In the US, Texas, the Southeast and the Mississippi Valley are enduring a period of extreme and dangerous heat, with California also bracing for severe temperatures, the Washington Post reports. According to the newspaper’s heat tracker, 62 million people across 18 states in the US were at risk of exposure to potentially dangerous heat on Thursday, “from Arizona to the Carolinas, and from Texas to Illinois”. It says the Texan town of Del Rio hit a “brutal and dangerous” temperature of 108F (42.2C), having already set record-high temperatures for 10 days running. The Hill reports that a “heat dome” is driving record temperatures in Texas, bringing with it heightened risks for heat-related injuries and deaths. The New York Times says Michael Wehner, a senior scientist in applied mathematics and computational research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, explained that climate change “has made the ongoing heat wave in the southern US and northern Mexico about 5F, or 2.8C, hotter than it would have been otherwise”. According to Axios, the heatwaves set to hit California and across the Southwest are two to five times as likely now due to human-caused climate change. Vox has an article about “how heatwaves form, and how climate change makes them worse”. The heatwave has been blamed for at least 13 deaths in Texas and one in Louisiana. The Guardian says that meteorologists warned people “to prepare for a hot and smoky summer”, with cities such as Chicago and Detroit already shrouded in “a thick haze”. According to the New York Times, while heat-related illness is “known to be a leading cause of death from weather or environmental events in the US”, the true death toll is unlikely to be known for weeks. According to the Hill, there are no national rules in the US that require employers to give workers breaks because of the heat and only a few states have regulations of their own. It adds that federal regulations are likely years away and Texas “recently passed a bill that could strip what few local protections exist within its borders”. Meanwhile, Reuters notes that the most intense drought to hit the US Midwest farm belt since 2012 “deepened over the past week, sapping soil moisture and threatening crop yield potential in the heaviest corn and soybean production areas of the US”.

Meanwhile, nearly one-third of people in the US were set to experience poor air quality yesterday as smoke from Canadian wildfires filled the skies over the Midwest and East of the nation, Reuters reports. The National Weather Service issued air-quality alerts, with more than 100 million Americans urged to limit prolonged outdoor activities and wear masks if they suffered from pulmonary or respiratory diseases, according to the news wire. CNN reports that “more than a dozen states” were covered by the warnings. It says that, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, Canada is seeing its worst fire season on record as hundreds of blazes rage across the country, with more than 250 burning “out of control”. Al Jazeera notes that “with the hottest months of the year still ahead, experts say there is unlikely to be meaningful reprieve any time soon”. The Washington Post adds: “There is no sign of an end to temperatures much above normal across Canada, which has been running hot for much of 2023 with accelerated warming from climate change.” The Associated Press has a piece titled: “Expect a hot, smoky summer in much of America. Here’s why you’d better get used to it.”

Separately, Inside Climate News reports on Mexico’s experience of the intense heatwave, which it says has seen more than 20 people die from heat stroke. It says record-high temperatures have put enormous pressure on the country’s electric system, increasing electricity demand. “Experts say a lack of investment has left the Mexican electric system unprepared for the challenge. As climate change fosters extreme heat in the country, power shortages could become increasingly common,” the piece notes. CNN reports that at least 112 people have died in Mexico as a result of “natural extreme temperatures” since March, according to the country’s health secretariat.

On the other side of the world, the Associated Press reports on the impact of extreme heat in India. It follows an ambulance crew in the state of state of Uttar Pradesh dealing with victims of heat stress, noting that “prolonged heatwaves, sometimes classified as a slow-onset disaster, are one of the deadliest consequences of global warming that India faces”. 

With extreme summer temperatures still affecting parts of China, the Guardian says that “activists are hoping that overheated Beijingers will start thinking about the causes of, as well as the solutions to, such intense heatwaves”. It continues: “While social media is flooded with hacks for keeping cool, such as eating cold noodles and sporting a ‘Beijing bikini’, some Chinese people are yet to connect the extreme heat with the climate crisis, something activists want to change. But with obstacles from the government in the form of censorship and a clampdown on civil society, spurring action is difficult.” The newspaper quotes Zhao Li, a senior researcher for Greenpeace east Asia’s Beijing office: “People are becoming more aware of the severity of heatwaves, but not the link between heatwaves and climate change.”

