“Almost 90% of satellite-detected methane leaks flagged to governments and oil and gas companies are not being acknowledged,” Reuters reports. The newswire says that the International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) “got a 12% response rate from 3,500 alerts from leaks detected across the oil and gas sector…marking limited progress from last year’s response rate when only 1% of alerts resulted in action to prevent them”. According to Bloomberg, there were “25 instances of operators cutting emissions as a result of IMEO alerts”. It adds: “Countries like Yemen, Argentina and Oman have achieved 100% or near 100% response rates, which has translated into major emissions cuts, according to IMEO head Giulia Ferrini. The agency has trained roughly 2,000 engineers, asset managers, regulators and policymakers from 40 countries on how to use the data.” The New York Times notes that four years ago, more than 100 countries pledged to cut global methane emissions by 30% by 2030. It says that according to the report, “the world is not moving quickly enough” to achieve this goal.

MORE ON METHANE

• YaleE360 reports that “the five biggest meat and dairy producers are generating more methane than the five largest oil and gas companies”, according to a separate report.
• DeSmog adds that according to this report, “the 45 largest meat and dairy corporations in the world were responsible for more than 1bn tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions in 2023”.

The US has imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, to put pressure on the country to “to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine”, the Guardian reports. It continues: “The British government sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil last week. The EU has sanctioned Rosneft, the Russian state-owned oil company, but not Lukoil, which is privately owned, largely due to exemptions for Hungary and Slovakia, which buy Russian oil.” Reuters says: “The sanctions are a major policy shift for Trump, who had not put sanctions on Russia over the war and instead relied on trade measures.” BBC News reports that the sanctions “came one day after Trump said a meeting planned with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Budapest would be shelved indefinitely”.

Reuters reports that oil prices jumped 3% today. Bloomberg says the sanctions are “sending shockwaves deep into the heart of China’s oil industry”. The outlet notes that around 20% of China’s crude imports come from Russia. It continues: “The risk for China as well as India, Russia’s biggest customers, lies in their dealings with sanctioned entities, which can leave companies exposed to crippling secondary penalties.” Reuters says: “Indian state refiners are reviewing their Russian oil trade documents to ensure no supply will be coming directly from Rosneft and Lukoil.” Sky News, the Wall Street Journal and Al Jazeera also cover the news. 

MORE ON OIL

• Bloomberg reports that the EU has “adopted a new package of sanctions targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure”, including “tighten[ing] a transaction ban on two major Russian oil companies” and “sanction[ing] 117 additional so-called shadow fleet vessels, which have enabled Russia to evade previous measures”. 
• Politico reports that “the Trump administration plans to propose opening federal waters in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to offshore drilling”.

The first half of 2025 was “the costliest on record for major disasters in the US”, with 14 “separate weather-related disasters that each caused at least $1bn in damage”, the Guardian reports. The newspaper says that non-profit Climate Central carried out the analysis, because the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had stopped doing so after 45 years. It explains that the Trump administration “retired” the NOAA dataset in May, citing “evolving priorities, statutory mandates and staffing changes”. It continues: “Information on billion-dollar disasters until the end of 2024 is still available, frozen, on NOAA’s website, but Climate Central has sought to extend this work, citing its importance as a barometer of the climate crisis as well as a planning resource for cities and states facing increasing dangers from extreme weather impacts.”

CNN reports that the database “was rebuilt and will be maintained by its previous administrator Adam Smith, a former economist at the NOAA”. The New York Times notes that “more than half of the costs from extreme weather so far this year stem from the wildfires that tore through Los Angeles in January”. Bloomberg reports that “the US saw more than $101bn in losses from severe storms and fires in the first half of 2025, setting a record”. NBC News and Agence France-Presse also cover the story. 

