In her speech to Parliament yesterday, the Queen’s asserted her government’s unequivocal assertion to “continue to support international action against climate change, including the implementation of the Paris Agreement” and a promise of legislation to boost the electric vehicle industry. But the speech failed to mention the long-awaited Clean Growth Plan or give any clarity on how the UK intends to deliver deep emissions cut, reports BusinessGreen. The speech also included a pledge to “tackle unfair practices in the energy market to help reduce energy bills” but stopped short of a price cap on energy costs, reports Energy Live News. Overall, the environment was notably missing as a policy priority, seemingly while everyone figures out how Brexit is going to happen, says DeSmog UK. On Brexit, the lack of a specific energy bill means that most areas of energy policy will be contained within the Repeal Bill, and our future relationship with the EU internal energy market remains up for debate, says Sam Richards from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. BusinessGreen collects reactions from the green economy while Energy Live News hears from energy industry voices.

A new analysis of the world’s top banks reveals that many continue to provide finance for the most carbon-intensive fossil fuels while claiming green credentials, reports the Guardian. The report, carried out by a group of NGOs including the Rainforest Action Network and Sierra Club, showed that finance provided for tar sands and other unconventional oil and gas, as well as coal and liquefied natural gas by 37 of the top multi-national banks amounted to $87bn in 2016. This represents a slump of more than a fifth compared with the $111bn raised the previous year. Separately, research from the OECD has found that few countries are doing as well as they should on fostering greener economic growth, with only about half managing to decouple their economic growth from carbon emissions, reports the Guardian and BusinessGreen.

An area of the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica is about to snap off, after a crack in the ice has crept about 175km along the sheet. The lengthening and widening rift “feels like a niggling tooth” of a child that has come loose, Andrew Fleming of the British Antarctic Survey told Reuters. Scientists are not linking the rift itself to man-made climate change but the ice shelf is in a part of the Antarctic peninsula that has warmed fast in recent decades, the piece notes. The iceberg is expected to break off within months – though it could be days or years – and is likely to pose an extra hazard for ships in the area as it breaks up, scientists are warning.

Republicans and Democrats joined forces on Thursday to attack the Trump administration’s proposal to slash the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 31% next year, reports Buzzfeed News. Opening remarks to the two-hour EPA budget hearing saw concerns raised that the budget “proposes to significantly reduce or terminate programs that are vitally important to each member on this subcommittee.” EPA administrator Scott Pruitt defended the budget proposal, arguing that the organisation would “stay in our lane” and focus on clean water and clean air rather than climate change, the piece notes. While Republicans on the committee praised Trump’s recent decision to pull the US out of the Paris accord, Democrats pointed to the move as a mistake, with one referring to it as the “most reckless action” of the new administration.

The BBC profiles a number of graduates and entrepreneurs who have headed to China from the US to seek careers in the solar industry. China’s rapid expansion of renewable energy has caught headlines around the world, the piece notes. The International Energy Agency estimates that China installed more than 34 gigawatts of solar capacity in 2016 – more than double the figure for the US and nearly half of the total added capacity worldwide that year. Early figures for 2017 show China has added another eight gigawatts in the first quarter alone.

Norway has infuriated environmental groups by opening up a record number of blocks in the Arctic for oil exploration, reports the Financial Times. The areas in the Barents Sea, which Norwegian officials estimate could hold 18bn barrels of oil equivalent, were until recently covered with sea ice and are close to important nesting sites for birds. Environmental groups, emboldened by their success against Royal Dutch Shell’s drilling off Alaska, are stepping up the arguments that Norway cannot meet its obligations under the Paris agreement on climate change if they open up new Arctic fields.

Long-term shareholders have a responsibility to ensure that companies protect and enhance capita but investors need to go further, writes Natasha Landell-Mills, head of stewardship at investment managers Sarasin & Partners. “It is no longer good enough for fossil fuel companies to publish brochures or pamphlets that set out their strategy when it comes to climate risks…Investors must scrutinise annual reports to ensure reporting on material climate risks is fair, balanced and understandable.” Where they fall short, the most obvious mechanism to voice displeasure is by voting against the annual report and auditor, she writes. “In light of projections from the International Panel on Climate Change, supported by others such as the UK’s Met Office, for probable physical effects, it should be clear that there is no such thing as business as usual.”

Glastonbury, Britain’s most famous music festival and one that is deeply rooted in environmental and social justice concerns, is hugely exposed to extreme weather, says the Met Office’s Prof Richard Betts. “By the time of the 100th anniversary in 2070, the high emissions scenario studied by IPCC implies a global warming of between 2.5℃ and 4℃ relative to pre-industrial levels.” While climate models tend to suggest that summers in the southwest UK may become drier overall, when it does rain we can expect more intense downpours, Betts writes. While the nearby Somerset Levels will not be permanently underwater anytime soon, rising sea levels will leave the area more exposed to temporary coastal flooding.

A new study sheds light on the impact aerosols in the atmosphere have on clouds by studying the impact of the massive 2014–2015 fissure eruption in Holuhraun, Iceland. The researchers found the aerosols produced by the eruption reduced the size of liquid cloud droplets — which made the clouds brighter so they reflected away more of the sun’s energy — but had no discernible effect on other cloud properties. The results suggest that the extent to which aerosols affect the climate “is much smaller than was once feared,” says an accompanying News & Views article.

Human-caused climate change boosted the record average rainfall in the UK winter of 2013–14 that brought widespread and prolonged flooding, a new study finds. Running climate model simulations, the researchers identify the unusual conditions in the tropics and stratosphere that gave rise to the very wet winter. Climate change further increased the excess winter rainfall by 10-15%, the study finds, by increasing how much moisture the atmosphere can hold.

A paper describes a new database created for the storage and use of traditional knowledge associated with weather and climate prediction in the Pacific region. The database has been successfully deployed to four countries in the South Pacific, the researchers say, and is regularly used by their national meteorological services, and partner organisations. As the first database of its kind, it “fills a critical gap in the appropriate storage and application of traditional knowledge and provides an important foundation for future developments,” the paper concludes.