Following reports earlier in the week, the Trump administration has formally revoked a landmark scientific finding that has been the central basis for US action to regulate emissions and tackle climate change for around two decades, reports the Financial Times. US president Donald Trump announced the repeal of the “endangerment finding” – originally made in 2009 during Barack Obama’s administration – describing it as the “legal foundation for the green new scam”, according to the newspaper. Lee Zeldin, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) celebrated the “elimination” of the finding, describing the move [again] as the “single largest act of deregulation” in US history, according to CNN. The Associated Press describes this as “the most aggressive move by the Republican president to roll back climate regulations”. The newswire explains that the finding provided the legal underpinning for the EPA to regulate emissions from vehicles, power plants and other emissions sources under the Clean Air Act. BBC News adds that the finding involved the EPA determining that six key greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), were a danger to human health. 

Reuters explains that the finding’s repeal removes the regulatory requirements to measure, report, certify and comply with federal greenhouse gas emission standards for cars, but “may not initially apply” to power plants. The newswire adds that the Trump administration EPA is claiming that ending vehicle emission standards “will save US taxpayers $1.3tn”. The New York Times says the administration “declined to explain how it arrived at that estimate”. Politico states that the move “sets up a courtroom clash”, with environmentalists and Democratic-controlled states likely to “mount a fierce legal challenge”. Describing the decision as the “result of more than 15 years of work from right-wing special interest groups”, Wired says it “will introduce a lengthy fight that’s almost certain to wind up in front of the supreme court”. Vox points out that the endangerment finding had been “name-checked as a target in Project 2025”, the right-wing political agenda championed by Trump allies ahead of the last presidential election. 

Time magazine lays out a history of the endangerment finding. The Hill describes how Obama and other influential Democratic leaders have criticised the decision. Coverage in Inside Climate News notes that the repeal could “create the kind of market unpredictability that businesses generally prefer to avoid”. Scientific American considers how the withdrawal of the endangerment finding will impact public health. Axios notes that while the repeal is “legally and symbolically seismic”, its “real-world impact may be more muted” because the “energy transition is well underway”. The Trump administration’s latest actions have received coverage around the world, including the Times and the frontpage of the Guardian in the UK, ABC News in Australia and the Globe and Mail in Canada.

MORE ON US

• US energy secretary Chris Wright has said that US-controlled oil sales from Venezuela have totalled over $1bn since the capture of president Nicolas Maduro in January, reports Reuters.
• Leading investment banks are hesitating to provide a critical source of financing for US renewables projects, due to a “lack of clarity from the Trump administration over tax rules that restrict ties to China”, according to Bloomberg.

UN climate chief Simon Stiell has said in a speech that climate action can deliver stability in the face of a “new world disorder”, reports BusinessGreen. Speaking in Istanbul, Turkey, during a visit to discuss this year’s COP31 summit, Stiell acknowledged that climate action faced an “unprecedented threat” from actors who sought to use their power to “defy economic and scientific logic”, according to the outlet. The Guardian quotes Stiell saying that “for any leader who is serious about security, climate action is mission critical, as climate impacts wreak havoc”. Climate Home News notes that “Stiell’s remarks aim to reframe the global security debate at a time when climate change has slipped down the global political agenda”. Agence France-Presse notes that, while Stiell did not mention any specific countries, the US has withdrawn from global action on climate change, including the Paris Agreement. The newswire notes that Stiell told a press conference that the “door remains open” to welcoming the US back.

MORE ON UN CLIMATE

• Turkey’s incoming COP31 president, environment minister Murat Kurum, has stressed that efforts to cut emissions in the coal-dependent nation should not come at the expense of economic growth, according to Climate Home News.
• Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley – a major voice at UN climate summits “known for spearheading a plan” on climate finance – has won a third consecutive term in office, reports the Associated Press.
• Jim Skea, chair of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has told the Financial Times that achieving net-zero emissions is “not a political choice”, but the only option available to stop global warming.

The French government has released a new 10-year energy strategy that “leans heavily” on nuclear power to transition away from fossil fuels, according to Agence France-Presse. The newswire explains that the plan involves more use of the country’s 57 nuclear power plants out to 2035, as well as the construction of six new ones, marking a “reversal” of a previous plan that had called for shutting down 14 reactors. Reuters explains that the new strategy reduces French targets for solar and wind power construction, particularly onshore wind. It adds that the law, known as PPE, will be “pushed through by decree [today] after almost three years of bitter disagreement among lawmakers”. Bloomberg says the plan is “expected to pave the way for the government to resume subsidy auctions for renewable projects”. However, the news outlet adds that the plan’s future “could be short-lived” if the far-right National Rally party, which opposes renewables, wins next year’s presidential election.

MORE ON EUROPE

• Portugal is “under pressure to draw up plans to adapt to the climate emergency” as the country faces an “unprecedented series of storms that have killed at least 16 people and left tens of thousands without electricity”, according to the Guardian.
• European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has stated that the bloc’s emissions trading system has “clear benefits” and safeguards to modulate the carbon price if it rises too high, following calls from some leaders for the system to be revised, reports Reuters.
• A draft document seen by Reuters shows the EU and the European Investment Bank are preparing new funding facilities to support energy infrastructure investments.

