The frontpage of today’s Financial Times reports the news that US president Donald Trump has called on his nation’s navy to blockade the strait of Hormuz, after negotiations with Iran failed to reach a deal over the weekend. The newspaper says Trump also said he had “asked the US Navy to ‘interdict’ any ship that had paid a toll to Iran for passage through the strategic waterway for oil and gas shipments – meaning the vessels are at risk of being seized by the American military”. It adds: “Trump’s move to announce a naval blockade of the strait of Hormuz threatens to raise tensions between the US and China, a significant buyer of Iranian oil.” Bloomberg reports that two fuel tankers are “attempting to exit the Persian Gulf via the strait of Hormuz by sailing close to the Iranian coast, the first vessels to try and pass through the waterway since the US announced a blockade”.

CNBC says the blockade “could deepen [the] world’s worst energy crisis – and risk a dangerous misstep”. Bloomberg says the blockade “risks widening war to high seas”. The Financial Times also reports on the “risks of Donald Trump’s…blockade”. It says: “Naval embargo designed to cut off Iran’s exports threatens to destabilise global energy markets.” The Associated Press says oil prices rose on the news of the planned US blockade. The Times says oil prices are “on course for [a] record $150 [a barrel]”. Bloomberg says European gas prices “surged” on the news, while another Bloomberg story says Asian liquified natural gas (LNG) prices were also “set to rise”. Bloomberg reports that Asian LNG imports had already “dropped to the lowest in almost six years”.

Meanwhile, the Guardian covers a UN Development Programme report: “More than 32 million people worldwide could be plunged into poverty by the economic fallout from the Iran war, with developing countries expected to be hit hardest.” Politico covers comments by Kristalina Georgieva: “The managing director of the International Monetary Fund on Sunday described the widespread economic pain the current Iran war is having on the global economy, particularly in nations dependent on energy imports.” Bloomberg says Georgieva said high prices would take time to recede.

MORE ON IRAN WAR

• Al Jazeera: “Saudi Arabia says key oil pipeline back to full capacity.” The Wall Street Journal: “Iran says damaged refinery to return to 80% capacity within two months.”
• CNN: “Why reopening the strait of Hormuz won’t be enough to solve shipping woes and high oil prices.”
• The Washington Post: “Countries are rethinking US fossil fuels after Iran war.”
• The New York Times: “The oil shock is worse than you think.”
• Financial Times: “The damage wrought to the Middle East’s oil and gas supplies.”
• Financial Times: “European airports face jet fuel shortages within three weeks.”

French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu announced a national electrification plan on Friday, reports Euractiv, “aimed at reducing reliance on fossil fuels and strengthening the country’s energy sovereignty”. The outlet says the plan includes a ban on gas boilers in new homes from the end of this year. It adds: “The government will nearly double annual support for electrification, from €5.5bn to €10bn by 2030, targeting housing, transport, industry and digital infrastructure.” It explains that by 2030, the plan targets 1m heat pump installations per year and two-thirds of new car sales being electric. Reuters says the plan aims to replace 20% of France’s annual gas imports with domestic electricity by 2030. It adds: “Lecornu did not specify where the funding [for the plan] would come from, saying only that it would be done ‌without ⁠new money, to ensure France met its public deficit targets.”

Bloomberg reports: “Lecornu said the government will divert investment to help households and businesses switch to electric power instead of handing out short-term fuel aid after oil prices surged on the Iran war.” It says the measures include cheap electric-vehicle leasing and the replacement of gas heating in social housing. It adds: “The approach is in stark contrast with 2022, when the French government spent tens of billions of euros on energy support over an extended period.” Le Monde quotes Lecornu saying: “As long as we depend on oil and gas, we will continue to pay the price for other people’s wars.” The newspaper says the plan aims for 60% of demand to be met by clean energy by 2030, whereas today 60% comes from oil and gas. Politico says the plan “mainly reaffirmed existing objectives”.

MORE ON FRANCE

• Bloomberg reports an agreement between the French electricity network operator and utility firm EDF to use nuclear plants to maintain grid stability.

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out her approach to helping businesses with high energy prices caused by the Iran war later this week, Reuters reports. A frontpage story in the Sunday Times says that Reeves “is understood to be looking at expanding the British industrial competitiveness scheme, which aims to reduce electricity costs for particular sectors, as a first step” (see Comment). UK prime minister Keir Starmer said last week that he is “fed up” with UK energy costs spiking in response to the “actions of Putin or Trump across the world”, reports the Guardian. The Press Association reports that the government has set out plans for “faster approvals for nuclear and aviation fuel plants”.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times says: “UK households turn to solar panels as energy bills bite.” The Guardian says: “Record number of homes in Great Britain turn to green energy as fuel prices soar.” A frontpage article in the Daily Telegraph says fuel protests are “on [the] horizon as diesel hits £2 a litre”. BBC News reports on the impact of electricity grid investment on energy bills. The Daily Mail says electricity was the “most British” ever last year, due to the expansion of clean energy sources.

