The UK government has published its “long-awaited environmental guidance” on how “scope 3 emissions” – the downstream emissions from the use of oil and gas – should be treated in future government decisions to approve oil and gas drilling projects, reports Reuters. The newswire quotes a statement by energy minister Michael Shanks, who says the guidance “marks a step forward in ensuring the full implications of oil and gas extraction are considered for potential projects and that we ensure a managed, prosperous and orderly transition to the North Sea’s clean-energy future, in line with the science”. The Financial Times reports that, under the new guidance, “ministers will consider the economic benefits of North Sea oil and gas projects along with carbon ‘removal’ activities when deciding whether to grant consents”. It adds: “The language could be helpful to two vast oil and gasfields being developed by Shell and Equinor whose consents were quashed last year because downstream emissions had not been considered…Shell and Equinor are now expected to reapply for consents for their respective Jackdaw and Rosebank projects in the wake of the fresh guidance, which sets out how oil and gas companies should write environmental impact assessments when submitting applications.” BusinessGreen says the “move will prove highly controversial with climate campaigners, who will argue it could be interpreted as a breach of Labour’s manifesto pledge not to issue any new oil and gas drilling licenses”. The Press Association quotes Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, who says: “The new rules mean that oil and gas companies will finally be forced to come clean over the enormous harm they are causing to the climate.” The Times calls the news a “boost for North Sea drilling”, adding that “Ed Miliband has moved to unblock the development of two controversial new North Sea oil and gas fields, setting out new criteria under which the projects can be approved”. BBC News says the guidance was “drawn up in response to a landmark Supreme Court ruling last year, that Surrey County Council should have considered the full climate impact of burning oil from new wells”. The Scotsman reports that “the oil and gas industry has welcomed the consent process being restarted by the UK government”. The Daily Express covers the news under the headline ”Ed Miliband U-turns on drilling of North Sea – despite branding idea ‘climate vandalism’”. MailOnline has a similar headline, while the Daily Telegraph says: “Miliband opens door to North Sea drilling.” Meanwhile, the Times asks: “Is eco-warrior Ed Miliband destined to turn on the taps of North Sea oil?” The newspaper says: “The government insists it is too early to say how Miliband will rule and all decisions will be made on a ‘case-by-case basis’ – but the politics suggest that a way will be found to give them the go-ahead. Failure to do so would infuriate the GMB union, which is concerned that thousands of jobs could be lost in the North Sea. A green light would have a significant climate change impact. Rosebank would release an estimated 129m tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime, Simon Evans of the website Carbon Brief has calculated. Green group Uplift estimates that Jackdaw would add a further 32m tonnes. UK emissions last year were the equivalent of 384.2m tonnes of CO2.” The newspaper adds that “environmental groups such as Uplift and Greenpeace could also launch legal challenges based on how Miliband has interpreted the new guidance written by his department”. 

Separately, Desmog reports that chancellor Rachel Reeves “told a fossil-fuel giant that the industry would receive a ‘quid pro quo’ in return for higher taxes on its windfall profits”. The piece, co-published with the Guardian, continues: “In a meeting with the Norwegian state energy company Equinor on 27 August last year, Reeves suggested that the government’s carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) subsidies were a payoff for oil firms being hit with a higher tax rate.” Meanwhile, a Scotsman “exclusive” says that opening up the North Sea oil field to drilling could cause the UK government to miss out on more than £250m in tax revenue. Elsewhere, the Daily Telegraph reports that the “Crown Estate is to build giant floating wind farms off the coasts of Wales and south-west England”. The Press Association reports that Jo Stevens, the secretary of state for Wales, says that “new floating windfarms, set to be among the biggest in the world, will create thousands of jobs and power millions of homes”. BBC News quotes Stevens, who says the wind farms will have a “positive impact for generations to come”. 

Heavy rainfall fuelled by Typhoon Wutip has caused the “worst flood in a century” in China’s southern province of Guangdong, with the Sui river in the Huaiji county swelling to “over five metres above the official danger level…the highest on record”, reports state broadcaster CGTN. Local authorities have declared a “top-level emergency” as economic losses from the floods are estimated at $5.7m, the outlet adds. The National Development and Reform Commission has allocated $8m towards flood relief in Guangdong, according to state news agency Xinhua. The Guangdong power company is “rushing to restore power” as “rising temperatures” were expected from 19 to 22 June, says financial news outlet Jiemian. Many regions in the central Hunan province also face “record-breaking” rainfalls, reports state-supporting newspaper Global Times. 

