The past eight years were the warmest on record, according to European scientists at the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the Times reports. In its latest analysis, the group has concluded that , globally, 2022 was the fifth warmest on record “despite the cooling effect of the La Niña weather pattern”, the newspaper says. It adds that “Europe was exceptionally warm, with 10 countries including Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland reporting their hottest year to date”. The piece also notes that Copernicus concluded the world was about 1.2C warmer than 1850-1900, a period marking the start of the industrial revolution, when humans started emitting planet-warming greenhouse gases from fossil fuels into the atmosphere in large volumes. According to MailOnline, the group concluded that 2022 saw “Europe’s hottest summer on record, typified by prolonged and intense heatwaves, especially in the continent’s north and west”. The Arctic and Antarctic regions both experienced all-time high temperatures during the year, the Financial Times reports, “with some parts of Siberia and the Antarctic Peninsula more than 2C above the average for the period 1991-2020 overall”. Temperatures in European countries have increased by more than twice the global average over the last 30 years, and according to the Copernicus scientists Europe has the highest rate of temperature increase of any continent in the world, according to BBC News.

Coverage of the report also notes the extreme weather events that have been linked to the rising temperatures. The Independent notes “unusually high levels of wildfires in southwestern Europe, especially in France and Spain”. The rising temperatures came “as climate change unleashed record-breaking weather extremes that slashed crop yields, dried up rivers and led to thousands of deaths”, Reuters states.

The Guardian has conducted its own analysis of the Copernicus data and finds that 12 European countries broke monthly temperature records in 2022 “as the continent recorded its hottest ever summer”. However, it notes that temperature increases were not uniform across the world with La Niña conditions leading to relatively low temperatures across the Pacific region in 2022. The Washington Post‘s coverage of the “fifth hottest ever recorded on the planet” contains a reminder of the UN’s estimate that existing national plans currently leaves the world on a path to warm by “a dangerous 2.4C (4.3F) by the end of the century”. Carbon Brief contributor Dr Zeke Hausfather is quoted in the New York Times coverage, which also includes maps of locations where temperature records were broken.

In separate analysis covered by the Guardian, it has been revealed that the world’s oceans were the hottest ever recorded in 2022. The newspaper says this demonstrates the “profound and pervasive changes that human-caused emissions have made to the planet’s climate”.

New estimates released by research firm Rhodium Group reveal that US greenhouse gas emissions from energy and industry increased in 2022, “moving the nation in the opposite direction from its climate goals”, according to the New York Times. Despite renewables such as wind, solar and hydropower overtaking coal power nationwide for the first time in more than six decades, emissions still rose 1.3% last year, it says. It notes that renewables generated 22% of the nation’s electricity compared to 20% from coal, with growth in the use of fossil gas as a power source partly compensating for coal’s decline. In fact, the Financial Times notes that the power sector actually emitted slightly less in 2022 than the previous year. However, the wider increase in emissions was “led by sharp increases from the country’s buildings, industry and transport”. According to the newspaper, the Rhodium Group points out that “the emissions trend puts the US further out of sync with the administration of Joe Biden’s climate goals”. Reuters says that the US is just 15.5% below 2005 emissions levels and, therefore, “off track to meet its global pledge to slash emissions 50-52% by 2030”. At the same time, another Reuters story reports on government data and industry analysts revealing that wholesale US power prices are expected to drop in 2023 “as the cost of natural gas falls and cheap renewable electricity expands”.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that the Biden administration’s departments of energy, transportation and housing and urban development have released a roadmap “for eliminating carbon emissions from the transportation sector by the middle of the century”. These plans aim to achieve more walkable communities, investments in public transport and the rapid adoption of electric vehicles, it continues. This is particularly notable as the newspaper notes that transport is the “biggest source of greenhouse gases in the American economy”. Reuters reports that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) plans to propose new fuel-economy standards for 2027 and beyond, “which could dramatically reshape new cars on America’s roads”.

Separately, according to Reuters, US secretary of the interior Deb Haaland is setting up an office to ensure efficient use of the Biden administration’s $4.7bn investment in the cleanup of abandoned oil and gas wells – the Orphaned Wells Program Office. Elsewhere, the Washington Post reports that one of Haaland’s senior advisers, Elizabeth Klein, has been picked by the Biden administration as the new director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), “a powerful offshore energy agency” that oversees leasing for offshore oil, gas, minerals and wind-power development. The newspaper says this is significant because Klein is a “strong supporter of renewable energies” whose nomination for the role had previously been opposed by senators from fossil fuel-rich states.

