The Guardian reports that scientists are warning that the world’s coral reefs have been pushed into “uncharted territory” by the “worst global bleaching event on record that has now hit more than 80% of the planet’s reefs”. The newspaper adds: “Reefs in at least 82 countries and territories have been exposed to enough heat to turn corals white since the global event started in January 2023, the latest data from the US government’s Coral Reef Watch shows.” Reuters notes that the scientists say that the “devastating mass bleaching [has been] spurred by record-high ocean temperatures, turning many once-colourful reefs a ghostly pale hue”. The newswire quotes Melanie McField, a marine scientist working in the Caribbean: “The magnitude and extent of the heat stress is shocking. Some reefs that had thus far escaped major heat stress and we thought to be somewhat resilient, succumbed to partial mortalities in 2024. Bleaching is always eerie – as if a silent snowfall has descended on the reef.” The newswire adds: “Previous events in 1998, 2010 and 2014-17 saw 21%, 37% and 68% of reefs subjected to bleaching-level heat stress, respectively.” The Associated Press quotes Mark Eakin, executive secretary for the International Coral Reef Society and retired coral monitoring chief for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: “We may never see the heat stress that causes bleaching dropping below the threshold that triggers a global event. We’re looking at something that’s completely changing the face of our planet and the ability of our oceans to sustain lives and livelihoods.”

Politico reports that the Trump administration is “not drafting or considering an order targeting nonprofit organisations’ tax-exempt status”, according to a White House official. The outlet continues: “The comments come after rumors swirled in energy and environmental policy groups in recent days that President Donald Trump might attempt to revoke green groups’ tax-exempt status, potentially on Earth Day. Asked Tuesday whether the president was considering any actions to target nonprofit organisations, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters she would check in with the White House policy team. In response to a request for additional comment, a White House official told Politico’s E&E News later [on] Tuesday in an email: ‘No such orders are being drafted or considered at this time.’ Environmentalists’ concerns were amplified when Trump suggested last week that Harvard University should lose its tax-exempt status after the school defied the administration’s demands. Donations to major environmental groups that have 501(c)(3) status are considered charitable and tax-deductible, and losing that status could hurt green groups’ fundraising efforts. The president does not have the legal authority to request tax investigations into particular people or entities. A broad presidential directive to target nonprofits’ tax-exempt status could also encompass conservative organisations.” Reuters says it also received the same response from the White House when it asked about the speculation, but emphasises that the White House says it has no such “immediate” plans “at this time”. The newswire adds: “At the same time, a political law firm Sandler Reiff circulated a memo, seen by Reuters, to its non-profit and philanthropy clients advising them not to panic if the administration attempts to revoke their tax-exempt status or freeze international work…The White House did issue an Earth Day statement on Tuesday outlining steps his administration said it is taking to protect the environment, including supporting carbon capture and storage technology, nuclear energy and geothermal energy.”

In other US news, the Financial Times reports that “powerful New York City public pension funds are prepared to drop asset managers that do not comply with its climate plans, comptroller Brad Lander has warned, in a move that puts industry groups such as BlackRock under renewed pressure over sustainable investing”. Reuters says that the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management has “resumed its review of solar, storage and geothermal applications, [but] wind approvals remain frozen pending further review of permitting practices”. Another Reuters article says “US environmental groups say they are hiring lawyers and preparing for a major legal showdown with President Donald Trump’s administration over its rapid-fire and sweeping efforts to sidestep federal regulations on oil, gas and coal development”. CNN says it has “learned” that the Trump administration “quietly released key climate change data last week that has historically been accompanied by expert analysis from government scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration”. Another CNN article says that a “fast-moving wildfire in New Jersey expanded to 8,500 acres [on] Tuesday afternoon, causing over 3,000 evacuations and threatening more than 1,300 structures while also closing a portion of the Garden State Parkway in the southern portion of the state”. The Guardian notes that former US vice-president Al Gore has used a speech at San Francisco’s Climate Week to draw “parallels between Trump 2.0 and early Nazi Germany”, while also attacking Trump for “preventing the transition to green energy, as the global climate emergency reaches new heights”.

