Australia has set a target of cutting its emissions by between 62% and 70% by 2035 from 2005 levels, as “the Albanese government continues its strategy of modestly ambitious climate action over the next decade”, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The target will see emissions cuts jump from 43% by 2030, providing a “major challenge to the government and the economy”, given that emissions in the country have fallen by just 28% over the past two decades, it adds. The Guardian reports that Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese announced the target after the cabinet accepted the advice of the Climate Change Authority, dubbing it the “right target to protect our environment”. The Washington Post notes that, under the Paris Agreement, nations must increase their emissions reduction targets every five years. Albanese says the target is “consistent” with what the EU is considering, the article notes. A separate article in the Guardian compares the target to those announced by other nations, noting that it is “less ambitious” than the UK, but more ambitious than Japan, Canada and New Zealand. Reuters reports that the target has drawn “sharp criticism” from environmentalists, who have said it “lacked ambition and prioritised industry over communities vulnerable to climate change in the region”. There is further coverage of Australia’s new climate target in the Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Mail, Independent, Australian Financial Review and others.

A report published by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine says that the evidence that greenhouse gas emissions harm human health is “beyond scientific dispute”, reports Bloomberg. This could “impede” the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back the government’s authority to regulate climate protection by rescinding the endangerment finding, it adds. Following the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcing its intention to repeal the endangerment finding in July, the National Academies launched a “fast–track” review of the relevant science, it notes. The New York Times reports that the 136-page report concludes that the endangerment finding is accurate and “has stood the test of time”. The report, assembled by a committee of two dozen scientists, finds that there is now even stronger evidence that greenhouse gas emissions can threaten human health and wellbeing, the article adds. Politico notes that the National Academies report was published in time to be submitted to the EPA as part of the comment period for the endangerment finding challenge, which ends on 22 September. This report was also covered by the Associated Press, E&E and others. [Relatedly, see Carbon Brief’s factcheck: “Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims.”]

MORE ON THE US

• Reuters reports that a call from Trump to “ditch” quarterly corporate reporting has received “cautious support” from climate-conscious investors.
• The Financial Times covers “surging US power costs” and how they “defy” Trump’s pledge to halve energy bills. 
• The Guardian reports that the US Department of Justice has asked a judge in Vermont to “shut down” a law that holds major polluters financially accountable for climate damages.

China is “seeking public feedback on revised rules for the polysilicon sector’s energy consumption” as the sector looks to curb “persistent overcapacity” that has “dragged most producers into deep losses”, Bloomberg reports. The outlet adds that the four biggest solar panel makers have posted a combined first-half loss of more than 13bn yuan ($1.8bn). Citing a note from Citi, the outlet says the “use of more stringent energy consumption caps would promote industry upgrades”, with “about 30% of existing capacity” possibly being affected by tighter energy use standards and small factories “likely to be forced to close due to the high cost of upgrading”. Separately, Zhong Baoshen, the chairman of solar manufacturer Longi, has called for “more spot checks to combat low-quality solar manufacturing and resolve an imbalance between supply and demand”, Reuters reports. 

MORE ON CHINA

• Premier Li Qiang has “stressed the importance of innovation and green development” during visits to two provinces in northwest China, reports CGTN.
• CATL chairman Zeng Yuqun says “full marketisation” of the power sector could leave a large number of “orphan power stations” with no-one maintaining them once companies close down, Jiemian reports.
• A new report covered by China Energy Net finds that China now accounts for more than 50% of global “renewable hydrogen production capacity”.
• China has published a “global climate dataset”, marking the first time the country’s climate data products have been “shared internationally”, says Shanghai Observer.
• Zhejiang province has launched the country’s first “ecological restoration industry fund”, China Daily reports.
• UKRI China head Daniel Brooker tells Yicai that China and the UK have “mutual interests” in “developing solutions for a carbon-neutral future”.

New analysis by the Who Owns Britain project run by the Common Wealth thinktank has found that “a sum equal to 24.2% of the average energy bill went to the pre-tax profits of the major electricity generators, networks and household suppliers in 2024”. The analysis also finds that, since privatisation, the shareholders in the UK’s energy companies have taken “at least” £70.7bn in dividend payouts between 2010 and 2025, rather than reinvesting the money or reducing bills. The article quotes Mathew Lawrence, director of Common Wealth, who says: “The public are lumped with higher energy bills that fund billions of pounds of shareholder payouts. That money should be invested to build homegrown clean power and help reduce costs.” A separate article in the Guardian covers wider analysis from the thinktank, looking at the cost of privatisation of other sectors, including water, rail, bus and mail services. 

