Spain and southern France are experiencing their second extreme heat events of the year – with temperatures “hitting highs not normally recorded until July or August” – the Guardian reports. According to the paper, Paris could see temperatures of 35C on Thursday, while Spain has recorded its hottest early June temperatures in at least 20 years. Meanwhile, Reuters says that Spain is recording its earliest heatwave in more than 40 years. “Meteorologists blame the unusually high seasonal temperatures on global warming,” France24 reports. Separately, the Guardian says that the heatwave could “add to energy problems across Europe”, as high temperatures will lead to a surge in energy demand for cooling. Meanwhile, the hot and dry weather is worsening droughts, leading to reduced output from hydropower plants, the paper adds.

In other European news, Bloomberg reports that Europe’s move away from Russian fuel is “wreaking havoc thousands of miles away from the conflict, plunging Pakistan into darkness, undermining one regime and threatening the stability of the country’s new leadership”. Finally, Reuters reports that two European parliament committees will vote today on “an attempt to stop the EU labelling gas and nuclear energy as climate-friendly investments”. It continues: “The European Union’s executive body, the European Commission, wants to include gas and nuclear energy in the bloc’s sustainable finance taxonomy…EU countries and lawmakers are split, however, over whether the fuels are green enough to earn that label.”

This week will see “dangerous heat” sweep across much of the US, the Independent reports. According to the paper, “well-above normal to potentially record-breaking temperatures are expected in the east in the coming days”, and nearly 100 million people will be under extreme heat warnings. It adds that over the weekend, some major cities reported record high temperatures, while an “explosion” of wildfires were seen across western US. The Guardian reports that “the temperature topped 110F [43.3C] on four consecutive days and has not fallen below 80F [26.6C] at night-time for the past week in the Arizona city, breaking several records”. Meanwhile, the Independent adds that California’s Furnace Creek is expected to hit 47C. “Oppressive humidity levels will make it feel 5 to 15 degrees [fahrenheit] hotter”, the Washington Post says. Separately, the New York Times reports on the link between heatwaves and climate change. Meanwhile, the Washington Post outlines the impacts of extreme heat on human health. People are being urged to stay indoors to avoid the heat, Reuters notes.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that Yellowstone National Park has closed following “unprecedented amounts of rainfall”. The “rain storm” has “caused mudslides, with multiple roads being rendered impassible, and a bridge getting destroyed,” the Independent adds.

There is continuing widespread media coverage of the UK government’s new food strategy – and the criticism it has faced. The Independent reports that the food strategy was launched in a white paper yesterday, following “the government-commissioned independent review of the food system known as the national food strategy, led by restauranteur Henry Dimbleby”. It continues: “The strategy sets out what the government will do to deliver ‘healthier, more sustainable and affordable diets for all.” However, the newspaper notes that the document has “already received widespread criticism after a leaked version of the strategy, obtained by the Guardian, stated that the government had ignored many recommendations from Mr Dimbleby.” BBC News outlines some of the strategy’s key policies – including a £270m investment into technology to increase “productivity and profitability”, and a framework that will be published next year outlining “how to help farmers grow more food while also meeting legally binding targets to halt climate change and nature loss”. However, the outlet adds that “health campaigners are critical of the omission of recommendations for a tax on unhealthy foods”. The i newspaper and Reuters also highlight the omission of the salt and sugar taxes. Separately, the i newspaper lists measures in Dimbleby’s strategy that are not listed in the new food strategy – such as policies to cut meat consumption. Elsewhere, the Daily Telegraph reports that the new strategy will add a further 10,000 visas for farm workers, “amid warnings of a food waste crisis as fruit and vegetables go unpicked”. Meanwhile, New Scientist says the new strategy “fails to address big health and environmental issues it was supposed to tackle, such as how to enable the diet changes needed to reach net-zero”. Finally, BusinessGreen reports that a group of “leading investors” have called on the government to require food companies to report on their health and sustainability credentials. (See Carbon Brief’s Q&A about the proposed food strategy for England, which was published last July.)