In other China news, Zhu Min, former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, says that “carbon-neutral transformation” is one of the new economic engines for the country, reports Jiemian. Speaking at the World Economic Forum “summer Davos” meeting in Tianjin, he adds that it is projected that, by 2050, China will invest approximately 18tn yuan ($2.5tn) in “green transformation”. Another article by the Chinese financial outlet carries the views of Ma Jun, director of the Beijing Institute of Finance and Sustainability, a research institute. Speaking at the same meeting, Ma says that China will require 16tn yuan ($2.2tn) of green financing annually to address climate change, but, currently, “only 50% of the demand can be met”. The state-supporting Global Times writes that participants at the Summer Davos meeting called for “concerted and proactive” efforts to tackle climate change, which is primarily a “historical burden” stemming from industrialisation led by western countries, yet China is taking a “leading” role in addressing this challenge. 

Meanwhile, Yicai writes that, since the beginning of 2023, coal prices have been “continuously declining” and energy-rich Chinese provinces that experienced rapid growth in the past two years may now be facing “increased pressure for growth”. Lin Boqiang, dean of  Xiamen University’s Institute of Energy Policy, is quoted saying that “the economic recovery is not yet robust, which has an impact on demand [on coal]”. A second article by the financial outlet says that, under the “dual carbon” targets, the cumulative installed capacity of wind and solar is expected to exceed 1.2 terawatts by 2030, the outlet says, highlighting that the photovoltaic (PV) capacity installed just this year “has already approached that target”. It adds that while an “accelerating price decline” is a direct market response to this issue, some companies have continued to expand the production of PV components. Reuters reports that “China is set to export the most steel this year since 2016, say analysts, as the weakening yuan and competitive prices help the world’s biggest producer offload surplus metal due to weak demand at home”.

Separately, China’s voluntary carbon market is to be “fully restarted” by the end of the year, reports Caijing. The nationwide unified certified carbon emission reductions (CCER) platform, which includes the “carbon emissions reduced by projects such as renewable energy, forestry carbon sequestration, methane reduction, energy conservation, and efficiency improvement”, is set to go live in July, the article adds, citing several industry insiders. The Paper also covers the move, saying that CCER is the “trading product” of the nationwide voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction trading market. It adds that the voluntary emission reduction trading market and the carbon emission rights trading market complement each other and together constitute a “complete” carbon trading system in China. Finally, the Diplomat has a comment piece by Zoe Leung, a senior director of research at the George HW Bush Foundation for US-China Relations, titled: “In the name of energy security, China is doubling down on both renewables and coal.”

Norway has approved 19 new oil-and-gas projects in its waters, with total investment of more than NOK 200bn (£14.62bn), according to the country’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Energy Voice reports. Norway’s oil and energy minister, Terje Aasland, said that giving the green light to these developments will contribute to “Europe’s energy security” and “ensure new production from the latter half of the 2020s”, the article notes. Climate Home News highlights apparent contradictions between Norway’s domestic and international policy, noting that “the news comes six months after the Norwegian government pushed unsuccessfully at the COP27 climate talks for an agreement to phase out unabated fossil fuels and six months before COP28, where they are likely to try again”. The piece notes that Norway is the world’s seventh richest nation and that “its continued fossil-fuel production will be used by supporters of fossil-fuel production in poorer countries to undermine opposition to their projects”. Agence France-Presse says the move was opposed by climate activists, noting that, in 2021, the International Energy Agency “recommended that no new oil-and-gas fields be opened in a bid to reach carbon neutrality by the middle of the century”.

