News Feeds

By Christopher Collins, Cascade Institute Fellow

The version of record of this op-ed appeared in The Globe and Mail. 

Previously in these pages, I argued that the global financial system was developing the “architecture of a polycrisis” – interconnected systemic risks were emerging across sovereign debt, leveraged finance, private credit, equity concentration in technology and geopolitics. These risks were poised to synchronize; if one thread was pulled, the cascading effects could accelerate and amplify the total harm. The question was which thread would be pulled first. The U.S. bond market may have answered that question.

If the bond market is the engine temperature gauge on the global economy’s dashboard, it’s flashing red. Last week, the yield on the benchmark 30-year U.S. Treasury hit its highest level since before the 2008 financial crisis. The highly watched 10-year yield – which shapes the price of mortgages, car loans and corporate borrowing worldwide – climbed to more than 4.65 per cent, up roughly 65 basis points since the start of March.

These are not normal moves. Rather, they reflect the fact that the bond market is now pricing something it has spent years politely ignoring: The United States is increasingly behaving like a volatile emerging-market economy. And the U.S. President may be running out of cheap ways to reliably defuse this pressure. In a contest between the bond markets and political rhetoric, the bond markets will win.

For most of 2025, President Donald Trump was able to calm the bond market. When yields spiked after his April tariff announcements, his Greenland threats and his musing about firing then Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, he paused.

Eventually, markets front-ran the pattern: Yields rose, Mr. Trump blinked, yields settled and the so-called TACO traders (Trump always chickens out) who figured this out first made a great deal of money. But now, that escape hatch may be closed. The drivers of this month’s U.S. bond repricing are structural, not rhetorical, and bringing yields down will require more than a few of Mr. Trump’s tweets.

Look at what happened earlier this week when Mr. Trump announced he had called off a potentially imaginary planned attack on Iran. Yields continued their inexorable march upward. Mr. Trump’s announcements do not address the underlying conditions driving the repricing of U.S. Treasuries, and the bond market realizes that the Consumer Price Index does not respond to Truth Social posts.

To bring yields down, Mr. Trump will need to pull structural levers. This may be difficult and politically unpalatable, especially in an election year. While progress has reportedly been made toward a deal with Iran to lower energy prices, a lasting peace would require concessions many supporters in Mr. Trump’s coalition would call appeasement. A China pivot will be difficult. Spending cuts to Social Security, Medicare and defence have all been ruled out, and tax increases are off the table.

This leaves one cheap lever for Mr. Trump: leaning on the Federal Reserve. New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, confirmed last week in a highly partisan vote, is now one of the most important figures in global markets. Mr. Trump may try to pressure him into cutting interest rates.

The historical parallel is sobering. More than 50 years ago, then U.S. president Richard Nixon pressured then Fed chair Arthur Burns to keep monetary policy loose ahead of the 1972 election. Mr. Burns largely complied, and while the short-term political win was real, the long-term cost was a decade of stagflation. It took the 1981-82 Paul Volcker recession to break this dynamic.

Even if Mr. Warsh yielded to the President’s pressure, this might not bring down yields. Markets are no longer pricing in rate cuts this year; rather, some traders see a non-trivial chance of a rate hike before year-end. If any future cuts are perceived as politically driven rather than data-driven, yields will rise further as investors demand more compensation for dollars whose purchasing power is politically contested. The trap snaps shut. The easiest move worsens the problem.

Right now, if anything props up the U.S., it is that America remains one of the cleanest dirty shirts in the OECD. British 10-year gilt yields are more than 5.1 per cent, as the country faces the prospect of having its seventh Prime Minister in 10 years. French politics are similarly dysfunctional, and Japanese yields are at multidecade highs. Global pension and sovereign wealth funds still see U.S. Treasuries as the least-bad option.

Yet “least bad” is no solution. It points to a slow grind higher in yields. And this connects directly to the polycrisis risks outlined earlier. Higher yields threaten leveraged Treasury basis trades, pressure bank and shadow-bank balance sheets, and tighten financial conditions at the worst possible moment. The architecture was already fragile; the question now is whether Washington still possesses the credibility to stop the threads from unravelling.

Read article in the Globe and Mail The post The flashing-red bond market is the thread that may unravel the entire world economy appeared first on Cascade Institute.

National Nurses United announced its endorsement of Dr. Adam Hamawy for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District. As a doctor and a veteran, Dr. Hamawy has dedicated his life to service both at home and abroad. Now he is ready to take on billionaires and special interests in Congress as he fights for the working people of New Jersey’s 12th District. 

The power gap left hyperscalers with no alternative but to take on utility-scale obligations and lock up gigawatts of generation, writes Peak Nano CMO Shaun Walsh.

The order shifts more infrastructure costs and interconnection obligations to hyperscale customers while positioning Oregon’s 2025 POWER Act as an early test of how states manage AI-driven load growth.

Welcome to Carbon Brief’s China Briefing.

China Briefing handpicks and explains the most important climate and energy stories from China over the past fortnight. Subscribe for free here.

Key developments Several dead as record rainfall hit several provinces

DEADLY DOWNPOUR: Multiple rounds of heavy rainfall have hit central and eastern China, with Agence France-Presse reporting that at least 25 people were killed in the first round, which affected provinces including Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan and Hubei. Shortly afterwards, nine people died in south-western Chongqing province, reported finance news outlet Caixin, after receiving “nearly 300mm of rain in just two hours, a deluge local residents described as the worst in more than 60 years”. The government has dedicated 280m yuan ($41m) to support affected provinces, reported state news agency Xinhua. The Communist party-backed newspaper China Youth Daily reported that more than 20 provinces have been affected so far, with rains expected to continue throughout June. 

CLIMATE CONTRIBUTION: National rainfall over 11-23 May was 46% higher than the seasonal norm, said Xinhua. Nearly 500 weather stations nationwide have logged record rainfall levels, according to state-sponsored newspaper Guangming Daily. The rains were described as “quite unusual”, according to Xinhua, with the National Climate Centre’s chief forecaster Gao Hui telling the agency that the heavy rains were caused by a combination of factors. These included a convergence of several climate systems carrying in strong flows of moisture from nearby marine regions, as well as “rapid global warming, compounded by a fast-developing El Niño” increasing the atmosphere’s moisture content. 

The EU ‘overcapacity’ debate

‘CONCERNS’ REGISTERED: The EU will debate proposals in June to “step up efforts” to reduce economic reliance on China and protect its industries, including “safeguard investigations” for at-risk sectors and an “overcapacity instrument”, reported Politico. Finance news outlet Yicai said China in turn has registered its “concerns” with the World Trade Organization over the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), which includes local content requirements for industries including clean-energy technologies.

上微信关注《碳简报》

PATIENCE ‘WEARING THIN’: A report by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post cited “some observers” as saying a trade war characterised by the EU “clos[ing] its market down to Chinese imports” may be the “only” way in which the EU can get China to fully engage with its concerns. A China Daily editorial states that China’s “patience” over the EU’s “politicisation and over-securitisation of trade and economic issues” is “wearing thin”. An editorial in the state-supporting Global Times says “erecting higher trade barriers” against Chinese cleantech is “clearly unwise”, given the Iran conflict, adding: “China will never sit idly by while the EU unreasonably suppresses Chinese companies.”

