There could be as little as three years at current levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions before the world is “doomed to breach the symbolic 1.5C warming limit”, reports BBC News. A new report from more than 60 of the world’s leading climate scientists has found that, despite nearly 200 countries agreeing to try to limit global temperatures, they have continued to “burn record amounts of coal, oil and gas and chop down carbon-rich forests – leaving that international goal in peril”, it adds. (Two of the scientists involved have penned a guest post for Carbon Brief on the study.) Breaching the 1.5C goal would “ramp up the extreme weather already devastating communities around the world”, reports the Guardian. It would also necessitate carbon removal in the future to restore a stable climate, it adds. The Washington Post quotes study co-author Dr Zeke Hausfather, who is a climate science contributor for Carbon Brief, saying: “Things aren’t just getting worse. They’re getting worse faster. We’re actively moving in the wrong direction in a critical period of time that we would need to meet our most ambitious climate goals. Some reports, there’s a silver lining. I don’t think there really is one in this one.” Sky News reports that the study finds that all of its 10 measures of climate change are going in the wrong direction. Global sea levels are now rising twice as fast as they did in the 1900s, it adds. The paper was released as countries meet in Bonn, Germany, for the latest UN climate talks, notes the Financial Times.

According to a new study, some critical crops could suffer “substantial” production losses due to climate change, reports the Guardian. Maize, soy, rice, wheat, cassava and sorghum yields could all fall by as much as 120 calories per person per day for every 1C warmer the planet gets, it continues. (Carbon Brief also covers the findings in detail.) The study suggests that this impact on food will be “like everyone giving up breakfast”, reports the Daily Telegraph. Of the six key crops the researchers looked at, all but rice are set for steep losses with rising temperatures, reports New Scientist. “For instance, global corn yields are projected to fall by about 12% or 28% by the end of the century – depending on whether greenhouse gas emissions are moderate or very high, respectively – relative to what they would be without global warming,” it notes. The researchers find, however, that adjustments made by farmers could offset about a third of the climate-related losses in 2100, reports the Hill.

China is expected to “nearly double its nuclear power capacity by 2040”, building “dozens of new reactors” to raise its installed capacity to 200 gigawatts (GW), according to a new report by the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA), which is covered by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP). The outlet adds that the estimation comes as China looks to decarbonise its economy without relying too much on “weather-dependent green energy sources such as solar and wind”. China Energy Net reports that China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) has issued a new measure for nuclear management. Another SCMP article says that China now has 90 “former coal mines” operating as “solar-power facilities”, with a total generating capacity of 14GW, “leading the world in such conversion”, according to Global Energy Monitor. 

Meanwhile, state news agency Xinhua reports that China’s trading volume of “green electricity” has increased by 50% year-on-year, in the first five months of 2025, according to data from the China Electricity Council (CEC). The newswire adds that the share of “market-oriented electricity trading” rose from 17% in 2016 to 63% in 2024. Bloomberg reports that China’s trade-in subsidy that boosted sales of electric vehicles (EVs) has been suspended in some cities, partly due to “insufficient” funds. Industry news outlet BJX News reports that about 4.1bn yuan ($570m) will be issued for supporting “renewable electricity prices” in provinces such as Yunnan. Li Yunze, director of China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration, has said at a forum that China needs more than 25tn yuan (about $3.48tn) to achieve its “carbon emission targets”, reports the Beijing-based Securities Daily. 

Finally, SCMP reports that European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has accused Beijing of “deliberately creating a near-monopoly” in the global rare-earth supply while addressing the G7 summit in Canada, adding that “no single country” should control 80-90% of the “raw materials and downstream products like magnets”. 

South Africa has “declared a national disaster after floods and snow killed more than 90 people and destroyed roads and bridges in four of the country’s nine provinces”, reports Bloomberg. It adds: “Adverse weather since June 9 caused damage to property and disrupted basic services in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, Elias Sithole, the head of the National Disaster Management Centre, said in an official notice…This month’s floods are the latest in a series of adverse weather events to hit South Africa. Last year, Cape Town had record rainfall in July and tens of thousands of homes were damaged. In 2022, at least 459 people died when torrential rains hit two coastal provinces.”  

