Daily Briefing: August ‘hottest month on record’ | Coal surge | Science ‘under attack’ at UN

10.09.26

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News

August ties for hottest month on record as global heat climbs

Matt McGrath, BBC News

August was the “joint-hottest month ever recorded” globally, tying with July 2023, reports BBC News. It adds that the record, announced by the EU’s climate service Copernicus, was driven by a combination of human-caused climate change and the rising influence of El Niño. The Guardian adds that global temperatures reached 1.65C above preindustrial levels in August. Sky News notes that August saw extreme heat that led to drought conditions in the UK, France, Hungary, Serbia and Romania, according to Copernicus. Politico adds that Copernicus says the record temperatures were “due to global heating from burning fossil fuels”, with Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which carried out the research, adding: “Combined with record global sea surface temperatures and the warmest summer on record for western Europe, these observations show how climate change is driving extremes across both the atmosphere and the oceans”. The Financial Times reports that the climate outlook is “not pretty”, as Copernicus adds that oceans broke heat records for 100 days and August was the equal hottest month. This story is also covered by Reuters, the Associated Press, the Press Association, among others.

Global coal demand forecast to rise by 1.2% in 2026 to a record 8.94bn tonnes due to Middle East conflict, IEA says

Nina Chestney, Reuters

Reuters reports that a new forecast by the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that global coal demand will rise by 1.2% to a “record 8.94 billion ‌tonnes due to the Middle East conflict”. The newswire adds that the Paris-based agency says “disruptions to oil and liquefied natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Iran war started have driven up prices ⁠and encouraged higher electricity generation from coal in countries that have gas-fired power fleets and spare coal capacity”. It continues: “There has been higher coal use in Europe, Japan, Korea, China and other markets than previously expected. The IEA had expected global coal demand to decline slightly this year.”

Indonesian wildfire emissions surge to world’s highest, data shows

David Stanway and Fransiska Nangoy, Reuters

Indonesian carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions readings became the “highest in the world” yesterday, as wildfires burnt through stretches of forest and peatland on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, reports Reuters. It adds that fire emissions from Indonesia from 1-7 September reached 19.7m metric tonnes, according to Fire Emissions Watch, a portal developed by the EU’s climate service Copernicus. The article notes that it means Indonesia overtook Russia this week and made up more than a third of the global total. Relatedly, the Associated Press reports that more than 1.4 million students in the region have been disrupted by the smoke from the wildfires.

Foreign minister: Nepal needs ‘meaningful’ international support to face climate threats

Mukesh Pokhrel, Climate Home News

Climate Home News speaks to Nepalese foreign minister Shisir Khanal as the country seeks immediate aid from the UN fund for loss and damage following the recent deadly flood. It quotes the minister saying: “This is exactly the kind of climate-driven catastrophe the fund was created to address”, adding that “stronger global solidarity and meaningful international support” are needed for countries such as Nepal, which are increasingly facing severe climate-related disasters. Reuters reports that Nepal will ask wealthier countries and global agencies for aid this week, arguing they should contribute $5bn for the initial rebuilding. It adds that officials have justified the sum because “the disaster shows how ‌climate change has hit poor countries that did little to cause it”.

China oil demand to fall 8.9% in 2026, Sinopec research says

Florence Tan and Sam Li, Reuters

China’s oil demand is expected to fall by 600,000 barrels a day, or 8.9%, in 2026, marking the third annual decline in a row, according to the Economics and Development Research Institute, the research arm of the state oil and gas company Sinopec, reports Reuters. Bloomberg also covers the story, saying that the decline comes amid the “rapid build-out of renewable energy including battery technologies now cutting into demand for traditional fuels”. Economics and Development Research Institute representative Fairy Wang said that electric heavy trucks are also emerging as a “threat to diesel demand” as electric models’ share could reach 50% for the full year, adds the outlet. [See analysis recently published by Carbon Brief: “China’s CO2 emissions fall in Q2 2026 due to plummeting oil use.”]

MORE ON CHINA

The China Photovoltaic Industry Association estimates that 180-240GW of solar capacity will be installed by the end of 2026, reports BJX News.
Former US vice president Al Gore says China’s decision to use its “diplomatic clout” to advance climate action is a “welcome change”, reports the Straits Times. The People’s Daily says that international capacities for “disaster risk reduction” still “lag far behind the growing frequency and complexity” of extreme weather events.
The energy transition is not simply “phasing out coal and cutting carbon”, says Economic Daily.
UK prime minister Andy Burnham said China and the UK should address climate change, while on a phone call this week with Chinese president Xi Jinping, reports Xinhua.
A Global Times editorial says views on whether China’s car production is “excessive” should be “determined by the global market’s ability to absorb it”.
Clean Air Asia says that accelerating the development of a “new-type power system” is a “core pathway” for China’s low-carbon transition, according to the Paper.

As science comes under attack at UN talks, climate movement splits over how to respond

Matteo Civillini, Climate Home News

Climate Home News covers new warnings from a group of diplomats calling themselves “Friends of Science”, who say climate science was under attack at the UN climate meeting in Bonn earlier this year. It adds that the coalition, which spans the world’s richest to its most vulnerable nations, has “pointed the finger” primarily at those who think “science threatens their economic prospects”. This, according to the article, is “a thinly veiled reference to fossil fuel-dependent states accused of casting doubt on long-held scientific tenets in the UN climate process”. It quotes Fiji’s lead negotiator, Sivendra Michael, who denounces a “very polluted narrative” taking hold outside the negotiating rooms. [The Bonn climate talks were covered by Carbon Brief.]