Meanwhile, Huang Runqiu, the head of China’s Ministry of Economy and Environment, met the UK’s energy secretary Ed Miliband earlier this week in London to discuss the “multilateral process of climate governance, respective policies on addressing climate change, and the next steps of climate cooperation”, reports Jiemian News. It was the “first China-UK Environment Ministers’ Dialogue”, according to the outlet, adding: “The two sides agreed to deepen exchanges through the ministerial dialogue mechanism on climate change, strengthen dialogue and cooperation in the fields of climate change adaptation, carbon market construction, climate investment and financing, and methane emission control, and jointly promote the multilateral process of climate governance.”

Elsewhere, China’s “green-energy” partnership with the EU is “expanding with unprecedented scope and depth”, according to Xinhua. Reuters publishes an article under the title: “China floods Brazil with cheap EVs triggering backlash.” The “self-discipline measures” adopted by China’s solar industry six months ago to “rein in rampant overproduction” were “doomed from the start” due to companies’ “deeply fragmented and fiercely competitive” nature, Bloomberg reports. Japanese news outlet Nikkei Asia publishes an article under the headline: “Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ threatens to pull [the] plug on China solar players.” 

Finally, Dialogue Earth explains why “betting on gas is a short-sighted strategy for China”, which has sought to promote the fuel as a “clean alternative to coal”. An analysis in Nikkei Asia says that China is “rushing to tamp down fears of an abrupt end” to its $42bn subsidy programme after several cities “suspended or downsized” their plans earlier than expected amid reports of “alleged misuse of the programme”. Bloomberg has a podcast with Lauri Myllyvirta, co-founder of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, talking about whether China’s carbon emissions have “finally peaked”, citing analysis he first published in Carbon Brief. 

Action on climate change is being “obstructed and delayed by false and misleading information stemming from fossil-fuel companies, rightwing politicians and some nation states”, the Guardian reports. This is according to a review of some 300 studies by the International Panel on the Information Environment, the newspaper says. It continues: “The researchers found climate denialism has evolved into campaigns focused on discrediting solutions, such as the false claims that renewable energy caused the recent massive blackout in Spain. Online bots and trolls hugely amplify false narratives, the researchers say, playing a key role in promoting climate lies. The experts also report that political leaders, civil servants and regulatory agencies are increasingly being targeted in order to delay climate action…The IPIE report is a comprehensive assessment of who is producing climate misinformation, how they propagate it, what impact it has and how it can be combated. It concludes: ‘Misleading information has undermined public trust in climate science and other key social institutions. This crisis of information integrity is intensifying and exacerbating the climate crisis.’” The newspaper adds that, on Saturday, COP30 host Brazil will “rally nations behind a separate UN initiative to crack down on climate misinformation”. 

The “dangerous” 32C heat forecast in England for Saturday “will have been made 100 times more likely by the climate crisis”, according to new analysis covered by the Guardian. The newspaper continues: “Global heating, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, is making every heatwave more likely and more intense. The 32C day forecast on Saturday would have been expected only once every 2,500 years without the climate crisis, the researchers said, and June heatwaves are now about 2-4C hotter than in the past. The heat is expected to cause premature deaths, particularly among older and vulnerable people.” The Press Association says the rapid study by the World Weather Attribution group “also found the current heatwave in the south-east of England was around 10 times more likely than without human activity warming the planet”. The Daily Mail also covers the analysis.

Separately, BBC News says that temperatures of 32.2C have been recorded in Kew and Heathrow, London. It continues: “[The temperature is] higher than the previous record for 2025 of 29.4C in Suffolk on 13 June. Suffolk became the first place in the UK to officially enter a heatwave on Thursday after temperatures passed 27C for the third day in a row…The heat is expected to build towards a high of 33C on Saturday, with central and eastern England seeing the peak temperatures.” Sky News reports that the hottest day of the year could be recorded today, for the second day in a row, according to the Met Office. The Independent reports that the UK Health Security Agency have ”issued an amber heat-health alert, warning that a rise in deaths is likely”. The Guardian says the alerts came into force at midday on Thursday and were “expected to remain in force until 9am on Monday”. It also carries a warning from the Met Office that the UK could “exceed temperatures of 40C in the near future, and highs of 45C “may be possible” in the current climate”. The Independent says: “Firefighters have issued a warning over wildfires in London after two blazes broke out on green spaces in the capital in the past 24 hours.” Bloomberg warns that the UK could see “tropical nights” in which nighttime temperatures stay above 20C. This is a “threshold beyond which many people report trouble sleeping”, according to the outlet. The Press Association says: “The heatwave is piling more pressure on farmers who were already struggling to produce food in the face of the very dry conditions.” The Guardian covers analysis from the Department for Education which finds that “children in England face prolonged ‘lost learning’ caused by extreme heat and flooding at school”. MailOnline says that, according to the analysis, “learning can be ‘very difficult’ due to the ‘one or two days’ per year when indoor temperatures reach 35C”. It continues: “And even on just averagely warm days, the heat could be causing pupils to currently lose seven days of learning per year, it said.” Separately, MailOnline says “doctors are demanding the right to go on ‘heat strike’ as temperatures are set to soar to 33C over the next few days”. The Financial Times says that, according to the Met Office, “the country had a 50-50 chance of a 40C day in the next 12 years, after that threshold was broken for the first time in 2022”. 

