President Donald Trump has held the door open to a reversal of his decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate accord, but did not say what he would need in return to persuade him to do so. Speaking at a news conference after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Trump said “Something could happen with respect to the Paris accord. We’ll see what happens. We will talk about that in the coming period of time.” This was “quickly followed up by a shrug”, says the Guardian, with Trump adding: “if it happens that will be wonderful, and if it doesn’t that will be OK, too.” Trump said he and Macron “briefly hit on the Paris accord” in their conversations on Thursday, reports Politico. Macron said “there is nothing new and unprecedented” in Trump’s position on Paris, reports The Hill. “I very much respect the decision taken by President Trump,” he said. “He will work on implementing his campaign promises, and as far as I’m concerned I remain attached to the Paris accord and will make sure that, step by step, we can do everything that’s in the accord.” Macron also said it was right to put climate change to one side while the two leaders discussed how they could work together on other matters such as Syria and trade, reports the BBC. “We have disagreements; Mr Trump had election pledges that he took to his supporters and I had pledges – should this hinder progress on all issues? No,” Macron said. The AFP, Telegraph and the Independent have similar coverage. Meanwhile, Trump also said his administration is considering equipping his proposed border wall with solar panels to generate electricity, says The Hill. A reporter on board Air Force One on the way to France asked Trump whether he was joking about building a “solar wall.” “No, not joking, no. There is a chance that we can do a solar wall. We have major companies looking at that,” replied Trump. While aboard Air Force One, Trump also told reports that he was going to “produce much, much more energy than anyone else who was ever running for office. Ever,” says another The Hillarticle. “I’m a tremendous fracker, coal, natural gas, alternate energy, wind — everything, right?” he said. Elsewhere, in an interview with Politico, US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt dismissed European critics of Trump’s climate policies as “hypocrites”. “I just think the hypocrisy runs rampant,” he said: “To look at us as a nation and say, ‘You all need to do more’ in light of what we’ve done in leading with innovation and technology — the hypocrisy is palpable in those areas.” Pruitt criticised German Chancellor Angela Merkel specifically, saying if cutting CO2 “is so important to [her], why [is she] getting rid of nuclear? Because last time I checked, it’s pretty clean on CO2.” Pruitt said the US will continue to engage with the international community on climate change, but he called the Paris deal “pure symbolism,” adding, “It was a bumper sticker.” And finally, The Hill also reports that the House of Representatives defeated an amendment to a defence policy bill that would have blocked a Department of Defense study into the impacts of climate change on national security. The House voted 185-234 to defeat the amendment and keep the study in the bill.

Italian multinational oil and gas company, Eni, has received permission to move ahead with drilling plans in federal waters off Alaska. Late on Wednesday, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced conditional approval of an exploratory drilling plan submitted by the US arm of Eni. Eni will become the first energy company allowed to explore for oil in federal waters off Alaska since 2015, says Reuters. The company has held the leases for the area for 10 years. The approval is conditional on Eni getting other state and federal permits, which in past cases are generally granted once the BOEM gives the green light. “We know there are vast oil and gas resources under the Beaufort Sea, and we look forward to working with Eni in their efforts to tap into this energy potential,” said BOEM’s acting Director Walter Cruickshank. Eni’s proposal is to drill three oil wells roughly three miles off the Alaskan coast, notes Think Progress. The drilling will be conducted from a man-made island, which is reached via an ice road. BOEM issued the approval after an environmental assessment of the plan found “no significant impact,” which means Eni will not need to conduct a full environmental impact statement. Eni is likely to start drilling in December and will only drill during the winter months to “avoid some harm to wildlife,” says The Hill.Inside Climate News also has the story. Meanwhile, The Hill reports that a federal appeals court is letting the Trump administration put on hold an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methane pollution rule for oil and natural gas drilling.