Meanwhile, Hurricane Erick has strengthened into a Category 4 storm as it moves towards Mexico’s Pacific coast, reports BBC News. The maximum sustained winds in the storm rose to 230km/h (145mph) late on Wednesday local time and is now expected to be “extremely dangerous”, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), it adds. “The major storm threatens to unleash destructive winds near where the eye crashes ashore, flash floods and a dangerous storm surge,” reports the Associated Press. “President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a video message Wednesday night that all activities in the region were suspended and she urged people to stay in their homes or to move to shelters if they lived in low-lying areas”, it adds. The Mexican government has called for emergency measures, warning that the storm could further intensify before it makes landfall, reports the New York Times. A statement from the government notes that more than 2,000 temporary shelters have been set up across three states, Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca, it adds. 

In other extreme weather news, at least two people have been killed and more than 2,600 displaced by heavy rains in southern Brazil, reports the Washington Post. The rains have caused blackouts, landslides, washed-out roads and collapsed bridges throughout the southern region of Rio Grande do Sul, it continues. “Scientists say extreme weather is happening more frequently due to human-caused climate change,” the article notes.

A heat dome will bring “stifling temperatures and uncomfortable humidity to millions” in the US, reports the Associated Press. The heat will be “particularly concerning” over the weekend across stretches of Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, it adds. Forecasters have warned that parts of the US could see record-setting temperatures, reports the Wall Street Journal. 

In other US news, environmental groups and Michigan’s attorney general have filed separate challenges over a federal order to keep a coal-fired power plant open over the summer, reports the Associated Press. The environmental coalition said there was no “energy emergency” that would justify the move to keep the JH Campbell plant alive in Ottawa County, near Lake Michigan running, it adds. A federal judge in Massachusetts has said he plans to deny a motion by the Trump administration to dismiss a lawsuit over its blocking of wind-energy projects, reports the Associated Press. A federal judge has ruled that the EPA’s termination of $600m in environmental justice grants issued under the previous administration was unlawful, reports Politico. In California, Democrats are denouncing the Trump administration’s decision to terminate $3.7bn in funding for clean-energy projects, reports the Los Angeles Times. 

The UK government is expected to unveil its guidance on so-called “scope three” emissions for oil and gas fields today, reports Politico. “It could have major implications for fossil-fuel projects Rosebank and Jackdaw in the North Sea, which campaigners successfully challenged earlier this year — leading to their environment approvals being revoked”, it adds. The Daily Telegraph claims that energy secretary Ed Miliband will “open the door for North Sea drilling”. The article states that the energy secretary is going to change the laws on greenhouse gas emissions, in a move that would “pave the way for the construction of giant oil fields”. 

In other UK news, Nigel Farage, the leader of the hard-right populist Reform UK party, has “headlined a Tufton Street climate denial event”, reveals DeSmog. Yesterday’s event was organised by the UK-EU branch of the pro-Trump thinktank Heartland Institute, which “has been at the forefront of denying the scientific evidence for man-made climate change”, and was hosted at 55 Tufton Street, the home of the climate-sceptic lobby group Global Warming Policy Foundation, which “claims carbon dioxide is not a pollutant”, it adds. Farage has said that net-zero could be the “next Brexit” and be the issue that “wins Reform UK the next election”, reports the Daily Express. In North Northamptonshire, the Reform council leader has argued that climate change targets are “holding our country back” and solar panels “should just be installed on rooftops, not in fields”, reports BBC News. 

Meanwhile, the US government has “raised concerns” over plans by one of China’s largest wind turbine makers to supply North Sea wind farms with a new factory in Scotland, reports the Financial Times. An official from the Trump administration tells the outlet that it has “warned London” about “what it argues are national security risks attached to allowing Mingyang to build a plant in the UK”, continues the article. A wind turbine parts manufacturer is at risk of closing in Wigan due to high energy costs, reports the Daily Telegraph. 

