The Trump administration will not be sending any “high-level” officials to COP30 in Belém, Brazil, next week, reports the Hill. The administration’s move is “not necessarily a surprise”, the article says, considering “Trump and many of his cabinet officials have sought to downplay the impacts of climate change and roll back regulations”. Reuters says the decision “alleviat[es] some concern among world leaders that Washington would send a team to scupper the talks”. The newswire quotes a White House official, who said: “The president is directly engaging with leaders around the world on energy issues, which you can see from the historic trade deals and peace deals that all have a significant focus on energy partnerships.” Todd Stern, a former US lead climate negotiator, tells the Guardian that the decision “doesn’t surprise me”, adding: “I don’t think [US officials] would add anything useful.” Agence France Presse also has the story.

EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra describes the move as a “watershed moment”, reports Bloomberg, but points to new “partnerships and opportunities” for other nations to make progress. It is unclear whether other US officials – including career diplomats at the state department – will still attend the summit, says another Bloomberg article. The newswire includes an announcement on Friday from the COP30 presidency, which noted that, while 143 nations will have delegations at the negotiations, just 57 heads of state and government are now slated to attend. [Update: Xinhua suggests that the 143 figure actually refers to the number of nations with delegations confirmed for the leaders’ summit later this week, rather than COP30 itself. Agence France-Presse says that 170 nations have delegations accredited for COP30.] Brazil’s environment minister Marina Silva has urged heads of state to “send a message” on a “just, planned, gradual and long-term decommissioning of fossil fuels”, reports Climate Home News.

MORE ON COP30

• Brazil is offering free cabins on cruise ships to poorer nations in a “last-minute bid to ensure they can attend” COP30, reports Reuters.
• In an article trailed on its frontpage, the Observer looks at the “high stakes and faint hopes” at COP30.
• The Sunday Times reports on how international climate change talks are “under fire” as COP30 approaches.
• Bloomberg focuses on the “billion-dollar transformation” in Belém, where “new venues are opening almost daily”. 
• Today, Brazil opens three weeks of events linked to COP30, “hoping to showcase a world still determined to tackle global warming”, says Reuters. 
• Prince William will attend COP30, where he will deliver a “landmark speech on behalf of the King and the UK government”, says Sky News.

The Nationals party – the junior partner in Australia’s opposition Coalition – has formally abandoned a commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 in a unanimous decision, reports ABC News. Nationals leader David Littleproud said the party would shift its focus to climate adaptation instead of being “focused solely” on reducing emissions, the outlet reports, adding that he “proposed pegging Australia’s emissions reduction efforts to the OECD average, which he said was about half the pace of the nation’s current trajectory”. The decision at a meeting yesterday followed a vote by grassroots members to “abandon its support for a net-zero mandate”, reports the Guardian. It adds: “A bitter brawl has erupted between the Liberal and National parties – and conservative and moderate factions – about whether to keep the net-zero target, prompting speculation the Coalition could split.” The Daily Mail describes the move as a “bombshell” decision that “threatens to tear” the Coalition apart.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley is now “facing growing pressure from conservative Liberal MPs” to ditch net-zero, a separate Guardian article reports. It continues: “Some moderate Liberals want a meeting held as soon as this week, warning further internal debate could weaken Ley’s struggling leadership and give the Albanese government a free pass on the hot-button political issue of rising energy prices.” In a live blog, the Guardian reports the comments of Bridget McKenzie, Senate leader for the Nationals, who said the decision was in the “national interest” and nothing to do with the Liberal party’s policy position. 

MORE ON AUSTRALIA

• Adam Morton, Guardian Australia’s climate and environment editor, asks why Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese wants to host next year’s global climate summit in Adelaide when he is not attending COP30.

The US Department of Energy announced on Friday that it would make $100m available to refurbish and modernise existing coal-fired power plants, reports Reuters. It continues: “The move is part of the Trump administration’s effort to reverse the decline of coal use in the US. The energy department said last month it would provide $625m to expand power generation fuelled by coal.” The article quotes energy secretary Chris Wright: “These projects will help keep America’s coal plants operating and ensure the US has the reliable and affordable power it needs to keep the lights on and power our future.” 

