The Trump administration will repeal the Clean Power Plan, the centrepiece of president Obama’s effort to tackle climate change, report the New York Times and others, following up on yesterday’s Reuters exclusive. A draft proposal from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the first substantive step towards rolling back the plan, the New York Times adds. It notes that the EPA document “does not explain how [it] will justify to the courts the decision to eliminate the regulation”. The Times also says it “remains unclear when the agency will formally repeal the rule” and that an EPA spokesperson declined to comment. The Hill also covers the story. Meanwhile Climate Home reports on the “international concern” over the plan, including comments from Thoriq Ibrahim, the chair of the alliance of small island states.

Shares in Centrica, Britain’s biggest energy supplier, fell to a 14-year low yesterday after Theresa May pledged to cap bills for homes, report the Financial Times and others. The pledge to cap bills for the 15m of 27m homes still on more expensive standard variable tariffs “battered” energy firm shares says the Daily Telegraph. More than £1bn was wiped off the value of Britain’s two largest utilities, reports the Times. Bloomberg also has the story. Theresa May faces a “business backlash” over the plans, reports the Press Association, with the Confederation of British Industry saying a cap is “not the best answer”.

The Trump administration broke the law when it tried to delay rules on methane emissions from oil and gas operations, a federal court ruled yesterday, reports the Hill. The rule relates to drilling on federal lands, says the Associated Press. The administration had sought to delay the rule until 2019, saying it was too burdensome to industry. Congress upheld the rule earlier this year, Reuters and the Washington Post note.

Solar capacity grew by 50% last year, faster than any other source of electricity, says the Financial Times, reporting on new figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The growth means solar has overtaken new coal-fired generation for the first time, while almost half the expansion came in China. The record-breaking totals across mean renewables expansion is “shattering expectations, especially in the United States, where projections were pessimistic just a decade ago”, says Inside Climate News. The IEA also suggests solar power will dominate renewables in the years ahead, reports Bloomberg. The IEA expects about 1,000 gigawatts of renewables will be installed in the next five years, a milestone that coal only accomplished after 80 years. The forecasts for renewables represent a lift of 12% compared to the IEA’s forecast last year, says Reuters. BusinessGreen picks out the “five you need to know” from the annual state of the sector report, while Carbon Brief also covered the IEA’s new report in depth yesterday.

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, has said he hopes the recent devastating hurricanes will convince climate change sceptics, such as Donald Trump, that global warming is a “major threat”. Ahead of a visit this weekend to the Caribbean islands of Antigua, Barbuda and Dominica, he said yesterday: “I have not yet lost my hope that what is happening will be making those that are still sceptical about climate change to be more and more realising that this, indeed, is a major threat for the international community at the present moment.”

Conservative ministers are warming to wind turbines, reports the Telegraph, following sharp falls in offshore wind costs. Energy ministers Richard Harrington and Claire Perry both told delegates at the Conservative party conference that new onshore wind schemes could return, with Harrington saying he sees “no reason” why they should not compete against other technologies for subsidies, if their costs fall and planning permission is granted.

Australia is the only wealthy nation setting records for its energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, writes Adam Morton for Climate Home. Its emissions in 2017 are higher than at any point since 1990, he adds. Morton looks at the government’s position on climate and ministers’ support for coal. But he adds that “they have softened expectations they will explicitly support [coal]”. Among Annex I countries, only Turkey – an anomaly when the UN climate convention list of developed versus developing countries were drawn up – has increased its emissions since 1990, Morton says.

Andrew King, researcher on climate extremes at the University of Melbourne, discusses his latest study, which found that if global warming isn’t curbed, Europe is likely to see even more severe heat events, less frequent extreme cold events, and more intense rain events. “Central European hot summers like 2003 would very likely occur in most years”, King says. However, the Mediterranean and eastern Europe will warm up more than Scandinavia and the British Isles. “To prevent a more extreme future for Europe’s weather, we need to keep the lid on global warming”, he concludes.

The forests of cities and towns could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by storing and considerable amounts of carbon, a study says. A new review paper “aims to identify uncertainties in urban forest carbon offset assessment.” The researchers say: “We do this by performing an extensive literature review and a case study combining remote sensing and life cycle assessment of urban forest carbon offset in Berlin, Germany.”