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Clara Hudson, The Wall Street Journal
Health and environmental groups in the US have sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in “an effort to combat its repeal of a landmark climate finding”, reports the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper explains that the finding provides the legal foundation for federal greenhouse gas emissions regulation, on the basis that greenhouse gases are a danger to human health. The legal challenge, filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit, asserts that rescinding the endangerment finding is “unlawful” and the EPA cannot credibly claim that the two decades of scientific evidence supporting it are now incorrect, according to the Associated Press. The newswire states that “the dispute is likely to end up back before the Supreme Court, which now is far more conservative than in 2007” – referencing the year when the court first decided that greenhouse gases were “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act. The New York Times describes this as “the first shot…in the legal war” over the EPA’s decision, with Democrat-controlled states also likely to take action. [See Carbon Brief’s Q&A on the endangerment finding repeal.]
Separately, E&E News reports that a coalition of 13 Democratic states is taking the Trump administration to court for “nixing congressionally mandated funding for energy and infrastructure programmes”. The Trump administration is also facing two new federal lawsuits over its push to open up federal lands in Alaska for more oil drilling, according to the Hill.
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Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), tells the Financial Times that “fracturing in the global order” is leading to divisions between countries over global energy policy. This followed yesterday’s news that the US was threatening to quit the IEA, unless it “scale[d] back [its] climate advocacy”. Across the US, Democratic-led states are “accelerating their initiatives to cut greenhouse gas emissions” in a bid to fill the “gap” left by the Trump administration, according to the New York Times. The New York Times reports that the EPA plans to loosen restrictions on coal power plants, allowing them to emit more dangerous pollutants, such as mercury. Climate protest group Extinction Rebellion has announced it is under federal US investigation, with some of its members receiving visits from FBI agents, according to Reuters.
Rhett Ayers Butler, Mongabay
Mongabay reports that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has continued to fall into early 2026, extending a downward trend, according to the latest satellite data. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) found that 1,325 square km of forest clearing took place between August 2025 – the start of the nation’s deforestation year — and the end of January 2026, reports the outlet. It adds that this is the lowest figure since 2014, down from 2,050 square km a year earlier. Yale Environment 360 reports that this “reflects a crackdown on illicit clearing by miners, loggers and farmers under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva” and says the drop is “putting a sizable dent in Brazil’s emissions”.
Meanwhile, Brazil has lost 1,400m tonnes of soil carbon due to conversion of natural areas into agriculture, according to a Nature Communications study covered by ((o))eco. The study – carried out by Brazilian researchers – finds that, over the past 30 years, native Brazilian biomes have lost an amount equivalent to 5,200m tonnes of CO2e. The study authors estimate that “recarbonising” around one third of agricultural land in the country could help meet Brazil’s Paris Agreement climate target, which aims to reduce emissions by 59-67% by 2035, according to the outlet. The newswire Agência FAPESP adds that the climate commitment could be met through sustainable farming practices, such as crop rotation, no-till farming, integrated crop-livestock-forest and the restoration of pastures. Folha de São Paulo also covers the news.
MORE ON LATIN AMERICA
A study has found that more than 12,500 “climate disasters” hit the Amazon region between 2013 and 2023, according to a new Mongabay Latam video. Chile’s national electric coordinator has stated that the country’s electric system reached a “historical participation” of 93.5% of solar and wind energy in January 2026, reports Reporte Minero y Energético. N+ covers a new bill approved by Mexico’s lower chamber to reform two articles of the country’s general law on climate change that are linked to mobility and road safety. A commentary for La Nación by Hernán Casañas, chief executive of the conservation organisation Aves Argentinas, highlights that the “biggest losers” of climate misinformation will be the “generations that inherit the problems we choose to ignore”. As the US restricts Cuba’s imports of Venezuelan oil and “old power plants break down”, the Guardian looks at how the island nation is “betting on renewables”.
Emily Gosden, The Times
Energy prices for “most households in Britain” are set to fall by 7% from April, following the government’s cuts to green levies on bills, according to analysis by energy consultancy Cornwall Insight covered by the Times. The newspaper says that Ofgem, the energy regulator, is expected to announce a £117 reduction in the price cap on standard tariffs next week, meaning a typical annual domestic bill will drop to £1,641 a year. This follows a decision by the government to “shift the levies used to support renewable energy projects into general taxation and scrap a bill payer-funded energy efficiency scheme”, reports the Guardian. [See Carbon Brief’s summary of the key climate and energy announcements from last November’s budget.] The newspaper notes that the “rising cost of maintaining and upgrading energy networks will partly offset these savings”. It also notes that energy bills remain relatively high compared to historic levels, due, in part, to the high cost of gas. The climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph frames the story as “[energy secretary] Ed Miliband’s net-zero grid upgrades” undermining the government’s pledge to cut energy bills. The climate-sceptic Daily Mail takes a similar angle, noting that the expected savings are less than the £150 pledged last year and attributing this to “Ed Miliband's net-zero policies”.