In other news, the Guardian reports that “campaigners have raised the alarm” after spotting a proposal to “absorb” conservation watchdog Natural England into the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – “in effect, destroying it”. Natural England’s responsibilities include “looking after the country’s most important wildlife sites, paying farmers to protect wildlife and advising on planning applications”, the paper says. It adds: “Wildlife experts fear this is the final nail in the coffin for the government’s ‘critical friend’, and will mean there is less scrutiny of the actions ministers take on nature and the environment.”

Germany paid Russia more than €12bn for fossil fuels and remained Moscow’s largest client for natural gas over the first 100 days of the war in Ukraine, an analysis has found, reports the Times. It adds that over the same period the European Union bought more than 60% of Russia’s hydrocarbon exports, which in turn typically make up almost 50% of the Kremlin’s state revenues. In total, Russia earned €93bn from fossil-fuel exports since February. However, Associated Press reports that Germany slipped to second place behind China, which has purchased some €12.6bn worth of energy from Moscow.

Meanwhile, Germany’s N-tv reports about German plans for a Spanish pipeline that ends at the French Pyrenees. For further construction, the Spanish government expects money from the EU, explains the TV channel. It says that the revival of the Midcat project – a natural gas pipeline from Barcelona via the Pyrenees to southern France, which was cancelled in 2017 – is being discussed. Germany is also campaigning for the further construction of the Midcat gas pipeline, notes N-tv.

Elsewhere, German news website ZDF reports that transport minister Volker Wissing wants to achieve climate neutrality “through attractive offers, not through bans, requirements and government restrictions, opposing a course with general deterioration for certain forms of mobility – for example, with less space or parking space for cars in large cities”. It quotes him saying: “If a lot of people want to ride their bikes, we need more well-developed bike lanes. Where there are lots of cars, we need proper car lanes. And where there are lots of pedestrians, we need safe footpaths”.

In more energy news, Bloomberg reports that the German government is preparing to lend a loan “in the range of €5bn euros to €10bn to rescue a former arm of Gazprom Germania GmbH now under the control of the country’s energy regulator”, according to people familiar with the matter. The money would help stabilise the company’s finances and ensure the security of supply after Russia curbed shipments to Gazprom Germania in retaliation for Germany seizing the company and its subsidiaries earlier this year, explains the media outlet.

Finally, Germany’s Heise reports that Chancellor Olaf Scholz believes that the fuel discount decided by the government for three months “is partially effective”. However, the news explains that due to the reduced state taxes, the fuel price only fell for a short period of time and in the course of the past week, gas stations had to pay almost as much as before the discount. Against this background, a story continues, economy minister Robert Habeck had announced that he wants “to tighten antitrust law”.

The British National Grid and French energy company EDF have struck a deal to keep the West Burton A coal power plant in Nottinghamshire open until March 2023, instead of shutting it down in September as planned, to “help reduce the risk of blackouts this winter”, the Times reports. However, the paper adds that the deal “will cost consumers tens of millions of pounds”. It continues: “The deal comes after Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, wrote to the owners of Britain’s three remaining coal plants and to National Grid, asking them to come to an arrangement to delay planned closures this year…Talks are continuing with Drax and Uniper over deals to keep open their coal-fired units that were also due to shut in September. They are expected to be finalised in the coming weeks and are likely to push the total cost of the coal plant life extensions to more than £100m.”

In other UK news, the Daily Telegraph reports that Shell “is pursuing a significant expansion of its business supplying electricity to UK households amid intense volatility in energy markets”. The paper continues: “The FTSE 100 company wants to supply clean power to five million households and electric car drivers by 2030, up from about 1.5m today, as part of plans to diversify away from oil and gas. Shell plans to invest £20bn-£25bn in the UK over the decade, more than 75% of which will go towards low carbon energy such as wind turbines and electric car charging points.” Meanwhile, the Times reports that a group of former government ministers, including the former energy and climate secretary Amber Rudd and the former Scottish rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing, are demanding “full support” for the UK oil and gas industries, insisting that the oil and gas sector is an an “essential contributor to the achievement of net-zero targets” and so “deserves the full support of all governments in the UK”.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that the UK competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, will carry out a “short and focused review” of fuel prices, following a request from Kwarteng. The news comes as petrol prices reach a new record high of 185p per litre, ITV News notes. The Guardian adds that, according to AA, petrol prices increases “could grind to a halt this week”. Elsewhere, the Times reports that a senior figure in the grocery industry says that “supermarkets are unjustifiably profiting from soaring fuel prices”.