Elsewhere, there is widespread coverage of Tesla’s latest problems with BBC News reporting that “Tesla boss Elon Musk says he will cut back his role in Donald Trump’s administration after the company’s profits and revenues plunged during the first three months of the year”. It adds: “Sales slumped and the electric carmaker faced a backlash as Musk became a political fixture in the White House. On Tuesday, the firm reported a 20% drop in automotive revenue in the first quarter of 2025, compared with the same period last year, while profits fell more than 70%. The company warned investors that the pain could continue, declining to offer a growth forecast while saying ‘changing political sentiment’ could meaningfully hurt demand. The recent dip in the company’s fortunes came amid an outcry over Musk’s role in Trump’s new administration, which he acknowledged had taken his focus off the company.” The Guardian says that Musk has now indicated that, “starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to Doge [the so-called ‘department of government efficiency’] will drop significantly”. The Financial Times’s Lex column says, “given the electric-car maker’s cash pile, the billionaire can continue to chart his own course, for now”. Finally, the Daily Telegraph reports that “petrol and diesel prices are expected to plummet later this year as Donald Trump’s trade war kills off demand for oil in China”.

The Times carries an exclusive on its frontpage saying that UK energy secretary Ed Miliband will “introduce an amendment to legislation that will force [government-owned] GB Energy to ensure ‘slavery and human trafficking is not taking place’ in its supply chain”. The newspaper describes the move as a “major policy reversal”, adding: “Solar panels linked to Chinese slave labour will not be used by Britain’s state-owned energy company after a government climbdown that could threaten its net-zero ambitions…All solar panels, wind turbines and batteries must not contain materials suspected to have been produced through slave labour. Much of the world’s supply of polysilicon comes from the Xinjiang region, where there are suspected human rights abuses of the Uighur population. The Times also quotes “senior government sources” claiming that the UK net-zero pledges would still be met due to the building-up of domestic supply chains and pressure put on China. A source is quoted as saying: “There is an absolute abundance of solar panels, and it is more than possible to source our global need for solar panels in a way that is compliant with human rights.” Another unnamed source also says China is “beginning to understand how important and serious this is” for countries buying materials from them, which Miliband stressed on a recent visit to the country. They also say that there is a “buyer’s club” of countries who are demanding better standards from China, adding: “We’ve got to both diversify from China, but also we’ve got to keep going on…a buyer’s group of countries who are demanding change.” The story has been picked up by the Daily Telegraph and MailOnline.

In other UK news, the Daily Mail reports that the UK is “creating a brand new national forest which will be the first in the country for three decades”, adding. “The Western Forest will stretch from the Cotswolds to the Mendips and will see 20m trees planted, across 2,500 hectares of new woodland. Work will be led by the Forest of Avon and supported with a five-year investment of £7.5m from the government.”

China’s export restrictions on critical minerals are “having a visible effect, with exports of the minerals plunging and shipments of several critical items halting entirely in March”, reports the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP). The outlet adds that exports of tellurium, which is widely used in solar panels, declined by around 44% last month, which is likely to “pile pressure” on US manufacturers. Meanwhile, Chinese solar manufacturers are “tapping more regions for factory plans in a bid to secure alternative shipping routes to the US”, as the US finalises its “steep” tariffs on solar imports from Southeast Asia, says another SCMP report, adding that the Middle East is now emerging as a “popular option” for Chinese solar companies.

Separately, Reuters says that many Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers, despite their “fast-growing sales” and “technological revolution”, have failed to “turn a profit”. Japanese automaker Toyota has signed a deal to establish a “wholly-owned” EV and battery plant in Shanghai in a “strategic move to bolster its presence” in China, Xinhua reports.

Elsewhere, Economic Information Daily reports that China will issue the 1.3tn yuan (US$178bn) “ultra-long-term special government bonds” for its “two new” policy from Thursday this week. (See Carbon Brief’s Q&A on the “two new” policy.) State news agency Xinhua reports that China issued a total of 4.7bn “green electricity certificates” (GECs) in 2024. Industry news outlet BJX News also covers the story. China’s “largest single-unit onshore wind power generator” – a 16 megawatt turbine – has been installed in Jiangsu province, marking a “breakthrough in high-capacity clean-energy technology”, says Xinhua. Roberto Bocca, head of the Centre for Energy and Materials at the World Economic Forum (WEF), says in an interview with Xinhua that China’s achievements in the energy transition, driven by its “clear objectives and policies”, has set a “strong example” for the world. 

