A “major” new report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) finds that food supplies are already being “pushed to the brink” by increasingly common and severe heatwaves, reports the Guardian. The livelihoods of more than a billion people are in peril, with “farmers unable to work outside, livestock experiencing stress and crop yields falling”, according to the newspaper. Le Monde explains that the report combines data on the impact of extreme heat on crops, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture, forests and agricultural workers. Reuters says the report warns that “adaptation alone is not enough” and that it argues “the only lasting solution to the growing ​threat of extreme heat is ambitious, coordinated action to curb climate change”.

Climate Home News features a comment piece by two of the report’s authors – Kaveh Zahedi, assistant director-general of the FAO, and Ko Barrett, deputy secretary-general of the WMO. They write: “The tools to prepare for extreme heat already exist. The problem is that funding still falls far short of the scale of the risk and rural communities are too often overlooked.”

MORE ON EXTREME WEATHER

• Wildfires in the south-eastern US have “destroyed dozens of homes”, after a period of drought in the region has “left the landscape parched and highly flammable”, according to the New York Times.
• The Washington Post reports on how a “massive ocean hot spot” stretching across a 5,000-mile stretch of the Pacific could impact weather in the US this summer.
• More than 17 million people on the US Atlantic and Gulf coasts – notably in New York and New Orleans – are at the highest risk of being hit by floods, according to “one of the most comprehensive studies ever of flood risk, covered by the Associated Press.
• Inside Climate News reports on a proposed Californian bill to empower the state’s attorney general to sue fossil-fuel companies over damages caused by climate change-enhanced extreme weather, “in an effort to shore up insurance”.

Following preview coverage yesterday, news outlets such as Reuters report on the package of measures from the European Commission to “offset surging energy prices” sparked by conflict in the Middle East. Short-term plans from the commission include amending EU rules to ensure electricity is taxed less than gas ⁠and making it easier for governments to cut industries’ and vulnerable households’ electricity taxes, the article explains. The newswire notes that, “in the longer term, the EU plans to replace fossil fuels with locally produced renewable and nuclear energy faster, to shield against future oil and gas supply ⁠shocks”. Another Reuters article includes a more extensive list of the announced measures.

Bloomberg says the 16-page plan from the commission “shows that the EU intends to make a big bet on electrification as the only way to kick its fossil-fuel addiction”. However, the Guardian notes that the commission has “stopped short of measures introduced after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, such as a windfall tax on oil and gas companies”. The Wall Street Journal notes that the plan, dubbed “AccelerateEU”, includes encouraging member states to coordinate in refilling their gas storage and releasing oil stocks. CNN cites the additional €24bn that the EU has spent on energy imports since the start of the Iran war, due to higher prices. Euractiv says the plan has drawn criticism from campaigners and Greens in the European Parliament, in part due to a “lack of dedicated public funding”.

Politico says the new emergency package will “prioritise jet fuel supplies”. EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen tells Sky News that summer holidays in Europe are “likely” at risk due to jet-fuel shortages. Meanwhile, BBC News reports that German airline Lufthansa plans to cut 20,000 short-haul flights over the summer.

Separately, Carbon Pulse reports that Italy has called on the commission to “freeze key benchmarks” in the EU emissions trading system that determine carbon permit handouts, due to concerns that changes could harm industry. Euractiv says Italy is joining Germany in calling for these in “industry-friendly benchmarks”.

MORE ON EUROPE

• The EU is considering dropping its push for an international ban on new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic “as it seeks to shore up energy supplies in response to the crisis in the Middle East”, according to the Financial Times.
• Bloomberg notes that “Europe’s power markets are seeing a sharp rise in negative electricity prices, particularly around midday when solar generation exceeds demand”.
• The Times reports on “cheaply recruited disruptors” being hired by Russia to target renewable energy projects and “weaponise” net-zero concerns in Baltic states.
• A draft law seen by Bloomberg shows that Germany plans to start holding tenders from September to build new gas-fired power plants, with 9 gigawatts (GW) of long-term capacities auctioned by the end of the year.
• Russia has announced that it will shut the Druzhba pipeline within nine days, cutting Europe – notably Germany – off from a key oil supply as the region faces supply disruption caused by the Iran war, according to the Daily Telegraph.
• French utility company Engie’s chief executive Catherine MacGregor has described the far-right National Rally party’s energy platform – including its plan to abandon renewables targets – as “bad for France”, reports Politico.
• Reuters reports that “strong sales of electric vehicles more than offset diminishing sales of petrol and diesel cars in March, pushing ​up new car sales in Europe”.