Elsewhere, the Independent reports that the UK’s first carbon licensing carbon storage licensing round is “under way”. According to the paper, there is likely to be “strong competition” to win the licences. Reuters notes that 13 sites are currently on offer, but as many as 100 stores could be required to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Chinese ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian visited three mining companies in Perth, Western Australia, over the weekend, the Global Times reports. The state-run newspaper describes the move as a push for “more cooperation in green technology and new energy under Australia’s new administration”. Xinhua also covers the ambassador’s visit. The state news agency says that Australia’s mining “giants” are “expecting new cooperation opportunities” with Chinese stakeholders during their “transition to cleaner energies”. BHP – one of the Australian mining companies which the ambassador visited – has already partnered with steel makers China Baowu and HBIS to invest up to “$50m collectively in low emission technologies”, and plans to make it available to the “broader market to support the reduction of emissions from the steel making industry”, the article adds.

Meanwhile, China Daily reports that the construction of renewable energy generation projects is “accelerating with Covid-19 precautions in place” in northwest China’s Qinghai province, which the outlet says is a region “known for its rich solar and wind power resources”. The state-run newspaper says that the projects will “push forward the development of the new energy industry in China’s western areas”.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports on a new policy document, which finds that “China’s economy and society are at increasing risk from climate change and the country needs to improve adaptation mechanisms and monitoring capabilities at every level of government”.

Finally, shares of Haili Wind Power Equipment Technology “jumped” after the Chinese wind turbine maker said it will “invest 2bn yuan ($297m)” to build a production and export base for offshore wind power equipment at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the Shanghai-based financial outlet Yicai reports.

An editorial in the Times calls the UK’s new national food strategy “unambitious”. The article acknowledges that there are “some useful contributions” in the plan – such as the framework promised next year on “how to make better use of land, striking a balance between food production and the need to protect the natural environment”, and the mandatory reporting measures. However, it says that these measures “barely scrape the surface” of the blueprint set out by restaurateur Henry Dimbleby. The piece concludes: “More food has to be produced locally to limit the country’s vulnerability to lengthy supply chains, soaring prices of imported foodstuffs and increased fuel costs. Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England governor, warned recently of ‘apocalyptic’ increases in food prices. Plainly, the government has taken this to heart and is determined that higher, sustainable domestic production has to be at the heart of the national food strategy. For now, some of the climate-sensitive initiatives that marked the early days of the Johnson premiership — the tree-planting, the peat restoration, rewilding — will have to give ground to food production.”

Meanwhile, an editorial in the Daily Telegraph says that after “surviving” the vote of no confidence last week, Boris Johnson has “gone into overdrive with a succession of policy statements and initiatives” – including the food strategy. The editorial says that “we are in a uniquely difficult economic situation”, and comments on the high cost of living, stating that “much of the cost of energy is attributable to green levies which could be removed or suspended”. (This statement is false, as recently shown by Carbon Brief’s Dr Simon Evans.)