Meanwhile, Inside Climate News reports that the Trump administration’s emergency order to keep a coal plant on Lake Michigan operating past its planned retirement date has cost at least $80m since May. The New York Times reports on how Navajo Nation, a large Native American reservation in the south-western US, is “divided” over coal: “As an economic engine for the region, it provides well-paid jobs on the reservation…But it has also used up water, polluted the air and raised health concerns.”

MORE ON US

• US negotiators have been accused of threatening EU diplomats with “personal consequences”, including “threats of family members losing visas”, during negotiations over a carbon tax for international shipping last month, reports Politico.
• The Environmental Protection Agency has “quietly retreated” from plans to eliminate Energy Star, a programme to help consumers to choose energy efficient appliances, reports the New York Times.
• US actor Harrison Ford tells the Guardian that Donald Trump’s attacks on climate science and policy “scares the sh*t out of me”.
• The Associated Press: “Fast chargers are expanding quickly, but American EV drivers still fear running out of juice.”
• An investigation by the New York Times finds that, despite new regulations, insurance companies in California are still finding “loopholes” to avoid covering homes in areas at high-risk of wildfires.
• Texas is “increasingly” meeting its growing demand for power with renewable energy, says Inside Climate News.

The EU is “considering a brake clause” to weaken its 2040 climate target in the future, if it becomes clear that forests are not absorbing enough CO2 emissions to meet the goal, reports Reuters. Ahead of COP30, EU countries are attempting to approve their new 2040 climate target at a meeting of climate ministers tomorrow, the newswire says. While the European Commission has recommended a target to cut emissions by 90% by 2040, some countries are “concerned about the costs to struggling domestic industries”, the newswire explains. The article quotes the latest “draft EU compromise proposal”, which includes a new clause that says if forests and other land-based activities that absorb CO2 emissions fall short, the EU will be allowed to propose “an adjustment of the 2040 intermediate target corresponding to and within the limits of the possible shortfalls”.

A “host of experts” have warned that a rumoured cut to VAT on electricity bills in the forthcoming UK budget “will backfire”, resulting in a “giveaway to richer homeowners and undermining the UK’s climate commitments”, the Guardian reports. It continues: “The chancellor is understood to be looking at plans to eliminate the 5% VAT charge on electricity bills as a fast and simple way to reduce bills for consumers…However, a host of experts have said such a move would disproportionately benefit better-off people with larger homes, would almost certainly result in higher carbon emissions.” The Guardian also reports that Sadiq Khan, Labour’s mayor of London, has called on chancellor Rachel Reeves to back “green investment” in the budget. According to the newspaper, Khan has warned that the Treasury could be “behind the curve” on tackling climate change, adding: “I think the Treasury should understand why this is important. You know why? Actually, we can get good growth from attacking the climate emergency.”

MORE ON UK

• Three Just Stop Oil protesters have been cleared over a protest where they sprayed orange powder on Stonehenge, reports the Guardian. 
• Warren Stephens, the US ambassador to the UK, has said the UK should scrap its ban on extracting new oil and gas from the North Sea if it wants to be “the best ally to the US it can possibly be”, reports the Times. 
• The Washington Post and Daily Telegraph both have articles on Zack Polanski, the recently installed leader of the Green party.
• The UK charging industry has warned it could face a £100m bill as the government considers making operators of public EV chargers pay business rates for the first time, reports the Guardian.
• The climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph has a deluge of articles attacking net-zero, covering medicine prices, solar-panel fires, North Sea oil wells, domestic energy bills and a so-called “boiler tax”.
• The Daily Telegraph also attacks the government’s International Climate Finance spending, highlighting projects behind a “road to nowhere” in Guyana and the “rewilding” of Ugandan wetlands.