MORE ON UK

• The Guardian covers the UK-US tech deal announced amid US president Donald Trump’s state visit, including how it will “turbocharge” the UK’s low-carbon economy by encouraging the build-out of new nuclear power.
• The Times interviews Nigel Topping, the new chair of the Climate Change Committee, who says hitting the UK’s heat pump target will be a “real stretch”.
• The climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph covers comments by AI company Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang arguing that the UK will “need gas” to power new data centres and supercomputers. The story is also covered by the Daily Mail. 
• The Daily Telegraph covers claims that one of the UK’s last oil refineries is at risk of a major “catastrophe” due to an exodus of workers. 
• The Daily Telegraph examines why Starmer’s “nuclear ‘golden age’ risks becoming a lot of hot air” amid the agreement between the UK and US on nuclear during Trump’s state visit.
• The Daily Telegraph reports that net-zero costs will add £100 to bills, noting that renewable and nuclear construction, grid expansion and upgrades to the gas networks are driving the increase.

Brazil’s Amazon emits “more carbon than 186 UN member states”, according to a new data visualisation published by InfoAmazonia. These emissions come from land-use changes, such as deforestation, expansion of agriculture and soil management, it adds. Only seven countries emit more than this region, including China, the US, India, Russia, Indonesia, Iran and Japan. Brazil’s Amazon, despite not being a country, “emits more than the combined emissions of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia”, according to the outlet. The Brazilian Amazon accounts for 49% of the country’s territory.

MORE ON LATIN AMERICA:

• Animal Político reports that Mexico’s budget bill for 2026 will cut climate spending by 1.2% and will earmark 79% of next year’s climate budget for national security, train infrastructure and the criticised agricultural programme known as Sembrando Vida.
• Similarly, Argentina’s environmental budget bill will drop by 21% compared to the current year, La Nación reports. Experts tell the outlet that this will “undermine forest protection, pollution control and the country’s fire management service”.
• Supply of residential solar panels in Baja California, a state in northwest Mexico, is “still insufficient”, reports Inter Press Service.
• A commentary by Lorena Rivera in Excélsior says that increasing tariffs on electric cars from China by 20% and 50% would “affect” Mexico’s climate target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by 2030.

The Guardian’s financial editor Nils Pratley cautions against being “too cynical” about the push for new nuclear that forms part of the UK-US tech deal announced amid US president Donald Trump’s state visit, but warns that “costs must fall if nuclear is to make headway”. He adds: “It still takes some believing that rhetoric will be matched by hard action in the face of resistance from community groups and inevitable rows over where new nuclear plants would be located once current sites are used up. But, equally, it is hard to deny the backdrop for new nuclear has improved. There is, first, a recognition that a low-carbon grid can’t run on intermittent wind and solar and batteries alone; second, that the cost of renewables has risen anyway; third, that if you’re going to minimise gas-fired generation, nuclear is the only option for always-on, low-carbon power. The question of costs still towers over everything – but it is (just about) possible that we will look back on 2025 as a significant moment.” 

MORE COMMENT:

• An editorial in the Daily Mirror argues that, although nuclear may be preferable to dependence on fossil fuels, a deal with the US will not give the UK “energy security and self-sufficiency”.
• In the Financial Times, chief UK business columnist John Gapper argues that the “convenient truth” is that the “government can allow more UK oil and gas production without breaking its clean-energy pledges”. 
• A Lex opinion piece in the Financial Times explores when peak oil will occur. 
• The climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph carries comment pieces criticising the impact of net-zero on the oil and gas and steel sectors.
• Bloomberg columnist Lara Williams warns that “battery panic can’t be compared to the Aberfan disaster” in Wales in the 1960s.
• An editorial in the climate-sceptic Sun criticises the government’s “unnecessary net-zero measures” that “only add to the misery”.

US democrat Rahm Emanuel writes in the Wall Street Journal that higher energy bills are a “direct result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut green-energy subsidies”. Electricity prices have jumped 10% since January and will continue to rise, he writes, adding “monthly electricity bills are landing with a thud on kitchen tables across America”. Emanuel writes that electricity demand is growing for the first time in decades due to AI and data centres, however, the rollback of Biden-era subsidies will reduce investment in electricity and clean-fuel production by $500bn. He notes that there are 11,000 power generation projects awaiting approval, but interconnections have stalled, wind farms are being cancelled and “tariffs are taxes by another name”. Emanuel concludes: “There’s an old saying in politics: Washington is always the last to know. The morning after the 2026 midterm elections, even the dimmest pundits aren’t going to be able to avoid noting that electricity prices played an outsize role in the outcome.”

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Molly Lempriere, with contributions from Henry Zhang, Yanine Quiroz and Anika Patel. It was edited by Leo Hickman.

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