MISSING AGREEMENTS: Meanwhile, Bloomberg covered US president Donald Trump’s claims that his counterpart Xi Jinping “likes the idea of buying more US oil”, following Trump’s state visit to China. [None of the Chinese government readouts or press briefings covering trade outcomes have mentioned any energy agreements so far.] Similarly, the “Kremlin said…a general understanding” had been reached on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline following Russian president Vladimir Putin’s visit to China, according to Reuters, but that there was “no mention of any oil and gas deals among documents signed” during his meeting with Xi. A joint statement published by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said China and Russia will “deepen” cooperation around oil and gas, coal, nuclear and renewable energy, adding that they will “strengthen cooperation in addressing climate change”.

Coal-power generation rose in April

‘INFLEXIBLE’ COAL: Thermal power generation in China “grew for a fourth straight month in April”, rising 3.1% year-on-year in the face of reduced wind and nuclear generation, reported Bloomberg. “Unfavorable weather” was not the only reason for weaker clean-energy generation, wrote Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air lead analyst Lauri Myllyvirta on Bluesky, with “grid congestion due to inflexible operation of coal plants and transmission lines” also a factor. Separately, research by Global Energy Monitor found that Chinese coal-plant developers “requested approval for 51 gigawatts (GW)” of new capacity in January-March 2026, reported Bloomberg.

Subscribe: China Briefing

• .listing{background: #f4f4f4} .listing ul{list-style:none; margin:0} ol {background: #F4F4F4; padding: 0px;} .listing ul {background: #F4F4F4; padding: 0px;} .listing li{font-size:0px;}
  
  

  Sign up to Carbon Brief's free "China Briefing" email newsletter. All you need to know about the latest developments relating to China and climate change. Sent to your inbox every Thursday.

SOLAR SLOWDOWN: Total power demand grew 6% year-on-year in April, according to Xinhua. Total capacity rose 14% by the end of April, reported energy news outlet International Energy Net, with China’s total solar-power capacity now exceeding 1,250 gigawatts (GW) and wind reaching 661GW, while thermal capacity rose 7% to 1,556GW. However, the growth rate of new solar installations continued to fall for a “fourth straight month”, said Bloomberg, with 9.5GW added in April 2026 compared to 45.2GW the year before.

POLICY EXPANDS: Meanwhile, the government has expanded its renewable power “direct connection” policy to allow clean-energy generators to supply multiple users directly “through dedicated [power] lines”, rather than just one consumer, reported finance news outlet Caixin. It cited a government official saying the policy is “intended to support cleaner energy use in industrial parks…and other large energy-consuming facilities”, which comprise more than two-thirds of total energy demand. Economic news outlet Jiemian quotes an expert saying the policy enables both “lower electricity prices” and “higher utilisation rates” for renewables, “reducing curtailment rates”. 

More China news

• ‘SOLIDARITY AND RESOLVE’: China voted in favour of a UN general assembly resolution to back the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) landmark 2025 opinion on states’ legal obligations to tackle climate change. The Chinese embassy to Vanuatu said on Facebook this displayed its “solidarity and collective resolve”.
• BOND DISCLOSURE: According to a disclosure report by China’s finance ministry, the country raised 6bn yuan in “green sovereign bonds” in 2025, said finance news outlet EastMoney ($884m), of which 700m ($103m) was spent on clean-energy retrofitting.
• WAR ON SAND: The central government has pledged to “improve” and expand its ecological compensation mechanism, including to now provide compensation for building solar farms in desertified areas, said power news outlet BJX News.
• SPACE-BASED SOLAR: Chinese scientists have begun “initial experiments” in a project to “collect [solar] energy in orbit and beam it wirelessly to Earth”, said PV Magazine.
• MINERAL STRATEGY: China has pledged to “accelerate the construction of strategic mineral-reserve ​sites”, reported Reuters. It will also work with the US on “reasonable” concerns around its rare-earth export controls, Reuters also reported.

Captured

Hydrogen in China continues to be mostly produced from coal, according to a National Energy Administration report. A new Carbon Brief article explored how a series of new policies in China could help scale hydrogen, particularly “green” hydrogen made with renewable power.

Spotlight  China’s new carbon metric leaves Germany-sized gap in its emissions

A major change in the way that China measures its core climate goal has effectively halved the growth in the country’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over the past five years.

The revised measure of “carbon intensity” implies that China’s emissions have only gone up by 7% from 2020-2025, just half of the 14% rise indicated by previous official statistics.

This spotlight is an excerpt of an analysis explaining how the metric appears to have shifted and its implications for China’s climate goals. The full article can be found on the Carbon Brief website.

Germany-sized gap

Reducing carbon intensity – CO2 emissions per unit of GDP – has been China’s key climate commitment since the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009.

Neither China’s international climate pledges nor other official documents have ever set out a definition of carbon intensity. 

However, until this year, it was possible to closely reproduce the reported numbers, based on a straightforward interpretation of what carbon intensity means – combining official GDP data with estimates of emissions from the use of fossil fuels.

Now, the types of emissions that are included in the carbon-intensity metric have changed.

The previous carbon-intensity measure apparently included emissions from the use of fossil fuels to generate energy and as chemical feedstocks, so-called “non-energy uses”. It did not include non-fossil fuel CO2 emissions from industrial processes, such as the production of cement.

Based on reported progress against this old scope, China’s carbon intensity had fallen by 12.4% from 2020-2025, well short of its 18% target under the 14th five-year plan.

Yet the 15th five-year plan reported that China had cut its carbon intensity by 17.7% over the same period, indicating a major shift in which types of emissions are included.

A footnote in China’s latest statistical communique indicates that carbon intensity now includes industrial process emissions and excludes non-energy uses of fossil fuels.

The shift has implications for estimates of the country’s emissions. 

China’s total emissions were 11.2bn tonnes of CO2 (GtCO2) in 2020. Based on the original methodology, its fossil-fuel CO2 emissions had grown 14% by 2024, an increase of 1,430m tonnes (MtCO2).

In contrast, the newly reported carbon-intensity figures imply that China’s CO2 emissions only grew by 7% between 2020 and 2025, up just 690MtCO2.

The gap between these figures amounts to 730MtCO2, equivalent to the annual emissions of Germany or South Korea.

Decoding the new methodology

The methodology change could have significant implications, making it important to understand how it is being calculated.

The new scope includes industrial-process emissions. One of the largest sources of these emissions, the cement industry, has been contracting, helping explain the improvement to carbon intensity under the new scope.

In addition, the new scope excludes non-energy use of fossil fuels – largely relating to the chemicals industry – which have seen rapid growth in the past five years. 

One way to make the numbers add up would be to assume that the amount of carbon embedded in chemical-industry products has increased by the equivalent of 500MtCO2.

However, the reported output of major chemical-industry products cannot account for this level of embedded carbon.

Neither the change in scope of the carbon-intensity calculation, nor the change in the amount of carbon retained in products, can explain the size of the revision in the newly reported numbers. There must be another explanation.

