More than 200 countries have agreed to increase the budget of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to €81.5m for 2026-27, Reuters reports. According to the newswire, the new budget is a 10% increase compared to the UNFCCC’s 2024-25 budget. It continues: “The deal includes an increase in China’s contribution, reflecting the country’s economic growth. China, the world’s second-biggest economy, would cover 20% of the new budget, up from 15% previously. Only the US, the world’s biggest economy, was allocated a bigger share, of 22%…The US did not attend the UN climate talks this week in Bonn, Germany where the budget was approved.” The newswire adds that the UNFCCC “has faced a severe budget shortfall in recent years, as major donors including China and the US had not paid on time, prompting the body to cut costs including by cancelling some events”. 

Meanwhile, Climate Home News’s “Bonn bulletin” on the interim UN climate talks says “activists are excited that talks on a just transition work programme (JTWP) have progressed rather well”. It continues: “After stalling at COP29 in Baku, negotiators agreed in Bonn on a way forward for the JTWP, allowing them to get together with observers last night for beer-garden drinks by the Rhine. Campaigners hope the JTWP will lead to a Belém Action Mechanism, agreed at COP30 in Brazil, that enables advice-sharing with government officials at all levels who are trying to pursue a just transition on the ground.” Bloomberg says that, after two weeks of talks in Bonn, “it’s still not clear what Brazil will need, or is aiming, to deliver”. It continues: “For hosts, the uphill battle begins now. Before the summit, all 193 countries need to submit so-called nationally determined contributions, NDCs, which detail how they plan to meet their share of the Paris Agreement goal. So far, less than 30 have done so and two of the biggest emitters – the European Union and China – are not among them.” Separately, Climate Home News reports that Brazil’s environment minister Marina Silva said that this year’s COP30 climate summit in Belém could result in a roadmap setting out what a “planned and just transition to end fossil fuels” should look like. 

In other news, Reuters reports that Ana Toni, CEO of the COP30 climate summit, has said “countries should not over-rely on buying carbon credits to meet climate targets”. This comes “as the European Union readies a new emissions goal that may include credits for the first time”, the newswire says. Politico reports that “the French government is demanding delays to the European Union’s next green milestone”. The outlet says France is “teaming up with the EU’s climate laggards to decouple discussions on the bloc’s upcoming 2035 and 2040 climate targets”. According to the outlet, French president Emmanuel Macron planned to raise the issue at Thursday’s EU leaders’ summit in Brussels. Bloomberg says: “The European Commission wants the EU to cut emissions by 90% from 1990 levels. Strong resistance on Thursday may effectively force the bloc’s executive arm to delay that proposal, which needs support from member states and the European Parliament to be approved.” Euractiv has a story under the headline: “Carbon capture advocates nervous as EU eyes weaker climate target.” Elsewhere, E&E News says: “The European Commission set off a political cluster bomb Friday when it suddenly declared it was killing a relatively minor rule on corporate greenwashing.”

The UK government has decided against funding a £24bn project to transport wind and solar energy from Morocco to the UK via undersea cables, Bloomberg reports. According to the outlet, government officials released a statement on Thursday saying the project has a “high level of inherent, cumulative risk”. It adds: “Government backing would have helped to unlock a final investment decision on the project…Without state support, it will be harder to pull off such an unusual and risky undertaking.” The Financial Times reports that the project, called Xlinks, would have supplied power to 7m homes in the UK, making up around 8% of Britain’s power needs. It continues: “Ed Miliband, energy secretary, concluded that the project did not ‘stack up’ and that it had too many ‘holes’, people familiar with the situation told the Financial Times earlier on Thursday.” According to Reuters, the UK government “said on Thursday it believed domestic projects could offer better economic benefits”. The Times says: “Xlinks, chaired by the former Tesco boss Sir Dave Lewis, has been seeking a government contract committing UK consumers to buy electricity from the ambitious project at a fixed, subsidised price for 25 years.” Sky News says the government is “snubbing” the project. The Associated Press and Daily Telegraph also cover the news. 

