The Financial Times reports that the world’s ocean temperatures reached their second-highest level on record for May, “capping an alarming two-year streak of rapid warming and fuelling concerns about the seas’ ability to absorb rising levels of carbon dioxide”. The newspaper reports that the data – from the European Union’s climate change service, Corpenicus – shows “the global average sea surface temperature in May was 20.79C, 0.14C below the record in the same month in 2024”. It continues: “The level of CO2 in the atmosphere peaked globally at the mean of 426 parts per million (ppm) in March, up from 423ppm a year ago, and surpassed 430ppm at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. The greenhouse gas concentration has risen from about 300ppm over the past 60 years.” Reuters reports that the data also showed that last month was the hottest May on record globally.

Elsewhere, there is ongoing coverage of the UN ocean summit in France. The Associated Press reports that 18 countries have ratified the High Seas Treaty, “bringing the total to 49 – 11 short of the 60 needed for the ocean agreement to enter into force”. The UK has pledged to ratify the treaty, which governs sustainable use of waters outside of any country jurisdiction, by the end of this year, the Guardian says. Euronews reports that campaigners have called a lack of focus at the summit on the impact of offshore oil and gas fossil-fuel infrastructure on oceans a “glaring omission”.

There is blanket coverage in UK titles of the government’s spending review, which will be announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves later today. The Financial Times says that the review is “the result of months of intense haggling between the Treasury and cabinet ministers” and represents “a pivotal moment for the Labour government, setting departmental budgets and priorities for the coming years and laying the political ground for the next election”. It continues: “Reeves’ promise of new roads, railways, public transport and green energy projects for the north and the Midlands is intended to raise regional growth rates. Labour strategists hope it will also slow the advance of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which currently leads in opinion polls. But allies of London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan said the focus on regions outside the capital was ‘incredibly short-sighted’ and would leave the city short of the funds it needs to improve its own infrastructure.” There is continued coverage of news first reported yesterday that, as part of the plans, the UK government has pledged billions in funding to give the go-ahead to the Sizewell C nuclear plant, with the New York Times, BBC News and the Associated Press among other titles to cover the news. The Independent reports that China “will be blocked” from investing in the project. (There is also much reaction in newspaper comment sections, see below.) BBC News also speaks to UK prime minister Keir Starmer, who said the nuclear scheme will “ring down bills for millions of people across the country” when construction finishes in 10 years. The Financial Times reports that a union leader has warned the country currently lacks the skilled workers needed to “rebuild” its nuclear industry. There is also continued coverage of the news that the government has approved three small nuclear power stations to be built by Rolls Royce, with the Times and Reuters reporting on the news. BBC News answers the question: “What are small nuclear reactors and why does the UK want to build them?” BBC News also reports that funding for a carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire is to be announced as part of the spending review. Elsewhere, the Times, Daily Telegraph and Financial Times are among titles examining the “winners and losers” of the spending review. The Guardian has five charts that demonstrate what “underpins” Reeves’ decisionmaking.

In other UK news, BBC News reports that Nigel Farage, leader of hard-right Reform UK, visited Port Talbot in Wales and pledged to bring back blast furnaces that were used in coal-based steel production. However, the broadcaster continues: “An industry source told BBC Wales that the two furnaces that closed last year cannot be reused, with the structures containing hundreds of tonnes of solidified molten iron.” It adds that political opponents accused Farage of “absolute nonsense” and making “empty” promises. The Daily Telegraph covers comments from the British Geological Survey that Cornwall should be prioritised for new clean energy projects because of its geothermal energy potential. BBC News reports on warnings from environmental groups that Scotland’s emissions decline is occurring too slowly to be on target. A second BBC News story reports that a Scottish minister has said that the nation will continue to “prioritise renewable energy over nuclear power” amid spending-review news. A third BBC News story reports on plans for an offshore wind project with 110 turbines in the Scottish Highlands. The Press Association carries comments from Conservative politicians saying the government should “apologise to oil and gas workers who have lost their jobs since Labour came into power”. Finally, the Daily Telegraph has an unbylined story saying that the leader of a group trying to block the country’s biggest solar farm has claimed that using the term “nimby” should be considered “hate speech”.

