Negotiators at COP30 in Brazil are trying to build a coalition to deliver on the promise to “transition away from fossil fuels” made in Dubai last year, reports Bloomberg. Spearheaded by Brazil’s environment minister Marina Silva, countries including the UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Colombia and Kenya have shown their support for an agreement on a path away from fossil fuels, it adds. The article quotes Silva, who says, “It makes no sense to invest in the dirty and inefficient models of the 20th century. We have challenges, but we need to make an effort for a fair and planned transition to leave the dependency on fossil fuels.” The Financial Times reports that countries have backed the call for a “roadmap” for nations to plan a way to wean their economies off fossil fuels. The article adds that “in a political balancing act, Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has promoted the idea of a roadmap in multiple speeches – only weeks after Brazil itself gave approval for drilling for new oil and gas near the mouth of the Amazon.” A fossil fuel roadmap at COP30 was also covered by BusinessGreen, Semafor, Agence France-Presse and Climate Home News. 

MORE ON COP30 

• The Guardian reports on a joint analysis with Carbon Brief that found that China and Saudi Arabia are among the nations receiving climate finance. [See Carbon Brief’s coverage here.]
• Backchannel interviews the chair of the Africa Group of Negotiators, Richard Muyungi, to discuss progress on adaptation and loss and damage, as well as Ethiopia being backed to host COP32. 
• Bloomberg reports that the UN has ordered Brazil to improve security and conditions at COP30. Agence France-Presse adds that the host has pushed back, saying “responsibility for safeguarding the venue’s interior lies with the world body itself”. 
• Reuters reports that “Australia risks undermining efforts to establish itself as a leader in the green energy transition and letting down its vulnerable Pacific island neighbour” if its bid to host COP31 fails.
• The Hindustan Times covers the debate over the inclusion of 1.5C in goals at COP30.
• Climate Home News covers comments by Indigenous Argentine people at COP30 that “water is worth more than lithium”. 

European lawmakers have agreed to exempt more countries from green reporting, according to Politico, after the center-right, right-wing and far-right groups allied to support deregulation as part of the bloc’s first “omnibus simplification package”. The outcome “illustrates the willingness of the center-right European People’s party to abandon its traditional centrist allies and press ahead with the support of far-right groups to pass its deregulation agenda, setting a precedent for future lawmaking in Parliament for the rest of the mandate”, the article continues. The Financial Times notes that the vote is a “win” for the push for deregulation driven by US president Donald Trump, who has been pressing for the EU to water down environmental laws. Reuters explains that the European Union’s corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDDD) was passed last year and has since become a “political flashpoint”. It notes that the vote this week will mean only companies with at least 5,000 workers and €1.5bn ($1.75bn) turnover will have to comply with the CSDDD, and increase from thresholds of 1,000 employees and €450m turnover. This story was also covered by Agence France Presse and Semafor.

At COP30, a group of philanthropies has announced $300m for developing “life-saving solutions as global temperatures continue to rise”, reports Reuters. The article notes that more than half a million people are now dying from heat-related causes every year. It continues that the funding is aimed at developing data and establishing the best investment for tackling the increasing risks from extreme heat, air pollution and infectious disease. The article notes that, separately, COP30 host Brazil has launched the Belem Health Action Plan, to encourage countries to monitor and coordinate climate-related health policy. 

MORE ON PEOPLE AT COP30 

• The Guardian reports that one in every 25 participants at COP30 is a fossil fuel lobbyist, according to figures from Kick Big Polluters Out. 
• Climate Home News reports that, despite a record turnout at COP30, only 14% of Indigenous Brazilians have been given access to “decision-making spaces”. 
• Separately, Climate Home News covers Indigenous activists raising concerns at COP30 as part of an Amazon flotilla. 
• The Guardian’s “Down to Earth” newsletter focuses on the influence of Trump at COP30, despite the US’s absence. 
• The Guardian reports that none of US ‘big four’ broadcasters – CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox – are at COP30.
• The Guardian reports that a row over the definition of “gender” threatens to “bog down” talks in Belem.

