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Matthew Daly, The Associated Press
In the “latest action to undo Biden-era regulations on climate change”, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed repealing a rule that requires some public companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and the risks they face from global warming, says the Associated Press. The newswire adds: “The climate-disclosure rule has been on hold since last year, after the Republican-led commission said it was pausing its legal defense after legal challenges by business groups and Republican state attorneys general. The SEC said in a statement that it is now moving to rescind the disclosure rules ‘in their entirety because they exceed the scope of the agency’s statutory authority’.”
The Hill says the “move is not a surprise”, adding: “Last year, the SEC voted to stop defending the 2024 rule against court challenges. Since that time, the litigation has been put on pause while the commission reconsiders the rule.” The New York Times says the move is a “victory for a range of business interests that had lobbied to kill or weaken the regulation, including airlines, oil and gas drillers, farmers, retailers and truckers”. It adds: “It [is] a blow to climate activists and some corporations that had embraced environmental, social and governance principles, known as ESG, in recent years…The SEC will solicit public comments on the proposed rollback for 60 days. Then the agency will finalize the proposal, likely within the next year or two.”
Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that California air regulators have approved a “contentious overhaul of the state’s carbon market, creating a programme that could steer billions of dollars in free pollution permits to oil refineries and other major polluters over the objections of environmental groups, key lawmakers and three of the board’s own members”.
MORE ON US
Inside Climate News: “Why wildfire experts are so worried about this year's fire season.” Politico says the “Trump administration is approaching the hurricane season with the smallest disaster workforce since 2021 and that experts are “holding their breath”. CNN adds there are “power struggles and paralysis” inside the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as “storm season approaches”. Agence France-Presse: “In Colorado, Trump cuts to climate research take toll.”
Bloomberg
China says it will “resolutely” retaliate if the EU “proceeds with new restrictive trade measures”, according to a statement released by China’s commerce ministry on Saturday, reports Bloomberg. The response follows preliminary EU meetings on Friday to address a “flood” of cheap Chinese imports that have undercut “numerous” European industries, including the clean technology sector. The commerce ministry also said that China and the EU are discussing the “establishment of a trade and investment consultation mechanism”, reports state news agency Xinhua. The New York Times says that “cutting back on China could prove profoundly tricky for Europe”, adding that China’s trade imbalance with the EU reached record levels early this year as electric vehicles (EVs) flooded in. State-run newspaper China Daily publishes an editorial saying that negotiations between China and the EU on Chinese-made EVs demonstrate that “dialogue can produce practical solutions; trade weaponisation cannot”. An editorial by the state-supporting Global Times says that excluding Chinese suppliers will weaken the EU’s “green transformation”.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that the first batch of Chinese-made EVs is beginning to arrive in Canada at a tariff rate of around 6% under a new arrangement that prime minister Mark Carney agreed to in January during a visit to meet Chinese president Xi Jinping. China Daily quotes Kate Logan from the Asia Society’s Policy Institute saying that addressing climate change and cooperating on clean technologies can help the “new phase of constructive strategic stability to last long”. Xinhua reports that the world expects the two countries to “strengthen cooperation” on issues including climate change.
MORE ON CHINA
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has called for building a “fair, reasonable and win-win global climate governance system”, reports Xinhua. Nauruan president David Adeang says he hopes the rest of the world can “look to and learn from China” in addressing climate change, reports Xinhua. Bloomberg: “China sells $885m of green bonds in Hong Kong debut.” BJX News reports that China’s State Council has called for the “scaled-up” development of green buildings and low-carbon buildings. China’s NDRC has called for ensuring “stable electricity generation and supply” during the summer, reports BJX News. It also urges efficient “interprovincial electricity transfers and mutual support”, according to China Energy Net. Reuters: “China expects El Niño weather effects to peak in autumn and winter.”
Yann Tessier and Sam Tabahriti, Reuters
There is continuing coverage of the extreme heatwave that hit the UK last week, with Reuters reporting that “thousands of households in south-east England were left without water” as “high demand followed a dry spring to expose the failings in Britain's ageing infrastructure”. The newswire adds: “Britain, like much of Europe, has been hit by a heatwave…stoking demand for water, while well-below-average rainfall levels in March and April left some reservoirs under pressure, according to the Environment Agency.” The Guardian has a feature on “Britain’s unequal heatwave”, leading with the quote from a London commuter: “That’s why we work in finance – so one day we can afford air-con.” The Daily Telegraph reports on the “battle to stop Britain burning”, saying that “faced with warming temperatures, the country’s wildlife and vegetation is threatened by destructive fires”. The i newspaper claims “extreme heat is putting the UK at risk of blackouts as the grid struggles to cope with soaring temperatures”. Another article in the i newspaper sits under the headline: “36C classrooms are coming and they will make pupils fail exams.” The Times says: “Dim the sun to tackle climate change? Fine by us, public suggests.”
MORE ON UK
The Times reports that “British taxpayers could have to pay £300m to a company behind an aborted coalmine [in West Cumbria], in a legal case MPs have branded an ‘outrage against common sense’”. BBC News: “London to miss 2030 net-zero target, mayor admits.” Wes Streeting’s interview with the Sunday Times – in which the former education secretary, who would compete in any Labour leadership contest, says he is in favour of issuing North Sea drilling licences – is picked up by outlets such as the Guardian and BBC News. The Sunday Times: “Andy Burnham the ‘interventionist’? Not worried, says energy giant.” The Spectator has an “exclusive” claiming that “Keir Starmer is planning a major intervention on electricity, to be announced in the coming weeks”. The climate-sceptic Mail on Sunday carries the views of the “boss of the UK's last aluminium smelting plant” who attacks “Ed Miliband's net-zero policies”.
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