In other UK comment, environmental campaigner Donnachadh McCarthy has penned an opinion piece in the Independent entitled: “How one suspended HSBC executive admitted the chilling truth behind greenwashing.” McCarthy highlights a speech by Stuart Kirk, the head of “responsible investing” at HSBC, who “declared HSBC’s ‘commitment’ to net-zero carbon emissions in 2050, while simultaneously pouring billions into expanding fossil fuel infrastructure”. McCarthy asks: “Don’t HSBC investments of $130bn since 2016 not demonstrate that Kirk was telling the truth, and that HSBC CEO Noel Quinn was dissembling when he dissociated himself with Kirk’s remarks?” He concludes: “Kirk’s speech is a siren call to move our bank accounts away from banks funding fossil fuelled destruction, as an urgent moral imperative.” The Financial Times reports that Kirk was suspended by the bank following his speech, adding: “A Republican US senator has questioned whether HSBC faced pressure to suspend a senior executive who downplayed the risks of climate change.”

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman focus on the Great Salt Lake, which, according to a recent report, “has already lost two-thirds of its surface area”. He writes: “What’s happening to the Great Salt Lake is pretty bad. But what I found really scary about the report is what the lack of an effective response to the lake’s crisis says about our ability to respond to the larger, indeed existential threat of climate change.” Krugman says that the politics of climate change are “hard” for four reasons – including because climate change often seems a distant threat, because “fears about economic losses helped block climate action” and because “climate change is a global problem, requiring global action — and offering a reason not to move”. He concludes by asking “if we can’t save the Great Salt Lake, what chance do we have of saving the planet?” This piece comes as Yale Environment 360 reports that “the Peñuelas reservoir in central Chile has all but disappeared, desiccated by a 13-year drought” and Associated Press reports that Iraq’s Lake Sawa has dried up.

In other US comment, the Financial Times has published an editorial entitled: “The new Gulf oil boom poses dilemmas for the west.” It notes that “oil and gas prices have hit their highest in more than a decade as the west tries to strangle Russian energy exports”. Washington has turned to Saudi Arabia to limit the high petrol prices – although Biden previously pledged to treat the state as a “pariah” – the paper adds. The editorial concludes: “The reality is that western policymakers were wilfully slow in transitioning to alternative energy sources. Now they are left with few simple solutions to diversify. It typically takes at least three years and billions of dollars to bring a new oil or gas project online, and energy companies will invest only if assured of a long-term market. So the world either locks itself into more fossil fuel projects that undermine net-zero targets, or ends up with stranded assets as nations transition to green energy.”

In other US comment, the Financial Times has published an editorial entitled: “The new Gulf oil boom poses dilemmas for the west.” It notes that “oil and gas prices have hit their highest in more than a decade as the west tries to strangle Russian energy exports”. Washington has turned to Saudi Arabia to limit the high petrol prices – although Biden previously pledged to treat the state as a “pariah” – the paper adds. The editorial concludes: “The reality is that western policymakers were wilfully slow in transitioning to alternative energy sources. Now they are left with few simple solutions to diversify. It typically takes at least three years and billions of dollars to bring a new oil or gas project online, and energy companies will invest only if assured of a long-term market. So the world either locks itself into more fossil fuel projects that undermine net-zero targets, or ends up with stranded assets as nations transition to green energy.”

Finally, an editorial in the climate-sceptic opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal argues that “progressives” are “shutting down debate over climate ‘solutions’” and that “[former EPA director Gina] McCarthy doesn’t want to admit the inconvenient truth that renewable energy sources are making the grid increasingly unreliable”.

Increased “early-life heat exposure” due to rising temperatures could lead to population decline in the wild purple-crowned fairy-wren – an endangered songbird in the monsoonal tropics, a new study warns. The researchers find that high temperatures under dry conditions during the nestling period is associated with “shorter telomere length” and “reduced lifetime fitness”. However, if telomere is “assumed to be an adaptive trait, population viability could be maintained through evolution”, the study notes, although this evolutionary potential is “unknown”.

The “detrimental effects of biodiversity loss” in grassland soils could be “more severe in a warmer world”, a new study says. The researchers investigated the examined the effects of warming, altered rainfall and annual biomass removal on grassland soil “bacterial, fungal and protistan communities” over seven years. The findings show that warming and its impact on soil moisture “play a predominant role in shaping microbial biodiversity by decreasing the richness of bacteria (9.6%), fungi (14.5%) and protists (7.5%)”.