Daily Briefing: CB’s COP31 ‘AMA’ | Fossil-fuel roadmap | Dems take Congress

04.11.26

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News

Brazil puts forward plan to wean world off fossil fuels

John Ainger, Bloomberg

Brazil has released a global roadmap to “help countries wean their economies off oil, gas and coal over the next decade”, reports Bloomberg. It says Brazil committed to producing the roadmap, and one on deforestation, as host of last year’s COP30 climate summit. It says the roadmap has three phases, with only the last of these, from 2031, looking at “how to curb fossil-fuel supplies”. Separately, Climate Home News details the deforestation roadmap, also launched by Brazil yesterday. It outlines that a global aim to halt deforestation by 2030 “remains within reach using existing national and international tools”, but requires a faster pace and more finance. Reuters notes that “shifting away from fossil fuels and reducing deforestation are considered essential” to meeting the Paris Agreement goal to limit warming. The Guardian quotes Prof Joeri Rogelj from Imperial College London as saying the roadmaps are “valuable but fall short of clearly indicating the pace of change needed”.

Democrats win the US House and Senate as voters deliver a strong rebuke to Trump and Republicans

Jill Colvin, Mary Clare Jalonick and Will Weissert, The Associated Press

Democrat politicians have “won control of both chambers of Congress” in the US midterm elections, reports the Associated Press. It says the election results “laid bare voters’ deep frustrations over high prices, the Iran war and concerns over government corruption”. As of publication, the New York Times reports that Democrats had taken 54 Senate seats, compared to 44 for Republicans, and 227 House seats, compared to 139 for Republicans. Bloomberg notes that stocks of global renewable companies increased as the results came in, given that the outcome will be seen to “suppor[t] more favourable policy for the industry going forward”. Inside Climate News says: “Voters sought action on energy costs, corruption and data centres in an election environmentalists believe sets the stage for renewed climate policy.” Grist covers the results most significant for “climate action”, noting that Texas has elected a Democratic senator for the first time in almost four decades.

MORE ON US

A bipartisan US Senate bill on permitting rules has “created a rift between longtime allies: renewable energy companies and environmental groups”, reports Politico.
Inside Climate News: “US buildings lost to wildfires could triple by 2060.”
The Financial Times: “Qatar set to become world’s biggest buyer of US LNG.”

UK makes huge aid cuts to Commonwealth nations despite warm words at Chogm

Fiona Harvey, The Guardian

The UK has “slashed” its overseas aid to Commonwealth countries, with “funding for nature projects especially hard hit even as [the] climate crisis intensifies global need”, reports the Guardian. The newspaper says the figures “contrast” with “warm words” from prime minister Andy Burnham and King Charles at a Commonwealth summit this week. It reports: “Amid sharp cuts in the UK’s aid budget overall, the Commonwealth has fared poorly, an analysis of the most recent and projected aid figures, seen by the Guardian, has shown.” This funding will reduce from £546m in 2024-25 to £131m in 2028-29, outlines the Guardian. [See Carbon Brief’s recent reporting on UK climate aid to developing countries.]

MORE ON UK

A new “energy independence bill” to be put before parliament today will require renewable firms to invest in local communities, reports the Financial Times.
Energy Voice says the government plans to “pause” the 2027 auction for renewable projects under the “contracts for difference” (CfD) scheme. The Daily Telegraph describes this as a “net-zero climbdown” in a story trailed on its frontpage.
The Guardian: “UK’s most polluting power plant [Drax] could power [the] country’s largest AI data centre.”
Auditors have said Wales is unlikely to meet its ambition to achieve a net-zero public sector by 2030, reports BBC News.
The Press Association: “[Scottish] ministers urged to set target to almost treble Scotland’s onshore wind power.”
The Daily Telegraph says a “draft” EU-UK deal would result in the UK funding EU development projects “in exchange for British energy companies being allowed to trade freely in [the] bloc’s electricity market”.

India to focus on predictable climate finance, technology transfer at COP31: Bhupender Yadav

Jasjeev Gandhiok, The Hindustan Times

At COP31, climate minister Bhupender Yadav said that India is “seeking a decision to commence the climate-finance work programme” under Article 9 of the Paris Agreement, the Hindustan Times reports. It quotes Yadav saying India will also “press for mitigation and the global stocktake to remain party-driven, facilitative and non-punitive”, while “ruling out new top-down” mitigation targets. India “will argue” that indicators under the global goal on adaptation “should remain voluntary and should not become conditions for accessing climate finance”, the Hindu quotes Yadav as saying. India also plans to “remain[s] committed” to “oppose” the EU’s carbon border tax, says the Times of India. The Indian Express quotes an environment ministry press release that underlines that “voluntary initiatives” under the COP31 presidency’s “action agenda” – such as its electrification target – “should remain separate from negotiations”.