Spain records 61 heatwave days in 2026, highest on record

Reuters

Reuters reports that mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands were hit by four heatwaves this summer, including a six-day streak in early September. It adds that this means approximately two out of every three days this summer had “extremely high” temperatures. The article adds that the most intense heatwave, which lasted most of July, affected 37 provinces with a temperature anomaly of 3.9C being recorded. Reuters reports that the July and August heatwaves – lasting 23 and 24 days, respectively – were the longest in Spain since such records began in 1975.

MORE ON EUROPE

Clean Technica reports that Denmark can now produce “140%” of its electricity demand from wind power.
Euractiv reports that the UK is “betting on restoring ties with mainland Europe in pursuit of lower electricity prices”, as plans to rejoin the EU’s internal energy market are considered.

‘Rain in wrong places’ – climate change threatens farmers in Southern Scotland

ITV News

UK food supplies are at risk due to heatwaves and ageing water infrastructure in southern Scotland, reports ITV News. The article continues that the National Audit Office has warned of increased prices, goods “disappearing from shop shelves” and vulnerable people struggling with food access due to climate change and the threat of cyber attacks. It quotes Robert Neill, vice president of the National Farmers Union Scotland, who says the extreme weather this summer has “put a massive pressure on us and I think we’re seeing the European climate slowly creeping north”. Relatedly, the New York Times looks at how tea and cantaloupes are being grown in England as the climate warms.

MORE ON UK

The Times reports that hundreds of jobs are to be lost at five small biomass power plants, following the government’s decision to end their subsidies.
BusinessGreen covers a new £1.5bn hospital upgrade programme revealed by the NHS, which includes a commitment to improve cooling and bolster the organisation’s response to climate risks.
The Daily Express covers comments by the climate-sceptic Reform UK party, dubbing the Green party “economically illiterate” after leader Zack Polanski called for the UK government to block new oil and gas licences.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the UK could face beer shortages after “drought hammered harvests”.
The Daily Telegraph claims there is a “£200bn energy industry civil war” underway amid rising power network expansion fees.

Comment

An IPCC stand-off risks a historic climate rupture

Pilita Clark, Financial Times

In the Financial Times, associate editor and columnist Pilita Clark writes that humanity has now spent 38 years trying to stop climate change, with “sub-optimal results”. Away from the “painfully slow annual COPs”, she writes, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has quietly carried on pulling hundreds of scientists together to provide governments with authoritative information to make climate policies. She adds that, while the IPCC process is not perfect, its work has been core to numerous critical climate goals, including the Paris Agreement. Clark writes that while political standoffs within meetings are not uncommon, there is now “pointless obstruction inside the IPCC”. She concludes by noting that a final decision on the timings of IPCC reports is set to be made at the IPCC meeting next month. [See Carbon Brief’s recent article: “IPCC: ‘Frustrating and disappointing’ meeting leaves AR7 timeline in deadlock.”]

MORE IN COMMENT

Reuters columnist Ron Bousso argues that oil pricing is “flying blind” amid the “Hormuz enigma”. A second comment article for the newswire, written by the director of the Center of International Forestry Research, Robert Nasi, looks at the design of Brazil’s tropical forest fund.
In Climate Home News, Amy Youngman, a legal and policy specialist at the campaigning group Environmental Investigation Agency, writes that countries must reject a framework that “locks in the wrong response to the plastic crisis, before the crisis outpaces diplomacy”.
In the New Republic, writer Kate Aronoff argues that, despite its continued role in UN climate models, “nobody should be counting on [carbon capture and storage]”.

Is Burnham trying to appease Trump? Or Reform? What other reason is there for these North Sea oil plans?

George Monbiot, The Guardian

Guardian columnist George Monbiot writes that the UK Labour government’s “impending approval of further drilling will bring more pain for negligible gains”. He notes that approval of the Jackdaw gas field would make a “tiny contribution to our supply and no significant difference to either our energy bills or our energy security”. He also looks at the diplomatic and political implications of approving Jackdaw and the Rosebank oil field. He writes that prime minister Andy Burnham may believe approving these will “get Reform UK and the Conservatives off his back”, but “of course it won’t”. Monbiot concludes: “Our government is not a doomsday cult like the Trump government, creepily fascinated by the ‘end times’, as the US vice-president seems to be. But, in terms of outcome, is there much difference?”

MORE IN UK COMMENT

In Bloomberg, Allegra Stratton, who worked for the former Conservative government and now runs environmental consultancy Zeroism, wonders whether the extreme weather driving up food prices could “spark a change in the British political landscape”.
In the Daily Telegraph, climate-sceptic commentator Kathryn Porter argues that “Britain needs cheap energy not net-zero” following news that the energy price cap will rise by 4% in October.
In the Scotsman, columnist Paul Wilson argues that “public appetite for green ideology thins” as “wind and solar farms are the great follies of our time” ahead of an expected decision on North Sea oil and gas fields.

Research

Subnational reporting of climate finance in in seven central American and Caribbean America countries was “inconsistent” between 2007 and 2022 | Environmental Science & Policy
Citizen-generated flood imagery enhances monitoring of floods and exposes inequities in official data | Communications Earth & Environment
Some 27% of emergency department visits for heat-related illness in the US in April-October over 2018-25 can be attributed to climate change | Climatic Change

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