In January, new energy vehicles (NEVs) accounted for more than 50% of China’s total exports of passenger vehicles for the first time, reports business news outlet Yicai, citing new industry data. It adds that China’s NEV exports in January rose 110% year-on-year, compared to 45% growth in overall vehicle exports. State news agency Xinhua covers the same data release, reporting that China’s production and sales of NEVs rose by 2.5% and 0.1% year-on-year, respectively. Financial news outlet Caixin says China’s overall auto sales slid 14.8% from a year earlier in January as the government’s adjusted purchase tax on NEVs took effect at the beginning of the year, raising “fresh questions about the durability of demand”. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that China has “shifted its stance” on EU pricing guidelines for imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), quoting a commerce ministry official saying the government now accepts that Chinese EV makers can negotiate independently with the EU.

Separately, China has banned automakers from “pricing vehicles below cost” in order to continue the government’s “crackdown on a persistent price war” in the sector, reports Bloomberg. Reuters says that China’s automotive industry faces “rising pressure” this year as demand is expected to “stagnate” in 2026. State-run newspaper China Daily says that the guidelines are designed to “stamp out” an industry practice that has “distorted competition”. Xinhua reports that the industry should have “appropriate pricing and healthy competition”.

MORE ON CHINA

• There is ongoing coverage of analysis for Carbon Brief that China’s emissions have been flat or falling for nearly two years, including in IdeaCarbon, Reuters, Channel 4 News, Semafor, Politico, Inside Climate News, China’s Observer news site, Carbon Pulse and Business Green.
• Du Zhongming, head of the power department of the NEA, writes in China Electric Power News, that China will “vigorously coordinate local consumption with long-distance transmission” of renewable power.
• The government will brief companies in March on “export controls, customs clearance and compliance requirements” for critical minerals, says Reuters.
• A “study” article in Xinhua urges China to improve critical infrastructure resilience to “effectively” respond to security challenges such as extreme weather.
• China’s “green finance” sector will shift from “expanding scale” to “improving quality and efficiency”, reports People’s Daily.

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) has called on the UK’s Labour government to lift its ban on new oil and gas licences and cut tax rates on the industry, according to the Times. The newspaper explains that a new report by the thinktank, “backed by the former prime minister”, lays out various proposals for UK energy policy that it says will prioritise cutting bills. The Guardian says the TBI “has accused [energy secretary] Ed Miliband of driving up energy prices in his push to make Britain’s energy supply more environmentally friendly”. The newspaper explains that the thinktank calls for the government to drop its flagship goal of decarbonising the electricity system by 2030. The report has been widely covered by right-leaning newspapers that oppose the government’s net-zero policies, including the Daily Mail, which frames it as a call to “ditch Miliband’s net-zero drive”. The Daily Express similarly describes it as Blair “blast[ing] Miliband’s net-zero push” and the Daily Telegraph trails the story on its frontpage. The i newspaper reports that “sources close to” Miliband described the TBI proposals as “nonsense” and said they would not reduce people’s electricity bills. Guardian analysis describes the proposals as a “misleading rehash of fossil fuel industry spin”.

MORE ON UK

• Miliband has been asked by MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee to explain whether a planned boom in data centres has been factored into the UK’s plans to deliver net-zero emissions, according to BBC News.
• BusinessGreen reports that considering the impact of climate change is “now the norm, not the exception” for central bankers, according to Bank of England executive director James Talbot.
• The Daily Mail has published a misleading article stating that “electric cars deliver ‘no proven carbon savings’ in the UK”, citing analysis by Queen Mary University researchers. [As per a comment from another researcher in the article, “there is no way for an electric vehicle in Britain to be higher carbon than a similar petrol or diesel car”.]

An editorial in Nature argues that, despite the current state of geopolitics, the economics of clean energy suggest it will dominate the future economy. It continues: “To give some indication of the scale of the transition already achieved: last year, the total amount of wind and solar power generated exceeded that produced by coal, which was, for roughly a century, the world’s main source of electricity.” However, it highlights subsidies to fossil-fuel industries as a major barrier to the expansion of renewables, arguing: “Subsidies cannot be phased out instantly, but they can be used instead to protect the people whose lives and livelihoods will be affected by the clean-energy transition. That is a much better application of such investments.” Separately, Nature has a piece based around charts titled: “Can the clean-energy revolution save us from climate catastrophe?”

MORE IN COMMENT

• An editorial in the Wall Street Journal welcomes the Trump administration’s repeal of the endangerment finding. It says: “What progressives really fear is that they won’t be able to dictate the energy supplies, cars and appliances that Americans can buy.”
• Liam Denning, a Bloomberg columnist, describes a Trump administration move to sell coal to the Pentagon as “just another bailout” for the industry.
• BusinessGreen editor James Murray has an article titled: “But what about China?”, which points to new Carbon Brief analysis showing the nation’s emissions plateauing. 
• Jason Hickel, professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis have an article in the Guardian laying out three first steps for “mov[ing] beyond the capitalist model and sav[ing] the climate”.
• Climate sceptic commentator Matt Ridley has a piece in the Daily Mail calling UK energy secretary Ed Miliband “the last fool standing on net-zero”, opining that the rest of the world is “abandon[ing] its climate change policies” while the UK continues to cut emissions.

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

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