Finally, according to Reuters, with the US unemployment rate at a historic low of 3.5%, Biden’s climate agenda is being threatened by a labour shortage.

A new report from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has concluded that the US faced 18 separate disasters in 2022 with damages exceeding $1bn, according to NPR. The total damage over these events came to $165bn, marking the fifth time in six years that costs from extreme weather events have exceeded $100bn annually in the US, it continues. The article adds that “climate-fuelled hurricanes, in particular, are driving up damages”, with Hurricane Ian, which struck Florida last year, costing $112.9bn alone. The US government data shows that 2022 was the third most costly year since records of major losses began in 1980 – and a total of 474 people died as a result of these catastrophes, according to the Guardian. The newspaper notes that the figures do not include the costs of all extreme weather, such as the extreme heat that was linked to hundreds of deaths in Phoenix, Arizona, alone. Other major events covered by the report include the year-long drought across several western and southern plain states, western wildfires, hurricanes Nicole and Fiona, flooding in eastern Kentucky and Missouri, two Southern tornado outbreaks, two north central hail storms and a winter storm, Bloomberg reports. The news outlet notes that the risk of many of these events is increasing as “the planet gets warmer, wetter and more prone to extremes”.

Separately, CNN reports that the death toll in the on-going California floods has risen to 17, with thousands of Californians still under evacuation orders during the heavy rainfall.

Meanwhile, BusinessGreen reports on new analysis by insurance company Munich Re, which finds that, globally, las year was “one of the costliest on record for natural disasters”. It places total costs around the world at $270bn, and highlights climate protection as “a matter of urgency”.

In other news, the Guardian reports on experts warning that “governments must get to grips with the links between the climate crisis and the plight of migrants around the world”. It notes that the more than 100 million displaced people around the world are among the most exposed to extreme weather events. The New York Times reports that during a meeting by Biden with the leaders of Canada and Mexico at which immigration issues dominated, climate cooperation was also discussed.

Australia’s 215 largest industrial polluters – including coal, oil and gas projects – will be forced to cut their emissions by 30% by 2030 under binding caps introduced from the start of 1 July, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The news is the result of Anthony Albanese’s Labor government revealing the details of “its signature climate policy”, known as the safeguard mechanism, the newspaper continues. This marks the first federal policy in Australia that compels industry to cut emissions since the government’s controversial carbon tax was axed in 2014, it adds. The Australian says this “shake-up” has “the potential to open another attack on business”. In its coverage, the Guardian notes that while the new system would require major industrial emitters to cut their emissions by nearly 5% a year, crucially, they “will face no limits on the use of carbon offsets”. It says that to help facilities cut their emissions, “safeguard credits would be issued to companies that emitted below their individual limit and could be bought by polluters that are above their baseline to help meet their target”. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, one of Australia’s largest miners, Rio Tinto, “has commended the Albanese government’s signature emissions-reduction policy for providing crucial to support to heavy industry as it assesses the impact on its carbon-intensive east-coast alumina assets”.

Meanwhile, another Sydney Morning Herald story reports that Australian Extinction Rebellion activists are planning to ramp up major disruptive protests, “even as the group’s British arm has announced it is toning down its tactics to draw broader support for mass protests later this year”.

In other Australian news, the Guardian reports that billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest have “fallen out over plans to build a giant solar farm in the Northern Territory to supply [the Australian city of] Darwin, Indonesia and Singapore with power”.

Central banks risk undermining their independence by seeking to tackle climate change, the head of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell has warned, according to the Daily Telegraph. Speaking at a conference in Stockholm, Powell identified climate change as an “inappropriate” topic for unelected central bankers to address, noting that they must “resist the temptation” to wade into “social issues”. that go beyond their remit. The newspaper says this will “likely to be seen as a rebuke to the Bank of England”, which has described managing financial risks from climate change a “key aspect” of delivering its “mission”. Speaking about the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, Powell said “without explicit congressional legislation, it would be inappropriate for us to use our monetary policy or supervisory tools to promote a greener economy or to achieve other climate-based goals”, the Financial Times reports. The newspaper notes that “Republican lawmakers have accused the Fed of overreaching its mandate by pledging to consider climate-related financial risks”. The New York Times quotes Powell saying: “We are not, and will not be, a ‘climate policymaker.’”