Elsewhere, the Financial Times reports that “Centrica is set to take a 15% stake in the UK’s Sizewell C nuclear project after years of delay and months of drawn out negotiations”. The newspaper continues: “The planned investment by Centrica means that the FTSE 100 energy company behind British Gas would have the same size stake in Sizewell C as French state-owned energy group EDF, which has progressively reduced its position in the Suffolk project to 15%.” Following warnings in recent days and weeks, the owner of the UK’s biggest bioethanol plant has again threatened to close the Hull site by mid-September and has now begun consultations with staff “to effect an orderly wind-down”, reports the Guardian. The owner, Associated British Foods (ABF), has warned that concessions made in the recent US trade deal would wipe out the industry in the UK, the newspaper notes. An ABF spokesperson said that it had entered formal negotiations with the government over the future of the Vivergo plant, but that it had now started staff consultations given the outcome of talks was “uncertain”, the article reports. A spokesman for the government said ABF’s latest ultimatum was “disappointing to see”, while business secretary Jonathan Reynolds described it as “premature”, reports the Daily Telegraph. The Times also covers the story.

In other UK news, a frontpage story in the Daily Telegraph says that a “net-zero tax” will make glass bottles of wine and beer more expensive. The Times also makes the same claim regarding the extended producer responsibility (EPR), which will require retailers and manufacturers to pay fees for the disposal of packaging they use. [The EPR is intended to put the cost of recycling onto packaging producers, rather than local councils. It has nothing to do with net-zero. Both the Telegraph and the Times only mention the term “net-zero” in their headline and opening line.] The Sun criticises “eco-loon” Ed Miliband after a civil servant travelled to Brazil to research hotel options for COP30. [The lack of accommodation in Belém for COP30 has been widely reported.] Finally, the Guardian reports that “climate campaigners” are suggesting that the Met Office name its storms after oil and gas companies in its annual storm-naming competition.

There is widespread media coverage of the heatwaves hitting Europe and the US. The Financial Times reports that “temperatures passed 40C in parts of the US as a so-called heat dome – a phenomenon that occurs when a high-pressure system traps heat – took hold across eastern and central states”. It adds: “Countries including Greece, Spain and France have also faced heatwaves this month due to another heat dome having formed over part of Europe.” The piece quotes climate scientist Michael Mann, who said that “‘dual heat domes’ in both Europe and North America were likely to ‘become more common as we continue to heat the planet’”. NBC News and E&E News explain what heat domes are, while Scientific American covers a recent study which suggests that heat domes are becoming hotter and longer-lasting “because of [melting in] the Arctic”. 

BBC News reports that parts of England are expected to see temperatures exceed 30C over the coming week. The outlet says that amber health alerts have been issued for some parts of England. It continues: “The new heat health alerts come as a second heatwave of 2025 is expected in parts of the UK…The peak of the heat is expected to be on Monday when a temperature of 34C or 35C could be reached around London or Cambridge.” Sky News says there is a 20% of this year beating the record for the hottest June day, which was set at 35.6C in 1976. The Independent maps the upcoming heatwave. BBC News says: “Heatwaves are becoming more common due to climate change, with a greater chance of seeing extreme heat.” The Daily Telegraph has a piece with the headline “‘Deadly’ amber heat weather warning for Glastonbury weekend”. The Daily Mail says the UK Health Security Agency has “activated the five-day alert amid concerns that there could be ‘a rise in deaths, particularly among those ages 65 and over or with health conditions’”. The Guardian covers a report from the UK Green Building Council which finds that “the UK’s schools, care homes and offices are not equipped for the effects of global heating and face lengthy heatwaves even in optimistic scenarios”.

In other extreme weather news, Reuters reports that “Greek firefighters on Thursday battled a wildfire that burned residences and holiday houses near the coastal town of Palaia Fokaia, 40km south of Athens, forcing people to flee”. Deutsche Welle says: “The cause of the blaze is still unknown, but authorities say that high temperatures approaching 40C and strong winds are fueling its rapid spread.” The Press Association, the Hill and BBC News also cover the fires. The Associated Press reports that the death toll from recent flooding in South Africa has risen to more than 100 people. A second Associated Press article reports that “authorities in northern India have reported three deaths and at least a dozen missing after a flash flood caused by heavy rains”. In south-west China, six people have died from flooding caused by “above-average rains”, Bloomberg reports, adding: “China often deals with heavy downpours and flooding in the summer that lead to loss of life and crop damage, a problem exacerbated by climate change.” Extreme weather “[linked] to climate change” increasingly “poses major challenges” for China, especially in the rural areas “due to limited infrastructure and resources”, Reuters notes.

Oil and gas company Shell said in a statement yesterday that it has “no intention” of making an offer to buy rival company BP, the Guardian reports. According to the outlet, the announcement comes after media reports that Shell was “in early talks with its competitor to create a £200bn UK oil supermajor”. Shell made the statement under rule 2.8 of the UK’s takeover code – a set of rules governing mergers and takeovers of listed companies – meaning that Shell is now “blocked from making a formal offer to buy BP for at least half a year, except in specific circumstances”, the newspaper says. Bloomberg says: “The announcement quells speculation that the UK’s two oil majors would end up combining, following several years of poor performance from BP and rising pressure from activist shareholder Elliot Investment Management.” The Daily Telegraph, Reuters, Times, Press Association, Sky News, and Euronews also cover the update.

