Southern Europe is facing a “deadly” heatwave, with temperatures of up to 44C, according to the Guardian. The newspaper continues: “French forecasters said heat records were likely to be broken on Monday and Tuesday as temperatures pass 42C in the south-west. Temperatures hit a record high of 41.4C in the village of Tourbes, near Béziers, at the weekend.” France24 reports that yesterday, temperature records were broken at four weather stations in southern France. The Independent says that both France and Spain have issued red weather warnings for the heat. Bloomberg says: “Authorities have also issued red alerts in Croatia and Serbia, where temperatures of up to 38C will raise fire risks and stress power grids.” The Press Association reports that the heat is “fuelling wildfires”. It says: “With major outbreaks in Spain, Portugal and deadly blazes in Greece since late June, the burned area is already far above the seasonal norm.” Reuters reports on a “fire whirl” in northern Spain, caused by “extreme heat and strong winds”. The MailOnline also covers the fire, adding: “Roughly 400 residents were relocated, while another 700 were evacuated from towns close to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Las Medulas.” 

MORE ON EXTREME HEAT

• “Record high temperatures in Japan could curb the country’s rice production”, according to Politico.
• The Guardian reports that Canada’s 2025 fire season is already the second-worst on record, with more than 7m hectares of land burned so far this year. The newspaper says “scientists report climate change is prolonging and exacerbating the burning”.
• Bloomberg reports that “Electricite de France SA was forced to shut four atomic reactors after a swarm of jellyfish clogged up filter drums at its Gravelines power plant”. The New York Times says in its coverage of the story: “Warmer water temperatures have also been associated with larger jellyfish populations.”

Western Australia’s coast has “suffered the worst bleaching on record after the state’s ‘longest, largest and most intense’ marine heatwave”, BBC News reports. It continues: “The damage – which will take months to assess – spans 1,500km and includes areas previously unscathed by climate change. Coral reefs worldwide have been suffering from a two-year-long global coral bleaching event, due to record high ocean temperatures.” The Guardian adds: “More than 100 scientists and marine managers will gather in Perth on Tuesday for a special meeting to discuss the devastating event that bleached and killed corals on remote reefs earlier this year. The marine heatwave that hit reefs from the world heritage-listed Ningaloo to the remote Ashmore Reef left many scientists shocked.” In the Conversation, James Paton Gilmour – a research scientist in coral ecology at the Australian Institute of marine science – writes: “For the worst-hit reefs, it’s hard to see how recovery to their previous glory is possible, given temperatures will continue to rise in the coming years.”

MORE ON AUSTRALIA

• EnergyMonitor says: “An interim report by the Australian government’s Productivity Commission has identified gaps in the country’s emissions reduction policies, particularly concerning the electricity sector post-2030.”
• The Guardian says: “Sydney has [had its[ wettest start to August in decades – and there could be more rain when spring arrives.” The newspaper links the rainfall to “abnormally high sea surface temperatures”. 
• Rod Sims, the chair of the Superpower Institute, writes in the Guardian that “Australia’s time has come to be a green energy-intensive export superpower”. 

Amber heat health warnings have been issued across much of England, as temperatures are forecast to hit the mid-30s today, the Press Association reports. The Guardian continues: “Human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging extreme weather around the world, driving more frequent and more deadly disasters including heatwaves, floods and wildfires.” BBC News says: “Hospital emergency departments have reported a surge in people seeking urgent care during the August heatwave.” The Daily Mail plays down the health warnings in an article that begins: “Health officials have been branded ‘nanny state’ after issuing a two-day ‘danger to life’ health alert for a brief heatwave starting tomorrow.” The Sun and Daily Express cover the heat warnings on their frontpages. The Daily Telegraph covers the heatwave under the headline: “Southern England to be hotter than Bali during fourth heatwave of summer.” A frontpage i newspaper story leads with the phrase “balmier than Bali”. The Guardian reports that “low-income and minority ethnic people in England [are] most at risk from dangerously hot homes”. Separately, the Guardian outlines “how to prevent UK homes overheating”. Elsewhere, a frontpage Guardian story warns of “drought-like weather until mid-autumn”. The Press Association reports that “England is now suffering from ‘nationally significant’ water shortfalls”. And BBC News reports that the fire on Arthur’s Seat in “Edinburgh was almost certainly sparked by human activity”, according to the fire service. 