Politico reports that the Trump administration will today move to “repeal federal limits on power plant climate pollution, attacking the Biden era’s most ambitious attempt to use regulations to rein in heat-trapping gases from the electric grid, according to six people familiar with the situation”. It continues: “Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin will announce the repeal of the power plant carbon dioxide rule along with a separate regulation to curb hazardous air pollution such as mercury during an event at agency headquarters, the people said. The two repeal proposals are the most important EPA regulatory actions of Trump’s second term to date.” The outlet notes that scrapping the power plant rule “would effectively shelve regulations for the nation’s second-biggest producer of climate pollution – the electricity sector – which accounts for one-quarter of US greenhouse gases”.

Elsewhere, E&E News reports that the Trump administration is working on a “new effort to both weaken Congress’ grip on the federal budget and freeze billions of dollars in spending at several government agencies”. Another Politico report says that Trump plans to sign a “trio of resolutions” on Thursday to revoke California’s vehicle emissions standards. Reuters reports that a Republican senator has said that the US senate should “ease provisions” for clean-energy tax breaks. Reuters also reports that Trump’s “tax bill squeeze on clean energy” could raise energy bills.

China’s gas producers are “lobbying Beijing to increase the number of [gas-fired] power plants”, Bloomberg reports. The newswire explains that, according to a new proposal submitted to the government in preparation for the country’s next five-year plan, China could build around 70 gigawatts (GW) of new gas-fired capacity by 2030. This would be “an almost 50% increase from 2025’s estimated level”, it adds. Industry news outlet BJX News reports that China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) has issued a notice on “organising hydrogen energy pilot projects” to explore “large-scale renewable energy-based hydrogen production” in regions “rich” in clean-energy resources. Business news outlet Yicai reports China’s first large-scale green methane production project will go into operation in July, producing 50,000 tonnes of green methane a year in its first phase.

Meanwhile, NEA deputy head Wan Jinsong says the ministry’s “key priorities” for the rest of 2025 include construction of “large wind and solar power bases and the 102 major projects” and planning renewable-energy development for the 15th five-year plan period (2026-30), BJX News says. NEA head Wang Hongzhi says that 2026-30 is a “crucial period” for creating a “new strategy for energy security”, a “new type of energy system” and a “strong energy country”, International Energy Net reports. BJX News reports that the National Development and Reform Commission has published draft “administrative measures for energy planning”, saying “coordination” should be strengthened between energy-system planning, markets and related policies. The document also says plans not included in an energy planning “catalogue list must not be developed”, it says. Qian Zhimin, former State Power Investment Corporation chairman and a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, says that China’s clean-energy capacity is expected to reach 6,000-8,000GW by 2030, adding that solar power “become China’s main energy source”, industry outlet Solarbe reports. 

Elsewhere, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reports that the US “reportedly suspended licenses for the export of some nuclear power generation equipment to China”. An unbylined commentary in state news agency Xinhua argues China’s rare-earth export controls are driven by its “domestic industrial sustainable development needs”, preventing “extensive and unregulated development [that could lead] to the undervaluation of resources and severe ecological damage”. Finally, the state-supporting newspaper Global Times reports that China’s May exports of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) surged 81% year-on-year, with the EU remaining a “major” export.

India’s power ministry yesterday announced a ₹54bn ($631m) funding scheme to build 30 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of new battery energy storage systems (BESS) to “ensure round-the-clock renewable energy capacities”, Moneycontrol reports. The scheme is targeted at 15 states, which will receive allocations of 25GWh, and 5GWh to the state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), the story adds. Separately, Reuters reports that India has extended a complete waiver of inter-state transmission charges to energy storage projects, “as the country races to meet its ambitious clean energy targets and boost energy storage”. The newswire explains that the waiver will apply to “pumped storage hydropower projects” and “battery storage systems co-located with renewable energy projects” commissioned before June 30, 2028. However, it points out that the Indian government is “yet to provide a similar exemption for solar and wind projects”, despite renewable energy output hitting “record” levels in May.

Meanwhile, top officials have confirmed to Mint that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) stance is “to support all clean-fuel vehicles including hybrids, even as a rift widens” in the Indian auto industry on whether hybrids should receive incentives on a par with “pure” electric vehicles (EVs). “I do not understand why there is so much lobbying…[it] cannot be that you incentivise one and not the other,” said an unnamed official quoted in the paper. A statement from Tata Motors in the story, meanwhile, points out that hybrids run on fossil fuels and are an “incremental and mature…technology that faces no funding or adoption barriers that typically warrant government support”. 