China’s commerce ministry has issued “opinions” on “actively expanding green trade”, which includes a focus on “expanding imports and exports” of low-carbon products and technologies plus fostering a “favourable international environment for green trade”, according to environment news outlet Ideacarbon. Specifically, the ministry calls for initiatives to “enhance the international competitiveness” of Chinese clean-tech exporters, “capture international market demand” and “strengthen international exchanges and communication”, among other aims. The measures also call for promoting trade in “green hydrogen” and sustainable fuels, says industry news outlet BJX News. Li Chenggang, China’s vice-minister of commerce and international trade representative, told a press conference that China’s foreign trade is upgrading from “selling products” to providing “green solutions”, reports specialist news outlet Science and Technology Daily. State news agency Xinhua quotes Li saying that the global market for low-carbon technologies, such as electric vehicles (EVs), solar power and wind power, have grown five-fold to $2tn. The Communist party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily publishes the video of the press conference. 

Elsewhere, Chinese president Xi Jinping said at last week’s APEC summit in South Korea that China is committed to supporting the “free flow of high-quality green technologies and products”, reports Xinhua. Xi also discussed solutions to “trade irritants”, including EVs, with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, Bloomberg says. Iceland’s president Halla Tómasdóttir tells Yicai that Iceland and China can “cooperate seamlessly on addressing global climate change challenges”. Bloomberg reports that China and Japan will “collaborate on typhoon observations and research, as warming temperatures threaten to make the powerful storms more destructive”. China’s vice-premier Ding Xuexiang will attend COP30, Xinhua reports.

MORE ON CHINA

• Top political advisor Wang Huning says China must continue with “smart, green and integrated [economic] development” in an article in the People’s Daily print edition.
• In the first three quarters of this year, China added 310 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity, up 48% year-on-year, People’s Daily reports, citing an NEA press conference. It also says “nuclear power, power grids, new-energy storage and coal-fired power” are “major drivers” of investment growth, adds BJX News.
• A Xinhua commentary by reporter Gao Jing says a “new energy system” will both help China’s energy transition and be a “crucial pillar for…national energy security”.   
• The NDRC will implement “strict energy efficiency reviews and carbon emission assessments” for new computing power projects, China News reports.
• International Energy Net reports that the NEA has pledged to revoke power businesses’ licenses if they fail to “provide fair and non-discriminatory access to the electricity market”.
• Reuters says China’s petrol demand is estimated to have fallen 9% in October due to the national public holiday, “stemming from wider EV adoption”.

Germany, while still on track to meet its net-zero commitments, will still have to face the “hardest” climate challenges, reports the Guardian. It quotes a climate activist from Fridays for Future, Luisa Neubauer, noting that “Germany benefited from a time when environmentalism was happening through the way you’d change lightbulbs, buy tote bags and organic food, and maybe invest in a local wind park…If you ignore emissions, we did great.” Nevertheless, Germany has made progress in shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy, which accounted for 59% of the country’s electricity last year, the newspaper explains. However, it also notes that public and political support for climate action “has waned”, citing the removal of cycle lanes and the raising of speed limits. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reports that the German government plans to pass the carbon capture and storage law on Thursday, which will allow the previously banned storage and export of CO2, “a rare step toward greater German pragmatism in the country’s climate transition”. 

MORE ON GERMANY 

• Der Spiegel reports that the German federal government plans to ease energy costs for households and businesses as well as reduce grid fees next year through €6.5bn in subsidies, with energy-intensive businesses benefiting more than private households.
• German utility company MVV Energie plans to build the world’s largest heat pump, located directly on the Rhine river, with a thermal output of 165 megawatts (MW), capable of supplying up to 40,000 households with “climate-friendly” heat, reports FAZ.

