Typhoon Kalmaegi has “lashed” the central Philippines with strong winds and heavy rains leading to more than 75,000 people being evacuated, reports Bloomberg. The weather bureau Pagasa said the typhoon, locally known as Tino, had maximum winds of 150 kilometres (93 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 185km/h, it adds. The Guardian reports that the interaction between Tino and the north-east monsoon is expected to bring 50-100mm of rainfall to eastern provinces, “triggering flash flooding and landslides in vulnerable areas”. Agence France-Presse reports that at least five people have been killed by the typhoon in the Philippines and hundreds of thousands displaced. Al Jazeera adds: “The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms annually, and scientists are warning that they are becoming more powerful due to human-driven climate change.” Reuters notes that Typhoon Kalmaegi is now forecast to make landfall in Vietnam on Thursday night, where heavy floods have killed at least 40 people and left six others missing over the past week. 

MORE ON EXTREME WEATHER

• The Independent covers comments by scientists that “the age of Category 6 hurricanes is now upon us”.
• Reuters reports that at least 15 people, mostly children, are missing after floods and landslides hit Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region after “torrential” rain.
• BBC News reports that more than 40 people have died following multiple landslides in Uganda and Kenya.
• Reuters covers estimates from data analytics firm Verisk that suggest insured losses in Jamaica from Hurricane Melissa range from $2.2bn and $4.2bn.

EU climate ministers will hold a meeting later today in a “last-ditch” attempt to agree a new 2035 climate target for the block ahead of COP30, reports Reuters. It adds: “Failure to agree could undermine the EU’s claims to leadership at the COP30 talks, which will test the will of major economies to keep fighting climate change despite opposition from US president Donald Trump.” Bloomberg notes that ministers are trying to sign off on an updated climate pledge to submit to the UN ahead of COP30, as well as to secure backing for a goal to cut emissions by 90% by 2040 relative to 1990 levels. Agence France-Presse notes that talks were expected to stretch into the night, quoting one EU diplomat saying “to come empty-handed to [COP30 in] Belém…would really undermine the EU’s credibility”. 

MORE ON COP30

• Le Monde reports that Brazilian authorities are still facing security and accommodation challenges ahead of COP30. 
• BBC News covers the visit of the UK’s Prince William to Brazil, ahead of the start of COP30. 
• The Associated Press covers a pledge from a group of 300 mayors for coordinated climate action to address global warming and adapt to its effects.
• Sky News publishes what it calls the “ultimate guide to COP30”.

COP30 host Brazil recorded its biggest annual fall in greenhouse gas emissions since 2009 last year, reports Le Monde with Agence France-Presse. New statistics from Brazil’s Climate Observatory found that the emissions of the country fell by 16.7% year-on-year in 2024, it adds. The figures are a “boost for left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as he prepares to host UN climate talks”, with the reduction in emissions attributed to the success of his government’s work to cut deforestation, according to the article. It quotes a statement from the observatory saying: “The new data shows the impact of the federal government retaking control over deforestation after a deliberate lack of control between 2019 and 2022.”

MORE ON DEFORESTION

• The Wall Street Journal reports that Indigenous people will be paid to protect the Amazon rainforest under a new “REDD+” project.
• As countries prepare for COP30, the Times asks “four years on from landmark [COP26] pledge, has deforestation slowed?”
• An article in the Independent states that “away from Brazil’s ‘forest’ COP30 – the fate of the Congo Rainforest hangs in the balance”.
• Reuters reports that Brazil’s finance minister Fernando Haddad has said that mobilising $10bn in public resources during the first year of the “Tropical Forests Forever Facility” (TFFF) is an ambitious but “possible” target.

A new report led by China’s Tsinghua University finds that “climate-related health risks in China reached record levels last year, with eight of 13 monitored threats, including potential labor capacity loss and a rise in climate-sensitive diseases, hitting all-time highs”, says media outlet China.org.cn. The outlet adds that cities are “described as both amplifiers of climate risks and hubs for climate action in the report”. It explains that the findings are from the China report of the wider global “Lancet Countdown”, on climate change and health.

Meanwhile, experts are calling for “urgent, coordinated” climate action “led by China and the US” as the world is “edging closer to critical climate thresholds”, says state broadcaster CGTN. Reuters quotes Chris Wright, US energy secretary, saying that there is “a lot of room for win-win” on “great energy trade” between China and the US. Another Reuters report is published under the headline: “EU, China to continue engagement on export controls, EU says.” The Communist party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily says that China remains committed to “deepening regional cooperation in green innovation” with countries across the Asia-Pacific region. China Daily publishes an article under the headline: “APEC expected to lead global green transition.”

MORE ON CHINA

• Huang Runqiu, head of China’s MEE, “points out” that COP30 is “crucial for initiating the next decade of global climate action and cooperation” at the 9th Ministerial on Climate Action (MoCA9) in Canada, according to financial outlet Cailianshe.
• Industry news outlet Mysteel says the “combined output of raw coal” among China’s top 10 mining companies dropped 1.5% in September from a month earlier, according to statistics from the China National Coal Association (CNCA).
• Top ideological journal Qiushi publishes an article by the NDRC, saying that the need to “accelerate” the “green and low-carbon” transition is “more urgent” over the next five years.
• Environmental outlet Eco-Business publishes an article by its executive director, Junice Yeo, under the headline: “How climate became China’s strategy for survival and security.”

