Nations are meeting at a UN conference in Geneva, in a bid to develop a legally binding global treaty to curb plastic pollution, BBC News reports. The broadcaster explains that major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia want the talks to focus primarily on recycling rather than curbing production. It says: “Demand for oil in global energy and transport systems is expected to peak in the next few years as countries move to greener technologies. This could leave plastic as one of the few growth markets for the oil industry.” Reuters says the US is also blocking progress in the talks, while the EU and small-island nations have pushed for a more ambitious deal. The article notes the role of plastic production in “accelerating climate change”. Bloomberg also highlights this link, noting that the latest research suggests plastic production results in around 5% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. [For more on this topic, see Carbon Brief’s article on “why a UN plastics treaty matters for climate change”.] The Guardian reports that, at the last round of unsuccessful plastic talks in Busan, South Korea, “220 fossil fuel and chemical industry representatives” were present. Le Monde covers a high-profile warning from scientists about the health impact of plastics, which is also featured on the frontpage of the Financial Times.

Two US Republican senators have placed holds on three of president Donald Trump’s Treasury department nominees, due to an effort by the White House to make it harder for wind and solar power companies to claim tax credits, Reuters reports. The newswire notes that both of the senators involved – Chuck Grassley of Iowa and John Curtis of Utah – previously negotiated a longer timeline for renewable energy tax credits ahead of the passage of the “one big beautiful bill act”, before ultimately backing the legislation. It adds that both “hail from states with large renewable energy industries”. Politico describes the move as a “significant escalation of the battle between key Republican lawmakers and the administration” over the credits. The news outlet notes that the “clampdown” on these credits, which the senators oppose, was introduced in an executive order by Trump following the passage of the main bill. While the move is a sign of Republican support for wind and solar power, the article notes that “two Republicans would not be enough to block the [Treasury] nominees”.

MORE ON US

• E&E News reports that Occidental Petroleum – a “driller with ties to Trump” – could get an “outsize boost” from the one big beautiful bill due to its tax incentives for using carbon dioxide (CO2) to extract more oil from the ground.
• Trump is unsuccessfully pressuring China and India to stop buying oil from Russia, “helping to fund the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine”, says the Associated Press.
• The Trump administration is struggling to persuade Asian partners” to “come on board” for a pipeline linking Alaska’s gasfields to the Japanese port of Nikiski and experts “have cast doubts on its financial feasibility”, the Financial Times reports.
• Analysts are highlighting “power-hungry data centres” as a driver of rising electricity prices across the US, according to Axios. In Michigan, data-centre demand may lead to the construction of a new gas power plant, despite the state’s climate law, Inside Climate News says.

China exported just under 22 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels in June, representing a 3% fall month-on-month and a 2% year-on-year fall, business news outlet Yicai says, citing a new report by clean-energy consulting firm InfoLink Consulting. The report attributes the drop to “shrinking demand from the Asia-Pacific region”, with exports to the Asia-Pacific “plung[ing] 19% [while those] to Europe fell 2%” month-on-month. It adds that exports to the Middle East grew 12%. The news outlet also gives export figures for the first half of 2025, stating that solar panel exports fell 3% year-on-year to 127GW. It adds that “solar panel makers are expanding into new markets” as “smaller south-east Asian and African countries are investing in solar project development”.

MORE ON CHINA

• People’s Daily publishes an article on the China-EU joint climate statement in its print overseas version, emphasising the importance of “policy continuity” on the topic.
• Two Peking University academics write in a China Daily opinion article that China and the EU should cooperate on the “global deployment of renewable energy”.
• A “Ren Ping” commentary – indicating the view of the ruling Communist Party and carried on the front page of People’s Daily – mentions the need to “promote carbon reduction” and “green” development.
• China Energy Net reports that the utilisation rate of China’s wind and solar power in June stood at 94% and 95%, respectively.
• A Caixin commentary by reporter Luo Guoping explores the “rocky road to capacity consolidation” in China’s solar manufacturing industry.
• China is telling its electric vehicle industry to “stop cutting prices and rein in production amid fears that persistent deflation is imperilling economic growth”, the Guardian reports.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is facing “surging temperatures this summer” following its hottest spring ever, according to data from the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) covered by Reuters. Temperatures were close to record highs at the start of August, with the desert town of Sweihan hitting 51.8 C, the highest temperature since 2021 and “just shy” of the UAE’s all-time high of 52.1 C, the article says. UAE news outlet the National says the country experienced its hottest April and May on record, adding that experts say “climate change along with other factors such as the El Niño phenomenon ending have contributed”. It adds that cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi will see temperatures exceed 45C in the coming days.

MORE ON EXTREME WEATHER

• The Iberian peninsula is facing temperatures “above seasonal norms”, with parts of Spain expected to exceed 42C and potentially facing wildfires, the Times reports.
• At least three people have been injured and homes have been evacuated in central California, amid a “huge” wildfire in the Los Padres national forest, according to the Guardian.
• Floods that struck hydropower dams in Nepal and destroyed the main bridge connecting the country to China show the vulnerability of infrastructure in south Asia to climate shocks, according to experts quoted by the Associated Press.

An editorial in the Washington Post criticises the Trump administration’s energy policies, arguing that they are holding back the expansion of infrastructure at a time when the electrical grid needs to be “supersize[d]”. The newspaper argues that the administration is “allowing its opposition to clean-energy sources, such as wind and solar, to stymie growth” and “trying to kill solar and wind projects by a thousand bureaucratic cuts”. It states: “Despite president Donald Trump’s promises to ‘unleash American energy’, his administration seems to be actively working against that lofty goal.” The editorial says the administration is justifying its position by saying that fossil fuels and nuclear power are more reliable than wind and solar. Government officials also point to national security concerns, “since China controls much of the supply chain for those industries”, the newspaper adds. In response to this, the editorial points out that other countries with high renewable penetration do not face problems with reliability. It adds: “The answer [to national security concerns] is not to cede the technological advantage to America’s most powerful adversary. It is to compete so that the US can regain its edge.” In conclusion, the editorial states: “The great irony here is that, for years, Republicans decried subsidies for renewable energy as the government ‘picking winners and losers’. Now, they are embracing the same mindset they once opposed, but in the opposite direction.”

MORE TRUMP COMMENT

• John Gapper, chief UK business columnist at the Financial Times, writes that the people of Aberdeen, Europe’s “oil-and-gas capital”, disagree with Trump about the “windmills” that “he and the UK Reform party detest”. However, he argues that the city is also struggling due to the UK government’s policies to curb fossil-fuel extraction.
• Matt Kean, the chair of Australia’s Climate Change Authority – which advises the government – has a piece in the Sydney Morning Herald pointing out that the Trump administration’s cuts to US climate and weather programmes will hamper Australia’s ability to monitor extreme weather.

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Josh Gabbatiss, with contributions from Henry Zhang and Anika Patel. It was edited by Simon Evans.

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