There is continuing coverage of Hurricane Melissa, as it continues its path through the Caribbean. Sky News reports that at least 34 people have been killed by the hurricane, which has so far “ravaged through Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba”. BBC News adds that Melissa has destroyed infrastructure and flooded neighbourhoods. It adds that, in Jamaica, people remain “stranded on roofs” and are without power, with the prime minister Andrew Holness saying there is “total devastation” across the island-nation. Bloomberg reports that Jamaica’s power grid “was not ready” for the hurricane, which caused a blackout across 80% of the country. Reuters notes that Melissa hit Jamaica on Tuesday, with winds of 185mph, well above the minimum strength to make it a Category 5 hurricane, the strongest classification possible. The Guardian reports that it is the “most intense tropical cyclone to hit Jamaica in nearly two centuries” and is continuing to “leave [a] trail of devastation in its wake”. It continues that Melissa has now “slammed” into Cuba, after killing 25 people in Haiti and leaving Jamaica “broken and reeling”. This story is also covered by Agence France-Presse, the Independent, Financial Times and many others. 

Climate change made Melissa four times more likely, according to rapid analysis by scientists at Imperial College London, reports Agence France-Presse. It quotes Ralf Toumi, director of Imperial College’s Grantham Institute, which produced the study, who says: “Jamaica had plenty of time and experience to prepare for this storm, but there are limits to how countries can prepare and adapt. Adaptation to climate change is vital, but it is not a sufficient response to global warming. The emission of greenhouse gases also has to stop.” Several publications, including the Washington Post, Independent, Vox and others, have produced explainers about the drivers of Melissa and what made it “so unusual and dangerous”.

A new UN report has found that developing countries receive less than one-tenth of the finance they need to adapt to climate change, leaving a “yawning gap” in funding for projects, reports the Financial Times. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report notes that adaptation in developing countries could cost between $310bn and $365bn a year by 2050, adds the article. However, international public adaptation finance for developing countries fell to just $26bn last year, a $2bn drop on 2023 and short of the goal of $40bn a year by 2025 agreed at the Glasgow climate summit in 2021, the FT notes. BusinessGreen reports that the UNEP has warned that the adaptation finance needs of developing countries are set to be at least 12 times higher than present finance flows over the next decade. It quotes UN secretary general Antonio Guterres who described the report as “a red alert”. Bloomberg notes that the report does “have some positive news”, adding that the “poorest countries” and small-island states have a smaller adaptation gap. It adds that more than 170 of the 197 countries now have national adaptation plans, strategies or policies in place, an increase on last year. Carbon Brief has selected five key charts from the report. The report is also covered by Climate Home News, Edie and others.  

The UK government has published its “hotly anticipated” carbon budget and growth delivery plan, outlining the policies needed to reach its climate targets for the mid-2030s, reports BusinessGreen. The plan covers the “breadth of the economy”, including transport, industry, agriculture, energy, nature, buildings and more, it adds. The article notes that the government has said the plan would “help unlock 400,000 new jobs in clean energy over the next five years in addition to delivering more energy efficiency, warmer homes up and down the country – although it made a point of stressing that it would not enforce a ‘ban’ on fossil gas boilers.” The Times reports that the plan highlights that homeowners will “not be forced to ditch their gas boiler for a heat pump”, instead a series of incentives will encourage them to make the switch. A separate piece in BusinessGreen captures various responses to the delivery plan. 

