China Briefing 2 October 2025: China’s new pledge; electricity demand slows; steel overcapacity
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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 China’s first-ever pledge to cut emissions NEW CLIMATE TARGETS: In a video address to the UN last week, China’s president Xi Jinping personally pledged to cut […]
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Looking for an African perspective on the ICJ’s Climate Advisory Opinion
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Africa has the lowest per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of any region in the world but is already facing widespread and devastating climate impacts. Despite contributing so little and suffering so much, the continent receives only a very small proportion of global climate finance and […]
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Climate Governance under the London Convention and Protocol: Due Diligence and Environmental Impact Assessments
Introduction We are at a moment of profound development in understanding how international law applies to climate change. Recently issued advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), and regional human rights courts have clarified country obligations, under international law, to mitigate and adapt […]
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Antarctic sea ice winter peak in 2025 is third smallest on record
Antarctic sea ice has recorded its third-smallest winter peak extent since satellite records began 47 years ago, new data reveals. Provisional data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) shows that Antarctic sea ice reached a winter maximum of 17.81m square kilometres (km2) on 17 September. This is 900,000km2 below the 1981-2010 […]
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Observers respond to Labour’s fracking announcement
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Climate protest in Central London in March 2015 (image credit: John Gomez / Shutterstock). Energy secretary Ed Milliband has announced plans to bring forward legislation that will raise political and procedural barriers against any resumption of fracking, one of the clearly signalled policy priorities of Reform UK. He told attendees at the Labour Party Conference […]
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Biomethane fuel critical to decarbonise the maritime industry, says World Biogas Association
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Biomethane fuel a critical component to decarbonise the maritime industry and meet climate targets, says World Biogas Association in position paper Ahead of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)’s expected formal adoption of new Net Zero regulations next month, the World Biogas Association (WBA) has published a position paper for the maritime industry highlighting how biomethane […]
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Over half of all brownfield sites could be built on rapidly
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CPRE is calling on the government to set more ambitious and enforceable targets for both affordable and social homes on shovel-ready brownfield sites. New research from countryside charity CPRE appears to reveal that over half of brownfield sites had full or in-principle permission in 2024. The UK’s huge supply of brownfield land should be the […]
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Cooperation Without Justice? On the Elusive Differentiation of Responsibilities in the ICJ’s Climate Advisory Opinion
Climate change is both a global crisis that binds humanity to a shared fate – a “common concern for humankind” – as well as the revealer of historical inequalities on the international stage, rooted in colonial legacies. Every country is vulnerable to the destabilization of the climate system and must adopt mitigation and adaptation measures. […]
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Startup turns captured CO2 into everyday cleaning ingredients
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Personal and home care products containing Viridi’s Vireya surfactant ingredient. A UK firm has announced the world’s first commercial anionic surfactant1 produced using captured CO2 as a principal feedstock. Announced on 30 September, Viridi’s new surfactant seems a significant breakthrough in advancing the sustainability credentials of this class of chemicals, used in most soaps, shampoos, […]
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Emissions from Scotland’s largest industrial facilities down nearly a quarter since 2019
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Grangemouth refinery Greenhouse gas emissions from Scotland’s largest industrial facilities fell by almost a quarter in the past five years, according to new figures published on 30 September by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). The Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI) shows emissions, measured in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), were 23.5% (2.86 megatonnes) lower in […]
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Former Aberdeen landfill to be redeveloped as home to solar power and hydrogen project
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Artist’s impression of the solar farm on the former Ness Landfill site, located on Coast Road in Aberdeen, adjacent to Nigg Bay. A historical landfill site is to be redeveloped to create a solar farm as part of the first phase of a green hydrogen infrastructure initiative being delivered by bp Aberdeen Hydrogen Energy Limited […]
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Webinar: Experts discuss what China’s new climate pledge means for the world
Chinese president Xi Jinping, in an unexpected video address at the UN, announced last week that China will aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions 7-10% below peak levels by 2035. The target was one of several new pledges that will be included in China’s 2035 nationally determined contribution (NDC), which China has yet to reveal […]
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Responding to the climate impact of generative AI
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In part 2 of our two-part series on generative artificial intelligence’s environmental impacts, MIT News explores some of the ways experts are working to reduce the technology’s carbon footprint. The energy demands of generative AI are expected to continue increasing dramatically over the next decade. For instance, an April 2025 report from the International Energy Agency predicts […]
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Analysis: Great Britain has run on 100% clean power for record 87 hours in 2025 so far
Electricity demand on the island of Great Britain has been fully covered by the output of clean-energy sources for a record 87 hours in 2025 to date, new Carbon Brief analysis shows. This is up from just 2.5 hours in 2021 and 64.5 hours in all of 2024, ahead of the government’s clean-power target for […]
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Friendly soil fungus could replace chemical sprays in battle against crop diseases
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A common soil fungus could help farmers reduce their reliance on synthetic fungicides, new research suggests, by producing natural airborne chemicals that suppress devastating plant diseases. Scientists at Rothamsted Research, along with partners at the universities of Warwick and Exeter, have found that Trichoderma hamatum — a fungus already known to protect plants — releases […]
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YEA! 2025 Updates
Hello! My Name is Athena Geer, and I am the Youth Climate Justice Coordinator here at Climate Generation. I get the honor and immense privilege of co-facilitating our Youth Environmental Activist Program (YEA)!. YEA! is a network for and by young people. From weekly programming to our annual Youth Climate Justice Summit (YCJS), the leaders […]
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DeBriefed 26 September 2025: China leads new climate pledges; Trump calls warming a ‘con job’; What comes next
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week China’s new climate pledge GUTERRES DEMANDS: UN secretary general António Guterres hosted a special climate action summit in New York on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported, alongside the closing day of the UN general assembly. It added […]
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Analysis: Half of global emissions covered by 2035 climate pledges after UN summit in New York
Half of global greenhouse gas emissions are now covered by a 2035 climate pledge following a key UN summit this week, Carbon Brief analysis finds. China stole the show at the UN climate summit held in New York on 24 September, announcing a pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 7-10% below peak levels by […]