As of last month, China’s “Xiaona” rate has been maintained “above 90%” in a sign of “positive progress”, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) revealed, as wind and solar power installations “exceeded thermal power” to reach 570 gigawatts (GW) and 1 terawatts, respectively, China Economic Net reports. Energy industry news outlet BJX News says the NDRC has taken three measures to promote Xiaona: increase local consumption needs, adjust overall demand and supply and adjust the flexibility of the grids. The NDRC also introduces plans for electricity supply security for the summer, according to the International Energy Network. The NDRC, along with other ministries, has also unveiled the 2025-30 “solar sand-control plan” in the Gobi deserts that will see “253GW of additional solar deployment” and “673,333 hectares of desertified land controlled” in the next five years, BJX News says in a separate report.

Meanwhile, China will roll out its third batch of “consumer trade-in subsidies” in July, Hong Kong newspaper the Standard reports. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has issued an “implementation plan” to promote “green and low-carbon standardisation in the industries and IT sector”, notes BJX News.

Elsewhere, Wall Street Journal publishes an article under the headline: “China is still choking exports of rare earths despite [a] pact with US.” Chinese authorities have also been “ramping up anti-graft investigations” in rare earth producing regions as they blamed “corruption” for “environmental pollution” and the “smuggling” of the strategic minerals crucial in US trade talks, Japanese news outlet Nikkei Asia reports. Wang Huiyao, founder of thinktank Centre for China and Globalisation, writes in an opinion piece in Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP), urging Chinese companies to “seize the opportunities available for joint ventures and greenfield investments” as they “expand globally”. China’s imports of liquefied natural gas are “poised to decline for an eighth month”, Bloomberg reports.

Finally, China’s “plug-in hybrid electric car” exports to Europe have “spiked”, SCMP reports. And Chinese automakers are also “aiming to leverage low prices” to export more “electric and hybrid vehicles” to Africa, says Reuters.

Writing in Climate Home News, Maira Martini and Dr Jeni Miller –  CEO of Transparency International and executive director of the Global Climate and Health Alliance, respectively – call for safeguards to remove fossil fuel lobbyists from future COPs. They write: “The presence of fossil fuel proponents inside the UN climate talks exposes major gaps in transparency and conflict-of-interest safeguards and threatens the integrity of the COP negotiation process. It also goes against the grain of a growing global trend to protect public policy and public health from vested interests. Unlike other UN bodies, the UNFCCC – responsible for negotiating agreements to limit dangerous climate change – lacks adequate safeguards to manage conflicts of interest and industry influence. The UNFCCC must adopt stronger measures now – and there is clear urgency to do so.” The piece says the UNFCCC “would do well” to follow the decisions made at the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, where “in response to a tobacco industry proposal for self-regulation, [director general] Brundtland commissioned an investigation into its interference in UN policymaking”. 

Separately, the Financial Times has an editorial under the headline: “Britain’s industrial strategy will not guarantee growth.” It says: “[T]he industrial strategy is too light on energy costs, tax reform and immediate skills shortages, which are significant bugbears for business. The UK has the highest industrial electricity prices in the developed world. The government’s main solution is to provide costly subsidies to energy-intensive companies, which will only kick in after a two-year consultation period.” Daily Mail city editor Alex Brummer writes about the possible BP and Shell merger, saying “if there must be a merger, it must be an all-British one”. An editorial in the Sun highlights a trip by a civil servant to assess the health and safety of hotels for COP30. It says: “Apparently we must all ditch the gas boilers that keep us warm. But pumping out tonnes of CO2 is completely fine if it’s in pursuit of a perfect hotel suite for the minister. Miliband’s hypocrisy will probably go down badly with the Climate Change Committee quango.”

Over 2021-24, glaciers in western Canada, the US and Switzerland lost mass at double the rate of the previous decade, according to new research. Researchers use data from glaciers in western North America and Switzerland, along with climate data and satellite imagery of surface reflectance to assess the mass loss over the past few years. They find that during the four year period, glaciers in North America lost 12% of their total volume and those in Switzerland lost 13%, compared to 2020. They note that several conditions “favoured” the high levels of mass loss, including warm and dry conditions, as well as darkened surfaces due to wildfires and dust.