MORE ON UK
Richard Tice, trade and energy spokesperson for the hard-right Reform UK party, tells Politico that his party would scrap the UK’s new carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) as part of a wider rollback of climate levies, if it ever took power. Bloomberg reports that UK banks are under growing pressure to demonstrate that they are not underestimating flood risk in their mortgage books as the prospect of flood damage increases. UK energy secretary Ed Miliband has defended his decision to make a clean-energy cooperation deal with California governor Gavin Newsom, after US president Donald Trump described it as “inappropriate”, according to Bloomberg. Opponents of climate action in the UK – including Reform UK and Conservative politicians – are “taking advantage of the AI boom” to criticise the government’s clean-power goals and argue that fossil fuels should be used to power data centres, reports DeSmog. The Financial Times reports that beef farmers in the UK are facing a “double blow from the changing climate” as intense rain forces them to keep cows indoors, following last summer’s drought that stopped them storing away hay for the winter. BBC News reports that renewable energy projects in Wales will need to offer local communities part of their profits if they are to be approved by a Plaid Cymru-led Welsh government, according to the party. The UK government has given the greenlight to a large new solar farm in Miliband’s own constituency in South Yorkshire, amid some opposition from local groups, according to the Daily Telegraph. The newspaper also reports on “leading British solar energy developer” Hive Energy facing the threat of administration.
Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press
The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy, creating ideal conditions for extreme wildfires, has nearly tripled in the past 45 years around the world, according to a new study covered by the Associated Press. The newswire reports that more than half of that increase can be attributed to human-caused climate change. Vox describes this as “the latest example of how humans are reshaping the nature of wildfires”. The outlet explains that “these changes have led to periods of inescapable smoke from blazes and more stress on firefighters, expanding the public health, economic and social costs of infernos”.
MORE ON EXTREME WEATHER
Reuters reports that Pope Leo highlighted a world "in flames" due to wars and the destruction of the environment during an Ash Wednesday mass, stating that ashes could signify “the ashes of entire ecosystems”. The top five coffee-growing countries, responsible for 75% of the world’s supply, are “becoming too hot to cultivate [coffee beans] because of climate breakdown”, reports the Guardian. Scientific American explains how record warmth followed by a huge snowfall led to the recent deadly avalanche at Lake Tahoe in the US.
Xinhua
The balance of China’s “green loans” rose 20% in 2025 from a year earlier, reaching almost 45tn yuan ($6.5tn), reports state news agency Xinhua in coverage of a report released by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank. The PBOC also says that the green loan balance grew at an average annual rate of 30% between 2021-2025, a much higher growth rate than lending overall, adds the newswire. It says that cumulative issuance of green bonds reached 5tn yuan ($750bn), making China “one of the world’s largest green bond markets”, according to the PBOC. The bank says that, going forward, it will “extend support to cover more areas with carbon-reduction benefits” and assist financial institutions with “orderly participation in the national carbon market”.
MORE ON CHINA
India is easing restrictions on its state-run power and coal companies to resume “limited imports” of Chinese equipment, reports Reuters. A commentary by Reuters columnist Ron Bousso says that “Chinese firms have continued purchasing US LNG”, despite trade tensions. With China having delivered its first electric container ship, the potential impact of batteries in the shipping sector “should not be underestimated”, Bloomberg columnist David Fickling says in a comment article.
Puja Das, Down To Earth
India and the UK have formed a “taskforce” to develop offshore wind projects in the south Asian nation, according to Down To Earth. The outlet notes UK experience in building offshore wind and reports that Indian renewable energy minister Pralhad Joshi highlighted his nation’s “scale, long-term demand and a rapidly expanding clean energy market”. Bloomberg reports that India is “looking to harness at least 71 gigawatts (GW) of potential energy off its coastlines”. While there has been interest in building offshore wind in India, the newswire explains that, so far, “the nation has struggled to get any project underway after the first tender in 2024 failed to attract bids”. Speaking at a launch event for the taskforce, the Hindu quotes Joshi stating that India's installed non-fossil power capacity now stands at over 272GW, including more than 141GW of solar and 55GW of wind power.
MORE ON INDIA
The Indian city of Hyderabad will be a “net-zero city” and a “model for climate-resilient urban development”, according to a state announcement reported by the Times of India. Revanth Reddy, chief minister of the Indian state of Telangana, has said that Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are facing “climate emergencies” and that there is a need for “comprehensive policy” to tackle this, according to the Indian Express.
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