MORE ON UK

• A frontpage story in Saturday’s Daily Mail claims the UK is “sitting on a goldmine” in the North Sea and asks: “So why won’t Red Ed drop his net-zero madness and back new drilling.” [See the Carbon Brief factcheck on North Sea energy myths.]
• A frontpage story in Monday’s Daily Mirror says Robert Jenrick, Treasury spokesperson for the hard-right climate-sceptic Reform UK, “vowed to cut flight tax after getting £40k from airline owner”.
• The Press Association says Scottish first minister John Swinney has criticised the UK government decision to block a Chinese wind turbine maker Ming Yang from building a factory in Scotland. 
• The Times: “Dale Vince: Allowing new North Sea drilling would be a betrayal.”
• The Times reports on the “Peak cluster” carbon capture project.
• BBC News says the climate-sceptic Reform UK mayor of Lincolnshire is considering launching a legal challenge to the approval of the UK’s largest solar farm.

The Irish government has announced a package of support worth €505m to support those “most impacted” by rising fuel costs, reports BBC News. It says: “Fuel costs have soared globally as a result of the US-Israel war with Iran and demonstrators in the Republic of Ireland have been blocking fuel distribution sites and many major motorways and roads in protest.” It continues: “Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin said on Sunday that his government [is] extending temporary measures to reduce excise duty on petrol, diesel and marked gas oil. They will also be postponing an increase on carbon tax [from May until October] and will be announcing a fuel subsidy scheme for farmers and fisheries.” The Times says the package is three times larger than what had previously been announced. [See Comment below.]

The German government has “agreed on a raft of measures worth €1.6bn to ease the impact of surging fuel prices for German consumers”, reports Bloomberg, adding: “Policy instruments include a reduction of a gasoline tax by 17 cents per litre over a period of two months.” German economy minister Katherina Reiche on Friday had “proposed higher tax breaks to commuters but dismissed proposals by the government’s junior coalition partner for an energy windfall tax, stoking a dispute over how to tackle soaring fuel prices”, reports Reuters. It says the dispute shows the governing coalition is “divided over [the] response to higher fuel prices”. Bloomberg says the coalition had been heading into talks over the weekend “deadlocked over billions of euros in relief for German consumers hit by surging in energy prices”. Separately, the Daily Telegraph reports: “Germany’s prized autobahn network should have a speed limit to help the country reach net-zero, the International Energy Agency has suggested.”

The European Commission says it is not planning to “open or amend” the EU regulation on methane emissions during gas extraction, reports Euractiv. It says: “Brussels insists forthcoming recommendations, notably on setting penalties, will be enough to head off any threat to Europe’s gas supplies.” ENDS Europe says the commission “denies weakening of EU methane rules”, following reports last week that it would ease standards. Meanwhile, European commissioners are meeting today to “discuss measures to offset high energy prices” including windfall taxes, “looser” state aid rules and “dampening demand”, as well as shifting taxes “away from cleaner energy”, reports the Financial Times Europe Express newsletter. Politico reports polling that shows “Europeans want more renewables, even if it increases energy bills”.

Interest in electric vehicles (EVs) has “surged across Europe since the start of the war in Iran”, reports the Guardian, “as the rising cost of petrol highlights the cheaper power available from a plug”. It says: “Online marketplaces in the UK, Germany, France and Spain reported huge increases in inquiries about EVs since the start of the conflict in February.” The Reuters “sustainable switch” newsletter is titled: “Middle East conflict spurs switch to EVs.” It notes that “used EV sales in Europe have [also] been boosted by the war”. The Financial Times says “western carmakers” including Volkswagen, BMW and Renault are “among those considering” range-extended EVs that “have a small engine that acts only as a generator to top up the battery”.

MORE ON EVS

• A feature by BBC News economics editor Faisal Islam is titled: “Why the government is relaxed about Chinese car imports.”
• The Sunday Times runs a comment article by journalist Antonia Medlicott under the headline: “The case for getting an electric car is becoming harder to ignore.” She says “switching could save you as much as £1,400 a year”.
• The Wall Street Journal: “High gas prices are tempting Americans back to EVs.”
• Sydney Morning Herald business columnist Elizabeth Knight has a comment on how Australians are responding to the Iran war, including “EVs and canned tomatoes”.

China’s exports of large-scale energy storage systems rose 130% in the first quarter of 2026, while residential systems grew 65% year-on-year, building on the 144% surge in new overseas orders for energy storage in 2025, reports financial news outlet Caixin. Bloomberg reports that China called on 16 leading battery makers in the country to “restrict capacity expansion and avoid the price wars that have damaged other renewable-energy industries in the past”, the second meeting in a little over three months. State news agency Xinhua also covers the story. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said it will “resolutely” break involution competition in the solar industry, reports industry news outlet BJX News. The “real threat” to Chinese leading companies globally is not protectionism but “less productive” companies kept alive by the “generous and often misguided support of local governments”, says the Financial Times.