Finally, a comment by Reuters’s global energy transition columnist Gavin Maguire says that China’s clean power generation reached the “highest first-quarter total on record” during the first three months of 2025, with 39% of electricity generation now coming from “clean sources”. State broadcaster CGTN has an article titled: “Why China is a global clean energy leader.”

US vice president JD Vance has pitched for more “American energy exports at much lower costs” to India during his visit this week to the country for trade talks, the Hindu BusinessLine reports. The outlet quotes Vance saying in Jaipur: “As president Trump is fond of saying, America has once again begun to drill, baby drill [a]nd we think that will be to the benefit of Americans, but it will benefit India as well.” Vance is also quoted as saying that the US wants to help India “explore its own resources, including offshore natural gas reserves and critical mineral supplies”, while nuclear energy is another “important area of focus for both sides”, Reuters reports. The newswire quotes Vance as saying that “if we [India and the US] fail to work together successfully, the 21st century could be a very dark time for all of humanity.” India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India hopes to “positively conclude” the first part of a US-India trade agreement by autumn, it adds, while Vance said that “the two sides had finalised the terms of reference for the trade negotiation”. According to Bloomberg, Vance “urged” India to cooperate more closely with the US on energy, adding that as a result, India will be “able to build more, make more and grow more, but at much lower energy costs”. Last week, government officials and state-run oil companies told the Business Standard that India’s US crude oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) imports “will pick up in 2025 and could easily double” from a year earlier, “strengthening New Delhi’s bargaining position with Washington”. Meanwhile, Financial Express reports that prime minister Modi pushed for “stronger energy ties” on his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, as both countries are working on a bilateral investment treaty. Separately, a comment in CarbonCopy looks at how Trump’s tariff shock could “reroute decarbonisation” and over time, make “south-south trade more remunerative”.

Separately, Business Standard reports that “moves are apace” to amend India’s atomic energy and nuclear liability laws “to give the private sector a bigger role in nuclear energy commerce”. Relatedly, government officials tell the Economic Times that India is considering setting up a nuclear energy “watchdog” to “oversee nuclear fuel supply chain and waste management to prevent misuse” ahead of potential private sector involvement. An earlier Economic Times story reports that the state of Maharashtra has signed an agreement with Russia’s state-run Rosatom to develop a small modular reactor based on thorium. Indian Express reports that the country’s “oil import dependency touched yet another record high” in 2024-25, amid rising energy demand and “subdued domestic hydrocarbon production”.

The Indian Express says that India’s central labour ministry has advised all states to “reschedule working hours to avoid peak heat times”, amid “soaring temperatures across the country”. It adds that the ministry has asked states to focus on workers in factories, construction sites, brick kilns and mines. Finally, the Delhi government “unveiled” its heat action plan on Monday, the Times of India reports, including measures such as creating heat wards in hospitals and an early warning system.

Writing for Newsweek, London mayor Sadiq Khan and Denis Hayes, the first Earth Day organiser, argue that the “climate movement has never faced a more hostile and coordinated opposition”. They add: “Within the new US administration – and a growing number of political parties across the world – we now have climate deniers openly working to dismantle years of painstaking climate diplomacy and action. This creates huge risks for us all…But as we mark the 55th anniversary of Earth Day, under the banner of ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ and the 20th anniversary of the C40 Cities group, we can draw hope from the difference that cities, communities and individuals can still make to tackle the climate crisis. Cities are proving that a greener and healthier way of life is not only possible, but already delivering tangible benefits – from well-paid green jobs to less polluted neighborhoods…More than half of the world’s population (56% of people) now live in cities, and urban areas generate about 80% of global GDP. Throughout history, cities have been hubs of progress on the forefront of innovation. As national governments step back from their climate obligations, cities are now becoming ever-bigger players in the transition to a greener, more environmentally responsible era.”

