The EU and China have “committed to leading the world in the fight against climate change” in a joint statement released yesterday after the EU-China summit, Bloomberg reports. It continues: “Brussels and Beijing will deliver updated climate plans for 2035 that are in line with the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, ahead of the UN’s COP30 summit in Brazil later this year…They’ll also boost cooperation in areas such as the energy transition and tackling methane emissions.” The New York Times reports the summit found “common ground on climate change”, adding that the statement was “conspicuously silent on trade issues, including electric cars”. State news agency Xinhua carries the full text of the statement. Chinese president Xi Jinping urged his EU counterparts to “keep the trade and investment market open and refrain from using restrictive economic and trade tools”, Reuters reports. The Financial Times quotes European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen saying that “without progress” on overcapacity challenges, it “will be very difficult” for the EU to “maintain its current level of openness”. The EU and China said they would show joint leadership on driving a “global just transition”, Climate Home News reports. Politico says EU-China cooperation on climate change has “taken on new importance” since the Trump administration moved to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. Nevertheless, the outlet says “when it came to the contents [of the climate statement], there was little substance”.

MORE ON CHINA

• China Daily publishes an opinion article by CREA lead analyst Lauri Myllyvirta examining how Chinese can drive the “global energy transition”. China Daily covers a similar analysis by Myllyvirta for Carbon Brief.
• The South China Morning Post (SCMP) publishes a commentary by Wang Huiyao, founder of the Centre for China and Globalisation thinktank, arguing that China must “tangibly invest…in foreign markets” and “not deprive local economies of opportunity” in the energy transition.
• Agence France-Presse reports that a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson hailed the International Court of Justice ruling as “positive”.
• China’s incinerators are “struggling to find enough waste to burn”, with 40% of waste-to-energy incineration capacity “sitting idle”, according to SCMP.
• Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which includes Russia and several central Asian states, met to discuss “clean energy, green technologies [and] sustainable finance” in China, China Daily reports.
• Bloomberg says an outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus chikungunya in China is the “latest sign that tropical diseases…are expanding their reach [due to] climate change”.

Companies in the US cancelled, closed or scaled back more than $22bn worth of clean-energy investments during the first half of the year, according to new analysis by research group E2, covered by the Hill. More than 5,000 jobs were lost to the changes in June alone, pushing the total number of job losses this year up to 16,500, the outlet adds. The cuts are equivalent to around 17% of the $133bn worth of clean energy projects announced since the start of 2022, “many of which are based in Republican-led states”, according to Bloomberg. It explains that this comes ahead of US president Donald Trump signing a tax bill that rolls back significant Biden-era tax breaks for low-carbon sectors. In a series of earnings calls earlier this week, renewable energy developers downplayed Trump’s elimination of clean energy subsidies and expressed confidence they could still advance projects “despite political headwinds”, according to Politico. Iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue company has cancelled two green hydrogen projects – including one in Arizona – and laid “some of the blame on the Trump administration’s shift away from renewable energy”, the Guardian reports. In an interview with Semafor, Wally Adeyemo, the former deputy Treasury secretary under Joe Biden, says Trump’s effort to block renewables will “undermine a vital new national security tool by leaving US consumers more exposed to sanctions-related volatility” in oil markets. Inside Climate News speaks to experts about what people in the US should do if they want to buy rooftop solar panels, air source heat pumps and certain water heaters, as the Trump administration withdraws consumer tax credits.

MORE ON US

• In a frontpage story, the Financial Times reports that Tesla shares have fallen “sharply” after the company warned of a “rough” ride from Donald Trump’s anti-electric vehicle policies.
• Republicans in the House of Representatives are advancing plans to pull US funding for the International Energy Agency, saying the group is biased in its projections of clean-energy growth, Bloomberg reports.
• Jason Burnett, a senior Environmental Protection Agency figure during George W Bush’s administration, tells the Guardian that the Trump administration’s move to eliminate the “endangerment finding” on greenhouse gases ignores “clearcut” science that has only become clearer due to extreme weather.
• Trump has signed a bill cancelling $9bn in funds that had previously been approved, mainly for foreign aid, according to the Associated Press. (As reported when the bill passed through Congress, this includes support for clean-energy projects.)
• The Financial Times asks if US progress on cutting methane pollution can “survive Trump”.

In continuing coverage, BBC News reports that the UK government has increased the guaranteed price offered for new offshore wind projects. The news outlet says the government has published details ahead of its latest auction in which developers bid for “contracts for difference”, providing them with a guarantee on the price of their electricity. This marks “one of the last which can deliver projects in time to meet the government’s target of clean power by 2030”, the article notes. Reuters says the guaranteed price for offshore wind has been increased by 11%, “amid rising costs for projects due to inflation and supply chain bottlenecks”. The newswire says the Labour government is “facing mounting pressure…over the affordability of its net-zero plan and following a 66% rise in the prices offered for offshore wind during last year’s auction”. Bloomberg says that mounting costs for wind power “make it harder for the country to meet twin objectives of slashing emissions and customer bills”. The Daily Telegraph quotes Conservative shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho, who describes the proposed prices as “eye-watering”. The net-zero-sceptic newspaper says the “extra money risks being added to power bills via a levy”. Other right-leaning newspapers also focus on such criticism, with the Daily Express quoting Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who says that net-zero targets “with no plan will bankrupt Britain”. The Daily Mail’s coverage has the headline “[energy secretary] Ed Miliband offers wind farms even more cash to lure in developers”.

