UN climate chief Simon Stiell will tell EU policymakers today that the disruption in global energy markets following the Iran war is an “abject lesson” in the risks of relying on fossil fuels, reports Reuters. It says Stiell will tell them: “Fossil fuel dependency is ripping away national ​security and sovereignty and replacing it with subservience and rising costs…Europe is more reliant on fossil fuel imports than almost any other major economy.” The newswire notes that the EU imports more than 90% of its oil and 80% of its gas. It adds: “In the longer term, the European Commission ​says its climate change ​strategy to replace ⁠fossil fuels with locally produced renewable and nuclear energy will secure countries’ energy security and cut them free from volatile fuel prices. But governments ​including Italy and Hungary are urging Brussels to weaken its ​climate change ⁠policies, to provide short-term cost relief for industries.”

The Observer says “surging oil prices return the spotlight to renewables”. It adds: “Despite predictions that [US president Donald] Trump’s White House would slow the transition to clean energy, the decision to bomb Iran could end up having the opposite effect.” Reuters says: “Governments worldwide move to cushion households from rising energy costs.” It gives a rundown of measures around the world. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports on its frontpage: “India has hailed its direct talks with Iran as the most effective way to restart shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, after Donald Trump called on countries to send warships to help the US force open the critical waterway for energy markets.” Reuters says that Iran “allows two gas tankers to sail to India through Hormuz, sources say”. The Financial Times says France and Italy “open talks with Iran in hope of securing safe Hormuz passage”.

Meanwhile, Reuters says US oil bosses “warn Trump administration that energy crisis likely to worsen, WSJ reports”. The Financial Times says: “Wall Street warns Iran war will trigger prolonged energy crisis.” Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia has cut oil output by 20% due to the Iran war. Axios reports comments from US energy secretary that there are “no guarantees” energy prices will fall. The Daily Telegraph says Iran “may grant safe passage to oil tankers if transactions are conducted in Chinese yuan, regime official says”.

MORE ON IRAN WAR

• Bloomberg: “Fuel shortages from war begin to threaten global food supply.”
• Bloomberg: “Canadian drivers’ reprieve from carbon tax wiped out by Iran war.”
• One Bloomberg article says Italy is exploring a return to nuclear as energy costs soar, while a second Bloomberg article says Turkey is also considering nuclear.
• Reuters: “South Korea to lift coal cap, boost nuclear output amid Iran crisis, ruling party says.”
• Bloomberg: “Bahrain starts output cuts at world’s top aluminium smelter.”

The Financial Times reports: “US oil companies stand to receive a windfall of more than $60bn this year if crude prices maintain the levels they have hit since the start of the Iran war.” The Daily Telegraph says BP and Shell “are set to earn an extra £5bn in profit this year as conflict in the Gulf sends the price of oil surging”. Meanwhile, Bloomberg says the US has eased sanctions on up to 19m barrels of Russian oil. The Independent says “Trump’s bid to cut oil prices will fill Russia’s war chest with billions”. Sky News reports: “Why Trump’s war with Iran will help fund Russia’s assault on Ukraine.” The Economist says: “Vladimir Putin enjoys a huge windfall from the Iran war.” Al Jazeera says the easing of sanctions on Russian oil has been criticised by Ukraine and European countries. Politico reports criticism of the move from German chancellor Friedrich Merz. Reuters reports criticism from Germany’s economy minister.

Later today, UK prime minister Keir Starmer is to set out a £50m package of support for households hit by higher energy costs in the wake of the Iran war, reports the Financial Times. It says the money will largely support those that rely on heating oil. The newspaper adds that energy secretary Ed Miliband also “strongly signalled that ministers would step in to prevent a wider surge in household gas bills this summer, when the three-monthly price cap is revised”. In an interview with the Times on Saturday, chancellor Rachel Reeves says today’s announcement will include “targeted” support for high energy costs, with the comments reported on the Times frontpage. The Times reports that support could be given to pensioners and those on benefits. The i newspaper reports on its frontpage that support for all households is also a possibility, depending how long the conflict lasts.

The Sunday Mirror reports on its frontpage that Miliband “vows to ‘fight’ to keep energy bills down”. The Observer reports that the government will approve the use of “plug-in” solar panels in UK homes “as Labour doubles down on renewable energy in response to the Middle East conflict”. It adds that the government also plans to “bring forward” the next auction for renewable energy contracts to July. The price cap for household energy bills is currently forecast to rise by 11% in July, reports Reuters. The Times says the Iran war has triggered soaring prices for heating oil. The Press Association says UK ministers have “warn[ed] petrol retailers against ‘unfair practices’” in response to rising oil prices. The Financial Times says a petrol trade body is in dispute with ministers over what they called the “inflammatory” comments.