Australians will be offered three free hours of solar power a day, including those without solar panels, as part of a new energy-saving programme, reports Reuters. The “Solar Sharer” scheme will begin in New South Wales and South Australia as well as southeast Queensland in 2026, before being expanded across the country, it adds. ABC News notes that the programme is part of an effort to encourage energy use when solar power is being fed into the grid. It adds that “the federal government scheme will require retailers to offer free electricity to households for at least three hours in the middle of the day, when there is often more electricity generated than is being used, leading to very cheap or even negative wholesale prices”. The Guardian and Bloomberg also have the story. Separately, a piece in the Guardian reports: “Political integrity experts have raised concerns about Labor’s proposed new nature laws, including a contentious new ‘national interest’ exemption.”

A new report has found that less than 3% of international climate finance is supporting a “just transition” for workers and communities, according to the Guardian. It says climate and development non-profit ActionAid warns that the world’s response to climate change risks deepening inequality, rather than helping to address it. The newspaper quotes Teresa Anderson, the organisation’s global climate justice lead, saying that the report reveals a “hidden reason that we’ve not seen climate action at scale”. Anderson continues that: “People are apparently being forced to choose between a safe job and a secure job and a safe plane. These projects aren’t doing nearly enough to reassure people that they don’t have to make that choice.”

MORE ON CLIMATE FINANCE 

• Bloomberg covers a new report on “blended” climate finance, which it says found projects combining private and public capital have “stalled at a dangerously low level”, with just $15.5bn mobilised globally last year across 84 deals.
• The climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph continues its misleading reporting on climate finance, in an article that says shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho “has now revealed that she was planning to scrap” the UK’s £11.6bn target [which had been introduced by Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson].
• A piece in the Substack Backchannel, by former German climate diplomat Norbert Gorissen, argues that “Europe cannot afford to fail on climate finance”, as despite budgets being tight, “climate finance pays dividends”.

Danish energy giant Ørsted has agreed to sell half of the world’s largest offshore windfarm to US asset management firm Apollo for $6.5bn, reports the Financial Times. This “marks a big step forward for the renewable energy developer as it battles rising costs and political challenges”, the article notes. Reuters reports that the sale of 50% of the Hornsea 3 offshore windfarm in the UK is “widely regarded as a crucial move to prevent a crippling credit rating downgrade”. It adds that Ørsted has been working to increase investor confidence following the impact of supply chain disruptions and inflation, as well as the uncertainty created by US president Trump’s opposition to wind power.

MORE ON ENERGY 

• BusinessGreen covers a new consultation from the National Energy System Operator in the UK, looking into the country’s offshore wind grid connection plan.
• Reuters reports that Germany will introduce a programme to lower electricity prices for manufacturers at the beginning of next year.
• Reuters covers comments by European energy bosses that challenge forecasts of an oil supply glut next year, pointing to increased demand and easing production.
• The Times covers news that BP has “offloaded” its US oil pipeline assets for $1.5bn.
• Bloomberg reports that Shell is set to invest $1bn into new oil blocks in Angola.
• Reuters covers comments by TotalEnergies boss Patrick Pouyanne, saying that electricity is the best way to hedge against oil and gas volatility.

In an article for the Economist, former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres writes that “we stand at a hinge in history” as we approach COP30. She notes that on the one hand, emissions are still rising and national climate plans are “woefully” inadequate, but on the other “exponential curves of technology, economics and human ingenuity are bending towards a future where affordable, clean energy for all can finally be a reality”. Figueres explores the progress that has been made since the Paris Agreement was sealed in 2015, as well as the challenges facing decarbonisation currently, before moving on to arguing that a “new industrial sunbelt is fast being born from Latin America to Australia through Africa and Asia”. She details the opportunities across this region, as well as wondering whether the “curve of clean-energy innovation and human ingenuity can outpace the exponential curve of climate impacts”. Figueres concludes: “[T]he world is no longer waiting for Washington. This time the global south is leading the way.”

MORE IN COMMENT

• A special report in the Economist argues that “China’s moment for climate leadership has arrived”. 
• The Daily Mail carries a full-page comment piece by Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right populist Reform UK, claiming without evidence that his party would cut energy bills by scrapping net-zero. The Daily Mail also carries an approving editorial.
• The Guardian carries a piece from environment and climate correspondent Graham Readfearn questioning Australia’s National party’s net-zero stance. 
• On his Climate Brink Substack, Carbon Brief climate science contributor Zeke Hausfather writes that while “super pollutants are trendy…we should be careful how we use them”. 
• The climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph carries three climate-focused articles, two discussing UK prime minister Keir Starmer’s plans to attend COP30 and one claiming that solar farms are a risk to food security. [See the Carbon Brief compendium of solar myths for more on this false claim.]
• The Sun carries yet another editorial criticising “Labour’s reckless ban on any new British oil and gas drilling”.

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Molly Lempriere, with contributions from Wanyuan Song and Henry Zhang. It was edited by Simon Evans.

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