Joe Biden has raised more than $15m in contributions from “hundreds of new donors who specifically identify with climate change as a cause”, according to the New York Times. The Democratic candidate, who was formally nominated to run for US president at the party’s national convention yesterday, according to Reuters, arrives at a time when climate change is a “core campaign issue”, New York Times reports. It notes that climate-specific fundraising may make up about 5% of the total raised by Biden so far, representing a “counterweight” to oil, gas and coal money, although these donation are still “dwarfed” by fossil fuel donations to President Trump. Separately, Washington governor Jay Inslee, who previously ran in the Democrats’ presidential primary on a strong climate platform, has welcomed Biden’s climate plan as “perfect for the moment”, according to the Hill. Meanwhile, HuffPost reports that the Democratic National Committee has “quietly” dropped language from its party platform calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies and tax breaks. The party tells the news website in an emailed statement that including that language in the final draft of the platform was an “error”, but campaigners dismissed the change as “ridiculous”.

Meanwhile, following the Trump administration’s announcement about opening up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, experts have said the plan faces significant legal hurdles, according to the Hill. Environmental lawyers say the administration did not conduct the necessary reviews needed to proceed and “ignored key requirements established by Congress”, the website notes. Axios has a piece on “how Biden could thwart Trump’s Arctic push”, noting that “there are several levers Biden could pull to impose lengthy delays or reimpose restrictions”.

In related news, Reuters reports on a campaign by the American Petroleum Institute (API) – the nation’s “biggest oil and gas lobby group” – targeted at younger voters and tight congressional races to persuade voters that natural gas is a “climate-friendly fuel”. The piece notes that this finding, based on ad buying data, comes after Biden announced a $2tn plan to transition the economy away from fossil fuels, including natural gas. In an “explainer” piece, Reuters looks at why gas is “cleaner but not clean”, noting that while it may produce about half as much CO2 as coal, “climate scientists say that rising production of natural gas is emerging as one of the biggest drivers of climate change”.

The UK government plans to bring in new legally binding targets on air quality, waste reduction, biodiversity and cleaner water, as part of its environment bill, which was introduced last year and is set to resume its passage through parliament soon, according to Reuters. The government says the new measures will form part of its efforts to tackle climate change, improve the environment and rebuild the economy, following prime minister Boris Johnson’s commitment to “building back greener”, the news outlet reports. The i newspaper reports that most of the goals will have a minimum 15-year timespan, with five-year interim goals to keep ministers on track. Environment Secretary George Eustice said he hopes the new targets would provide certainty to businesses and society, reports the Press Association. He said: “The targets we set under our landmark Environment Bill will be the driving force behind our bold action to protect and enhance our natural world – guaranteeing real and lasting progress on some of the biggest environmental issues facing us today. The Daily Mail notes that the government has pledged to report annually on progress towards these targets through a new environmental watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection.

Meanwhile, BusinessGreen reports that ahead of its stint hosting the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow next year, the UK has issued a call for sponsors for the talks, stating a preference for backers which “have strong climate credentials” including commitments to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Climate Home News notes that “unlike in previous years, which have seen large polluters use such deals to bolster their green credentials”, the UK “will not accept sponsorship from fossil fuel companies”.

The “apparently acrimonious” departure of Canadian finance minister, Bill Morneau, suggests the government may be about to embark on a “green” coronavirus recovery plan that goes against the “wishes of a number of influential and powerful industries – not to mention several provincial leaders”, the Guardian reports. Earlier this week, CBC reported on a “deepening rift” between the prime minister Justin Trudeau and his finance minister over the “scope and scale of proposed green initiatives”. The Guardian notes that Morneau’s relatively conservative stance contrasted with Trudeau’s environmental commitments. The newspaper notes that the nation’s post-pandemic recovery is “creating a moment of reckoning”, as the prime minister must decide “whether to pursue his ambitious green aspirations even if they come at a political cost”. The Financial Times reports that with the appointment of deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland to the finance minister position, it how falls on her to implement the green recovery plans. According to Reuters, Freeland told reporters: “The restart of our economy needs to be green. It also needs to be equitable and inclusive”.

In more coronavirus news, Climate Home News reports that the absence of on-the-ground monitoring means Indonesia has seen a surge in forest clearance during the pandemic.

Airlines including SAS and Lufthansa are offering passengers the option to offset emissions from flights with contributions to the cost of using sustainable fuel, the Financial Times reports. According to the newspaper, passengers may soon “not have the luxury of choosing to pay more”, as last week the European Commission signalled it was considering an “EU-wide requirement for a minimum amount of sustainable fuel on all flights”. Axios reports on newly released data from the Transportation Security Administration, which shows that while air travel in the US is slowly coming back, it remains “nowhere near pre-pandemic levels”.

In other transport news, the Guardian reports that according to Australia’s industry body the Electric Vehicle Council, sales of electric vehicles in country tripled last year “despite a lack of government support”.

Greta Thunberg – along with other youth climate activists Luisa Neubauer from Germany, Anuna de Wever from Belgium, and Adélaïde Charlier from Belgium – has written an opinion piece in the Guardian calling out a mix of “ignorance, denial and unawareness” at the heart of global climate action. The piece notes that tomorrow will be exactly two years since the first “school strike for the climate” took place, and reflects on some of the positive outcomes that have followed this movement. It also states that the activists are meeting with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, to deliver a letter that contains a series of demands for leaders in Europe “face up to the climate emergency”. The demands include “halting all fossil fuel investments and subsidies, divesting from fossil fuels, making ecocide an international crime, designing policies that protect workers and the most vulnerable, safeguarding democracy and establishing annual, binding carbon budgets based on the best available science”, they write. They note that in the Paris agreement, world leaders committed to keeping the global average temperature rise to well below 2C, and aiming for 1.5C. They say their demands encapsulate what would be required to achieve these targets. “So if leaders are not willing to do this, they’ll have to start explaining why they’re giving up on the Paris agreement,” they write. There is also a news story in the Guardian concerning the piece.

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, who is president of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York, writes in the Washington Post that whether the world emerges from the pandemic “in a stronger or weaker position to tackle the climate crisis” rests largely in China’s hands. He notes that the nation has already approved the construction of new coal-fired power plants totalling more than it approved in the previous two years combined. “To be fair,” Rudd adds, “the decisions to proceed with these coal projects largely rest in the hands of China’s provincial and regional governments and not in Beijing. However, this does not mean the central government has no power, nor that it won’t wear the reputational damage if the plants become a reality”. He concludes that as the nation finalises its next five-year plan ahead of next year’s COP climate summit: “Although China may also have an enormously positive story to tell – continuing to lead the world in the deployment of renewable energy in 2019 – it is China’s decisions on coal that will loom large”.

Irrigation could compound the effects of extreme heat by boosting humidity in densely populated regions, including the central US and the Middle East, a study says. The research finds irrigation can heighten the number of days with dangerously high “wet bulb” temperatures. (Wet bulb temperatures are a measure of both extreme heat and humidity.) The authors say: “Changes in wet bulb temperature were partly associated with the differential regional impacts of irrigation on moisture transport.”

The impact of climate-change fuelled hurricanes on social welfare on Caribbean islands remains uncertain, a new study says. The research explores island level damages for synthetic storm tracks generated from four climate models under current and future climate settings. The authors say: “We find that the fat-tailed and uncertain nature of the distribution of storms makes it difficult to conclude that the region will be worse off under climate change, and is likely to depend on the degree of adaptation.”