Either the new scope broadly aligns with the explanation outlined above, but also excludes a subset of the CO2 emissions. Or the scope does not exclude any of the CO2, but there are gaps in the monitoring of some energy or industrial-process emissions.

Either explanation would mean China is not accounting for some of its CO2 emissions. 

Implications for China’s targets

This change has the effect of weakening China’s climate targets and introducing more uncertainty into tracking progress.

The new numbers means it will require less effort to hit the 2030 carbon-intensity target in its Paris pledge. This target can now be met even if emissions rise, whereas the previous metric would have required a reduction.

It will also require less effort to hit the carbon-intensity target in China’s 15th five-year plan. 

In addition, China would be able to officially meet its target to peak emissions by 2030, even if its overall CO2 emissions do not actually peak. The change could also affect delivery of China’s targets to cut emissions by 2035.

While China may use any definition it wants for carbon intensity under the UN climate framework, retrospective changes or inconsistent accounting could erode the value of its commitments.

Moreover, it will ultimately have to close any gaps in its emissions data and reporting, under the transparency rules of the Paris Agreement.

This spotlight is adapted from an article by Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air lead analyst Lauri Myllyvirta for Carbon Brief.

Watch, read, listen

MINING ACCIDENT: A column in Bloomberg argued that “continuing to veer…toward cleaner [energy] development” could avoid coal-mine accidents such as the one that claimed 82 lives in Shanxi province.

INDONESIAN NICKEL: The European Guanxi Podcast recorded a discussion with Ember’s Dr Muyi Yang about the role China plays in Indonesia’s coal-reliant nickel industry.

INDUSTRIAL HURDLES: A new article in Yicai investigated the reasons why companies are holding back on relocating to zero-carbon industrial parks.
NEGATIVE PRICES: The Communist party-affiliated People’s Daily published a widely-read article on how the emergence of “negative electricity prices” signals a need for a more “coordinated” buildout of clean energy.

163

In billion tonnes, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that China could avoid between 2025-2060 by transitioning to clean energy, according to a new study published by several leading academic institutions in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. Scientists estimate that the remaining global budget for keeping temperatures below 1.5C is 130bn tonnes of CO2.

New science 

• Population exposure to heatwave-drought events “increased markedly” across China during between 1961-90 and 1991-2020, driven by a combination of population growth and more frequent heatwave-drought events | Atmospheric Research
• Fossil-fired power generation accounts for three-quarters of China’s total water consumption for energy production | Mitigation and adaptation strategies for global change

Recently published on WeChat

• 大西洋经向翻转环流：全球变暖是否正将关键洋流推向“崩溃”？
• 在极端天气预报方面，传统模型仍“优于AI”

China Briefing is written by Anika Patel, with contributions from Lekai Liu, and edited by Simon Evans. Please send tips and feedback to china@carbonbrief.org 

China Briefing 30 April 2026: Fossil fuel ‘strict controls’ | El Niño approaches | Why cleantech exports have surged

China Briefing

|

30.04.26

China Briefing 16 April 2026: Billions for grid | Petrochemical plan | China’s high-seas bid

China Briefing

|

16.04.26

China Briefing 2 April 2026: EV profits rise | Ming Yang rejected | Iran war

China Briefing

|

02.04.26

China Briefing 19 March 2026: China joins nuclear pledge | Energy approach ‘vindicated’ | New ecological code

China Briefing

|

19.03.26

jQuery(document).ready(function() { jQuery('.block-related-articles-slider-block_690e3059a85157381b58bfc6b7e6bfa1 .mh').matchHeight({ byRow: false }); });

The post China Briefing 28 May 2026: Deadly rains | China pushes back | Examining China’s carbon intensity metric  appeared first on Carbon Brief.

Russia’s nuclear ambitions abroad are increasingly colliding with geopolitical reality. In Armenia, Moscow’s once-dominant position in the nuclear sector is beginning to erode as Yerevan turns toward Europe. Across the EU, governments are still struggling in fits and starts to reduce their dependence on Russian nuclear fuel. And in Russia itself, Rosatom appears strangely reluctant to publicize the arrival from China of a major component for one of its flagship Arctic energy projects.

These are among the trends highlighted in Bellona’s April 2026 Nuclear Digest.

Armenia’s nuclear drift away from Moscow

Nowhere is the political dimension of nuclear energy clearer than in Armenia. Rosatom remains deeply involved in extending the life of the Metsamor nuclear power plant, whose second VVER-440 reactor was shut down in April for an unusually long five-month maintenance and modernization campaign. The work—carried out with the participation of multiple Rosatom subsidiaries—is intended to extend the plant’s operational life to 2036.

But while Russia still services Armenia’s aging Soviet-built reactor fleet, its chances of building Armenia’s future reactors appear increasingly slim.

“Russia and Rosatom traditionally play an important role in servicing the Metsamor nuclear power plant,” Bellona nuclear analyst Dmitry Gorchakov writes in the digest, noting Moscow’s continued role in supplying fuel, components, and modernization work. Yet he adds that “the prospects for Rosatom’s participation in Armenia’s new nuclear program remain extremely uncertain.”

That uncertainty is largely political. Armenia has accelerated discussions over building a new nuclear plant focused on small modular reactors, considering proposals from the United States, France, South Korea, and China alongside Russia’s. At the same time, relations between Moscow and Yerevan have deteriorated sharply as Armenia pivots toward the European Union.

“The current political dynamic and the likelihood of pro-European forces winning upcoming elections make the prospects for Rosatom building a new Armenian nuclear plant extremely low,” Gorchakov writes.

Europe’s sluggish nuclear divorce

Europe, meanwhile, continues its own uneasy disentanglement from Russia’s nuclear industry—though progress remains uneven.

Bellona’s digest shows that EU countries operating Soviet-designed VVER reactors are slowly introducing alternative fuel suppliers, primarily Westinghouse and Framatome. Westinghouse now has fuel supply contracts with every European VVER operator, while countries including Finland and the Czech Republic have already begun receiving non-Russian fuel deliveries.

But despite the political rhetoric surrounding energy independence after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian nuclear fuel continues flowing into Europe in substantial quantities.

“After peaking in 2023, purchases of Russian nuclear fuel have begun declining, and that trend continued in 2025,” Gorchakov writes. “But overall procurement levels still remain above prewar levels.”

Indeed, Bellona’s analysis notes that between 2022 and 2025, EU countries paid Rosatom roughly 70 percent more for nuclear fuel than during the previous four-year period.

The result, Gorchakov argues, is two distinct European strategies. The first includes countries such as Finland and the Czech Republic, which are shifting toward Westinghouse fuel and actively reducing Russian purchases. The second includes countries such as Hungary and Slovakia, which remain reluctant to break with Rosatom and instead are gravitating toward France’s Framatome as an alternative supplier.

Yet even that alternative comes with caveats. Framatome still lacks a fully independent fuel-production chain for VVER reactors and is preparing to assemble Russian-designed fuel under license at facilities in France and Germany. “This effectively preserves dependence on Russian technology in a more indirect form,” Gorchakov writes.

In other words, Europe’s nuclear decoupling from Russia remains partial, politically fragmented, and technologically incomplete.

