The rift over climate change between the US and its leading industrial allies deepened on Monday, reports Reuters, after Washington refused to sign on to parts of the G7 statement on the environment. Six of the group of seven leading nations called the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change “irreversible” and key for the “security and prosperity of our planet”. In a footnote to the declaration, the US says it would “not join those sections of the communiqué on climate and MDBs [multilateral development banks], reflecting our recent announcement to withdraw and immediately cease implementation of the Paris Agreement and associated financial commitments,” notes InsideClimate News. US Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt said the move was “resetting the dialogue to say Paris is not the only way forward to making progress,” reports the Hill. The US says it will take its own action to reduce emissions, reports the Guardian, which adds that Italy’s environment minister called the Paris deal: “irreversible, non-negotiable and the only instrument possible to combat climate change”. On climate change the new dynamic at the G7 is six against one, says Politico, with the Washington Post saying “this is what the US’s new global isolation on climate change looks like”. Think Progress also covers the news. Separately, Reuters covers a denial from Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau of reports that he wants the G20 to avoid mentioning the Paris accord. Speaking in the Canadian parliament, Trudeau flatly denied having suggested to German chancellor Angela Merkel that Paris be deleted from drafts of the G20 communiqué, Reuters says.

UK prime minister Theresa May continued her cabinet reshuffle yesterday, moving a number of junior ministers to new roles, reports DeSmog UK, with climate minister Nick Hurd moved to the Home Office. His replacement, Claire Perry, the MP for Devizes, recently made a strong statement in favour of addressing climate change, DeSmog UK notes. Meanwhile the Times reports that Michael Gove’s first act as environment secretary was “to issue a denial that he had ever intended to remove climate change from the national curriculum.” Quoting a “source close to Mr Gove”, the paper says: “‘He wanted to enhance climate change in the national curriculum.'” Gove has said US president Donald Trump was “wrong” to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, reports the Press Association. In comments on TV show Good Morning Britain, Gove said: “I think he is wrong. I think that we need international co-operation in order to deal with climate change.” Separately, the BBC and iNews factcheck the idea that Gove attempted to remove climate change from the curriculum. The BBC cites “people who were close to Mr Gove during this time”. The iNews says: “According to Sam Freedman, who was an adviser to Mr Gove at the time, there was no such attempt to remove climate change from the curriculum.”

The Global Seed Vault in the Arctic to preserve the world’s most important seeds is to undergo a multi-million dollar upgrade after water from melting permafrost flooded its access tunnel, reports the Guardian. No seeds were damaged but the incident undermined the vault’s supposed failsafe status. The Norwegian government says it is investigating how to “counter the increased water volumes resulting from a wetter and warmer climate on Svalbard”.

The UK’s hung parliament is likely to push energy policy onto the back burner, according to industry officials quoted by Bloomberg. Against a need to replace retiring power plants, Bloomberg notes that investment has already fallen since a high in 2015. Victoria Cuming, analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance says: “Uncertainty from the election result and coming Brexit negotiations may make it harder and more expensive for renewable energy developers to secure financing.” In the Guardian, Nils Pratley, taking a broader look at the impact of the current political climate writes that uncertainty “is bound to damage investment”. He also questions nuclear subsidies in the face of the “megatrend” that is bringing down the cost of renewable generation.

Slowing demand for oil and a rapid growth of renewables pose risks to the core business of oil and gas majors, according to a new analysis from analysts Wood Mackenzie, reports the Guardian. It says the firms could be putting more than a fifth of their investment into wind and solar within a decade, as the changing energy landscape offers opportunities as well as threats to their growth. Valentina Kretzschmar, Wood Mackenzie director of research, is quoted saying: “The momentum behind these [renewable] technologies is unstoppable now.”

Donald Trump may have sparked unprecedented determination within the US to confront the danger of climate change, says a Guardian Cities feature looking at New York, San Francisco, Houston and Miami, the “four cities leading the way in the Trump era”. The cities are part of a coalition of states, cities and businesses hoping to keep the US to its Paris climate pledge. Separately John Kerry, former US secretary of state, predicted the US would meet its Paris goal despite Trump pulling the country out of the accord, reports Reuters.

“It is hard to think of many politicians as ill-equipped for the role [of UK environment secretary as Gove,” writes Caroline Lucas, Green Party co-leader, in the Independent. Gove “tried to wipe climate change from the national curriculum,” writes Lucas, and has been a “cheerleader for ditching EU environmental laws”. The Independent also covers Lucas’s comments in a separate news article.

Understanding the impact of natural climate fluctuations on the world’s ice sheets “is essential for assessing long-term risk of sea level rise (SLR),” a new study says. Using a three-dimensional ice sheet model, the researchers find that approximately 2mm of uncertainty in the estimated SLR due to Greenland ice sheet melt during 1992–2011 can be ascribed to natural variability. Looking ahead, natural fluctuations make up about 17% of the uncertainty in projections for total change of SLR in 2100, the study says.

Warm and cool periods in the world’s oceans have suppressed and boosted global average surface temperature rise in distinct periods through the 21st century, a new study says. Global temperatures have seen two strong accelerations in the early and late twentieth century and two weak slowdowns in the mid-twentieth and early twenty-first century, the researchers say. The study finds that sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the Pacific Ocean have an essential role in moderating global warming rates, and SSTs in the Atlantic, Indian and Southern oceans “also exert vital influences.”

Reminding people of the previous energy-saving actions they have taken can reduce the likelihood that they’ll adopt another, a new study suggests. Using the Fukushima disaster in Japan as a case study, the study finds that people who were reminded how they cut their energy use after the shutdown were 12-15% less likely to support a carbon tax. This “crowding out” effect is seen in other parts of daily life, the accompanying News & Views article says: “Thus, the same justifications that allow people to indulge in a beer or ice cream after hitting the gym may also cause them to reduce their support for a carbon tax after saving energy at home.”