MORE ON INDIA

The Times of India: “Climate change caused by human activity led to an estimated 8,830 additional preterm births in India during the April 2024 heatwave”.
An Indian Express comment by researcher Ritwick George argues: “India has made a habit of beating the climate promises it files at the United Nations. It’s time to file promises worth beating.”
Mongabay speaks to researchers about the “pivot” in India’s rapid emissions growth to a “slowdown” driven by “weather effects and structural shifts” towards renewables.

Ambassador Xie Feng: Responsible, proactive China is powerful driver of human progress

The Beijing Daily

China’s ambassador to the US Xie Feng said that the country’s clean-energy industry has provided other countries with a “low-carbon and affordable” supply of energy, reports the Beijing Daily, a Communist party-affiliated newspaper. It adds that Xie, speaking at an event in Washington DC, also noted that China’s clean-tech exports in 2026 could avoid 8.4bn tonnes of lifetime carbon emissions, citing analysis for Carbon Brief. Separately, state-supporting newspaper the Global Times publishes an article saying “Chinese experts blast [a] US push to ban Chinese vehicles”. An editorial in the state-run newspaper China Daily says China-EU trade talks could be “undone” if Brussels “open[s] a new front” in negotiations. It adds: “With fossil-fuel prices soaring as a result of the US’ military adventurism in the Middle East, many foreign buyers are increasingly drawn to China’s renewable-energy solutions, which offer a viable alternative to traditional energy sources.”

MORE ON CHINA

A “severe” drought in Indonesia is slowing nickel output, “threaten[ing] to disrupt” China’s battery industry, says the South China Morning Post.
A commentary in China Environment News published under the nom de plume Zhong Huanping, indicating support from senior environment officials, calls on officials to “actively and prudently” pursue China’s carbon goals.
MEE party secretary Sun Jinlong writes in top ideological journal Qiushi that officials must to “fulfil their [environmental] duties” or be “held accountable”.
The NDRC said that China’s grid-connected offshore wind capacity is expected to exceed 100 gigawatts by 2030, reports Hongxing News.
The largest coal-to-gas project in north-east China has begun operations, further strengthening the “resilience” of China’s gas supply, says Xinhua.

Comment

Markets are pushing electrification. Governments must push harder

Murat Kurum, The Economist

For the Economist, Murat Kurum, president-elect of the COP31 climate summit which starts next week in Antalya, Turkey, writes that “electrification is now getting its day in the sun”. He adds: “Hopes that market forces alone will solve the energy transition are misplaced. Even with building momentum, existing trends indicate electrification is expanding too slowly…State intervention is still needed, urgently.” He says that, at COP31, Turkey will “press everyone to show what more they can do” on electrification, concluding: “The International Energy Agency shows that the 35-by-35 target could save $500bn each year in avoided fuel imports. Markets have started this journey. Governments need to finish it.” Pilita Clark, associate editor at the Financial Times, also writes about the 35-by-35 target, saying it is “only voluntary but it’s a good idea, for the climate and for our wallets”.

MORE COMMENT

Antony Currie, editor at Reuters Breakingviews, writes: “COP31 will show up the folly of clean-tech tariffs.”
A group of experts and heads of NGOs call for the main candidates in next year’s French presidential election to “commit to energy issues”, in a Le Monde comment.
A Guardian editorial on slavery reparations and ongoing discussions on debt says: “The context of rising climate threats and broken promises of climate finance to support a transition away from fossil fuels only serves to strengthen the Caribbean countries’ case.”
Chief business commentator at the Times, Alistair Osborne, writes: “Drax’s AI adventure drew positive noises from the [UK] government, with one minister saying it could help pave the way to reindustrialisation.”

Research

Since 1950, sea level rise has more than trebled the coastal land area affected by the storm surges that accompany tropical cyclones | Environmental Research Letters
The area of biodiversity “hotspots” affected by compound dry-hot extreme events has increased by 6% per decade since 2001 | Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
The failure of climate-change communication to engage young people in southern Africa is due to a “structural misalignment between institutional communication strategies and youth lived realities, media practices and interpretive contexts” | Frontiers in Climate