Meanwhile, in the UK, activists and climate experts are “vowing to step up their campaign to halt a huge new oilfield in the North Sea” – the Rosebank project – which is expected to be given official approval in the coming days, the Guardian reports. In other news, Reuters notes that three Just Stop Oil protesters have been charged with aggravated trespass after they interrupted day one of the second Ashes cricket test match between England and Australia at Lord’s. The Sun reports that the “eco-yob” Just Stop Oil protester carried off the Ashes pitch earlier in the week is “the son of a private equity millionaire with a £6m mansion whose firm helps investors cash in on climate change”. An accompanying Sun editorial asks “how can a privileged student from a £6m home have a clue about ordinary people whose lives he disrupts? And, no, his apocalyptic fantasies do NOT justify it.” DeSmog reports that UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed “fossil fuel-funded think tank” Policy Exchange helped to draft his government’s laws targeting climate protests. 

In the US, Bloomberg reports that the Biden administration has formally rejected a bid by more than 300 environmental, community and climate groups for it to phase down oil-and-gas production on federal lands and waters. Finally, Reuters reports on new analysis by CDP, an international NGO, which concludes that top oil and gas companies have made “almost no progress” in turning away from hydrocarbons and towards the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. None of the 100 oil-and-gas companies the organisation assessed in its Oil and Gas Benchmark report is set to cut its overall emissions “at a rate sufficient to align with a 1.5C pathway over the next five years”.

Former UK prime minister Theresa May has said the UK is “falling behind” other countries in the fight against climate change and has been “too slow to act” in response to US and EU green subsidies, Politico reports. In a speech to mark the fourth anniversary of the UK’s net-zero target, a move made under her leadership, May echoed comments made by other senior Conservative politicians when she said the energy transition was the “growth opportunity of the century”. Industry body Renewable UK has urged the UK government to invest over £100m more in manufacturing and help ease supply chain bottlenecks in the offshore wind sector, according to City AM. This is needed “to unlock vast amounts of private capital at risk of moving to rival markets such as the EU and US – which have more favourable subsidy climates”, it adds. 

In related news, BBC News says the boiler upgrade scheme, a flagship programme that gives out £5,000 grants to encourage the switch from gas boilers to electric heat pumps, has “had a weak start in its first year”. It is meant to issue 30,000 grants annually in England and Wales. but only managed half of that in 2022, according to the news website. The Independent reports that, ahead of the expected publication of the government’s new biomass strategy, activists are calling on ministers to end all subsidies for burning wood from forests and energy crops in power stations. Meanwhile, BusinessGreen reports that the UK’s “largest solar farm” has been given the greenlight. The Longfield Solar Farm project near Chelmsford in Essex is a 500 megawatt (MW) project that “could power up to 96,000 homes with clean energy every year”, it says. Finally, the Daily Express reports that older workers are being ­encouraged to apply for jobs “that will help boost the green revolution”.

The compromise reached by Germany’s coalition government on how to phase in “climate-friendly” domestic heating has been positively received by the gas industry, reports Die Welt. In particular, it welcomes fixed quotas for the use of  “green gases” from 2029. Gerald Linke, head of the gas and water industry association DVGW, is quoted saying that “hydrogen and green gases will be fixed components of the future heating market”. The leaders of the German ruling parties – the SPD, Greens and FDP – agreed on the details of the planned building energy law on Tuesday, explains Die Welt. It adds that the agreement allows the continued operation of gas boilers if they use 15% “biogas” from 2029, 30% from 2035, and 60% from 2040. Nevertheless, the newspaper notes that NGOs such as WWF, Deutsche Umwelthilfe and NABU have spoken out against allowing “green gases”. Die Zeit adds that there is still uncertainty about whether the draft law will pass through parliament before the summer recess. BR24 reports that communications expert and political advisor Johannes Hillje believes the German coalition has been “damaged” by the negotiations over the proposed law.

Meanwhile, Clean Energy Wire (CLEW) reports that Germany’s strategy of substituting Russian gas dependence with liquified “natural” gas (LNG) “entails significant risks regarding climate change mitigation, as the country’s demand could lead to new extraction projects and lock-in effects abroad, and methane and CO2 emissions from extraction and transport to their final consumption are high”. CLEW notes that, according to the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, emissions are highest from Algeria, second highest from the US and lowest from Qatar, while, compared to pipeline-bound natural gas from Norway, LNG imports arriving in Germany have six to eight times the climate impact along the supply chain. 