At the G7 meeting in Paris, which starts today, climate change has been left off the agenda in order to “avoid a row with the US”, according to Agence France-Presse. France, Italy, Canada, Japan, Germany and the UK are sending their environment ministers to the meeting, while the US is sending an assistant administrator at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the article notes. France hopes to gain G7 support for a public and private finance initiative to protect biodiversity, while other topics on the table include ocean conservation and desertification, it continues. “If we start talking about climate change, there is no longer a G7,” a source in the French environment ministry tells Le Monde.

MORE ON GEOPOLITICS

• Murat Kurum, Turkey’s environment minister and incoming COP31 president, tells Bloomberg that the world “must transition away from fossil fuels, for sure” and that the November summit will focus on boosting clean energy adoption.
• As leaders met for the annual Petersberg climate dialogue in Berlin, German chancellor Friedrich Merz told attendees that climate action “must not endanger the industrial base”, reports the Financial Times.
• The Africa Finance Corporation is hosting an infrastructure investment summit in Nairobi, Kenya, where nations are “promoting big-ticket projects”, including railways and renewable-power projects, worth at least $45.8bn, reports Bloomberg.

With primaries approaching in the US to determine which candidates will run in the mid-term elections this year, Politico reports that “Democratic candidates in battleground districts across the country are embracing a left-wing proposal to halt the development of data centres nationwide”. The article says this is emerging as a “fault line”, with some incumbent Democrats in Congress being forced to consider “more aggressive postures” on data centres. It notes that this dispute comes amid wider concerns about the “energy-hungry facilities’” impact on bills and emissions.

MORE ON DATA CENTRES

• Wired reports that gas-power projects tied to 11 data centres planned around the US have the potential to emit “more greenhouse gases than the country of Morocco emitted in 2024”.
• A new report from the UK Carbon Markets Forum and the City of London Corporation finds that the “boom” in electricity demand for artificial intelligence is driving up emissions – and this “could help boost lagging demand” for carbon-removal projects, according to the Wall Street Journal.
  

China has issued a new policy on further “improving energy conservation and carbon reduction”, calling for the country to “vigorously” develop “green and low-carbon industries” and foster “new industries and business models conducive to energy saving and carbon reduction”, according to state news agency Xinhua. Efforts should be made to advance the construction of zero-carbon industrial parks and develop a model in which “green energy is used to manufacture green products”, according to the newswire. It also cites the document saying that China will control the scale and power generation of coal-fired power, develop non-fossil energy and “new energy” storage, plan pumped storage and promote “innovative” models such as direct green power supply and smart microgrids. The policy also calls for stricter supervision and management of energy conservation and carbon reduction, establishing records for key energy-consuming and carbon-emitting entities and exploring carbon emissions disclosure, according to business news outlet Jiemian.

Meanwhile, another new policy issued by the State Council calls for more participation of financial institutions in carbon-market trading, exploring the development of carbon insurance and expanding innovative products such as “carbon neutrality bonds”, reports carbon market-focused news outlet Tanpaifang. The policy also proposes to carry out energy conservation and carbon-reduction retrofits in “public institutions and large public buildings”, according to industry news outlet BJX News. State-run Economic Daily says that the majority of China’s future incremental energy demand will need to be met by non-fossil energy.