Rosatom’s Quiet Dependence on China

If Armenia and Europe illustrate Rosatom’s geopolitical vulnerabilities abroad, developments in Russia’s Arctic suggest another problem: growing dependence on China.

In late March, according to industry publication SeaNews, the hull for a new floating nuclear power unit arrived from China at St. Petersburg’s Baltic Shipyard. The floating reactor platform is part of Rosatom’s ambitious plan to power the remote Baimskaya mining region in Chukotka using a fleet of floating nuclear reactors equipped with RITM-200S reactors.

But Rosatom itself said almost nothing publicly about the delivery.

“The arrival of the first hull for the floating nuclear power unit from China took place in an atmosphere of complete informational silence from Rosatom and its subsidiaries,” Gorchakov writes.

The silence is striking because the project is both strategically important and deeply symbolic. Rosatom has long promoted floating nuclear plants as a showcase of Russian technological prowess. But the first hulls are being built not in Russia, but at the Chinese shipyard Wison Heavy Industry because Russian shipyards lacked the capacity to complete the order on schedule.

The delays have been substantial. Under the original contract, the first hull was supposed to arrive in Russia by October 2023. Instead, it arrived roughly two and a half years late.

Why Rosatom has chosen not to highlight the delivery remains unclear. Gorchakov suggests several possibilities: security concerns, reluctance to expose Chinese partners to sanctions risks, or discomfort with publicly acknowledging that a major “prestige project” for Russia was substantially built in China.

Taken together, the stories in Bellona’s latest digest point toward a broader reality facing Rosatom in 2026. Russia’s nuclear industry remains globally active and technically capable. But geopolitical fragmentation, sanctions pressure, and shifting political alliances continue to complicate Moscow’s ability to dominate the nuclear landscape as confidently as it once did.

The post Rosatom’s Uneasy Spring: Armenia Turns Away, Europe Hesitates, China Steps In—that and more in our new nuclear digest appeared first on Bellona.org.

The state senator also objects to the merger itself, calling it “extremely concerning” in an environment of “rising utility bills and unprecedented grid expansion costs driven largely by hyperscale data center growth.”

LONDON — Members of the Samoan and Pacific Islander community and environmental advocates protested outside Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ (CCEP) annual general meeting Thursday, calling on the company to reduce single-use plastic and bring back reusable packaging systems. CCEP is Coca-Cola’s largest bottler by revenue. Headquartered in London, it produces, sells, and distributes the company’s products across 31 global markets, including Western Europe, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.

At the cultural protest, members from the London School of Hula and ‘Ori performed traditional Samoan song and dance, including "Lo ta nu’u," and presented a performance titled "O le vasa, we are the ocean," highlighting the connection between Pacific Island communities and the ocean.

Advocates delivered a symbolic "message in a bottle," which included a letter signed by Sosaiete Faasao o Samoa / Samoa Conservation Society, Samoa Recycling and Waste Management Association (SRWMA), Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN), the London School of Hula and ‘Ori, Break Free From Plastic (BFFP), and Oceana, placed inside a single-use plastic Coca-Cola bottle from Samoa. The letter, addressed to CCEP’s CEO Damian Gammell, highlights the company’s increased use of single-use plastic bottles, its effects on the oceans and Samoan communities, and how the company can help solve this problem.

In 2021, in Samoa, Coca-Cola stopped bottling its products in reusable glass bottles. Now CCEP imports large quantities of single-use plastic bottles from Fiji and New Zealand. The shift to imported plastic bottles has contributed to rising waste, much of which is littered, burned, or landfilled due to limited recycling capacity. Reportedly, imports of plastic bottles more than doubled between 2020 and 2025, and Coca-Cola products account for about one-third of beverage bottle waste in the country.

"We encourage Coca-Cola to be on the right side of history by moving back to reusable bottles, like glass, in Samoa and becoming a leader in the transition away from plastics. As one of the most recognizable global brands, we believe that Coca-Cola can be a game changer in the fight against plastics, should they choose to prioritize planet over profits, " said James Atherton of the Sosaiete Faasao o Samoa (Samoa Conservation Society).

“Given the limited capacity for plastic recycling in Samoa, most of the waste ends up being littered, illegally dumped, incinerated, or landfilled. For those of us in Samoa, we witness the consequences of your business decisions every day. On our land, across our beaches, and in our waters,” the groups wrote in the letter. 

"Plastic pollution and the climate crisis share the same fossil fuel origin, and Pacific Island communities bear a disproportionate share of both. The science is sobering: microplastics have been documented in 97% of fish species sampled across our ocean region — nearly 50% above the global average — yet CCEP's PET use in the Asia-Pacific outpaces its own global share. Reinstating refillable systems in Samoa is not a favour to the Pacific; it is the evidence-based, climate-consistent decision a company of CCEP's scale is well-positioned to make," said Rufino Varea, Director, Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN).

CCEP continues to sell single-use plastic in Samoa despite growing global concern over the plastic pollution crisis in the ocean and its likely impacts on human health. This trend is not unique to Samoa — according to an analysis by Oceana of CCEP’s reported data, between 2020 and 2025, the company’s global use of PET plastic packaging increased by over two-thirds from 198 to 335 thousand metric tons.

On the occasion of CCEP’s annual general meeting, the groups are calling on Coca-Cola and CCEP to transition back to reusable packaging, reduce single-use plastic, and invest in waste management solutions in affected communities.

“Performed in Sāmoa and London by members from across Pacific communities, this Sāmoan hymn and Sāsā reflects the pride we hold in our cultures and ways of life, our gratitude for the Earth and Oceans that sustain us, and the unity that binds us in protecting these things for generations to come,” said Krysten Resnick, Founder and Director of the London School of Hula and ‘Ori.

“Coca-Cola and CCEP have an opportunity in Samoa to right a wrong by bringing back reusable glass bottles and eliminating their plastic bottle waste. Reuse is the right choice for supporting healthy communities and protecting our oceans,” said Dr. Dana Miller, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives for Oceana. 

“Coca-Cola has been the world's worst plastic polluter six years running, accounting for at least 11% of all branded plastic waste found in the environment. And yet, rather than scaling up the reusable glass bottle systems that reduce single-use plastic, the company is phasing them out in places like Samoa. This company has the solution and all the know-how to make it work. Instead, it is actively choosing a path that generates more pollution - to the detriment of the communities and ecosystems left to deal with its waste. Coca-Cola must bring back reusable glass, urgently and at scale,” said Emma Priestland, Global Corporate Campaigns Coordinator for #BreakFreeFromPlastic

To read the full letter to CCEP, click here. 

Photos are available here.