Finally, the Times reports: “The UK’s most popular car manufacturer has cut back production of electric vehicles because of ‘strong customer reluctance’. In an unprecedented move, Volkswagen said it would cancel work on EVs for at least six weeks at one of its biggest plants in northwest Germany.”

The European Commission is preparing a proposal for EU countries to jointly quit the 1998 Energy Charter Treaty, after some member state governments already pledged to leave over climate concerns, Reuters reports. It explains that the international energy treaty lets energy companies sue governments over policies that damage their investments, a system that has been used to challenge policies that require fossil-fuel plants to shut. A European Commission spokesperson tells Reuters that it will make legal proposals for a coordinated EU exit “in the coming weeks”.

Separately, the Financial Times reports that European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has “distanced herself from a statement by the leaders of her own political group in which they demanded a ‘moratorium’ on further green regulation”. The centre-right European People’s party to which she belongs has called for the European Green Deal to “prioritise citizens and take into account the new economic and social realities after Russia’s attack on the global world order”.

A joint venture between France’s Imerys and the start-up British Lithium is to build the UK’s first commercial lithium mine in Cornwall, according to the Daily Telegraph. The venture plans to mine enough lithium for 500,000 electric car batteries, or two thirds of the British vehicle production, with deposits that are expected to last for around 30 years, the newspaper says. The Financial Times says the project “would help the UK and Europe to reduce their dependence on imports of the critical mineral”.

Secou Sarr, director of Senegalese thinktank ENDA Energie, writes in Climate Home News about the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), which was agreed between Senegal, France, Germany, and the EU and announced last week at the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in Paris. With it, Senegal’s government committed to reaching 40% of renewable energy in the electricity mix, in exchange for €2.5bn from developed nations. In his role at ENDA Energie, Sarr says he “worked to ensure that this deal would not hinder Senegal’s national development goals and that energy access remains a priority of our country”. He notes that Senegal has been “gearing up” to become a major gas producer, and notes concerns that global north countries emphasising renewable investment instead have been “merely dictating what we need to do, stopping us from being a prosperous country”. However, he argues that “climate and development goals can be achieved together” and says “our experience with JETP Senegal has given national actors the agency to actively participate in crafting an international deal with the global north”. He continues: “Contrary to some arguments that the Senegalese have no say in international agreements like JETP, we were able to create an international agreement that was shaped by national actors. We are not just passive subjects, we will lead the way in shaping the future of our country.”

Meanwhile, an editorial in the Economist makes the argument that climate goals and global development can act in opposition to each other with an article headlined: “How misfiring environmentalism risks harming the world’s poor.” It says: “From the panels of Davos to the pages of newspapers, it is increasingly argued that no trade-off exists between the economic development of low- and middle-income countries and reducing their greenhouse-gas emissions.…Yet choose they must, because the trade-off is in plain sight. Growth is the best way to lift people out of poverty and improve average living standards. But in the developing world, more growth still leads to more emissions.”

The expansion of rainfed agriculture in South America’s plains has significantly altered the region’s hydrology and increased its flood risk, according to a new study. Researchers use remote-sensing data and long-term water-monitoring sites to determine changes in land cover and surface and sub-surface hydrology over 1977-2019. They find that as native vegetation was cleared to make way for larger-scale agriculture, the total flooded area of the plains increased and the water table rose by several metres. The researchers attribute these hydrological changes to the loss of deep-rooted vegetation and changes in evapotranspiration, and warn of “escalating flooding risks associated with rainfed agriculture expansion”.

A new study examining the factors that lead individuals to act collectively to adapt to climate change highlights the difference between initial triggers and those that keep people motivated in the long-term. The study uses empirical data from kampung cooperatives in Jakarta and finds that while an acute threat to livelihood, belief in group efficacy and a low threshold for participation can all trigger action in the first instance, long-term engagement is helped by frequent and continuous activities, self-organisation and good leadership. Barriers include lack of social cohesion and power struggles. The findings may help to enhance and maintain collective adaptation initiatives, the paper concludes.