported. [28] Subaru Germany said EU rules on emissions and driver-assistance systems forced the change. [28] The Outback goes at the end of this year, and three more models in 2027. [28] From 2028 it will sell three electric SUVs built with Toyota. [28]

Why it matters. In the US, Subaru still sells hybrid models alongside its electric ones. [28]

BYD, a Chinese carmaker, put a new version of its Seagull on sale in China from 65,900 yuan, about $9,900. [29] That is less than the old model, which cost 69,900 yuan. [29] It can charge in about five minutes on BYD's fastest chargers, and is bigger than before. [29] In Europe the car sells as the Dolphin Surf. [29]

Why it matters. The Seagull is already among the world's best-selling electric cars, and the new one costs less than the car it replaces. [29]

Almost every carmaker sold fewer electric cars in the US from July to September than a year earlier, Cox Automotive's figures show. [30] Sales a year ago had jumped before a $7,500 US tax credit ended. [30] Rivian, a US electric carmaker, rose from tenth to second, helped by its cheaper R2. [30] Tesla stayed first despite a fall of nearly 20%. [30]

Why it matters. Mercedes, Lexus, Toyota and Subaru also sold more, each with new models, while makers that cancelled models sold fewer. [30]

General Motors is closing its Brownstown battery plant south of Detroit, a spokesperson told TechCrunch. [31] The plant built battery packs for the Cadillac Celestiq, an electric car, and the hybrid Corvette E-Ray. [31] GM says the lease was ending and the work will move elsewhere. [31] US help for making and buying electric cars was repealed in a law signed last year. [31]

Why it matters. GM still sells electric cars and is opening a $900 million centre to bring new battery types to market faster. [31]

Electrify America, a big US charging company, opened its largest station in Orlando, Florida, with 24 fast chargers of up to 350 kilowatts each. [32] Florida had about 450,400 battery cars in 2025, second only to California. [32] Separately, LAZ Parking, which runs 5,700 car parks, launched charging for blocks of flats that shares one power supply across many cars. [33]

Why it matters. People in flats often cannot charge at home, because adding power to the building costs too much. [33] Sharing the power lets up to five times as many chargers run on the same supply. [33]

Oakland's school district in California runs 74 electric school buses that send power back to the grid, Electrek reported. [34] After school, the buses plug in and give power back at the evening peak. [34] Together they can supply about 2 megawatts, enough for about 1,000 homes. [34] In two years they returned 1.7 gigawatt-hours to the grid. [34]

Why it matters. Zum, the company that runs them, buys power when it is cheap and sells it when it is dear. [34] The buses were available 99.5% of the time, so the fleet works like a small, reliable power plant for the busiest hours. [34]

Voters in Eugene, Oregon, will decide in November on a 2% fee on profits made in the city by companies earning at least $1 billion nationally. [35] It could raise $15 million to $37 million a year for clean energy, efficiency and job training. [35] Groceries, medicines and healthcare are exempt. [35] Portland, Oregon, has run a similar fee since 2018. [35]

Why it matters. Portland's fund was expected to raise $30 million to $90 million a year and now raises nearly $200 million. [35] The vote comes after the Trump administration took back billions in US climate grants. [35]

Romania had more than 8.5 gigawatts of solar power by the middle of 2026, after adding about 2.2 gigawatts last year, pv magazine reported. [22] At that pace it should pass its 2030 goal of 10 gigawatts before the end of 2027. [22] It also passed 1 gigawatt of large batteries this year. [22] Its permits for solar farms are among the fastest in the EU. [22]