###

Additional Background: 

• The protest and letter come amid growing global scrutiny of Coca-Cola’s sustainability practices. A peer-reviewed study in the journal Science found that Coca-Cola was the number one polluter of branded plastic found in the environment.
• Despite its rapidly growing plastic footprint, the company abandoned its goal to increase reusable packaging in December 2024.
• In 2025, Oceana released a report that projects The Coca-Cola Company’s plastic use will exceed 9.1 billion pounds (4.1 million metric tons) per year by 2030 if the company does not change its practices. This would be nearly a 40% increase over the company’s reported plastic use in 2018 and a 20% increase over the company’s most recently reported plastic use in 2023, which was already enough plastic to circle the Earth more than 100 times.
• The report also estimates that up to 1.3 billion pounds (602,000 metric tons) of the plastic packaging that Coca-Cola uses annually by 2030 would enter the world’s waterways and oceans if the company continues on its current course. This amount of plastic could fill the stomachs of over 18 million blue whales. 
• The Oceana report also found that Coca-Cola could reduce its annual plastic use below current levels if it were to reach 26.4% reusable packaging by 2030.
• In December 2021, the Samoa Conservation Society delivered a petition to Coca-Cola South Pacific asking the company to resume glass bottling in the country.

About the Sosaiete Faasao o Samoa:

Sosaiete Faasao O Samoa / The Samoa Conservation Society is a Samoan non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting the conservation of Samoa’s natural heritage and helping the public reduce their environmental impacts and develop greener lifestyles. We work collaboratively with communities, the Government and NGO partners to raise awareness on the state of, and threats to, Samoa’s environment and biodiversity. We also teach the public and youth groups about our natural heritage and the practical actions we can take to promote species and ecosystem conservation and to reduce our environmental footprint.

About PICAN:

The Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN) is a regional alliance of civil society organisations working on climate change in the Pacific region. Since 2013, it has brought together civil society actors across the Pacific Island countries, advocating for climate justice and environmental integrity. PICAN aims to unite civil society under a common voice to increase the influence and impact of their advocacy demands on Pacific Island governments, leading non-Pacific governments to respond with more powerful and ambitious climate change policies and action at the national and regional level.

About LSHO:

The London School of Hula and 'Ori (LSHO) is a cultural arts organisation dedicated to preserving and advancing Pacific heritage through lineage-based cultural practice, education, performance, and community engagement. LSHO provides a vital space where Pacific diaspora communities in London/UK, as well as anyone interested in Pacific cultural arts, can gather, learn, and participate, helping to create a more visible presence where Pacific arts, knowledge, and communities are valued, connected, and sustained.

About Oceana:

Oceana is the largest international organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana is rebuilding abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies in countries that control one-quarter of the world’s wild fish catch. With more than 350 victories that stop overfishing, habitat destruction, oil and plastic pollution, and the killing of threatened species like turtles, whales, and sharks, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering results. A restored ocean means that 1 billion people can enjoy a healthy seafood meal every day, forever. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world. Visit Oceana.org to learn more.

About BFFP:

#BreakFreeFromPlastic (BFFP) is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in 2016, more than 3500 member organizations and 11,000 individual supporters in 186 countries have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. BFFP member organizations and individuals share the values of environmental protection and social justice and work together through a holistic approach to bring about systemic change. This means tackling plastic pollution across the whole plastics value chain—from extraction to disposal—focusing on prevention rather than cure and providing effective solutions.

Surface heat average through 2030 likely to exceed 1.5°C target

Source

The grid operator stopped short of taking a position on the complaint itself. States and consumer advocates oppose it, while at least one major data center company supports it.

Europe has been hit by a searing heatwave, which has shattered temperature records across France, Spain and the UK.

In London, for example, the mercury hit a record high for May of 35.1C at Kew Gardens on Tuesday 26 May, breaking the former record-high May temperature by more than 2C.

Multiple people have died as a result of the high temperatures, including 14 people across the UK and France who drowned.

The heatwave was driven by a “heat dome”, in which warm air moving up from northern Africa has become trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe.

Experts have been quick to point out the link between extreme heat and global warming, with one saying it was “beyond a shadow of a doubt” that climate change was making such events “more likely and more severe”.

In this article, Carbon Brief examines the impacts of the heatwave and the role of climate change.

• What is happening with the May heatwave in Europe?
• What is driving the record-shattering heat?
• What are the impacts of the extreme heat?
• How has the media responded?

What is happening with the May heatwave in Europe?

Europe has been hit by “mind-bogglingly crazy” temperature records in May, according to the Financial Times, quoting Peter Thorne, director of the ICARUS Climate Research Centre at Maynooth University in Ireland. 

In London, on Tuesday 26 May, temperatures hit a record high for May of 35.1C at Kew Gardens – breaking the previous record of 34.8C, set just the day before. 

This was more than 2C above the previous May temperature high of 32.8C recorded in 1922 and again in 1944, reported the Times. 

The Associated Press added that the UK capital also recorded a rare “tropical night”, when temperatures did not fall below 20C overnight. 

The Daily Telegraph reported that Wales and Northern Ireland also saw record-high temperatures, of 27.4C in Cardiff and 23.4C in Armagh, on Sunday.

As with the UK record, these were quickly surpassed. BBC News reported that temperatures hit 32.9C in Bute Park, Cardiff and 24.5C in Thomastown, County Fermanagh, on Tuesday. 

BBC News quoted a spokesperson from the Met Office, who said:

“This heat would be exceptional in the UK even in mid-summer, let alone in May.”

The broadcaster added that the average temperature in the UK at the end of May is usually 14-20C. 

The Associated Press reported that temperature records have also fallen across Europe. 

This includes in France, where temperatures reached 36C on Monday in the country’s south-west and remained above 20C at night across much of the country. The newspaper Libération declared that “it has never been so hot, so early, in France”.

The Guardian reported that the weather agency Météo France said the heatwave could last through the week and bring temperatures as high as 39C in some areas in the country. 

As well as the UK and France, other nations have been seeing temperatures soar. France24 reported that temperatures in Spain were expected to reach 38C, with Italy also facing high temperatures. 

The Irish Times reported that the May high-temperature record was broken twice in Ireland on the same day, with 29.7C recorded in Carlow and then 30.5C at Shannon Airport on Tuesday. 

Le Monde explained that a “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa is behind the high temperatures across Europe. (See: What is driving the record-breaking heat?)

The Financial Times quoted ICARUS’s Thorne saying that the records being set in Europe, “particularly in the UK and France, are mind-bogglingly crazy”. He added: 

“We have more than 100 years of observational records. To break the all-time May record by more than 2C…is hard to comprehend.” 

Back to top

What is driving the record-shattering heat?

The immediate driver of the extreme heat seen over Europe this week is a “heat dome”, according to Politico. 

The outlet explained that the phenomenon is driven by “warm air moving up from northern Africa [that] has become trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe”. It added:

“The effect is similar to that of a lid on a pot, with warm air forced downward and baking affected regions with prolonged, blistering heat.”

Spain’s El Correo explained that the phenomenon is “not a simple heatwave”, adding that such “high-pressure systems trapped over Europe are not usually seen before summer”.

However, many publications have linked the severity of the extreme heat to climate change. The Associated Press quoted ICARUS’s Thorne, who said:

“We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that heatwave events such as this have been made more likely and more severe due to climate change arising from our emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.” 

The Guardian quoted Dr Chloe Brimicombe, a researcher at the University of Oxford, who said:

“The record-breaking heat is a reminder of how climate change is impacting our lives in the UK. It highlights the urgency of recent calls for heat adaptation.”

