The Financial Times covers India’s new climate plan, which sets “modest goals for renewable energy and emissions cuts for the next decade, as the country grapples with its rising energy needs”. The newspaper notes that all countries were due to submit national climate plans to the UN last year under the Paris Agreement, but India’s had been “much delayed”. Reuters reports that India is aiming to cut emissions intensity by 47% from 2005 levels by 2035, while expanding clean-energy capacity. It adds: “The world’s fastest-growing major economy aims to lift the share of installed clean power capacity to 60% over the next decade, from 52.6% now, and build on efforts to ​reduce emissions intensity that in 2020 had been cut by 36% from 2005 ​levels.” Bloomberg reports that a statement from prime minister Narendra Modi’s office said the new strategy is an attempt to “harmonise national realities, developmental priorities, energy security and the need for greater ambition in climate action”. Climate Home News reports that, while reactions from analysts have been “generally positive”, others have noted that the targets are “too easy to meet”. Other outlets covering the news include India Today, Down to Earth and the Hindustan Times.

Meanwhile, Reuters covers new analysis for Carbon Brief revealing that India’s carbon emissions grew at their slowest pace in over two decades in 2025. The Indian Express adds: “The analysis attributed the 3.8% fall in emissions from the power sector to two reasons – a record growth in expansion of renewable energy like solar and wind, and a decline in growth of power demand, which had come down from an average of about 7.4% between 2019 and 2023 to 1% last year.”

Germany has unveiled a plan to help it reach its 2030 climate target and reduce its dependence on “volatile fossil-fuel imports”, reports Reuters. It continues that the plan includes €8bn in funds to expand wind power capacity and boost EV sales. The newswire explains that Germany is aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65% from 1990 levels by 2030, ahead of being “climate neutral” by 2045. Deutsche Welle reports that the plan includes 67 measures designed to save an additional 27.1m tonnes of CO2 by the end of the decade. It quotes environment minister Carsten Schneider, who described the program as “a new boost for climate protection that will make us less dependent on expensive and unreliable oil and gas imports”.

MORE ON EUROPE

• The Guardian and the Daily Telegraph cover comments by oil and gas major Shell’s chief executive that Europe could face an energy shortage by April, if the Strait of Hormuz does not reopen.
• The Financial Times covers a warning from the chief executive of German gas importer Uniper that incoming EU methane legislation will restrict Europe’s energy access.
• The Financial Times reports that Brussels is planning to limit carbon prices under its emission trading system after pressure from industries “facing soaring costs because of the Iran war”.

The Guardian covers a new study that finds the US has caused “an eye-watering $10tn in global damages to the world” over the past 30 years via its greenhouse gas emissions. It continues that as the world’s largest historical carbon emitter, the US has caused more harm to worldwide economic growth than any other country. The newspaper notes that the US has “inflicted” a quarter of the “economic pain” from climate-driven damage “on itself”, as well as an estimated $500bn to India and $330bn in damage to Brazil. The Guardian adds that the research suggests China, now the world’s biggest annual emitter, is responsible for $9tn in damages since 1990. 

MORE ON THE US

• Bloomberg reports that oil prices have risen again as the US and Iran offer “conflicting comments on efforts to end the war”. 
• Scientific American interviews US climate scientist Dr Kate Marvel about her decision to leave NASA, with Marvel saying “that science is under attack, not because its conclusions are necessarily politically inconvenient but because it is a way of telling the truth”. [See Carbon Brief’s 2018 interview with Marvel.]
• The Financial Times reports that bidders are “circling” EDF’s North American renewable energy business as the company sells assets to cut debt and focus on the rollout of new nuclear plants. 
• The Guardian covers a new policy unveiled by progressive lawmakers to place a moratorium on the construction of AI datacenters “amid an unprecedented energy crisis”.
• Reuters reports that Maryland’s highest court has rejected a climate change lawsuit brought by three municipal and county governments against major oil and gas companies, including ​Exxon Mobil, BP and Chevron.