Meanwhile, the Daily Express gives its Saturday frontpage to fact-free claims from the hard-right climate-sceptic Reform UK, reporting: “Keir Starmer has been urged to open up the UK’s biggest oil field to stop power bills soaring.” [The UK does not use oil to generate power. There is no evidence that further drilling would affect prices of oil or electricity.] The Times reports under the headline: “Can the North Sea really be revived to ease the energy crisis?” It includes supportive comments from some figures, but adds: “[E]xperts insist that raising production from the maturing fields in the North Sea would require huge amounts of investment and time and do little to bring down energy prices for households in the UK.” The Daily Express also quotes Robert Jenrick, the former Conservative minister and Reform’s “shadow chancellor”, saying: “We are certainly going to scrap the net-zero madness.”

The climate-sceptic Daily Mail reports: “But the Conservatives warn that Miliband’s obsession with net-zero is keeping energy bills artificially high.” The Daily Mail covers calls from the Conservatives and Reform for more North Sea drilling. It says: “Miliband refused to back down, arguing new exploration licences would ‘not take a penny off people’s bills’ and that the UK needed to get off the ‘fossil fuel rollercoaster’.” The Times reports: “Labour should combat Reform UK’s rise by installing solar panels on roofs and building flood barriers, a thinktank close to Keir Starmer has said.” 

MORE ON UK

• Financial Times: “The English roads at risk of being underwater.”
• The Sunday Times: “UK investing £2.5bn to chase ‘holy grail’ of nuclear fusion.”
• Financial Times: “Energy groups press UK to boost gas storage after Iran war price shock.”
• The National: “Majority of Scots ‘don’t agree’ with Trump’s oil and gas push.”
• The Guardian: “One of Britain’s last major chemical plants at risk as energy prices surge.” The Guardian: “Taxpayer bill for saving Scunthorpe steel furnaces could top £1.5bn by 2028, auditor says.”
• The Mail on Sunday quotes “senior defence sources” as claiming that “Ed Miliband’s windfarms” could “cripple UK ‘Iron Dome’ anti-missile systems”.

Germany has “again” missed targets set under its climate law after emissions fell by just 0.1% in 2025, reports the Guardian. It adds: “Germany’s environment minister, Carsten Schneider, criticised the lack of improvement at a conference in Berlin on Saturday…[but] both Schneider and the German Environment Agency remained optimistic that the country could achieve the 2030 climate target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 65%, compared with 1990.” Bloomberg says Schneider “urged the country to accelerate adoption of renewable power sources as a way to boost its energy security and reduce its reliance on fossil fuel”. It adds: “Schneider noted an increasing acceptance of electric cars and heat pumps, but said overall ‘progress is too slow’.” The outlet adds: “A decline in emissions in the energy-intensive industrial sector was largely due to Germany’s weakened economy, while emissions from the transport and building sectors increased.”

Bloomberg continues: “The war in Iran has served [as] another reminder to Germany of just how exposed Europe’s industrial backbone is to global oil and gas markets as energy prices lurch higher.” Agence France-Presse reports: “Germany’s energy-hungry industries are sounding the alarm about the devastating impacts of the Middle East war as companies battle problems from surging power costs to snarled supply chains.” The Wall Street Journal says a German trade body “says concerns are rising regarding raw materials like ammonia and phosphate” in the wake of the Iran war. The New York Times reports: “Surging energy costs put German industry ‘really in danger’.”

MORE ON EU

• Euractiv interviews climate adviser Ottmar Edenhofer saying the EU emissions trading system (ETS) is “under attack like never before” and that “once the ETS is dead, it cannot be revived”.
• Reuters: “EU scrambles to curb energy costs as Iran war hits markets.”
• Reuters: “Debt-burdened Europe has fewer options to buffer energy shock.”
• Reuters: “Eurozone industry takes a hit even before high energy costs bite.”

China’s new environmental law supports ambitions to “strengthen ecological and climate protections while also ensuring economic growth”, reports Bloomberg. The outlet quotes Ma Jun, founder of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a Beijing-based nonprofit, saying that the “most prominent point” of the law is to demonstrate “strong support and political will”. Huang Runqiu, head of China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that China will further step up its efforts to ensure environmental monitoring and regulation are more “objective, precise, penetrating and effective”, reports state news agency Xinhua. Another Xinhua article says that the new environmental code establishes “principled and guiding provisions” to address climate change, achieve “dual-carbon” goals, and advance green and low-carbon development. It cites Zhang Xingying, with the China Meteorological Administration, saying that “from strengthening climate security safeguards to aligning with international rules”, the code demonstrates China’s “sense of responsibility”. The code’s green and low-carbon development section will play a “significant role in promoting China’s climate process”, according to Wang Canfa, professor at China University of Political Science and Law, reports state-run newspaper China Daily.

Wang Hongzhi, head of the National Energy Administration, writes an article in Study Times that China is entering a “historic window of opportunity to overtake others in energy technology”. Wang also says that based on the new round of NDC targets, China’s new energy installed capacity will need to double again from the current base of 1,800 gigawatts. China Daily publishes an editorial saying that China’s “climate trajectory will influence whether global emissions targets are achievable”.