The Trump administration has announced it will allow drilling and mining in “a fragile expanse of tundra and wetlands in northern Alaska that is home to caribou, grizzly bears and thousands of migratory birds”, reports the New York Times. The move revokes restrictions brought in under former president Joe Biden, which banned development in  23m acres of federal land in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, it continues: “Despite having “petroleum” in its name, the expanse is some of the last remaining pristine wilderness in the country and contains some of the most important wildlife habitat in the Arctic.” Reuters quotes interior secretary Doug Burgum, who said that “by rescinding the 2024 rule, we are following the direction set by president Trump to unlock Alaska’s energy potential, create jobs for North Slope communities and strengthen American energy security”.

MORE ON US

• Reuters reports that the White House has held separate meetings with oil refiners and biofuel producers this week, as it nears a decision on refinery waivers.

The head of China’s COP30 delegation Li Gao has said that China is steadily making progress in achieving its “dual carbon” goals and that it is ready to “strengthen practical cooperation” with other countries to support “global climate governance, ecological protection and green, low-carbon development”, reports Beijing News. Speaking at the COP30 China Pavilion, Li added that “steady progress” has been made in areas such as energy conservation and carbon reduction, as well as the “circular economy” and the domestic carbon market, according to the newspaper. In a comment for state-run newspaper China Daily, Josef Gregory Mahoney,  director of the Center for Ecological Civilization at East China Normal University, says that China will take “decisive steps toward realising key green targets”, including “dual carbon” goals and the new NDC targets.

MORE ON CHINA

• The NEA says that, as of 2024, China’s renewable power capacity has reached 1,889 gigawatts (GW), accounting for roughly 56% of total power capacity, while renewable electricity generation has reached 3.47m gigawatt-hours (GWh), accounting for about 35% of the total electricity generation, according to BJX News.
• Spain and China have agreed to strengthen cooperation on renewable energy, China Daily reports.
• Yicai says that China’s electricity demand is estimated to increase by 8% each year between 2028 and 2030, up from a previous estimate of 4-5%, driven by more AI data centres, “robust exports” and “speeding electrification”, citing Swiss bank UBS.
• China is actively working to reduce its dependence on foreign uranium suppliers, as the country looks to accelerate the development of its nuclear energy sector, China Daily reports.
• SCMP carries an opinion article by Rutgers University’ Jesse Rodenbiker, under the headline: “Can China balance green ambition with everyday ways of life?” Also in the SCMP, Wang Huiyao and Zhi Wang explore how the “global green industrialisation initiative can have a ‘win-win-win’ outcome”. 
• BBC News: “How China won the world’s EV battery race”

Hundreds of thousands of homeowners could lose their right to subsidies to support the installation of heat pumps as a result of efforts by chancellor Rachel Reeves to bring down energy bills in the upcoming budget, reports the Guardian. Reeves is planning a series of measures to reduce energy bills amid the “concerns the country’s stubbornly high cost of living is driving millions of voters to Reform UK”, it adds. Sources have told the publication that those measures include a plan to remove energy efficient levies from bills and fund them through the government’s warm homes plan, the article notes. The Daily Telegraph notes that the current boiler upgrade scheme offers homeowners up to £7,500 to help cover the cost of heat pumps, to incentivise people to move away from gas boilers. The article adds that energy secretary Ed Miliband “is understood to have accepted that he must scale back the boiler upgrade scheme as a result of challenges to the public finances”. 

Relatedly, BBC News covers comments by a UK government official about the failures under the ECO4 scheme and the Great British Insulation Schemes. 