MORE ON CHINA

• Reuters reports soaring demand from Southeast Asia and Africa drove up China’s solar panel exports by 42.2% in March.
• A China-Mozambique joint statement calls for cooperation in clean energy, mineral resources and climate change adaptation between the two nations, says Xinhua.
• China has “advanced” flood control and disaster relief work in southern China, where frequent rainfall continues to hit the region, reports Xinhua.
• Chinese wind turbine maker Ming Yang is considering building a factory in Spain after the UK government blocked a similar project, reports Bloomberg.
• Dialogue Earth covers a study finding that a third of carbon credits associated with pig farms in China “may not deliver real climate benefits”.
• Bloomberg: “Lithium rival sodium is making a battery breakthrough for EVs in China.”

For a short period of time this week, UK power generation from fossil fuels fell to just 2% of the nation’s electricity supply, the lowest level since records started in 2009, reports Bloomberg. The moment, which happened at 11:30 on Wednesday, according to data from the National Energy System Operator, highlights the country’s “rapid shift toward renewable energy”, according to the news outlet. Carbon Brief reported earlier this year that, in 2025, UK gas use fell to a 34-year low and coal use dropped to levels last seen in 1600.

MORE ON UK

• The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports on how UK public-sector pension schemes are “bankrolling” the expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production in the US south, “posing a major climate threat”.
• The Independent reports on new analysis by NGO network Bond of developing spending by UK aid body British International Investment (BII), noting that it is investing in “fossil-fuel fertiliser production and billionaire-owned companies”.
• UK households that rely on heating oil – the price of which has almost doubled during the energy crisis – will be offered bigger grants to switch to electric heat pumps, reports the climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph. The headline frames this support as a “£9,000 bribe”.

Marie Nyange Ndambo, environment minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, writes in the Financial Times about the need for the International Criminal Court and its member states to recognise “ecocide” as a crime. She laments how the DRC, which is the first African nation to support this initiative at a global level, has been mired in environmental destruction. “Recognising ecocide – defined as acts committed with knowledge that they are likely to cause severe and widespread or long-term damage to the environment – as a crime under international law would alter the incentives of corporations and armies,” writes Nyange Ndambo. She adds: “Crucially, ecocide law does not block development; it makes it accountable.”

New York Times columnist David Wallace-Wells writes that when the Iran war – and resulting energy crisis – began, he was sceptical that it would immediately “accelerate the green transition”, but now he sees positive signals. He lists some of the observations he has made, including the fact that “the war immediately boosted green energy” and “those changes don’t look like a blip”. He notes that, “between February and March, the world didn’t just tighten its fossil-fuel use; it spent money on new green stuff” – pointing to increased Chinese solar and battery exports and increased electric-vehicle registrations. He notes that solar, in general, is “booming” and that “the story that the return of Trump heralded a major pivot back to fossil fuels seems a bit overstated”. However, he also says “energy and climate remain two different stories” and points to “a worrying new analysis of the ocean circulatory system known as the AMOC”.

MORE COMMENT

• Guardian columnist George Monbiot has a comment piece about the AMOC analysis mentioned by Wallace-Wells, noting that scientists say it is “more likely to collapse than previously thought” and blaming a “billionaire death cult” for this “existential crisis”.
• New York Times journalist Peter Goodman writes about how “wealthy nations” are rushing to secure stocks of oil, resulting in “higher prices for all and shortages in vulnerable countries”.
• The Daily Telegraph has an opinion piece by Simone Rossi, chief executive of EDF Energy, in which he argues for more electrification in the UK, noting “strong customer interest in heat pumps, solar, batteries and EV charging”. It is accompanied by a news piece about the article, headlined: “Miliband’s green energy is going to waste, says EDF boss.”
• Josiah Mortimer, chief reporter at the Byline Times, writes about “Britain’s solar revolution” and becoming a member of the “happy legion of nerds sharing screenshots of energy-independent homes”.
• The Economist has an article headlined: “Global energy markets are on the verge of a disaster.”
• Chris Kay, Mumbai bureau chief at the Financial Times, writes about “India’s cooking gas crisis” resulting from conflict in the Middle East.
• An editorial in the climate-sceptic Sun criticises “Ed Miliband’s net-zero zealotry”. Another Sun article by features writer Mike Ridley champions a call by the hard-right populist Reform UK party to “cut VAT on fuel by half”.

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

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