There is continuing reaction to the “note” from Bill Gates last week in which he urged COP30 negotiators to focus on adaptation and development over near-term emissions cuts. Mark Gongloff, Bloomberg opinion editor and columnist, likens the intervention from Gates to “quiet-quitting the fight against climate change”. Gates “has long led the charge to keep the planet from overheating”, notes Gongloff: “He says he’s still in it. But his heart no longer appears to be. Worse, he’s giving ammunition to those fighting against further progress.” Writing for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, US climate scientist Prof Michael Mann says that “what Gates is putting forward aren’t legitimate arguments that can be made in good faith. They are shopworn fossil-fuel industry talking points.” 

Elsewhere, there is more supportive commentary. In the New York Times, researcher Dr Stephen Lezak writes that, while Gates is “arguably one of the least appropriate people to police language on the climate crisis”, he is “generally correct” when he says that climate change will “not be the end of civilisation”. Right-leaning media is far more approving. A Times editorial says that Gates is “surely right” that climate finance “must be balanced with the more acute threats of poverty and ­disease”. A Sun editorial says that Gates’s message should be “urgently heeded by politicians hellbent on de-industrialising our economy”. The Daily Telegraph, New York Post and Wall Street Journal all give space to climate sceptics to write in favour of Gates’s intervention.

Writing in the Guardian, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown says that a two-day leaders’ summit on 6 and 7 November, in advance of COP30 in Belém, “will be so critical” to spur climate action. Brown calls for leaders to agree a “Belém declaration” covering five points: accelerating the implementation of existing climate plans; “declaring a determination to achieve” by 2035 the goal of $1.3tn in public and private finance for the global south; pledging support for Brazil’s Tropical Forest Forever Facility; China and India implementing the Global Methane Pledge; and “reducing the human costs of climate inaction”. 

Elsewhere, in an article trailed on the Observer frontpage, economist Nicholas Stern argues that “climate action is the best way to ensure long-term growth”. He writes: “Those leaders who do recognise both the scale of the risks we face from climate change, and the magnitude of the opportunities from pursuing a cleaner, smarter path to growth, must now lead on action that offers the opportunity of better lives for people today and generations to come. When some step back, others can step forward. The arc of history will be with them.”

MORE CLIMATE COMMENT

• An editorial in the Jamaican Observer says that COP30 is “not simply for rhetoric or pageantry, but for concrete commitments, real shifts, and accountability”.
• Writing in the Gleaner, an English-language, daily newspaper in Jamaica, Prof Pía Riggirozzi, professor of international politics at the University of Southampton, says that COP30 has a “historic opportunity to place the nexus between gender, migration, and climate change at the heart of global negotiations”.
• Commenting on the “fishing expedition for health threats from offshore wind farms” by US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a Washington Post editorial says: “[A]ll too often, offshore wind opponents exaggerate or even invent problems to discredit a business they don’t like.”

Commenting on the Dutch elections last week, an editorial in the Guardian says the victory for the centrist liberal party D66 – “by a whisker” – shows that a “less divisive kind of politics can still cut through with the public, if it is prosecuted with conviction and panache”. It says: “The politics of optimism and collaboration are back in fashion in the Netherlands, and a pro‑European, pro-climate-action leader may be in charge of the country next year.”

MORE UK COMMENT

• In the Economist, climate activist Luisa Neubauer says that the idea of “greenlash” – the pushback against climate policies – is “built on lazy thinking”.
• An editorial in the Daily Telegraph criticises Nigel Topping, new chair of the Climate Change Committee, over his concerns that the consensus in UK politics on tackling climate change has broken down. The newspaper says: “Questioning net zero cannot remain taboo.” Topping was interviewed yesterday by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg – watch from 41:00 onwards.
• Writing in the Guardian, Dr Leah Aronowsky, assistant professor at the Columbia Climate School, asks: “Who decides how we adapt to climate change?”
• In the Sunday Times, contributing editor Jim Armitage complains about the solar projects in Lincolnshire, while climate-sceptic Dominic Lawson criticises Green party leader Zack Polanski. 

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Robert McSweeney, with contributions from Henry Zhang and Anika Patel. It was edited by Leo Hickman.

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