MORE ON UK 

• The Daily Mail and the Independent cover Miliband’s response to criticism from US ambassador Warren Stephens over the recently announced Welsh nuclear plant plan.
• BusinessGreen reports that more than 200,000 solar installations have been added to UK household rooftops across the country so far this year, beating previous records. 
• The Guardian, the Times and others report that EVs will have to pay the congestion charge in London from January. 
• The Times covers comments by the government’s adviser on adapting to climate change Baroness Brown, who said charging those who water large gardens “should be paying through the nose for it”.
• The Guardian reports that Scotland is on track to issue its own government bonds, nicknamed “kilts”.

A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that the world is producing more oil than it needs and by next year there could be a glut of 4m barrels a day, reports the Guardian. The IEA said that despite some of the biggest producers pausing their plans to increase crude exports, the surplus in 2026 is likely to be larger than previously forecast, the article continues. It quotes the IEA, which said, “global oil market balances are looking increasingly lopsided, as world oil supply is forging ahead while oil demand growth remains modest by historical standards”. Reuters reports that oil supply is rising faster than demand, with 4m barrels per day representing almost 4% of world demand. Bloomberg notes the IEA highlighted “considerable downside risk” to its outlook for Russian crude production from US sanctions, although it did not estimate the full impact. The Wall Street Journal and others also covered this story.

In the Daily Telegraph, energy secretary Ed Miliband argues that “Britain must drive for sovereign capability in clean, home-grown power”. Miliband points to the cost of living crisis triggered by the Russian invasion on Ukraine and subsequent impact on energy bills, adding that the country’s exposure to the gas market “leaves us insecure because it is the actions of malign dictators like Vladimir Putin that shape these markets”. He continues to discuss the recent announcement that Wylfa in Wales will be the home of Britain’s first small modular reactors (SMRs), as part of the next step in the country’s “proud nuclear heritage and significant future potential”. Miliband concludes: “I firmly believe that we cannot have a safe, prosperous country without the sovereignty and abundance that clean energy brings. Today’s announcement for Wylfa is another step forward on that road and another significant advance for new nuclear in our country.”

MORE IN COMMENT

• In the Guardian, columnist George Monbiot explores the “dark forces are preventing us fighting the climate crisis”. 
• Guardian Australia political editor Tom McIlroy discusses the Liberal party’s “imminent move to abandon the 2050 climate goal”. Similarly, Guardian Australia economic editor, Patrick Commins, discusses the link between net-zero and energy bills in the country. 
• Chris Skidmore, chair of the Climate Action Coalition and a former Conservative MP, argues in BusinessGreen that “the case for climate action needs a new approach”. 
• In the Times, Centrica CEO Chris O’Shea argues that regulator Ofgem is “no longer fit for purpose”. 
• An editorial in the Wall Street Journal argues that “even Massachusetts Democrats are rethinking CO2 emissions targets”.

In the Washington Post, foreign affairs columnist Ishaan Tharoor writes that, at COP30, the world is committing to climate action “with or without the US”. He discusses a protest at the summit, where Indigenous activists forced their way into the building, as well as the “greater drama playing out at COP30” a decade after the Paris Agreement was signed. Tharoor continues to explore comments from concerned climate scientists and the actions of US president Donald Trump, who has referred to climate action as a “con job”. Tharoor notes that “now, it seems clear that the world is not waiting for the US”, adding: “Given growing difficulties in finding absolute consensus among UN members, countries such as Brazil have sought out ‘coalitions of the willing’ to work on specific climate actions plans or solutions.”

MORE IN COP30 COMMENT

• In his column in Le Monde, Pascal Riché offers a note of caution for “those drawn to China’s environmental push”.
• In the Observer, contributing editor Jeevan Vasagar argues that the drop in emissions reported by the UN is “not enough”. 
• Guardian Europe columnist Nathalie Tocci argues that the EU has “given in to the right’s green-bashing”.
• Semafor climate and energy editor Tim McDonnell writes about the “after-hours party scene” at COP30.

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Molly Lempriere, with contributions from Henry Zhang and Wanyuan Song. It was edited by Robert McSweeney.

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