In other news of extreme heat, the Associated Press reports that a “heat dome” is set to bring “extreme heat and humidity” to more than 200 million people across the US. The outlet says: “Temperatures are forecast to exceed [32.2C] for around 220 million people across the country. Temperatures may reach or exceed [37.7C] for an additional 35 million people next week, including those living in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.”

Hurricane Erick hit the Pacific coast of Mexico as a “powerful category 3 storm” yesterday, BBC News reports. According to the outlet, the storm dropped to a category 1 shortly after making landfall. It continues: “The US National Hurricane Centre warned of a potential for ‘life-threatening’ storm surge in the hurricane’s wake and Mexico’s environment ministry also warned of waves of up to 10m (33ft)…State-owned utility CFE said that more than 120,000 users lost power in Oaxaca, with service restored to a quarter of those affected by late morning.” The Associated Press reports that at least one death from the flooding was confirmed yesterday. Separately, the Associated Press says the storm “threaded the needle between the resorts of Acapulco and Puerto Escondido, tearing into a sparsely populated stretch of coastline near the border of Oaxaca and Guerrero states”. Forbes says: “Stronger hurricanes are typically not expected until later in the season. However, the sea surface temperatures, wind shear patterns, and moisture have been optimal for Erick’s intensification.” The Associated Press reports that the hurricane “on Wednesday chugged through the ideal environment to power up quickly as it approached Mexico’s southern Pacific Coast”. The newswire notes that the storm intensified rapidly, pointing to climate change as a “likely contributor”. CNN reports that Erick is the “strongest [storm] to hit Mexico so early in the year”. Al Jazeera and the New York Times also cover the news.

In other extreme weather news, the Associated Press reports that South Africa “was under a declared state of national disaster on Thursday as the death toll from floods caused by severe rains in the Eastern Cape region rose to 92”. 

The UK’s “long-awaited industrial strategy due to be unveiled next week” will outline plans for UK manufacturing to “receive support to ease energy costs”, the Guardian reports. The newspaper continues: “Energy-intensive industries have long complained that they pay too much for electricity compared with competitors in the EU…Ministers have drawn up plans to take aim at energy costs through two policies, one targeted at businesses that use the most electricity – such as steel and aluminium – and another designed to support manufacturing more broadly.” However, it adds: “Energy costs are likely to remain significantly higher than in Germany and France, chiefly because UK electricity prices are linked to the cost of wholesale gas, which is a larger part of the British energy mix than on the continent.” Sky News reports that industrial electricity prices in the UK are currently the highest in the G7 and 46% above the average for the 32 member states of the International Energy Agency.  Politico says: “Less than 400 businesses in sectors including steel, ceramics and chemicals currently receive a 60% rebate on energy bills under the so-called British Industry Supercharger. According to one of the people briefed on the government’s plans, the number of businesses that could be eligible may double or triple. At the same time, the support available could increase to 80-90%.” The Financial Times says that eight sectors would be covered by the new industrial strategy – “advanced manufacturing, clean energy, creative industries, defence, digital and technologies, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services”. The Times says the government is also launching a consultation into extending subsidies power to “other key growth sectors such as AI databases and advanced manufacturing”. It continues: “This would mean firms being exempt from paying towards the costs of the government’s renewable energy policies – bringing the UK into line with others that largely fund the upfront costs of transitioning to net-zero through general taxation.” Meanwhile, BusinessGreen reports that the UK will host four new green manufacturing research and development hubs “following the award of £44m in funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council”. 

