Despite numerous setbacks, the French economy minister, Emmanuel Macron, has said that France is “completely committed” to the Hinkley Point project, which is being backed by French company EDF. He told the Andrew Marr show: “We back Hinkley Point project, it’s very important for France, it’s very important for the nuclear sector and EDF. Now we have to finalise the work, and especially the technical and industrial work, very closely with EDF, with the British government, to be in a situation to sign in the coming week or more.” The Telegraph and the Guardian also cover the story. The full recording is available on BBC iPlayer.

The oil price dropped by more than 5% after major oil-producing countries failed to agree a deal on Sunday to freeze production levels. The talks in Doha had been part of an attempt to raise oil prices once again, with OPEC countries attempting to negotiate a possible freeze of output at January levels. But Saudi Arabia opposed the move, with delegates saying they refused to sign a deal that did not involve Iran, which wants to push full steam ahead with oil production following the lifting of Western sanctions. The Financial Times contains both an explainer of what the talks were about, and five questions about what happens now the talks have failed. The Washington Post, the Telegraph and the BBC also cover the story.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has reduced its global lending to oil and gas companies, and doubled its green energy loans in the UK to £1bn, according to figures released to the Guardian. RBS said it was guided by environmental risks and would not finance any new tar sands projects. In December, it also ended its lending to mining companies whose sole focus in coal. The Bank has recently been targeted by climate change campaigners.

​The cost of ensuring Britain is prepared to turn lights back on after a nationwide blackout has risen by at least £12m this year, as the National Grid pays old coal plants to stay ready to switch on in case of an emergency by using their own generators. A letter from Ofgem reveals that fees have risen from £22.4m to £34.7m this year. Coal plant closures mean these “black start” plants will take longer to start up in the case of a power failure. ​

A referendum in Italy over offshore drilling has failed, after low turnout meant the results were not valid. The result means that oil and gas producers in 26 areas of offshore Italy will be allowed to drill until their fields run dry. Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi had encouraged Italians not to vote, arguing that it would undermine energy independence and could lead to job losses — while supporters of the referendum said that allowing drilling to continue would slow Italy’s transition to renewable energy. Politico also covers the news, and has an explainer of the significance of the vote.

Miguel Arias Cañete, the EU’s climate commissioner, and Sharon Dijksma, Dutch environment minister, write that the EU will be represented at a signing ceremony for the Paris agreement on climate change in New York this Friday. The EU is already working on a number of domestic measures to reduce carbon emissions, they write, and celebrate the broad engagement with the UN deal. They say: “The Paris Agreement is the starting line for a race to the top. The first leg of that race should see all countries put in place policies to deliver on their contributions. The EU has already started.” According to an article in the Guardian, China and the US are leading a push to bring the Paris deal into force earlier, backed by other countries including Canada.

In a bid to improve public understanding of climate change and foster interaction between scientists and the public, a new paper proposes the concept of “inreach”, where members of the public attend scientific conferences. This is as opposed to “outreach”, which sees scientists engaging with their communities. A successful trial run saw 1,000 local high school students attend the 2015 Northwest Climate Conference in Idaho.

A new study may have found why climate models underestimate the drop in rainfall that typically follows a volcanic eruption. The authors show CMIP5 models don’t capture the extent to which the monsoon weakens, leading to an underestimation of the rainfall response. Observations and model results also show reductions in temperature and humidity that are stronger than the internal variability ranges.