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Stephen Quillen and Reuters, Al Jazeera
The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has called for gaps in global monitoring and forecasting networks to be plugged to better protect people against extreme weather events, Al Jazeera reports. A WMO report outlines that almost half of all countries lack early-warning systems for extreme weather, the outlet says, and that “weather, water and climate-related hazards have killed more than 2 million people in the past 50 years”. The WMO says 90% of these deaths occurred in developing countries, Al Jazeera notes. Reuters quotes a WMO statement saying: “Many millions of people lack protection against dangerous weather which is inflicting an increasing toll on economic assets and vital infrastructure.”
MORE ON EXTREME WEATHER
Heat records for October have been broken in several Australian states this week, the Guardian says, with authorities preparing for temperatures “above the norm” in Sydney and the country’s east coast. Agence France-Presse reports updated figures from Mexico’s government that 76 people died in “catastrophic floods and mudslides” earlier this month. 27 people remain missing, the outlet says. There is continuing coverage of Tropical Storm Fengshen in the Philippines, which the Guardian reports killed eight people and led to 27,000 being evacuated. A “rare” tornado in the suburbs of Paris has killed one person, the New York Times reports. Recovery from a recent powerful storm in Alaska could “take years”, the Guardian reports.
Bloomberg
A target of installing at least 120 gigawatts (GW) of wind-power capacity annually in China has been proposed at an industry conference in Beijing, Bloomberg reports. The proposal, which includes 15GW of offshore wind per year, would mean cumulative wind-power capacity “would hit 1,300GW by 2030 and no less than 2,000GW by 2035, compared with 520GW at the end of last year”, it adds. State-run newspaper China Daily also covers the story, reporting that “China unveiled ambitious new targets for wind power development” in a document called the “Beijing Declaration on Wind Energy 2.0”. The new targets, which cover China’s 15th five-year plan period, represent a “significant increase from the initial 2020 Beijing Declaration, which projected at least 800GW by 2030”, it adds. World Wind Energy Association vice-president Qin Haiyan tells economic news outlet Jiemian that the new declaration “aims to rally global efforts to accelerate the high-quality development of the wind-power sector, providing strong support for advancing global climate governance”. Another Jiemian article and industry news outlet BJX News also covers the news.
Meanwhile, an article by state news agency Xinhua on preparations for the 15th five-year plan notes that China “establish[ed] the world’s largest clean-power generation system” during its 14th five-year plan period. The article is republished on the frontpage of the Communist party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily. A separate Xinhua editorial also includes “establishing the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system” as a “success” of China’s 14th five-year plan period. People’s Daily publishes an article under the byline Ren Zhongping – indicating that the paper reflects the views of the newspaper’s editorial team – saying that China has become a “leader in global green development” and a “major power in tackling climate change”.
MORE ON CHINA
Chinese premier Li Qiang has convened a meeting to approve draft “ecological and environmental monitoring” regulations and discuss the importance of “developing green trade” with other countries, BJX News reports. China’s coal production dropped 1.8% year-on-year in September, while thermal power generation fell 5.4%, Bloomberg reports. The NEA calls for “phasing out” outdated coal production capacity while promoting the “clean and efficient utilisation of coal”, China Energy Net reports. China’s September power generation hit 826 terawatt-hours, up 1.5% year-on-year, with wind generation down 8% and solar generation up 21%, says BJX News. Caixin says China’s lithium-ion batteries, solar products and electric vehicle (EVs) exports grew 40% year-on-year in September. China’s clean-tech investments in Europe have “hit[] a wall” due to trade tensions and “Europe’s relatively soft EV market”, the Financial Times reports. The NEA plans to accelerate development of the “energy industry’s credit system”, according to BJX News. China has launched a new initiative for “international cooperation on green shipping corridor”, Xinhua reports.
John Ainger, Bloomberg
The EU is set to propose “stronger measures to curb emissions costs in a new and controversial carbon market”, Bloomberg reports, in a move aimed to help address price concerns. The outlet adds: “An emissions-trading scheme to cover buildings and road transport is due to kick in in 2027, but has been criticised by many member states over concerns that prices will rise sharply once it’s introduced.” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says in a letter that the EU’s climate chief Wopke Hoekstra will announce “measures limiting those increases” at a meeting later today. Bloomberg adds that a “tense meeting” is expected in Brussels this week, with leaders “debat[ing] a proposal to cut emissions by 90% by 2040”. Euractiv and Politico also report the story.