France’s Le Figaro described the event as an “unequivocal sign of global warming”. 

The Independent reported that the heatwave “has the fingerprints of climate change all over it”. Other outlets, including Inside Climate News and Scientific American, also covered the links between extreme heat and climate change.

BBC News noted that over the last 30 years, Europe has been warming by 0.56C per decade – more than twice the global average. 

The outlet quoted Prof Erich Fischer, professor at the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, who compared the record-breaking temperatures to setting a new record in sports.

He explained that “if someone beats a world record in high jump, you would expect them to beat it by one centimetre and not suddenly by 20, 30 centimetres”. Similarly, he said that in the case of temperature, you would expect new records to be broken by a fraction of a degree, rather than 2 or 3C.

However, the broadcaster explained that “when a relatively rare weather system, such as this week’s heat dome, comes around in a warming climate, the margin of record can be huge”.

Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of UN Climate Change, called the heatwave a “brutal reminder of the cost of global warming”, according to Politico. 

The Guardian also quotes Stiell, who said:

“The science is clear that human-induced climate change is making these heatwaves more frequent and extreme”.

Back to top

What are the impacts of the extreme heat?

The heatwave has already been linked to multiple deaths.

This included seven people in France, five of whom died by drowning and two who suffered heat-related deaths while competing in sporting events, said the Guardian.

Separately, the Guardian reported that at least nine people have died in the UK from “water-related incidents” during the heatwave.

France24 reported that “restrictions on outdoor work were imposed in parts of Italy” and that “farmers reported accelerated harvests as temperatures went beyond 30C across [south-west France]”. 

The Guardian reported that tennis players at the French Open were “forced to adjust their games while trying to find their best level through obvious discomfort”, amid 33C temperatures in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, on Monday.

CNN added that, in the UK, “a wildfire broke out near Arthur’s Seat, a hill in Edinburgh, Scotland, and hundreds of properties in south-east England were left without water as demand spiked”.

.cb-tweet{ width: 65%; box-shadow: 3px 3px 6px #d3d3d3; margin: auto; } .cb-tweet img{ border: solid 1.25px #333333; border-radius: 5px; } @media (max-width:650px){ .cb-tweet{ width:100%; } }

BBC News reported on a warning from a chief nurse that hospitals in the south-west of England were busier than usual amid the heatwave. 

BBC News reported that the UK saw a surge in emergency calls on Tuesday. The Daily Telegraph added that “Britain’s roads started melting and rail commuters were left stranded for hours”. 

Meanwhile, the Guardian reported on a warning from climate campaigners that the government “urgently” needs to start installing air conditioning units in schools and care homes.
The extreme heat has also affected Europe’s renewable energy generation. Bloomberg said that “the heat dome has blocked clouds and fueled booming solar generation”, but added that “by clearing clouds and calming the atmosphere, the heat dome has had the opposite effect on wind speeds”.

Back to top

How has the media responded?

The unseasonably high temperatures have caught the attention of news outlets in the UK, France and other affected nations. 

Often, news stories were accompanied by photos of people relaxing at the beach, eating ice cream and swimming in the sea. 

Such images of “fun in the sun” have often drawn criticism from climate researchers for “misrepresenting” the risks of heatwaves.

.cb-tweet{ width: 65%; box-shadow: 3px 3px 6px #d3d3d3; margin: auto; } .cb-tweet img{ border: solid 1.25px #333333; border-radius: 5px; } @media (max-width:650px){ .cb-tweet{ width:100%; } }

This choice of imagery – and the way right-leaning newspapers in the UK tend to focus on the positive aspects of hot weather – was highlighted by journalist and media critic Mic Wright in a Substack post. He wrote:

“Most British newspapers write about extremely hot weather with the tone of a frog in a boiling pot pretending it’s a jacuzzi.”

Despite blanket news coverage of the record heat in media outlets across western Europe, there has been relatively little commentary from their opinion pages.

No major UK newspapers have published editorials about the heat and there has been no space dedicated to it in the comment sections of the largest French and Spanish newspapers.

One exception in UK media was the Daily Mail’s climate-sceptic columnist Richard Littlejohn writing an article mocking heat-safety measures and warnings issued by the Met Office and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

In contrast, the Guardian published an article by Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London, warning of the dangers facing the UK as extreme heat becomes “the norm”. He wrote:

“We need, then, to face the fact that life in the 2050s is going to be very different from today, and act now. The sooner we recognise this and begin – as a nation – to prepare and adapt accordingly, the better we will be able to meet these enormous challenges to our everyday lives.”

Oliver Duff, editor-in-chief of the i newspaper, wrote that the UK is “emotionally underprepared”, as a nation, for the heat:

“Worries about climate change are forgotten in the giddy determination to enjoy our brief, unreliable summers, whichever month of the year they deign to visit.”

Writing in the Independent, journalist Kat Brown reflected on the Climate Change Committee’s recent advice to the UK government on adapting to climate change. She stressed the need to “take heatwaves seriously”.

James Wallace, chief executive of the charity River Action, was given a guest column in the Daily Express in which he wrote: “As the nation swelters in record-breaking temperatures, England is sleepwalking into a water crisis.”

In reference to water shortages and increasingly extreme weather, Wallace also emphasised that “this is climate breakdown in real time”.

Back to top

EM-DAT: Trump aid cuts could close database storing ‘world’s memory of disasters’

Extreme weather

|

29.05.26

Traditional models still ‘outperform AI’ for extreme weather forecasts

Climate modelling

|

29.04.26

Marine heatwaves ‘nearly double’ the economic damage caused by tropical cyclones

Extreme weather

|

10.04.26

How wildfires and storms drove insurance losses in 2025 – in three charts

Extreme weather

|

31.03.26

jQuery(document).ready(function() { jQuery('.block-related-articles-slider-block_c442f71662413c406d252e6ee0a20c13 .mh').matchHeight({ byRow: false }); });

The post Media reaction: UK and Europe’s ‘mind-boggling’ May heat and climate change appeared first on Carbon Brief.

Headline News:

• “Feared Data Center Power Surge Fizzles As Solar Shoves Coal Off The US Grid” • Fears that power-hungry data centers would trigger a surge in electricity demand across the US appear not to be coming true, at least not yet. Early 2026 data suggests the grid isn’t demanding much growth. Renewable energy is also doing well as coal declines. [The Cool Down]

Texas solar and battery system (Digitmed, CC BY-SA 4.0)

• “Nordic Coalition Urges EU To Stand Firm Against New Oil And Gas Drilling In The Arctic” • A Nordic coalition of financial institutions, trade unions, and climate scientists sent a warning to the European Commission, calling on EU leaders to maintain its existing ban on new Arctic oil and gas drilling, as the bloc revises its policy in the region. [Euronews]
• “Record Heat Has ‘Fingerprints Of Climate Change All Over It’” • Record May temperatures have sweltered huge parts of Europe, as countries remain trapped under a “powerful” heat dome. Record high temperatures in France and the UK have caused fatalities. But experts warn the worst is yet to come and this summer might be intensely hot. [Euronews]
• “15-Year Sustainable Aviation Fuel Deal For The UK’s Largest Regional Airline” • Loganair made a 15-year deal on SAF, and it did so at a good time. The SAF industry is far more expansive now than it was in the early 2000’s, when innovation in the field centered on bio-based versions of kerosene aviation fuel. Things have changed since then. [CleanTechnica]
• “TotalEnergies Files To Build 1.5-GW French Offshore Site” • TotalEnergies applied for planning permission for its 1500-MW Centre Manche offshore wind farm off the coast of Normandy. The filing comes eight months after the French State awarded the project. It marks a milestone in the development of what is called France’s largest renewables project. [reNews]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

Cement is one of the world’s most commonly used manmade materials. It is also one of the largest industrial sources of carbon dioxide; producing cement generates about 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

In a new paper in the journal ACS Energy Letters, researchers report a new kind of cement that cuts energy use by 70% and carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 98% compared with traditional cement-making methods.