MORE ON CHINA

• The US does not “plan any changes to a crackdown on vehicle hardware and software” from China, reports Reuters.
• Reference News says China is not simply exporting green electricity, but is making it the “underlying driving force” for industries.
• Reuters: “Ecuador hands hydroelectric plant to Power China in $400m arbitration deal.”
• A Brazilian court has issued an injunction removing Chinese automaker BYD from a government list of firms accused of employing workers, reports Reuters.

At a general election in Hungary yesterday the opposition Tisza party, led by Péter Magyar, defeated prime minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz, reports the Financial Times. It says Orbán had been the “EU’s longest-serving premier who has been a champion of ‘illiberal democracy’ and the closest European ally of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin”. The newspaper says that Tisza was “projected to win 138 out of 199 seats in parliament, a two-thirds majority that would enable it to change the constitution”. It adds that the result “brings to an end years of fractious summits and last-minute brinkmanship with EU counterparts”. Financial Times Europe editor Ben Hall says “Tisza can prepare to change the constitution and restore rule of law”. He adds that Magyar “has pledged to restore co-operation with the EU”. [A 2024 explainer from Clean Energy Wire notes how Orbán “repeatedly vetoed EU climate policies”.]

In the Sunday Times, former Taoiseach of Ireland Leo Varadkar responds to fuel protests taking place in the country, including calls to scrap its carbon tax, which he notes pays for support for fuel-poor homes as well as home energy upgrades. Varadkar says: “The latest energy crisis teaches us once again that climate action – more renewables and greater energy efficiency – is the only pathway to energy security and price stability. The same goes for our food system, which is also overdependent on imported carbon in the form of fuel and fertiliser, all of which drives fluctuations in food prices. Abolishing the carbon tax would give short-term relief in return for long-term pain.” He concludes: “The climate crisis and the energy crisis are both caused by our overdependence on fossil fuels and chemicals from unstable parts of the world. The solution is clear – climate action at home to give us alternative and secure sources of energy while also playing whatever small part we can to make the unstable parts of our world more stable.”

MORE COMMENT

• Bloomberg columnist David Fickling writes under the headline: “The end of the petrostate era won’t bring peace.”
• An editorial in the Washington Post says the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has “adopted potentially transformative licensing reforms”.
• An editorial in the Guardian says: “US data-centre protests are a warning to big tech.”

In the Sunday Times, UK chancellor Rachel Reeves says the government will be “working with allies on the action we can take to guarantee freedom of navigation, including the strait of Hormuz, to keep energy supplies moving again”. She says that, meanwhile, “we are taking action to keep costs down for families and provide support for those who need it most”, pointing to already planned measures including the reduction in the household energy price cap. Reeves adds that “later this week” she will set out plans to “boost Britain’s competitiveness” and support businesses facing high energy costs. She concludes: “Resilience is not only about what you do when prices spike. It is about what you build so the next spike hurts less. That is why we are strengthening Britain’s energy security, accelerating clean, home-grown power and moving faster on nuclear.”

MORE UK COMMENT

• A feature in the Financial Times reports on energy secretary Ed Miliband: “The UK energy secretary is a right-wing target, but supporters argue that his renewables push is not zealotry.”
• The Sunday Times carries an article not labelled as comment that says: “To keep the lights on the PM must decide whether to sideline his energy secretary or back the net-zero vision.”
• An editorial in the Daily Mail describes the government’s net-zero plans as “demented”.
• An editorial in the Sun claims, without evidence, that it is the current government’s policy on the North Sea that has left the country “so exposed to energy shocks”. [See the Carbon Brief factcheck on North Sea energy myths.]
• Climate-sceptic Daily Mail columnist Andrew Neil falsely claims that “scrapping” or “at least delaying” what he calls “net-zero fantasies” would “free up…billions”.
• In the Guardian, columnist Simon Jenkins says the UK “should produce more renewable energy”, but rails against plans for windfarms in part of Wales.

China is “poised to benefit from the Iran war as global energy disruptions accelerate a shift away from fossil fuels and toward clean technologies and renewable power, industries that China dominates”, says a feature from the Associated Press. It continues: “While most of Asia is hit hard, China will likely benefit from the fossil fuel disruptions despite being the biggest purchaser of Iranian oil. China leads the world in battery, solar and electric vehicle (EV) exports, and its industries are forecast to face a rise in demand for renewable products.” Bloomberg says: “Chinese clean‑tech manufacturers are beginning to benefit from the supply crunch in the Persian Gulf, as rising oil and natural gas prices and a renewed emphasis on energy security boost demand for batteries and EVs.” The Associated Press says China’s EV exports “accelerated” in March.

Elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal calls China’s “green industrial complex” an “Iran war winner”. A comment for the Independent is titled: “How China became the big winner from Trump’s war in Iran.” And the New York Times says that “China’s electrostate is poised to win from war”.

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

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