MORE ON EU
EU energy ministers have backed a proposal to phase out Russian oil and gas imports by January 2028, reports Reuters. Lower electricity prices in Spain are “denting the country’s clean-energy deals boom with a sharp decline in valuations”, according to a report covered in Bloomberg. The Guardian reports that Germany’s “dash for gas” is “raising questions over climate targets”. US secretary of state Marco Rubio has criticised the EU for supporting the now-delayed UN-backed plan to put in place a global shipping tax, the Times says. A report finds that timber imports from companies operating in the EU “can be traced to logging on Indonesia's Borneo island”, Agence France-Presse reports.
Christopher McKeon, Press Association
UK prime minister Keir Starmer is set to attend COP30 next month, the Press Association says, “despite reports previously suggesting he would skip” the UN climate summit in Brazil. Starmer’s spokesman tells the newswire that the decision is part of efforts to “restore” the UK as a “global leader for climate action and green growth”. The Financial Times notes its reporting last month about a “big fight” within government over Starmer’s attendance, “with many aides advising him to focus on domestic issues in the lead-up to the budget”. The newspaper adds that the move “draws a clear line” between Labour and the Conservatives, “with the main opposition party taking a more sceptical approach to tackling climate change under Kemi Badenoch”. Deputy leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice, says Starmer’s decision makes him “utterly unfit to govern”, the Sun reports. Reuters, BusinessGreen, the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Guardian also cover the story.
MORE ON UK
A report finds that butter, milk, beef, chocolate and coffee accounted for around 40% of UK food price increases in the past year, the Financial Times says, “with climate change rather than government policy the key driver of rising grocery bills”. BusinessGreen reports on a Royal Meteorological Society report which says that weather events are having an “increasingly significant” impact on electricity. Imported electricity accounted for a record 16% of consumption on the island of Great Britain over the first nine months of 2025, according to the Daily Telegraph, citing analysis by the Nuclear Industry Association. A jury has heard that Just Stop Oil activists sprayed Stonehenge with orange powder last year to create “maximum impact”, the Guardian reports.
Agence France-Presse
Petrobras, the oil company majority-owned by the Brazilian government, has gained permission to “drill for oil near the mouth of the Amazon”, reports Agence France-Press. The decision “casts a shadow over the country’s green ambitions” just weeks before it hosts COP30. The newspaper reports: “Petrobras said drilling in the Foz de Amazonas region would begin immediately and would last for five months, after its five-year battle to get permission to explore the area.” Brazil’s Climate Observatory NGO tells the newswire that civil society groups will challenge the decision in court, calling the move “disastrous from an environmental, climate and sociobiodiversity perspective”. The Associated Press, BBC News and Bloomberg also cover the story.
Lauren Dezenski, Hadriana Lowenkron and James Mayger, Bloomberg
Bloomberg says that US president Donald Trump and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese have signed a “landmark pact” to boost production of critical minerals in an “effort to counter China’s tight grip on the supply chains of key metals”. The outlet says: “The two governments will jointly invest in a swathe of mines and processing projects in Australia to boost production of commodities used in advanced technologies from electric vehicles to semiconductors and fighter planes.” Gracelin Baskaran, a critical minerals-focused director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tells Bloomberg that this is the “most significant bilateral minerals cooperation we have seen between two major Western countries”. Reuters says that two countries pledged to each invest at least $1bn over the next six months in mining and processing projects. The Guardian also covers the story.
MORE ON US
The backers of a proposed gas pipeline in Alaska are due to finish a “key engineering and cost study” by the end of 2025, Reuters reports. Two Democratic politicians are “demanding” details from the Trump administration on “plans to fire scores of employees from the Department of Energy”, the Hill says. The Wall Street Journal reports that companies in California are preparing to soon start reporting their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risk, but that the “rule making” has yet to be completed.
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