In other financial news, Reuters reports that World Bank president David Malpass – who has recently come under accusations of being a climate sceptic– has stated that the bank is not considering giving up its top-tier credit rating as a means to expand lending, in an on-going shake-up of its business model to address climate change and other global challenges. Another Reuters story says US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen is “defying demands from Republicans to step down” and plans on staying in her post to oversee billions of dollars in federal climate and infrastructure spending.

Finally, the economics advisory firm Oxford Economics and sustainable development consultancy Arup have concluded that industries helping the shift to net-zero emissions could be worth $10.3tn to the global economy by 2050, according to Reuters.

Bloomberg reports that China’s shipments of “new-energy” passenger vehicles (NEVs) to dealerships “climbed 96% to 6.5m in 2022, which is in line with the 6.49m forecast” made by the Passenger Car Association last week. Meanwhile, “nationwide” retail sales of NEVs, which include “pure electric cars and hybrids, jumped 90% to 5.67m”, according to figures released by the association on Tuesday, the outlet notes. Another Bloomberg article says that while China’s solar industry “enjoyed years of generous subsidies from the central government”, which helped equipment makers “dominate” the global supply chain, hydrogen “has yet to see the same level of policy support”.

Meanwhile, the South China Morning Post writes that the floods that “ravaged” southern China last May were the “fifth-worst” natural global catastrophe last year, but that “only a fraction of the losses were insured, revealing a huge insurance gap in the world’s second-largest economy and the threat posed by climate change”, citing a report by reinsurer Munich Re. The state-run Global Times newspaper has an editorial by Wen Sheng, one of its editors, who says that, in China, “achieving carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 is a major, solemn strategic decision made by the central government”. Wen adds: “In the coming months and years, enhanced efforts should be channelled to coordinating the growth of various means of transport sector by giving full play to the comparative advantages and their combined efficiency…ramping up the construction of green transport infrastructure, upgrading green facilities and phasing in a green and low-carbon transport organisational system in the country in order to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions throughout the whole transport cycle.”

Elsewhere, Caixin Global has a cover story, titled: “China’s international air travel resumes, but covid turbulence to delay takeoff.” Finally, the South China Morning Post carries a comment piece by Wang Huiyao, the founder of the Centre for China and Globalisation, a Beijing-based non-governmental thinktank, which is titled: “Five reasons China’s reopening is good news for the global economy.”

Scotland’s ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) has made its “cleanest break yet with an oil-and-gas sector” with a new draft energy strategy, after long viewing fossil fuels as important for making the financial case for independence from the UK, the Financial Times reports. The Scottish government has proposed making the “fastest possible” transition away from oil-and-gas production, with a strategy that prioritises a “just transition” and an accelerated shift to increased wind and hydrogen development. Notably, the SNP also advocated for “stricter environmental tests to be applied to developing already licensed fields”, according to the newspaper. The plan includes a “presumption against new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea”, the Scotsman notes. The Times says SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has stated that, if pursued properly, these policies could lead to a “net jobs gain” in Scotland. The party is in a power-sharing arrangement with the Scottish Greens, but the Herald notes that government climate advisers, the Climate Change Committee, recently warned that Scotland was slipping behind in its climate policies. It explains that the draft energy strategy is being published for consultation alongside a “just transition plan”. Edie notes that the headline commitment is the development of 20 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy capacity by 2030, including 12GW of onshore wind.

Meanwhile, responding to a question about funding and donations from fossil-fuel companies to the university, the new vice-chancellor of Oxford University Professor Irene Tracey has said there must be “recognition and engagement” of the fossil-fuel industry’s role in the global transition to green energy, the Press Association reports.

Energy consultancy Cornwall Insight has warned that the reduction in UK government support for companies’ energy bills “could threaten their efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions”, the Guardian reports. Its chief executive Gareth Miller is quoted in the article saying: “Ultimately, decarbonising industry and business requires investment of ever larger volumes of capital as the decade progresses.” More broadly, the Financial Times notes that, according to the Federation of Small Businesses, almost one in four of the UK’s small companies could be forced to close, downsize or restructure their operations following the withdrawal of government support.

Meanwhile, the Times reports that UK and European manufacturers are “slowing down production of electric vehicles because they are too expensive for the vast majority of motorists”. This findings comes from a new report by the Advanced Propulsion Centre states that “an uncertain economy is expected to drive buyers towards cheaper models”.