MORE ON UK

• The Financial Times reports that chancellor Rachel Reeves could scrap the windfall profits levy on the UK oil and gas industry “sooner than planned”.
• The Daily Express covers comments by former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson, who has “taken a swipe” at current leader Kemi Badenoch over her plans to “ditch net-zero”. The Guardian also covers the comments, with Johson warning the Tories to stop “bashing the green agenda”,or risk losing the next election.
• Politico reports that the UK government is divided over whether to “stump up the cash for a flagship environmental pledge meant to protect tropical forests” at the upcoming COP30 summit. 
• BBC News reports that thousands of people on benefits could have their energy supplier debt cancelled if they make some effort to pay. 
• A timeline in DeSmog tracks “how the Tories copied Reform’s anti-climate policies”.
• BusinessGreen reports that Scotland has renewed its independent advisory body, the Just Transition Commission, for another five years.
• The climate-sceptic Sun newspaper reports that 7% of people think “Ed Miliband’s net-zero crusade” will reduce the cost of living. The Daily Mail also covers the story, with an article in the paper saying two-thirds of Britons “fear” net-zero is driving up the cost of living. 

US president Donald Trump has settled a dispute with China over the supply of rare earths, reports the Guardian. Trump had trade talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping in South Korea earlier today, which he described as “amazing”, it continues. Xi noted that the economic and trade teams from both countries had been working together on an agreement, which had “provided the necessary conditions” for their meeting, it adds. Reuters reports that China has agreed to delay the introduction of the next round of rare-earth export controls as part of the deal, but that earlier restrictions on critical minerals remain. “Rare earths, 17 elements which play tiny but vital roles in cars, planes and weapons, have emerged from obscurity to become China’s most potent source of negotiating leverage thanks to export restrictions introduced this year which allow Beijing to cut off foreign customers dependent on Chinese supply”, it adds.

Xia Yingxian, director of the department of climate change at China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), has stated that the nation has “made steady progress in curbing non-CO2 emissions through a series of targeted policies”, according to coverage of an MEE press conference by the state-run newspaper China Daily. 21st Century Business Herald also covers the press conference, quoting the MEE official as saying the government “notes that many developing countries view the $300bn [finance] target agreed at COP29 as insufficient”. Xia also said that China will “strengthen coordination and institutional innovation” on climate adaptation, reports the Shanghai-based news outlet the Paper. Environment news outlet Ideacarbon cites Xia saying China has consistently been a “proactive and pragmatic actor in tackling climate change” and a “major contributor to low-carbon technologies”. Industry news outlet BJX News has published the full text of the 2025 edition of the “China’s Policies and Actions Addressing Climate Change” report.

Reuters reports that China has omitted mentioning electric vehicles (EVs) in the 15th five-year plan, but says this “should not be seen as a sign that the EV industry has fallen out of favour”. Although a “subtle change in language” on the coal-use plan may leave “room for rising use”, Bloomberg says, it quotes Greenpeace East Asia’s Yao Zhe saying that China’s pledge to “phase down” coal consumption in 2021 “always left space for the peak to be at any point from 2026 to 2030”. Compared with the 14th five-year plan, which centred around an “energy structure dominated by traditional energy sources”, the 15th five-year plan recommendations are more focused on “addressing the challenges of integrating renewable energy”, says analysis in business news outlet Jiemian.

MORE ON CHINA

• The Paper: “From Paris to Belém: Can COP30 become the starting point for climate action 2.0?”
• Chinese automakers captured a record 7.4% of the European car market in September, driven by “surging demand” for EVs, Bloomberg reports.
• China’s shipbuilding sector is “emerging as a pivotal force” in the decarbonisation process of the global shipping industry, says Xinhua.
• “Grid integration challenges” are the most “immediate obstacle” to China’s clean-energy buildout now, Energy Foundation China president Zou Ji tells 21st Century Business Herald.
• China’s Ministry of Transport will keep developing pilot programmes, standards and “innovative applications” for low-carbon transport, China News reports.
• China is likely to achieve “parity with the US before 2030” in science, including in the field of energy, according to Bloomberg.