Separately, Reuters reports that India’s “top carmaker” Maruti Suzuki has cut its near-term production targets by two-thirds for its maiden EV fleet “because of rare earths shortages…in the latest sign of disruption to the auto industry from China’s export curbs”. On Monday, India’s commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal described China’s rare earth restrictions as a global “wake-up call for all those who have become over-reliant on certain geographies”, Economic Times reports. Goyal is quoted as saying that India is “actively building” alternative supply chains, while his ministry and the Indian embassy are engaging “in dialogue” with China to allay concerns. The Times of India, Mint, Hindu Businessline and Business Standard also feature stories on the impact of rare earth export curbs on India. 

In other energy news, Economic Times carries a long read on India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), which it describes as “the iron spine of India’s power grid”. According to the story, “for all its green ambitions and staggering spending”, NTPC’s “coal under construction portfolio is bigger than the entire thermal capacity of many smaller nations”. Meanwhile, a Reuters investigation finds that 37 of 44 new coal-fired plants – planned as part of India’s “$80bn coal-power boom” – will be built in some of India’s “driest areas”, classified as water-scarce or water-stressed. A comment in the Indian Express by University of Cambridge researchers says that India’s coal districts “cannot be expected to undergo an energy-to-energy transition alone” and “deserve procedural and distributive justice”.  

Finally, the Quint spoke to scientists on whether reducing aerosol pollution in India will “worsen the heat”, responding to an earlier Economist piece titled: “If India chokes less, it will fry more.” And the Hindustan Times reports on a new study that warns climate change is set to drive “a two-fold increase in heatwave days” in major Indian cities, along with “a 43% rise in intensity of extreme rainfall events” by 2030.

There is widespread reaction and commentary to the news that the UK government plans to invest £14bn in nuclear power, including a new plant at Sizewell in Suffolk. An editorial in the Guardian says that the decision to invest in the project was “bold”, but “unresolved issues around cost, waste and safety demand urgent ministerial clarity”. It continues: “In a climate emergency, there is a case for nuclear energy as part of a decarbonised energy system. But nuclear alone won’t deliver net-zero; it must be part of a wider, coherent strategy that includes energy efficiency and renewables. Ministers must, for example, have stricter green building rules to get to net-zero…What is clear is that ministers need to explain this week’s decisions in more detail than they have so far.” An editorial in the Independent says the news is to be “warmly welcomed”. An editorial in the Daily Mail says the government “deserves praise for finally signing off” the project, adding: “The green lobby will howl, but ministers must not flinch. Nuclear power can provide clean, secure energy long into the future.”

In addition, the Times examines why Sizewell C will “cost so much”. The Guardian examines “what is behind” the decision. Separately, a comment article by Guardian financial editor Nils Pratley says the project is “needed”, but “critical cost numbers are still missing”. Times commentator Alistair Osborne says the project risks being in “meltdown” over cost. The climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph runs a series of comment pieces that use the news as another avenue for attacking energy secretary Ed Miliband, with one article saying the UK’s nuclear plan risks going back to the “dark age”, another accusing Miliband of being a “certifiable lunatic” and a third on rehashing issues with a previous UK nuclear scheme, the Hinkley Point C project. Independent associate editor Sean O’Grady also takes a jab at Miliband, asking if this move could be the “end to [his] career”. The Daily Mail parliamentary sketchwriter Quentin Letts attacks Miliband once again, asking: “Would you even trust [Miliband] with a milk float?” In addition, Daily Mail city editor Alex Brummer praises the government’s decision to approve three small nuclear reactors to be built by Rolls Royce.

The “exceptionally intense” summer wildfires in Canada in 2023 were “primarily fuelled” by “persistent, intense and widespread” surface warming, alongside “pronounced reductions in precipitation and soil moisture”, according to a new study. These conditions, the research notes, were “closely linked” to “blocking events” – areas of high pressure which impede the progression of other weather systems. These “unusually frequent” and “long-lasting” blocking events were, in turn, promoted by an “unusually strong” negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation and an eastern Pacific El Niño, the study finds. The researchers also point to “abnormally low” rainfall and soil moisture the previous winter, which they say preconditioned the landscape and compounded the summer fire risk.