MORE ON US

• The Daily Telegraph reports that BP has “abandoned” its proposed Beacon Wind offshore wind project after Trump “declared war on renewable energy”. According to the Times, the scheme would have been built off the coast of Massachusetts.
• The Hill says: “The Trump administration has sent a referral to the Department of Justice recommending Biden-era Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staff face criminal charges, alleging politicisation of emergency funding.”
• The Guardian covers new data, which reveals “higher than average migration growth to the US from areas in Guatemala, Bangladesh and Senegal hit by repeated climate disasters”. 
• The Guardian reports that Tesla “saw a precipitous drop in profit in its most recent quarter”, despite “record vehicle sales” driven by “a rush to buy electric vehicles before a US tax credit for them disappears”. Reuters and the Financial Times also cover the story.
• Yale Environment 360 says: “Offshore wind had been poised to take off along the East Coast, with about 30 utility-scale farms planned. But the Trump administration’s opposition to wind power has caused most of those projects to be abandoned, with only seven farms now moving ahead or in operation.”

The UK’s transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, “has launched a process designed to fast-track a new third runway at Heathrow”, the Financial Times reports. According to the newspaper, Alexander told the House of Commons yesterday that an updated Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), which sets out the framework for future development at Heathrow, will be published for consultation by summer 2026. The document will be completed by the end of 2026, about a year earlier than expected, the newspaper says. The Guardian reports: “The updated policy statement will include Labour’s four key tests for proposed airport expansion – on climate, noise, air quality and economic growth – and be consistent with net-zero commitments, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.” The Press Associated adds: “[Alexander] said new environmental and climate obligations since 2018 mean an updated ANPS is necessary to allow a decision to be taken on expansion planning applications.”

Meanwhile, BBC News reports that a decision on which developer will build Heathrow’s third runway is due by the end of November. The broadcaster says that “two rival bids are under scrutiny: one from Heathrow Airport itself and another from the Arora Group, led by hotel tycoon Surinder Arora”. The Daily Telegraph also covers the news. Separately, Reuters reports that Heathrow airport “reported record passengers for the third quarter of 2025”. In related comment, the Daily Telegraph has an editorial saying that “no infrastructure project has been more debated or longer delayed”, adding inaccurately: “The Climate Change Committee, whose opinions must be taken as gospel, has questioned whether the expansion would breach the UK’s carbon emissions and net-zero obligations.”

MORE ON UK

• The Press Association covers a report by the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee, which it says warns that the UK government “should not ramp up the decline of Scotland’s oil and gas industry”, arguing that “jobs created in clean energy were failing to make up for losses in the North Sea”. 
• The Press Association reports that if Scotland elects a Labour government, Ed Miliband will “invite nuclear bosses to Scotland” on day one, in a “push for new reactors”. The Daily Telegraph notes that “SNP ministers have used their planning powers to block the construction of any new nuclear plants north of the border over the past 18 years”.
• Politico reports that “[short-lived former prime minister] Liz Truss thinks Green Party could be Britain’s next official opposition”. 

“Government insiders say Keir Starmer is prepared to miss his own target of removing almost all fossil fuels from the UK’s electricity supply by 2030 if doing so proves much more expensive than building gas power instead,” according to a Guardian “exclusive”. The newspaper continues: “The issue will come to a head within weeks as Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, decides how much renewable energy to commission for the next few years. Allies say Miliband is willing to buy less than experts say is needed to hit the 2030 target, if paying for them would push energy bills much higher than their current levels.” However, the article undermines its own headline with a series of quotes, including a “government aide” saying: “The prime minister made this the centrepiece of one of his missions. He is not going to drop it now.” It also quotes a government spokesperson saying: “The government is fully committed to delivering clean power by 2030 because it is how we deliver a system that can bring down bills for consumers.”

Meanwhile, the Tony Blair Institute [TBI] has published a new report calling for the government to “continue backing net-zero, but re-prioritise the government’s efforts to achieve clean power by 2030 towards growth and value for money”, the Press Association reports. It continues: “After a row erupted earlier in the year when the former prime minister claimed the current climate approach was not working, and limiting fossil fuels in the short term was ‘doomed to fail’, the latest intervention from the Tony Blair Institute takes care to distance itself from anti-net zero rhetoric.” The Financial Times covers the TBI report in a story trailed on its frontpage. It says the report “warned the policy [to decarbonise the power system by 2030] risked pushing up energy bills in the rush to build new wind and solar farms and said high electricity prices have become a drag on the economy”.