In other comment, David Fickling explains for Bloomberg “how clean energy [has] escaped the boom-and-bust cycle”. He continues: “The shift toward clean power hasn’t stopped, or even slowed. In many quarters, particularly energy storage, electric vehicles and solar, it’s accelerating with renewed vigor. Investors aren’t opening their checkbooks to lavish more money on fossil fuels, either. What we’re seeing instead is a continued shift in spending from dirty to clean energy – one that’s too relentless to gladden the fossil fuel sector, but too slow to hit net-zero targets…This shift suggests that oil and gas is now a sunset industry, managing a long-term, if occasionally profitable, decline…The energy transition isn’t dead. It just needs to pick up the pace.”

In the Guardian, Rafael Behr looks at how the UK’s hard-right populist Reform party, under Nigel Farage’s leadership, “needs a vehicle for economic and cultural grievance to replace his old anti-European bandwagon”. Behr continues: “It served him so well but was immobilised in multiple collisions with reality. He wants climate-scepticism to be his second crusade, rallying demoralised, alienated voters against arrogant metropolitan elites. The Tories are too beaten, too drained of intellectual autonomy, to do anything but tag along behind Reform. Labour is not immune to the same paralysing anxiety – the fear that Farage, despite his public school pedigree and City trader swagger, has an uncanny way with working-class voters. It doesn’t help that the rightwing press amplify Reform’s campaigns and caricature Ed Miliband, energy secretary, as a zealous crank. In the ever-seething stew of Labour factionalism it isn’t hard to find MPs who use Miliband’s name as a byword for electoral liability. That resentment bubbles to the surface as media speculation that he might be removed at the next cabinet reshuffle, or that he should be. That isn’t the signal coming out of Downing Street. No one actually involved in writing or presenting government climate policy is preparing a u-turn in flight from Faragism. On the contrary, later this week, Keir Starmer will reaffirm his commitment to the renewable energy transition in a speech at an international summit in London, co-chaired by Miliband.”

Also in the Guardian, Mark Blyth and Nicolò Fraccaroli, both academics at Brown University, argue that the “real drivers of future inflation are not just tariffs, but the climate crisis and states backing off their decarbonisation efforts”. Meanwhile, the climate-sceptic Daily Mail has published an editorial (not yet online) which falsely claims that the International Monetary Fund has predicted the UK is set for the highest inflation of the G7 major economies this year due, in part, to the “high cost of energy thanks to the government’s misguided net-zero agenda”. The IMF does not cite net-zero policies in its latest forecast. [As a recent Carbon Brief factcheck noted, it is the UK’s high exposure to volatile gas prices that is once again raising energy bills.]

There is continuing global media reaction to the death of Pope Francis with many commentators focusing on his climate legacy. Bloomberg’s Mark Gongloff argues: “When much of the world, including its biggest economy, is retreating from climate activism and embracing a cynical climate ‘realism’, the Vatican has a chance to stand out by electing another vocal environmentalist to lead nearly 1.4bn Catholics.” The Associated Press examines his wider environmental legacy noting that he “himself pointed to a 2007 meeting of Latin American and Caribbean bishops in Aparecida, Brazil, as the moment of his ecological awakening”. Chico Harlan in the Washington Post asks: “Francis was the first climate pope. Who will take up his mantle?” Eric Roston in Bloomberg writes: “Pope Francis put the world’s focus on protecting climate and nature.”

Sudden shifts from extreme warm to cold temperatures – and vice-versa – have become more frequent, intense and rapid over the past 60 years, a new study finds. According to the research, “rapid temperature flips” have increased in 60% of the “global areas defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change” since 1961 – and will “expand to most areas” by 2100 under a high-emission scenario. The scientists note that these rapid temperature shifts challenge humans and ecosystems – but are “yet to be fully understood”.

The “unprecedented” warm sea surface temperatures observed in the North Atlantic Ocean in early summer 2023 would have been “impossible” without human-caused climate change, according to new research. The study points to internal variability and human-caused climate forcing as the causes of the “all-time high” marine heat event. It finds the effect of internal variability has been “considerably boosted” by an increase in “long-term ocean stratification” caused by human-caused ocean warming and multidecadal variability.