MORE ON CHINA

• China will join the “declaration to triple nuclear energy”, a move that injects momentum into the low-carbon transformation of energy systems, reports China Electric Power News. China Daily, Climate Home News, China News Network, BJX News, and Yicai also cover the story.
• “Carbon policy” offers an “often overlooked area for cooperation” between China and the EU in managing trade tensions, according to a Caixin comment by Gene Ma at the Institute of International Finance.
• Inside Climate News: “China’s clean energy push has made it less vulnerable to energy shocks, including the Iran war.” China Energy Net says that China’s wind power industry, with its “absolute advantages in cost, scale and delivery”, has become a “lifeline substitute” in the “restructuring” of Europe’s energy system.

The UK government is aiming to speed up the construction of new nuclear plants “by making changes to the planning system including weakening protections for wildlife and national parks”, reports the Financial Times. It says the move follows the recommendations of a review by John Fingleton, former head of the Office of Fair Trading. It adds that this will include a “plan to weaken habitat protection around new nuclear power stations, to the dismay of ecologists”. Bloomberg says the government on Friday pledged to follow all 37 recommendations from the Fingleton review. It adds that the changes are due to be implemented by the end of 2027.

BusinessGreen says the government has also “unveiled wider planning guidelines designed to fast-track the delivery of nuclear, renewables, housebuilding and transport projects”. The Times also has the story. Politico says the plans “hand Starmer a way to woo Trump”. The Daily Express reports “two bombshell problems” with the plans, which appear to be that they will take years to implement and that new nuclear plants are expensive.

Glaciers in the Austrian Alps are “not just shrinking, but are disintegrating, because of climate change”, reports BBC News. It covers an annual report from the Austrian Alpine Club, which it says shows that 94 of 96 glaciers in the country had shrunk. The Associated Press says: “The retreat of glaciers in Europe has vast implications for drinking water, power generation, agriculture, infrastructure, recreational activities, the Alpine landscape and more. Neighbouring Switzerland, which is home to the most glaciers in Europe, has noted a similar retreat in its glaciers in recent years, a trend that has been reported around the world.”

Writing in the Observer, UK energy secretary Ed Miliband says that his government’s “number one priority is to tackle the affordability crisis” as the Iran war pushes up global oil and gas prices. He continues: “We will also act on the single most important long-term lesson: while we are so dependent on fossil fuels, households, business and public finances are exposed and there can be no proper energy security for our country. That is why this government’s defining mission has been to drive for clean, homegrown power we can control.” On calls to allow more drilling in the North Sea, Miliband says: “New exploration licences would not take a penny off bills, as the Conservatives admitted when they were in office…Meanwhile, the faster we reduce our use of gas across the economy, the less reliant we will be on imports.”

In the Financial Times, chief economics commentator Martin Wolf says: “Our economy remains highly fossil fuel-dependent partly because we are not electrifying in the desired way.” He says: “[One question] is how far to pursue the energy transition as a way to reduce future vulnerability to shocks. My answer is that this makes excellent sense: it is simply a necessary part of security.” An editorial in the Times welcomes government plans to boost nuclear power, saying “investment cannot come soon enough.” A Financial Times comment by Tej Parikh, the newspaper’s economics leader writer, says that the Iran war “should prompt a North Sea rethink”. Tom Calver in the Sunday Times asks, but does not answer the question: “Will the rush to net-zero save us from future energy price shocks?” A Daily Telegraph comment by Liam Halligan says: “Labour needs to be grown-up about the North Sea.”

The UK’s right-leaning, climate-sceptic newspapers carry a string of comment articles criticising Miliband. An editorial in the Daily Telegraph admits that new North Sea fields “would not resolve the problem of high energy prices”, but says they would “secure a rush of revenue into the Treasury. An editorial in the Sunday Telegraph says the Iran war “has exposed the folly of net-zero”. An editorial in the Sun criticises “eco-zealot Ed Miliband” and his “net-zero crusade”. A second Sun editorial on the same day calls for a cut in fuel duty. The Sun carries a comment by “editor at large” Harry Cole calling net-zero “dangerous”. In the Daily Mail, columnist Stephen Glover says: “Miliband the zealot thinks this war justifies his mad rush to net-zero. The only way to save our country is to sack him.” The Daily Telegraph carries a comment by Simon Heffer calling for Miliband to be “cancelled”.

Bloomberg opinion columnist Justin Fox writes: “With every uptick in the price of oil, the optics for batteries just keep getting better.” In the Atlantic, Tim Levin, senior editor at InsideEVs, writes that the soaring cost of fuel is “one way to sell Americans on electric cars”. Bloomberg columnist David Fickling says: “The conflict in the Middle East is revealing the shaky bridge that gas is between coal and renewables.”

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

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