The Daily Telegraph trails the story on its frontpage under the headline “cut eco-levies on bills, Blair tells Miliband”. [The TBI report only calls for the UK’s supplementary carbon tax on the power sector, the “carbon price support”, to be scrapped.] Elsewhere, the TBI report is covered under an inaccurate headline from Politico, which says “Blair says UK should drop clean power targets”. [The report says: “The government should instruct [system operator] NESO to develop a new national system plan that keeps clean power 2030 as the goal but incorporates annual reviews.”] The Daily Express and the Daily Mail also cover the story. Separately, BBC News says that “Miliband’s promise to cut energy bills by £300 could be ‘wiped out’ by rising electricity costs, according to the expert behind the savings estimate”.

The World Bank’s executive board has agreed to host the Tropical Forest Forever Fund this week, “one of Brazil’s main commitment for COP30”, Folha de São Paulo reports. The World Bank will be trustee and will initially serve as the fund’s administrator, hosting its secretariat, and later countries and funders will manage it independently, according to the newspaper. It adds that the reason for choosing the World Bank is to “give credibility to the fund and streamline its operations”. Climate Home News also covers the news and quotes Brazil’s finance minister saying it moves the mechanism “from an idea into a fully operational reality”.

Elsewhere, ((o))eco covers the pre-COP30 meetings, where more than 40 youth organisations from Brazil and other countries sent a letter to the COP30 presidency asking for “effective participation” at climate negotiations and ecological transition policies. Relatedly, Indigenous peoples are expected to have “the largest and best participation” at COP30, with 3,000 Indigenous representatives participating at the COP village, according to Sonia Guajajara, Brazil’s minister of Indigenous peoples, reports radioagência.

MORE ON LATIN AMERICA

• About 15 of the so-called “least developed countries” will need at least $406bn to adapt to climate change, according to figures calculated by Folha de São Paulo from a recent UN report that reviews countries’ national adaptation plans.
• Following recent floods in Mexico, a comment piece in Excélsior says the country needs to move from reacting to disasters to investing in prevention. Another comment in La Jornada says “this time was different”, since the large-scale flooding was caused by rivers overflowing even in regions not directly hit by hurricanes.
• Mexico’s College of Civil Engineers has urged the strengthening of the disaster planning and prevention system in the country, since investment in climate-resilient infrastructure “is low”, La Jornada reports.
• A civil society organisation has accused Mexico’s government of opacity in its use of public resources to carry out fracking activities across the country, says El Universal.
• Agence France-Pressse reports that “Brazil awarded exploration rights to five offshore oil blocks on Wednesday”.
• Reuters reports that coffee crops drove 1.8m hectares of deforestation in Brazil over 2002-23. The New York Times adds that “the more forests are destroyed to grow coffee, the more the crop’s long-term prospects are jeopardised by changing rains”.

An official at China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) said 2025 is a “key year for advancing carbon peaking efforts” as the ministry prepares for the 15th five-year plan, China Energy Net reports. It adds that, going forward, the NEA will focus on “maintaining equal emphasis on local consumption and external transmission” of power, accelerating the construction of large-scale wind and solar power bases in “desert, Gobi and arid regions”, expanding the “wind power plus” model and working with other countries to enact China’s pledge to install 10 gigawatts of solar and wind power in partner countries. Meanwhile, Caixin publishes an analysis by Zhao Wei, chief economist at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, saying that “key” priorities during the 15th five-year plan period will likely include the “green and low-carbon transition”.

In a commentary on China’s latest GDP figures, the Communist party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily says the “green and low-carbon transition has made new progress”, with rising non-fossil energy consumption and “double-digit” export growth in clean-energy technologies. People’s Daily also publishes an article under the byline Jin Sheping – used to signal the thoughts of party leadership on economic matters – saying that the “green and low-carbon transition is the trend of the times” and that “ecological conservation and economic development are not mutually exclusive”. New quality productive forces – which are “inherently green” – will be in a “more prominent strategic position” during the 15th five-year plan period, state news agency Xinhua says. An editorial by the state-supporting newspaper Global Times argues that breakthroughs in technologies such as new-energy vehicles have made China one of the world’s “most dynamic sources of innovation”.