China’s coal-to-chemical stocks have risen up to 30% since the Iran war started, reports Reuters. The newswire explains that the sector can turn “domestic coal into petroleum products and other chemicals” without relying on oil imports. It adds that the war will “reinforce Beijing’s bet on the expensive and dirty coal-to-chemicals sector” to strengthen energy security, even as investors expect stronger renewable energy expansion. State-run China Youth Daily says the crisis has intensified the “fragility of traditional energy supply chains” and highlights the importance of developing “new energy”. Bloomberg says the war could undermine “petrodollar dominance” and mark the “beginnings of the petroyuan”, according to Deutsche Bank, citing reports that Iran is allowing shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, if “oil payments are made in yuan”. Industry newspaper China Chemical Daily says gas will be in a “central position in the future energy mix” amid rising energy demand, geopolitical conflicts and the “green transition”.

MORE ON CHINA

• China added 32.5GW of solar capacity, 11GW of wind capacity and 19.9 GW of thermal capacity in January and February, reports CEPN.
• Northern China is experiencing record-high temperatures for this time of year, reports China Daily, without explicitly mentioning climate change.
• China’s State Council has appointed Xu Bijiu as vice minister of the MEE, reports BJX News.
• A Global Times editorial claims that with its “underwhelming progress” in the “green transition”, the EU risks “self-inflicted damage” if it were to “confront” China.
• The South China Morning Post says more than 60% of surveyed Chinese firms, including those focused on renewables, expect their EU revenue to keep growing.

The UK’s renewable output hit a record high yesterday, “helping to blunt the impact of the Middle East war on power prices”, reports Bloomberg. The outlet adds that the country’s solar and wind fleet produced about 34 gigawatts (GW) of electricity around midday, according to data from the National Energy System Operator. It continues that this pushed gas generation down to just over a gigawatt, a mere 2.4% of the power mix and the lowest it has been since April 2024. Bloomberg notes that this “limited the country’s exposure to higher fuel costs driven by the hostilities surrounding Iran”.

MORE ON UK  

• The Independent interviews climate minister Kate White about how “we need to re-make the case for net-zero”. 
• The Financial Times reports that the UK has approved a £100m plan to reopen a mothballed carbon dioxide plant to avoid shortages caused by the Iran war. 
• The Times reports that chancellor Rachel Reeves is planning to announce a limited package of support for energy bills over the summer, ahead of a “more significant bailout in the winter”.  
• The Independent covers comments from energy minister Michael Shanks that the UK is “absolutely not” planning for blackouts or rationing in light of the Iran war’s impact on oil and gas. 
• The Daily Mail covers Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s calls during yesterday’s prime minister’s questions to ramp up North Sea oil and gas amid the “fallout of the Middle East energy crisis”. [Carbon Brief has factchecked recent claims about North Sea oil and gas.] 
• Bloomberg reports that UK businesses are facing a “sharp increase” in energy costs as the Iran war drives up wholesale gas and power prices.

The Times reports that the government has blocked a £1.5bn wind turbine in the Highlands in Scotland over national security concerns. It adds that the Ming Yang plant would have brought 1,500 jobs to the port at Ardersier, near Nairn. The article says that Kate Forbes, the Scottish deputy first minister, has accused the government of “sabogag[ing]” Scotland’s industrial future through the decision. The Daily Telegraph reports that Ming Yang has been “subject to scrutiny over potential spying concerns”. The Independent quotes a government spokesperson, who said: “We will always act to protect our national security, and we are committed to strengthening and prioritising resilient and sustainable offshore wind supply chains.” The Financial Times claims the story as an “exclusive”. Relatedly, the Guardian reports that a “string” of offshore wind projects in the UK and EU could face potential delays as the Iran war threatens the “supply of crucial parts”. 

MORE ON UK

• The climate-sceptic Daily Mail covers pushback against media regulator Ofcom looking into alleged climate-sceptic comments on right-leaning broadcasters, with climate-sceptic lobby groups accusing the investigation of being an “Orwellian” assault on free speech.
• The Guardian reports that UK suppliers will be prioritised for public contracts under new guidance for sectors vital to national security, including energy infrastructure. 
• The Times reports that ministers will cut the number of consultations and environmental assessments within government, to lessen the “sludge” of bureaucracy.