MORE ON UK

• UK and Indian leaders signed a new free trade agreement between the two countries yesterday, but critics say the deal fails to protect environmental standards and “lacks robust climate safeguards”, according to the Guardian.
• Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Labour MP Zarah Sultana are launching a new left-wing UK political party, promising to “stand up to fossil fuel giants”, the Financial Times reports.
• A UK government focus group has found that while 86% of men were in favour of new electricity pylons, just 69% of women said the same, according to the Daily Telegraph.
• The Universities Superannuation Scheme, the UK’s biggest private sector pension scheme, intends to “step up lobbying of governments, regulators and standard-setters” for more climate action, Reuters reports.

German economy minister Katherina Reiche sparked “confusion” by claiming there was a “heat pump mandate” in Germany’s Building Energy Act, which requires new heating systems to use at least 65% renewable energy, Der Spiegel reports. However, the law allows alternatives to heat pump technologies, such as district heating, explains the article. Hamburg’s environment senator, Katharina Fegebank, criticised the federal government for lacking direction just as heat pump adoption gains momentum, notes the outlet. Meanwhile, Germany’s largest wastewater heat pump is set to begin operating in Hamburg next year, supplying heat to up to 39,000 households and supporting the shutdown of the Wedel coal plant, the article says. A Handelsblatt article highlights how combining photovoltaics with solar thermal energy makes heat pumps more efficient. 

MORE ON GERMANY

• Deutsche Welle reports that German chancellor Friedrich Merz held talks with French president Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, as Paris pushes Berlin to commit to “technology neutrality” and recognise nuclear energy as “climate-friendly.”
• Under an initiative by German environment minister Carsten Schneider, Germany is increasing its investment in forests and wetlands to support climate adaptation, reports Table.Media.

Industry data shows that the expansion of solar power in the EU is “on track for its first annual slowdown in more than a decade” as some governments reduce subsidies for rooftop solar panels, Reuters reports. The article explains that the trend “reflects shifting political priorities in Europe as some member countries have scaled back green measures”. Bloomberg reports that solar power additions are set to decline by 1.4% in the EU this year, “marking the first annual dip since 2016, according to industry group Solar Power Europe”.

MORE ON EUROPE

• Euractiv reports that the far-right Patriots for Europe group in the European parliament is “mov[ing] to kill” the EU’s 2040 climate bill.
• The Associated Press reports on how outdoor workers “in southern Europe’s sweltering tourist hot spots” are facing intense heat.
• In a frontpage story, the Daily Telegraph reports that two people have died in  “Cyprus’s most destructive wildfires for 50 years”. The Guardian also has the story.

Business columnist Jeremy Grant has an article in the Scotsman considering the need for a “new narrative” to “protect Scotland’s huge pipeline of offshore wind projects”. He explains how Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice recently told the heads of offshore wind developers in the UK that, if elected in 2029, his party would “strike down” any contracts they signed under the next government renewable-energy auction. [In fact, Tice later rowed back these comments, clarifying that “a legally binding contract is a legally binding contract”.] Grant says Tice’s threat could “spell an end” to Scotland’s future offshore wind developments and point to the economic and employment benefits of this industry. He writes: “In Scotland, we already see the start of re-industrialisation on a scale not witnessed since the oil boom of the 1970s.” Grant continues: “Instead, Tice’s party wants more licences to drill for oil in the North Sea – a call that may be reinforced by US president Donald Trump when he meets Sir Keir Starmer in Aberdeen. Yet this ignores the fact that the North Sea basin is in decline and any new licences to drill will make little difference to oil production.” He concludes: “Renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuels. But the time it will take for this to filter through to the public risks being longer than [energy secretary Ed] Miliband’s 2030 target. A new narrative is required.”

MORE COMMENT

• Climate-sceptic columnist Matt Riddley is given a full page in the Daily Mail to write about the UK government increasing the guaranteed price paid for new wind power, which he describes as “the most regressive wealth transfer in history”.
• Daily Telegraph associate editor Ben Marlow, another critic of net-zero policies, also has an article about the government’s wind power plans. He describes the move as the “latest devastating blow to [Miliband’s] clean energy fantasy”.
• Meanwhile, climate scientist Andrew Dessler has an article on the Climate Brink showing how, despite what some people claim, “renewables do not appear to be increasing the cost of energy generation” and that “adding renewables reduces the cost of electricity”.

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Josh Gabbatiss, with contributions by Henry Zhang and Anika Patel. It was edited by Robert McSweeney.

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