A study has found that electric vehicles (EVs) “make up” for the emissions produced during manufacturing, meaning they have less overall emissions than petrol vehicles in just two years, reports the Associated Press. The study found that petrol vehicles cause “at least” twice as much environmental damage over their lifetimes as EVs and these benefits are set to increase as renewable sources of electricity generation, such as solar and wind, are brought onto the grid, the article adds. It quotes Prof Drew Shindell, an earth science professor at Duke University and study co-author: “While there is a bigger carbon footprint in the very short term because of the manufacturing process in creating the batteries for electric vehicles, very quickly you come out ahead in CO2 emissions by year three and then for all of the rest of the vehicle lifetime, you’re far ahead and so cumulatively much lower carbon footprint.”

MORE ON EVS

• Bloomberg reports that about 5,500 employees across three plants have been told they will be laid off “at least temporarily” by General Motors “as the carmaker reassesses electric vehicle production in the wake of President Donald Trump’s move to eliminate crucial tax credits”. 
• BusinessGreen covers new proposals from the UK’s Department for Transport designed to make it “fairer, easier and cheaper” for drivers to charge their EVs at home. 

A new report from consultancy Wood Mackenzie has found that AI and geopolitical tensions have made climate goals “unattainable” as power demand for data centres and an increased desire for energy security push up emissions, reports the Times. “In addition, sluggish adoption of electric vehicles in the US and Europe and continued strong demand for petrochemicals will result in oil demand peaking later than previously thought, further fuelling climate change, Wood Mackenzie said”, the article continues. Reuters also covers the report, noting that global oil demand will not peak until 2032, two years later than previously thought.

MORE ON OIL AND GAS

• The Financial Times covers a report from the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), which finds that all seven US gas terminals have all violated air pollution permits at least once over a five-year period. 
• Bloomberg reports that Exxon Mobil has warned that all UK oil refineries “could close”, if the cost of carbon continues to increase.

A European ambassador has warned that if the UK “rips up” environmental protections, it will put its free-trade agreement with the EU at risk, reports the Guardian. Sources tell the publication that ambassador Pedro Serrano visited the UK’s environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, this week and warned her that the planning and infrastructure bill going through the House of Lords could “jeopardise the trade deal”, it continues. However, the ambassador has said he “made no such comment”, the article notes. “Access to the EU’s energy markets is also imperilled by the bill, representatives of the EU warned the government. This would be very difficult for the UK, which imports 16% of its electricity from Europe,” the Guardian continues. 

MORE ON EU

• Agence France-Presse reports that the EU is now “in [a] race against time” to agree on its climate target ahead of the COP30 summit in November. 

Juergen Maier, the chair of Great British Energy, writes in the Observer that stalling the transition of the electricity grid will “only harm the environment, raise costs and risk jobs”. He notes that energy policy has now become a “major fault line” and is at the “frontline of a misinformation battle”. He adds that overhauling the UK’s energy system is a “major undertaking”, as it was built years ago for a system designed around coal power. As such, the system needed overhauling anyway, so we “might as well” design it for the future, he notes. While some criticise this transition as expensive, writes Maier, electrification is already saving around £2bn a year and could reach an “astonishing” £33bn annually by 2050. “The task ahead is immense, but so is the opportunity. The time for ‘maybe later’ has passed. The future will be built by those who build now,” he concludes. 

MORE ON COMMENT

• In the New York Times, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorologist Alan Gerard writes about how Hurricane Melissa has “maxed out what scientists thought was possible”.
• In the Financial Times’ Moral Money newsletter, Simon Mundy discusses the “hard questions” that “loom” over the upcoming COP30 conference. 
• The climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph carries multiple comment pieces focused on UK offshore wind, North Sea oil and gas and Russia’s oil glut.
• In Conservative Home, founder of the climate programme at the thinktank Onward Ted Christie-Miller argues that “repealing the Climate Change Act would be deeply un-Conservative”.
• An editorial in the climate-sceptic Sun seeks to argue that the UK’s “climate secretary’s credibility is shot to pieces”.

This edition of the Daily Briefing was written by Molly Lempriere, with contributions from Henry Zhang and Anika Patel. It was edited by Leo Hickman.

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