Representatives from 16 member countries of the Ibero-American General Secretariat, have “closed ranks…in support of the international green agenda and the development of major environmental treaties” at a climate and environment conference in Málaga, Spain, reports El País. It adds: “Among the countries attending this meeting…are Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Argentina. However, only four of the participating countries had ministers present in person: in addition to Spain, the host country, the ministers from Portugal, Andorra and Uruguay attended.” EFEVerde says that the countries agreed to a “roadmap that will lead countries’ efforts to address climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution…[It] will last four years and will encompass 16 key actions, such as strengthening early warning systems for extreme extremes, elaborating climate risk assessments, regional climate scenarios and climate action plans.”

MORE ON LATIN AMERICA

• Argentina’s government has “praised” the EU’s formal notification that the Mercosur-EU trade agreement will provisionally enter into force on 1 May, reports La Nación. A commentary for Brazil’s Folha de São Paulo adds that the agreement’s approval has been accelerated by “a complex geopolitical landscape”.
• Colombia’s lower chamber has passed a traceability bill to make sure that livestock produced in the country is “free from deforestation”, reports El Espectador.
• Argentina is discussing changes to its glaciers bill that would let provinces – rather than scientific bodies or the state – decide whether to protect certain glaciers from mining and oil exploitation, according to BioBioChile.
• André Corrêa do Lago, Brazil’s president of COP30, has said at an energy transition seminar that some sectors are banking on the worsening of climate change, which, he says, can be described as “immoral”, reports Folha de São Paulo.

Tara Singh, the new CEO of the RenewableUK trade body, writes in the Spectator that energy policy is, “ultimately, a judgement call on the future”. Singh adds that “technologies aren’t ideologies” and wind generation is a “pragmatic part of Britain’s power mix”. She highlights the need for energy security, in particular, and notes the limited options for further gas production in the UK. She also discusses nuclear power, carbon pricing and bills subsidies. Singh concludes: “Let’s start from a clear-eyed view of the world we live in, not the world we wish we did. In that context, wind isn’t ‘woke’. It’s the most sensible move on the board.”

Meanwhile, Fiona Harvey in the Guardian has an analysis piece headlined: “Fears net-zero is ‘next Brexit’ as oil crisis fuels political climate divide.” She writes: “Could net-zero become ‘the next Brexit’? That is the fear stalking climate advocates as the oil crisis caused by the war on Iran starts to bite. A powerful coalition of the well-funded Reform party, led by Nigel Farage, the Conservative party, some business interests, and the UK’s right-wing media, are engaged in an onslaught against the longstanding target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”

MORE UK COMMENT

• In the Guardian, columnist Jonathan Liew argues: “Why not use this moment to start painting the net-zero sceptics on the right as a national security threat?”
• An editorial in the climate-sceptic Sun argues falsely that “renewables aren’t yet reliable and, until they are, we need our own oil and gas” following comments made by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch during PMQs.
• In the Financial Times, columnist Soumaya Keynes discusses “how to survive an energy crunch”.
• An editorial in the print edition of the climate-sceptic Daily Mail focuses on the Ofcom investigation into “climate denial on TV” (see News above), arguing “we live in a free country where everyone should have the right to say what they like”.
• In the Daily Telegraph, climate-sceptic columnist Matthew Lynn argues that the oil crisis is “exactly what the net-zero brigade wants”.

Writing in the Kathmandu Post, Maheswar Rupakheti, vice-chair of Working Group I of the IPCC, and policy researcher Gobinda Prasad Pokharel explore the topic of climate overshoot. They say that for years the framing of the global climate debate has revolved around 1.5C or 2C as a focus, but with the 1.5C “guardrail is no longer a distant target” this “must shift”. They continue that “the framing of a distant goal now requires urgent recalibration”. They conclude: “Climate is entering a new state, characterised by systemic risk and narrowing margins for stability…the window to limit its depth, duration and irreversible consequences is closing rapidly.”

MORE COMMENT

• An editorial in the climate-sceptic comment pages of the Wall Street Journal celebrates New York governor Kathy Hochul’s “walk back” on climate mandates. 
• David Weigel for Semafor argues that the Green New Deal in the US is “fading” as climate activism evolves.
• In Bloomberg, columnist David Fickling looks at how the impact of the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is impacting Australia.