The new process incorporates an electrochemical conversion step before heating the limestone to reduce the extreme heat needed later. The researchers also utilize recycled cement and concrete to further cut carbon emissions.

Making cement is an inherently carbon-intensive process. The emissions come from two routes. First, the process requires heating limestone (calcium carbonate) and silica at temperatures of over 1,450°C, the energy for which traditionally comes from burning fossil fuels.

Second, the chemical reactions themselves produce carbon dioxide. That’s because the heat converts the limestone to lime by driving off carbon dioxide. The lime then reacts with silica to form calcium silicate clinkers that are used to make cement.

 

.IRPP_ruby , .IRPP_ruby .postImageUrl , .IRPP_ruby .centered-text-area {height: auto;position: relative;}.IRPP_ruby , .IRPP_ruby:hover , .IRPP_ruby:visited , .IRPP_ruby:active {border:0!important;}.IRPP_ruby .clearfix:after {content: "";display: table;clear: both;}.IRPP_ruby {display: block;transition: background-color 250ms;webkit-transition: background-color 250ms;width: 100%;opacity: 1;transition: opacity 250ms;webkit-transition: opacity 250ms;background-color: #eaeaea;}.IRPP_ruby:active , .IRPP_ruby:hover {opacity: 1;transition: opacity 250ms;webkit-transition: opacity 250ms;background-color: inherit;}.IRPP_ruby .postImageUrl {background-position: center;background-size: cover;float: left;margin: 0;padding: 0;width: 31.59%;position: absolute;top: 0;bottom: 0;}.IRPP_ruby .centered-text-area {float: right;width: 65.65%;padding:0;margin:0;}.IRPP_ruby .centered-text {display: table;height: 130px;left: 0;top: 0;padding:0;margin:0;padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 20px;}.IRPP_ruby .IRPP_ruby-content {display: table-cell;margin: 0;padding: 0 74px 0 0px;position: relative;vertical-align: middle;width: 100%;}.IRPP_ruby .ctaText {border-bottom: 0 solid #fff;color: #0099cc;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;letter-spacing: normal;margin: 0;padding: 0;font-family:'Arial';}.IRPP_ruby .postTitle {color: #000000;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;letter-spacing: normal;margin: 0;padding: 0;font-family:'Arial';}.IRPP_ruby .ctaButton {background: url(https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts-pro/assets/images/next-arrow.png)no-repeat;background-color: #afb4b6;background-position: center;display: inline-block;height: 100%;width: 54px;margin-left: 10px;position: absolute;bottom:0;right: 0;top: 0;}.IRPP_ruby:after {content: "";display: block;clear: both;}Recommended Reading:The ultimate path to zero-emission cement may be recycled cement

 

Instead of cooking limestone and silica in a high-temperature kiln, Curtis Berlinguette and colleagues designed an electrochemical reactor that converts limestone and silica into a compound called calcium silicate hydrates. This conversion happens at a temperature of only 60°C. Then the researchers convert the hydrate to calcium silicate mineral in a kiln at 650°C, less than half the temperatures used in traditional methods.

Because of the electricity use and lower temperatures, the new method reduced the energy required by 70% compared to traditional processed. It also cut carbon emissions.

Then, the team went a step further. Instead of using new limestone, they tested their process on recycled waste cement. They found that it could also serve as a source of calcium carbonate in their electrochemical reactor to produce calcium silicate hydrate.

Using recycled cement dramatically slashed emissions, resulting in only about 20 kg of carbon dioxide emitted per ton of clinker produced, a reduction of almost 98% compared to the production of ordinary Portland cement.

The work presents a credible path for dramatically reducing the carbon footprint and increasing the circularity of one of society’s most ubiquitous materials, the researchers say.

Source: Shaoxuan Ren, Tengxiao Ji, Sabrina S. Scott et al. Electrochemical Synthesis of Calcium Silicate Hydrate for Low-Carbon Cement. ACS Energy Letters, 2026.

Image based on Getty Images for Unsplash+

Queensland’s new planning regime for large-scale renewables and battery storage remains “very messy and very complicated,” one year down the track.

The post “No sense:” One year on, Queensland’s strict renewables rules still baffle developers and councils appeared first on Renew Economy.

The odds of a new global temperature record being set within the next five years have increased further, as the return of the El Niño weather pattern could make 2027 the hottest year ever, the UN’s weather agency has warned.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)’s annual update predicts an 86% chance that at least one year between 2026 and 2030 will surpass 2024 as the warmest year on record – up from 80% in last year’s forecast.

Global average temperatures reached 1.55C above pre-industrial levels in 2024, when the last El Niño event supercharged human-made warming primarily caused by the greenhouse gas emissions generated through burning fossil fuels.

El Niño to supercharge heat in 2027

Meteorologists expect El Niño – the natural climate phenomenon characterised by unusually warm sea-surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean – to start developing as early as this month. Some forecasters say that this time around the event could become particularly powerful.

Leon Hermanson, the lead author of the WMO report, said the prediction of El Niño for the second half of 2026 “increases the chances of the following year, 2027, being the next record-breaking year”.

Researchers warn that a strong El Niño risks supercharging extreme weather conditions, contributing to more severe wildfires and droughts in some regions and storms and floods in others.

Scientists warn El Niño could intensify climate extremes in 2026

The UN agency says there is a 91% chance that the key 1.5C warming threshold will be temporarily exceeded again for at least one year between 2026 and 2030. An overshoot in a single year does not mean that the most ambitious global warming goal enshrined in the Paris Agreement has been lost. But the UN conceded last year that a “multi-decadal” breach is very likely to happen within the next decade.

Bill Hare, CEO and senior scientist at Climate Analytics, said the WMO’s warning that hotter years lie just ahead “is a result of governments’ historical failures to cut greenhouse gas emissions at sufficient scale”.

“This increases the need for investment in adaptation to extreme weather events and other impacts of climate change, and increases the loss and damage from such events facing climate-vulnerable nations,” he added in a statement on the update.

‘Astonishing’ early heatwave in Europe

Western Europe has already been gripped by an early-season heatwave this month, with countries including the UK, France and Ireland recording their hottest May temperatures ever.

“Temperatures on this scale were once exceptional even at the height of summer,” said Friederike Otto, professor of climate science at Imperial College London. “Seeing 35C in the UK during spring is absolutely astonishing, but the science is very clear – climate change makes these heatwaves hotter, longer, and far more frequent”.

