Several publications cover a new report from the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) finding that Scotland needs to take more rigorous action on emissions from farming and transport in order to meet its ambitious climate targets. The Scotsman reports that the analysis finds that Scotland’s progress with renewable energy has “masked” a lack of progress in areas including agriculture, transport and domestic heating. However, the report reconfirms that Scotland is outperforming the rest of the UK in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, the Independent reports. The committee recommended that Scotland renewed focus on tree-planting and peatland restoration – as targets for both have been repeatedly missed, according to the Independent. The Guardian notes that transport has become the “biggest sectorial challenge” for Scotland. Transport accounted for more than a third of Scotland’s overall emissions of 41.5m tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2016, according to the Guardian. To achieve Scotland’s post-2020 target to cut emissions by 66% by 2032 and by 90% by 2050, tougher transport measures must be introduced, according to the CCC. These could include free parking and special lanes for electric cars. BBC Newsand BusinessGreen also cover the report. Meanwhile, the Times reports that energy firm Drax is in talks to buy Scottish Power’s gas and hydroelectric power plants in its latest attempt to diversify beyond its main North Yorkshire power plant. In March, Carbon Brief analysed Scotland’s plans to meet its climate change targets.

The Financial Times reports that a Labour government would make it easier to build onshore wind farms – by reversing a virtual ban introduced by former prime minister David Cameron three years ago. The plan is detailed in a new document called “The Green Transformation: Labour’s Environment Policy” that was published on Sunday, according to the FT. The document also suggests that Labour would invest in tidal lagoons, ban fracking and pay £2.3bn a year to upgrade insulation in 4m houses. The FT notes that Labour has also “subtly shifted” its former pledge to get 60% of the UK’s energy from low-carbon sources by 2030. Instead, the document details that Labour would aim to meet this target “within 12 years of coming to power”.

Much of the talk at this year’s UN General Assembly is expected to be devoted to tackling climate change, according to Associated Press. The Assembly – which will open in New York on 18 September – is being some by some leaders as an opportunity to ” keep up the momentum on combating climate change”, AP reports. “There’ll be talk of emissions targets and the need to adapt to the inevitable changes already underway when small island states take the floor at the annual gathering,” AP writer Frank Jordans says. “Ministers from major economies, meanwhile, will be meeting behind closed doors to discuss who will pay to help poor countries avoid the worst effects of global warming – and prevent a wave of climate refugees in future.”

An internal United Nations (UN) report obtained by the Guardian has criticised its own environmental chief over his frequent flying. The report finds that Erik Solheim, executive director of UN Environment, travelled by air on 529 out of the 668 days of an audited period, spending $488,518 (£370,380) in the process, according the Guardian. BBC News, which has also seen the report, notes that Solhiem travelled extensively across the continents. On one occasion, “he made an eight-hour trip from Washington DC for a weekend in Paris, before taking another flight to New York city,” according to the report, which was conducted by the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). Solheim told the Guardian he had already paid back money for instances of oversight and made changes where other rules had been broken. The Daily Telegraph also covers the news.

The Observer reports on accusations that key messages from the upcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C have been “watered down” to make them more “palatable” to countries that are reluctant to cut their fossil fuel emissions. Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, is a reviewer of the report who has seen several drafts of the report and its accompanying summary for policymakers. He told the Observer: “Downplaying the worst impacts of climate change has led the scientific authors to omit crucial information from the summary for policymakers.” According to Ward, edits have been made to the summary for policymakers – the document that will act as a guideline for politicians – to omit “any mention that temperature rises of above 1.5C could lead to increased migrations and conflict”. Other edits include the removal of “warnings about the dangers that 1.5-2C temperature rises could trigger irreversible loss of the Greenland ice sheet and raise sea levels by 1-2 metres over the next two centuries,” the Observer reports. An IPCC spokesperson told the Observer that member governments would work to ensure the summary for policymakers was consistent with the findings in the main report. “Any text in the summary for policymakers … is based on the assessment in the main report. Even if it is removed from the summary for policymakers, the finding it is based on remains in the main report.” On Twitter, report author Prof Piers Forster said he “completely disagreed” with the accusations.

The German carmaker Porsche has said it will stop making diesel cars, according to BBC News. The announcement follows a 2015 scandal in which its parent company, Volkswagen, was forced to admit it had cheated emissions tests for diesel engines. Porsche’s chief executive said the company was “not demonising diesel” but would instead be focusing on making petrol, electric and hybrid vehicles, Reuters reports. “Porsche is not demonising diesel. It is, and will remain, an important propulsion technology,” Porsche Chief Executive Oliver Blume said in a statement. “We as a sports car manufacturer, however, for whom diesel has always played a secondary role, have come to the conclusion that we would like our future to be diesel-free.”

Introducing a systematic price on carbon would be a “powerful way” to fight climate change, writes Philippe Le Houérou, CEO of the International Finance Cooperation (IFC) a member of the World Bank Group focused on private sector development, in the Financial Times. At present, 51 carbon pricing initiatives, including 15 in emerging markets, have been implemented or are scheduled for implementation, covering 20% of global emissions, according to Le Houérou. “IFC itself is actively engaging with our clients on many climate-related issues. We strongly believe, though, that the specific step of putting a price on carbon will create more climate business opportunities and accelerate progress in emerging markets toward a low-carbon future,” Le Houérou writes.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Sir David Attenborough talks about his views on communicating the importance of climate change, climate scepticism and what finally convinced him of the science of global warming. He says: “If you are in a prominent position, you’d better be bloody sure that your views are right, and what convinced me was a lecture I heard by a scientist called Ralph Cicerone. He produced facts and figures and I was left with no doubt. From that moment, I felt I could say it.” Earlier this month, Carbon Brief published the full details of Cicerone’s lecture.

A new paper reviews the 2017 North Atlantic hurricane season, which saw 17 named storms, 10 hurricanes and 6 major hurricanes. September 2017 generated more Atlantic named storm days, hurricane days, major hurricane days, and “accumulated cyclone energy” than any other calendar month on record, the study says. The season was destructive, with hurricanes Harvey and Irma devastating portions of the continental US, the author notes, while Irma and Maria brought catastrophic damage to Puerto Rico, Cuba, and many other Caribbean islands.

Human‐caused warming contributed to around 15–17% of drought severity of the 2013-16 drought across the Caribbean, a new study says. Analysing the “unprecedented” drought using a high resolution Palmer Drought Severity Index dataset, the researchers find that warming accounted for 15–17% of the drought’s severity – by increasing evapotranspiration rates – and 7% of its spatial extent. The findings “strongly suggest that climate model projected anthropogenic drying in the Caribbean is already underway, with major implications for the more than 43 million people currently living in this region”, the authors conclude.

A new study investigates how UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) have been used to identify areas of improvement for UK adaptation policy. Analysing the 2012 and 2017 CCRAs, as well as interviewing key stakeholders, the researchers find that the CCRAs were used in three main ways by stakeholders: to make a business case for work; to shape direction of policy or work; and practical applications. The researchers also make recommendations for future CCRAs.