Biofuel use needs to increase to help fight climate change as liquid fuels will be needed by aircraft and ships for many decades to come, finds a new report requested by the UK government. However, the Royal Academy of Engineering report also notes that some biofuels, such as diesel made from food crops, have led to more emissions than those produced by the fossil fuels they were meant to replace. Instead, the report says the UK should focus on using waste products like chip fat if it wants to double production of biofuels, reports the BBC. “We have to ensure that wastes are actually genuine wastes, and not diverted from some other use,” says Adisa Azapagic of the University of Manchester, who chaired review, reports the New Scientist. In the long term, the best way to reduce emissions is to switch to electric vehicles powered by renewable energy sources, Azapagic and her colleagues told journalists.

Global greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere rose more quickly last year than they have in nearly three decades – in part due to a strong El Niño, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA’s annual index of 20 key greenhouse gases also shows that concentrations of GHGs that lead to warming, primarily driven by the burning of fossil fuels and other human activity, increased by 140% since 1750, and 40% between 1990 and 2016, says Climate Central. Unlike most news releases accompanying the index during the Obama administration, NOAA’s announcement this year does not directly link human activity to warming caused by GHGs. Instead, the agency’s release states that “the role of greenhouse gases on influencing global temperatures is well understood by scientists, but it’s a complicated topic that can be difficult to communicate,” notes Think Progress.

Asian countries will be among the worst affected by rising temperatures, extreme weather patterns and floods caused by climate change, according to a report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Damage ranging from falling crop yields to bleaching of coral reefs will affect millions of people and add billions of dollars to food import costs, the report warns. Some countries in the region could experience significantly hotter climates, with temperature increases in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwest China projected to hit 8C, reports Bloomberg. “The Asia-Pacific region is particularly vulnerable to climate change,” Preety Bhandari, director in the ADB’s sustainable development and climate change department, told the FT. “Not only because of the intense impact felt across the region but also because of the large populations living in coastal areas or dependent on sectors likely to be badly affected.”

Nearly half of long-haul flights at some of world’s busiest airports could face disruptions on the hottest days because of extreme heat under climate change toward the end of the century, a new study suggests. Focusing on five major aircraft at 19 of the world’s busiest airports, researchers at Columbia University concluded that 10-30% of flights scheduled for takeoff in the heat of the day will have to reduce their weight by the equivalent of three passengers and their luggage. Higher temperatures lead to thinner air, and plane wings generate less lift, which can lead to planes being unable to lift off – unless weight from the plane is removed, explains the AFP. Ethan Coffel, the lead author, told the Timesthat the weight restrictions resulting from climate change “may impose a non-trivial cost on airlines and impact aviation operations around the world”. Climate Central and Inside Climate News also cover the research.

Despite rapid uptake of renewables across the world, a target to meet 100% of energy needs through renewables “confuses means with ends,” says an Economist leader article. “The priority for the planet is to stop net emissions of greenhouse gases, especially CO2. Putting too much emphasis on wind, solar and other renewables may block off better carbon-reduction paths.” For example, “after decades of investment, it is wrong to leave nuclear power off the table,” the article says. “Carbon emissions in Germany actually rose because it chose to phase out nuclear power and so burned more coal.” Two other comment pieces in the Economist ask if the world can world thrive on 100% renewable energy and weighs in on climate change and inequality.

New York magazine carries an interview with veteran climate scientist Jim Hansen, noting he is “now the lead scientific figure in a lawsuit being brought against the federal government alleging complicity on climate change”. Hansen describes how he became involved in the suit, his views on advocacy and political inaction and his preferred solutions, as well as his efforts to persuade the outgoing Obama administration to settle the suit.

Different institutions use the same set of satellite data to monitor Arctic sea ice, but different techniques for estimating key parameters such as ice concentration, ice extent and ice area. In a new study, scientists compare results from four different techniques. The actual changes in the ice cover are consistently depicted, the researchers find, and the trends in sea ice extent and ice area from the different datasets “are practically the same”. The results provide “strong confidence that satellite data are interpreted consistently by different scientists independently and confirming that the ice extent of the Arctic perennial ice is indeed declining at the rate of about 11% per decade,” the study concludes.