MORE ON CHINA

• At a G20 environment and climate meeting, China said it has consistently played an “active and constructive role” in climate governance, International Energy Net says.
• Euronews says that “US pressure and Chinese restrictions on rare earth metals are…challenging the [EU’s] climate goals”. EU and Chinese officials will soon meet to find “urgent solutions” to rare earth export controls, Reuters reports.
• The Financial Times says China is “leading the way” in global energy storage, accounting for about 43% of total global capacity.
• “Epic rains in northern China have disrupted the harvest and left crops rotting in the fields, pressuring grain supplies”, Bloomberg says, adding that “climate change is making the weather increasingly unpredictable”.
• China Daily: “Nation’s green initiatives a catalyst for global change.”

Leaders of EU countries will meet today to “debate how to align ambitious climate goals with improving their companies’ competitiveness”, Reuters reports. The newswire says the bloc is “seeking to unlock a deal on a new 2040 emissions target despite growing pushback on green measures from some member states”. It continues: “The EU is attempting to pass a new target to cut net greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2040. The goal has stoked pushback from some capitals over how to finance the low-carbon transition alongside priorities like defence and revitalising local businesses. Ahead of Thursday’s summit, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told leaders the shift to a clean economy was Europe’s chance to revive flagging industries and cut reliance on Chinese imports.” Politico says the EU “is bracing for national leaders to vent their concerns about its green agenda – and hoping it doesn’t turn into an outright rebellion”. Bloomberg says that “Europe is at a crossroads on climate”.

MORE ON EUROPE

• Politico reports that the Trump administration “is ramping up the pressure on the European Union to repeal or overhaul a regulation on corporations’ greenhouse gas pollution”.  
• According to a letter seen by Reuters, “the European Union is drafting measures to control prices in its new carbon market, in response to governments’ concerns that the emissions-cutting scheme could increase fuel bills”.
• Politico carries a warning from Ursula von der Leyen that “the EU should learn from losing its solar panel industry to China and protect its share of green tech as it surges around the world”. 
• Ursula Woodburn, director of the Corporate Leaders Group Europe, writes in a comment for Climate Home News: “Businesses across Europe are investing in the huge opportunities of a cleaner future economy. Their efforts must be supported – not stifled – by forthcoming EU legislation.”

An editorial in the Financial Times says that “last week’s regrettable derailment of a landmark global deal to cut shipping emissions is one of Trump’s most successful attempts yet to force all countries, rich and poor, to back his push to prolong the era of fossil fuels”. The editorial says that “until last week, action looked imminent”. It continues: “What Trump called a ‘global green new scam tax on shipping’ is nothing of the sort. It is a long overdue attempt to bring international shipping into line with other sectors by requiring ships to comply with emissions intensity limits in a carbon-credit system expected to raise at least $11bn a year. The money is due to go to a Net Zero Fund to ease the impact of the system on very poor countries, reward greener ships and speed up the adoption of low-carbon fuels.” It concludes that “all is not lost”, but says that Trump has “ensured that any global fix for maritime carbon emissions will be even slower still”.

MORE COMMENT

• Bloomberg opinion columnist Javier Blas writes: “Today in Washington, there’s a greater emphasis on preserving the energy status quo rather than changing it. Oil – and large cars – are back in fashion; climate change is out of favour.”
• The Financial Times Australia and Pacific correspondent, Nic Fildes, writes that “focusing on jobs and property prices could be a better way to bolster support for a new emissions target” for Australia.
• Bloomberg opinion columnist Mark Gongoff has a piece with the headline “good news: You don’t have to give up eating beef”, where he discusses new research on emissions from meat consumption.
• Ron Bousso, Reuters energy columnist, writes that “Europe’s offshore wind sector faces [a] dilemma over China’s grip on [the] sector”.
• A Daily Mail editorial argues that “we could stimulate growth by shelving net-zero”.

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Ayesha Tandon, with contributions from Yanine Quiroz, Anika Patel and Henry Zhang. It was edited by Simon Evans.

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