She added that “temperature records will continue to tumble until we fundamentally halt global emissions and reach net zero”.

In India, extreme heat in recent weeks has also threatened mango and other crops and pushed up power demand to an all-time high as people switch on air-conditioning, while pilgrims in Mecca have conducted their rituals during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in scorching temperatures.

The post El Niño expected to bring next record-hot year as soon as 2027 appeared first on Climate Home News.

In the icy waters of the Southern Ocean, whales and other marine mammals rely on krill to survive. But as the market for human dietary supplements and animal feeds booms, and climate change reduces krill populations, scientists worry there may not be enough to go around.

Read more on E360 →

The approval of the Agrarian Jurisdiction Law represents one of the most important advances and a historic victory for the defenders of the land, the territory, and the right to live with dignity in rural Colombia.

The post With the Agrarian Jurisdiction, Social Justice Advances in Colombia appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

Workers at Sistering in west Toronto (OPSEU 540) took strike action and walked off the job on Monday.  Sistering is a 24/7 community drop-in service...

The post Striking OPSEU social service workers are fighting for their communities first appeared on Spring.

Record temperatures in spring – ‘glorious weather’ or a wake-up call?

Image by dae jeung kim from Pixabay

By Graham Petersen

The last week of May has broken temperature records in the UK. UK records hottest spring day as heatwave hits 35C

This has been overwhelmingly treated as a good news story where we can bask in weather that is ‘better’ than many exotic holiday destinations. It also came a few days after a Climate Change Committee Report ‘A Well-Adapted UK’ that highlighted the threats from heat, flooding and drought. British way of life under threat from heat, flooding and drought  – Climate Change Committee

The report is a damning indictment of the failure of successive governments to respond to these threats. In over 500 pages it identifies 14 critical systems that need urgent adaptation for survival from the severe impacts expected over the coming decades. These range from Health through to National Security. In many ways it echoes the National Emergency Briefing campaign that is a call for action based on the science. National Emergency Briefing

The recent election of Reform Party mayors and councils only serves to underline the challenge in responding to these threats. Of course it is not just Reform. Much of the mainstream media and other political parties are largely complicit in trivialising the debate and are terrified of solutions that could threaten vested interests. Nothing has shown this more than the proposal in the report that grabbed most of the headlines – a legal requirement for a maximum working temperature.

Extreme heat – Trade unions like UNISON  issued press releases welcoming this. Regulating workplace temperatures and adapting for climate change is long overdue – UNISON National Tory politicians have predictably been on TV saying, ‘it will hurt business’ and it’s not the right way to go.’ Their call for a voluntary approach flies in the face of the evidence that leaving it up to employers to decide whether they want to introduce risk control measures just doesn’t work. Employers have had plenty of opportunity to provide decent standards of protection but have failed in most cases.

Strengths of the CCC Report – One of the 14 critical systems addressed in the report is Chapter 5 Built environment and communities. This is the section of the report covers climate risks in the workplace. Given the importance of the world of work it can be argued that it should have its own section, but even limited references improve on most climate studies which often fail to reference the subject at all. The GJA has spent years commenting on government, local authority and academic reports that fail to mention workers, never mind engagement with trade unions. Chapter 16 Economy and finance is the other part of the report that has general implications for workers. This is the part that contains the recommendation that has made all the headlines – ‘Regulations can protect workers or enable coordination under changing climate conditions. Appropriate regulations may include maximum working temperatures or clear climate resilience standards. Alongside regulating, governments can support businesses by addressing market failures and providing incentives for adaptation.’ The call for a legal maximum is to be welcomed. It is now up to unions and campaigners to lobby over the details of what any future regulations should contain.

Weaknesses of the CCC Report – The CCC report predictably doesn’t contain a single reference to trade unions, and the need to engage with workers. It lacks detail on the range of workers at risk and the risks they are exposed to. For example, the report states ‘The risk of extreme heat in homes and offices is projected to be four times higher in the 2050s, than present day.’ The focus is indoors and fails to address the risk to outdoor workers. It also fails to mention air pollution anywhere in the whole report. This is unfortunate given the clear link between extreme heat and poor air quality.

In terms of standards unions could do a lot worse than those contained in the new International Labour Organisation (ILO) Report – Occupational safety and health in extreme weather events and changing weather patterns.  Adopted on 24 April following five days of negotiations with union and employer representatives, the conclusions mark the first global agreement focused on occupational safety and health (OSH) in extreme weather and changing weather patterns. Extreme weather at work: ILO tripartite experts set global OSH measures to protect workers and businesses | Human Resources Online

In the TUC Year of Climate Action unions will need to respond to the recommendations in the CCC Report. A key part of this will be getting behind the campaign for legal changes to make climate risk assessments a requirement for employers.

The GJA will be publishing a blog later this month with a detailed assessment of the CCC Report, and the opportunities for trade unions.

Further comments on the CCC Report

“This report (from the Climate Change Committee) makes clear the major risks that heatwaves, flooding and other extreme weather events pose to schools. There are already problems with overheating in the summer, made worse by the poor ventilation of many ageing school buildings and the growing frequency of extreme temperatures. There is a human cost to working in uncomfortable conditions and ultimately this results in lost learning.

“The school and college estate has been neglected over a long period of time and is not equipped to deal with the challenges posed by climate change. We are still waiting to see the DfE’s refreshed climate and sustainability strategy, and it’s vital that this includes investment to ensure schools and colleges are protected from these growing threats.” 

“It’s a stark reminder relying on non-domestic energy sources is sheer folly and leaves the UK brutally exposed to the whims of the market.” GMB  As domestic supply of fossil fuels cannot be significantly increased, and no proposals for increases would make any difference to prices, the logic of this is an increased pace of investment in solar and wind. Ed

Photo: flickr.com/photos/sasastro/

“Yet another rise in energy bills will be a kick in the teeth for the millions of people already struggling with the cost of living.

“The UK remains locked into heating and powering our homes with expensive, volatile gas, so every global energy shock sends our bills higher. Today’s forecast feels like a bad case of déjà vu that we can’t afford to repeat again, especially for those who haven’t recovered financially since the last time energy prices surged.

“If we’re to break free from our dependence on fossil fuels, then we must rapidly roll out clean, homegrown renewable energy – which is now cheaper than oil and gas – alongside insulating homes. This is how we can permanently lower bills and shield people from another energy price crisis.”

Join Us

Get in the loop! Sign up to receive future GJA Newsletters and Blogs here.

SIGN UP Join the debate

Send us your contribution to the debate. We will contact you about using it here on our News & Debate page.

Name

Email

Contribution

Submit

The post Record temperatures in spring – ‘glorious weather’ or a wake-up call? first appeared on Greener Jobs Alliance.

After the 3rd Nyéléni Global Forum in Sri Lanka in September 2025, which brought together over 500 representatives of social movements and grassroots organizations from across the world, the Common Political Action Agenda (that will guide the movement actions in the years to come is finally out.

The post The Nyéléni Common Political Action Agenda is Finally Out appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.