MORE ON UK

• The UK government is being “sued in a secretive ‘corporate court’ after a proposal for a new coalmine in Cumbria was quashed by the high court”, the Guardian reports. DeSmog and Inside Climate News also cover the story.
• In a story trailed on its frontpage, the Financial Times reports that “Scottish wind farms were paid not to produce 37% of their planned output during the first half of this year, as the electricity could not be used locally or moved to where it was needed”.
• The Times reports that EV company Tesla has applied to the UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, for an electricity supply licence. According to the newspaper, the company is “preparing to launch as a household electricity supplier in Britain in coming months”. 
• BusinessGreen covers a new YouGov poll, which finds that “Eight in 10 Brits back more clean energy, including nearly two thirds of Reform supporters”.
• The Daily Telegraph reports that “ministers have vowed to speed up crucial nuclear projects as part of a plan to transform Britain into a green energy superpower”. According to the newspaper, a report by a “new independent taskforce” found that “red tape” is “holding up crucial infrastructure projects”.

China is “set to launch” a “dedicated” power line sending low-carbon electricity directly from a 1.3 gigawatt (GW) solar project to a nearby ethylene plant, state news agency Xinhua reports. The project will supply 2,100 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of “green electricity” annually directly to the manufacturer, raising the plant’s share of clean-power consumption from zero to 60%, it adds. The project will promote “local and nearby consumption of new energy” and help the ethylene plant “fully comply” with the standards set by the  EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), the newswire adds.

MORE ON CHINA

• The print edition of the People’s Daily publishes an article under the byline He Yin – indicating the views of party leadership on foreign policy – saying more countries are drawing on China’s experience in “building a clean and beautiful world”.
• The People’s Daily’s print edition carries a commentary by the paper’s “opinion department” praising China’s electric vehicle (EV) pioneers for “achieving a strategic leapfrog and leading the green revolution”.
• Nick Robins and Bob Ward, both at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, argue in China Daily that China’s “massive” clean-tech investments can help fill the gap in climate leadership left by the US.
• Despite extreme rainfall in Chinese cities, the “volume of water in China’s rivers has fallen over 60 years, particularly in the country’s north”, SCMP reports.
• A “large-scale” carbon capture, utilisation and storage project in Inner Mongolia has injected more than 70,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into oil reservoirs, according to state-run newspaper China Daily.
• SCMP says that battery manufacturer CATL has suspended production at a “major lithium mine” in China in a “clear sign” of China curbing EV battery overcapacity. Bloomberg, the Financial Times, Reuters, Jiemian and Yicai also cover the story.

Danish renewable energy developer Ørsted will issue $9.4bn in new shares “to shore up its finances amid an industry downturn that has been exacerbated by President Trump’s resistance to windfarms”, according to the New York Times. The newspaper says the company’s share price dropped by about one-third following its announcement. The Guardian reports that Ørsted – Europe’s largest wind developer – “blamed Donald Trump for derailing its business model”. The Times adds: “Ørsted said the ‘unprecedented’ move by the US administration to halt construction of Equinor’s Empire Wind project off the coast of New York in April had spooked would-be investors in its own neighbouring Sunrise Wind project. As a result it had not been able to sell a stake in Sunrise Wind, or secure project financing for it, on attractive terms.” The Financial Times adds, in a story trailed on its frontpage: “The White House’s opposition towards the offshore wind industry, which was championed by Joe Biden, has hit the valuation of projects.” The Daily Telegraph, the Wall Street Journal and Reuters also cover the story. The Financial Times Lex column says “even a giant capital increase will not clear Ørsted’s storm clouds”. 

Cleodie Rickard, trade campaign manager at Global Justice Now, has penned an article for Climate Home News with the subheading: “New research shows renewable energy goals could largely be met with the amount of minerals produced today – but the military industry wants more.” Rickie says the claim that achieving net-zero “inevitably means more mining” is “rarely…backed with evidence”. She outlines her research, which analyses the UK’s list of 33 “critical” minerals to determine how much is used for green technologies and how much is needed to meet the International Energy Agency’s “2040 transition scenario”. She concludes: “Renewable goals can largely be met within existing mineral production, if we make small reallocations of supply across sectors – slicing the mineral pie differently, rather than growing it.”

MORE COMMENT

• Sydney Morning Herald contributor Claire Snyder writes: “Ultimately, net-zero has become a benchmark for complacency, and it is failing us. If we want to maintain a liveable planet, we need businesses to commit to ‘real zero’.”
• Lawyer Mike Toth writes in the Wall Street Journal that climate lawyers are trying a “new tactic” of “wrongful-death lawsuits against oil and gas companies based on the alleged connection between carbon emissions and weather-related deaths”. 
• Annie Heaton, the CEO of ResponsibleSteel, writes in Reuters that “relying on recycled steel would derail Europe’s drive to decarbonise”.
• David Byers, deputy property editor for the Times, claims “electric cars are still for the rich – and we need more chargers”. 
• Climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph columnist Matthew Lynn claims that the UK “refuses” to install more air conditioning. [He does not mention that extreme heat has become far more common in the UK, creating a need for cooling that did not exist before.]

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Ayesha Tandon, with contributions from Anika Patel and Henry Zhang. It was edited by Simon Evans.

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