Separately, Bloomberg reports that the government has published its infrastructure strategy, which outlines plans to spend at least £725bn on the country’s infrastructure over the next 10 years. The outlet says that at least £9bn per year will be committed to “critical maintenance of schools, hospitals, prisons and courts”. BusinessGreen says the “much-anticipated” strategy is “underpinned by plans to deliver a clean power system by 2030, decarbonise heavy industry, and rejuvenate nature in line with environmental goals”. It continues: “The document pulls together a range of previous and upcoming sectoral plans, such as the government’s aim to deliver a clean power system by 2030, improve the nation’s resilience to worsening climate impacts and fix creaking water infrastructure up and down the country.”

Meanwhile, BBC News reports that “Northern Ireland’s first draft Climate Action Plan has been published for consultation”. The outlet says the plan sets out how Northern Ireland will meet its target of cutting emissions by 33% by 2023-37, compared to 1990 levels. Separately, BBC News reports that Scotland has unveiled a new set of climate targets. It says: “Annual targets were abandoned by Scottish ministers last year after they were repeatedly missed but the pledge to reach net-zero by 2045 was retained. The new target states emissions need to fall by an average of 57% over the next five years and by 69% by 2035, when compared with 1990 levels. The targets will be met using a carbon budgeting system and the proposals will be voted on by MSPs in the autumn.”

A new study finds that to offset the emissions of fossil-fuel reserves from the world’s 200 largest oil, gas and coal fuel companies, an area of trees big enough to cover all of North and Central America would need to be planted, the Associated Press reports. The newswire says: “There’s not enough land on Earth to feasibly accomplish that. And, even if there were, if those 200 companies had to pay for planting all those trees, it would cost $10.8tn, more than their entire combined market valuation of $7.01tn. The researchers also determined that the companies would be in the red if they were responsible for the social costs of the carbon in their reserves, which scientists compute around $185 per metric ton of carbon dioxide.” New Scientist covers the study under the headline: “Offsetting global fossil fuel stores by planting trees is impossible.” The outlet notes that an area of almost 25m square kilometres would need to be planted with new trees to offset the oil and gas emissions. The Los Angeles Times also covers the story.

Laurence Tubiana, veteran climate negotiator and CEO of the European Climate Foundation (which funds Carbon Brief), writes in Time that 2025 has seen a “spate of mostly unreported warnings from leading insurance companies…all with equally bleak messages.” She lists warnings from insurance companies, including Aviva and MunichRE, arguing that “when insurers are this vocal, we really ought to take notice”. She continues: “The risks are very real, as are the costs. Often I hear: if only we had a plan. In truth, we already have a plan: it’s called the Paris Agreement, which I helped deliver in 2015. We are not seeing countries shift as fast as they need to, but we are seeing them shift. This was always part of the plan…The next tranche of these plans are due this year. In the coming months we can expect the EU, India, and China to deliver their goals for 2035. Given they represent nearly 45% of global emissions, these three are key.” She concludes: “I firmly believe COP30 will represent another step in the right direction, with over 190 countries signalling support for tougher climate action, delivering better climate plans and facilitating access to climate finance in times marked by austerity and cuts to overseas aid. Paris kickstarted the fourth industrial revolution. The gates are now open and they will not close. Only one country has ever quit a global climate deal: the US which exited the Kyoto Protocol in 2001 and the Paris Agreement in 2016 and again in 2025. History tells us they won’t be joined by others.”

Elsewhere, Bloomberg columnist David Fickling writes that “renewables didn’t cause Spain’s grid blackout”. Fickling writes: “When Spain’s grid suffered a massive blackout in April, the knee-jerk response – that the country’s rapid buildout of renewable energy was responsible – had the virtue of a clear narrative and a ready cast of stock characters…There’s just one problem with that picture: it wasn’t true, as reports this week from Spain’s grid operator and an official commission of inquiry detailed.” He concludes: “Grids shifting to a new source of generation might occasionally trip, but the effects have always been short-lived, and easily fixed. The future is already here, and it’s clean.” (See Carbon Brief’s updated Q&A on “What we do – and do not – know about the blackout in Spain and Portugal”.)

A new study finds that the “surface ocean experienced a poleward greening from 2003 to 2022”. The authors use satellite observations of ocean chlorophyll levels to identify changes in ocean colour over two decades. The authors suggest that “poleward greening” may be primarily influenced by rising water temperatures. Meanwhile, the study finds that subtropical regions are experiencing a decrease in chlorophyll levels. This trend of “greener green and bluer blue” waters could “cascade to higher trophic levels and cause unforeseen impacts on fisheries and national economies”, the study authors warn.