Some UK newspapers have taken aim at prime minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to fly to Leeds on a 14-seat RAF jet when visiting a healthcare centre this week. The Independent says No 10 has defended the decision, arguing it was the “most effective use of his time”. The Guardian says Sunak has been accused by MPs of undermining the government’s climate credentials and wasting taxpayers’ money. It notes that the trip “would have taken two-and-a-half hours by train”. The Daily Mirror adds that “Leeds was going to get a high-speed rail line from London, until the Tories scrapped it”.

Meanwhile, the Sun reports that Labour leader Keir Starmer “has been urged to return £360,000 of donations from an eco-warrior bankrolling protest group Just Stop Oil”. This builds on an investigation by Sky News and Tortoise Media, which revealed “green energy entrepreneur” Dale Vince has given money to Starmer and also deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner. A Sun editorial says “no mainstream party should accept donations from a tycoon funding Just Stop Oil”.

Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party, has written a piece for the Times outlining her vision for “the transformation of Scotland’s energy system”. It comes as her government unveils its draft energy strategy and just transition plan, which sets out a plan to transition the nation away from “maximum extraction of oil and gas”. She writes: “As a country with a rich oil and gas heritage, we have a responsibility and an opportunity – in a time of geopolitical and climate crisis – to balance energy security and national economic and social benefit with our international climate commitments.” Sturgeon says that the need for a just transition is driven not only by the threat of climate change, but also declining reserves of fossil fuels in the North Sea. She says that she appreciates the transition to wind, solar and hydrogen industries in Scotland will be concerning, particularly to those in the north east of Scotland where the oil-and-gas industry has long been a major employer. However, she adds that if done properly the transition plan could be a “huge opportunity”, stating that the underpinning research suggests that “the energy transition will result in a net jobs gain in the energy production sector, with the potential to create more jobs than currently exists within the oil and gas sector”.

Separately, in his Daily Telegraph newsletter, world economy editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes about energy prices in the UK, which are not now as high as predictions last year had led people to believe. He notes that the “alarmist saga over the energy price cap has led the Sunak-Hunt government to pursue needlessly harsh austerity into the teeth of recession”. He notes that “weather has been part of the better story”, with particularly mild conditions both in Europe and Asia, meaning lower demand for gas.

Dr Rose Abramoff, an earth scientist who studies the effect of climate change on natural and managed ecosystems, has written an essay for the New York Times explaining how her climate activism led to her losing her job. At the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in December, she unfurled a banner with fellow climate scientist Peter Kalmus that read: “Out of the lab & into the streets.” She writes: “We implored our colleagues to use their leverage as scientists to wake the public up to the dying planet.” As a result, the AGU withdrew the research that they had presented from the programme, and this led to a professional misconduct inquiry, which is ongoing. Abramoff has since been fired from the Oak Ridge laboratory where she worked. “I did not make the decision to become an activist lightly; I recognized that my actions would have consequences, and I knew that I could face retaliation. But inaction during this critical time will have far greater consequences,” she writes.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail has given Matt Ridley, the climate-sceptic former hereditary Conservative peer who oversaw the collapse of Northern Rock bank a decade ago and whose inherited estate has earned income from coal mining, a whole page under the headline “grim news for doom-mongers!” in which he tries to argue why “the world’s getting greener, cleaner, healthier – and richer in wildlife”.

Writing in the Conversation, Australian National University researcher Dr Rebecca Pearse describes the new scheme for reducing industrial emissions introduced by the Australian Labor government as “worryingly flexible”. She explains that the “safeguard mechanism” was originally a widely criticised policy of the previous Coalition government. The new rules “involve only very modest changes to a very flexible regime, and many issues plaguing the safeguard mechanism under the previous government continue”, she writes.

Richard Denniss, executive director of the Australia Institute thinktank, is also pessimistic about Australian climate policy in a piece for the Guardian. “If a climate policy does nothing to stop new gas and coalmines getting built then it’s not a climate policy, it’s a cover story,” he says. Denniss points to the released this week of a review into Australia’s carbon credits, which “highlights perfectly the absurdity of Australia’s climate policy”. He concludes: “The simple truth is that Australia is still failing to transition away from fossil fuels.”

New research finds that the extent of permafrost peatlands in northeastern Canada has been underestimated, due to the assumption that the permafrost is “largely absent” from the coastline. By combining satellite imagery with field observations, researchers identify wetland areas that potentially contain permafrost peatland. They find more than 1,000 sites classified as “likely” candidates, “mostly” concentrated within about 22 kilometres of the coast. The researchers write that this survey is the “first dedicated peatland permafrost inventory for Labrador” and shows the necessity of revisiting previous estimates of permafrost extent in the region.