Spanish grid operator Red Electrica has said that it managed the electricity network “properly” on 28 April when there was a nationwide blackout, “clashing with the government’s opinion about the causes of the incident”, reports Bloomberg. In a statement released after the government’s official report into the blackout was released, the operator said it “performed the appropriate calculations and made the relevant decisions in the programming of technical constraints”, the article adds. Red Electrica says that generators failed to comply with a requirement to help stabilise the electricity system, it notes. The operator has agreed that a surge in voltage was the immediate cause of the outage, but pointed to “conventional” power plants for failing to maintain an appropriate voltage rather than its management, reports Reuters. Renewable energy advocates have accused commentators who claimed solar was the cause of the blackout of “jumping the gun and oversimplifying the cause”, reports BusinessGreen. The solar industry has celebrated after the government report pointed to other sectors as the cause of the blackout, reports Euractiv. The climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph claims that “renewable energy [is] to blame for Spain’s blackouts”, arguing a glut of solar was the cause. In another article, a climate-sceptic “analyst” tries to argue that “Spain’s power cut shows the risks of gas-free Britain”. Spain’s El Diario runs an “exclusive” under the headline: “The photovoltaic plant responsible for the blackout is Iberdrola’s Núñez de Balboa megaplant.” (As explained in Carbon Brief’s updated Q&A of the blackout, the government’s official report found there were a number of failings, including a mismanagement of voltage and improper disconnections, but does not specifically say solar power was to blame.) 

The development of Sweden’s Stegra “green” steel plant will act as a “test” for Europe, as countries look to “develop confidence in green projects”, argues journalist Richard Milne in the Financial Times. “It isn’t the easiest time to be a green industrial start-up in Europe”, he notes, pointing to the closure of Northvolt, “Europe’s best-funded start-up and its big hope for battery manufacturing”. Stegra, however, has raised €6.5bn and is “hoping to start producing green steel using renewable energy-powered electric arc furnace and emission-free hydrogen in the second half of this year in its factory about 80km south of the Arctic Circle”, he explains. “With troubles in its wind turbine and battery industries, Europe is undergoing something of a crisis in confidence in the projects to build a greener future. How smooth Stegra’s progress proves to be in the coming years will say much about whether the continent can recover against the pressure from China in particular”, concludes Milne. 

In other comment, an editorial in the Daily Express, notes that, while some Britons plan to enjoy the heatwave, “extreme heat can also kill”, following news that 40C temperatures are now 20 times more likely. In BusinessGreen, Leo Mercer, policy fellow at LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, argues that “now is not the time to cut back nature-friendly farming incentives”. Finally, climate-sceptic commentator Matthew Lynn claims in the Daily Telegraph that “another wheel has just flown off the EV dream” due their “breakdown rate” being marginally higher than diesel vehicles. 

New research assesses how the carbon footprint of different types of passenger vehicles is influenced by future decarbonisation. Using an integrated assessment model to consider four different pathways consistent with between 1.5C and 3C of warming, the researchers find that electric vehicles (EVs) “consistently have the lowest carbon footprints”, compared to hybrids and hydrogen fuel cells. This is “driven by greater projected decarbonisation of electricity compared to fossil-dominated fuels and hydrogen”, the authors say. However, although EVs are the “most reliable climate-mitigation option for passenger cars”, they note that “reducing their high manufacturing footprint remains important”.

Global warming will lead to a higher probability of summers that see extremes in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a new study suggests. Using a large collection of climate models, as well as reanalysis data, the researchers find that the statistical distribution of the summer NAO “grows wider with increasing global warming”. This amplified variability “leads to a higher probability of summer NAO extremes” for both positive and negative phases, the researchers say, “accompanied by an amplification of their impacts on surface temperature over north-western Europe”.