World
US Republican mayors pursuing climate policies undercover
Study shows that while Republican mayors are unwilling to join climate coalitions, they and their voters favour action on emissions
Trump has damaged the Paris Agreement, say its architects
One year on from Donald Trump’s announcement he would withdraw the US from the UN climate pact, leading figures assess the “dire consequences”
Canada oil pipeline buyout ‘subsidising a market failure’
Nationalisation of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline breaches a G7 commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, say analysts, ahead of leaders summit
Global funds back desert solar to bring power to 250 million Africans
Desert to Power project aims to expand solar power across the Sahel region, where electricity access remains critically low
US cities sue Big Oil, but ignore their own climate guilt
Rich cities and counties claiming reparations from oil companies increases the inequality at the heart of climate change. But it can be fixed
Netherlands climate lawsuit goes to court of appeals
Urgenda and 900 citizens successfully sued in 2015 for stronger Dutch climate ambition, but the government is challenging the court’s right to rule on policy decisions
Other countries ‘highly unlikely’ to replicate US shale gas boom, says UN report
Fracking transformed US energy production, but Europe and the rest of the world will struggle to repeat the trick, finds global report
EU taken to court over 2030 emissions target
Ten families from around the world and an indigenous Swedish youth association are suing European institutions for stronger climate action to protect their rights
Norway at loggerheads with DR Congo over forest protection payments
International donors have frozen funding to conserve the world’s second largest rainforest, with the DRC environment minister said to have gone “rogue”
US launches nuclear initiative to cut carbon with Canada, Japan, UK
While the Trump administration generally avoids discussion of climate change, it is participating in a coalition to promote “clean, reliable” nuclear power
EU energy chief flies to Tehran to talk gas supply, as US sanctions loom
As companies withdraw from deals involving Iran, fearing US sanctions, the EU scrambles to preserve growing energy cooperation
German coal phase-out commission to balance jobs with climate
Leaked strategy paper leads on jobs and calls for environmental concerns to be ‘harmonised’ with economic development
Indian authorities claim progress in campaign to end heatwave deaths
After nearly 200 die in extreme weather, national disaster agency reiterates zero-mortality goal and says toll could have been higher without action plans
London’s ‘light touch’ regulatory hub for African oil ventures exposed
DeSmog UK investigation finds secretive companies using UK’s Alternative Investment Market to raise finance for new oil and gas projects
Fears for post-Brexit climate laws as UK green watchdog plans revealed
Post-divorce environment body will not enforce climate change regulations, says proposal, but UK lacks direct replacement for EU institutions
Rich world faces questions on who will replace US climate cash
‘We need to ask developing countries how to address that gap,’ says G77 chair, calling for concessions on climate finance to unlock stalled talks
Fossil fuel companies should be part of UN climate process, says top Polish official
Tomasz Chruszczow said calls to exclude organisations from talks based on a conflict of interest test were not ‘very useful’
German renewables meet 100% of power demand for second time ever
Preliminary data suggests that renewable supply alone met demand for about two and a half hours on a sunny, windy public holiday on Tuesday
Russia fumes as US raises Crimea occupation during climate talks
Western allies say Russia is using UN climate talks to ‘normalise’ its claim to the peninsula, while Russia accuses them of politicising the delicate process
Seven member states push for EU to raise climate targets
Germany, France and Sweden are among the countries advocating a faster transition to a clean economy, in a critical year for strengthening ambition