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Oliver Gill, The Sunday Times
The EU is “set to push back its ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by five years to 2040, piling pressure on the UK to rethink the automotive sector’s net-zero commitments”, according to the Sunday Times. The newspaper adds: “Senior industry leaders have confirmed that Brussels will revise its 2035 ban on the sale of cars powered by internal combustion engines, although the timing of the announcement is yet to be confirmed…The UK, however, has committed to outlawing the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030. The prospective EU move, which would be sanctioned by the European Commission, comes just days after US president Donald Trump reversed policies brought in by predecessor Joe Biden to encourage Americans to switch to electric vehicles (EVs). The [UK’s] Department of Transportation said it would reduce requirements on new cars that force them to increase fuel efficiency.” Reuters says that the commission “could announce a package to support the local automotive sector, including a possible watered down version of its 2035 combustion engine phase-out, on December 16, an industry source briefed on the matter said”. The climate-sceptic Daily Telegraph quotes a shadow minister saying: “For the UK to be a decade ahead of the EU in its eco-zealotry and denial of consumer choice would be complete madness.” It also quotes a UK government spokesperson saying: “We remain committed to phasing out all new non-zero emission car and van sales by 2035.” The Financial Times carries a comment piece by Jim Farley, Ford’s chief executive, under the headline: “Europe is risking the future of its auto industry. Setting unrealistic EV regulations only to adjust them when consumers do not show up is a recipe for turmoil.”
MORE ON EU
The Financial Times reports that “car doors, garden tools, washing machines and kitchen stoves will all become subject to the EU’s world-first carbon border tax as part of a hard-fought review that will also include subsidies for European exporters”.
Ananda Teresia, Reuters
The Indonesian island of Sumatra “will require 51.82tn rupiah ($3.11bn) in reconstruction and recovery funds following a series of deadly floods”, according to senior government officials quoted by Reuters. The newswire adds: “The death toll from the cyclone-induced floods and landslides reached 950 as of Monday, with 274 people still missing, according to official data. The storms also killed about 200 people in southern Thailand and Malaysia.” Bloomberg also covers the story. Another Reuters article is headlined: “'Everything destroyed' as Indonesia's Aceh grapples with disease after floods.”
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that the Indonesian government has “suspended the operations of three companies in Sumatra, saying it would probe whether their land-clearing activities helped trigger the deadly floods and landslides that killed hundreds on the island”. The outlet adds: “The government halted the operations of mining services company PT Agincourt Resources, state-owned plantation firm PT Perkebunan Nusantara III and hydropower developer PT North Sumatera Hydro Energy and ordered them to conduct an environmental audit, environment minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said in a statement late Friday. The decision came after an aerial inspection revealed a massive land clearing upstream from where the companies operated that may have increased the risks of flooding and landslides in the area.”
MORE ON EXTREME WEATHER
The Associated Press: “Wildfires destroy 40 homes and kill a firefighter in Australia.” Analysis by ABC News’s Asia editor Karishma Vyas: “Politicians in south-east Asia ignore climate change at their own political peril.” The Times has a news feature about water shortages in the south-east of England which quotes a Green party councillor: “Welcome to the world of adaptation when water needs to be pumped from one reservoir to another to compensate for hotter weather and inadequate rainfall.”
Sethuraman N R, Reuters
India does not “have any immediate plans to add coal power generation capacity beyond 2035”, according to Pankaj Agarwal, secretary at the nation’s power ministry, speaking to Reuters. He is quoted saying: "India wants to secure its energy requirements. As o[f] 2035, we want to have a coal capacity of 307 gigawatts…[It would be] premature to say what we want to do beyond 2035.” The newswire adds: “India this year proposed increasing its coal power capacity by 46% from the current 210GW while doubling its non-fossil fuel capacity of 500GW by 2030. Agarwal said the coal power plans are in line with the country's energy requirements. India, facing grid challenges due to the integration of surplus clean energy into the grid, has curbed power output for most months this year. Agarwal said the country may take a call on adding more coal capacity after taking three years to understand how power demand is growing and the speed of integration of clean energy into the grid. India should also evaluate grid challenges and the cost of storing excess clean energy in batteries and sending it to the grid before taking decisions on adding more coal capacity beyond 2035, he said.”
Separately, Reuters reports: “India's clean energy ministry on Sunday said it had not issued any advisory to pause or halt new financing for the sector. The clarification came after Reuters reported on Friday that the ministry had urged lenders to proceed slowly in financing new solar module plants because supply had exceeded demand. The clean energy ministry's letter rattled solar manufacturers in the country, with many raising concerns that the move could choke financing for the entire sector.” Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports: “India’s planned overhaul of its energy laws will effectively open its atomic power sector for new investment, according to a government minister, joining a global nuclear renaissance with a buildout worth as much as 19.3tn rupees ($214bn).”
Jillian Ambrose, The Guardian
Several UK outlets cover the news that the National Energy System Operator (Neso) will inform developers of electricity generation projects today whether their plans will be dismissed or prioritised. The Guardian says that Neso is “pulling the plug on hundreds of electricity generation projects to clear a huge backlog that is stopping ‘shovel-ready’ schemes from connecting to the power grid”. It adds: “More than half of the energy projects in the queue will be removed to make way for about £40bn-worth of schemes considered the most likely to help meet the government’s goal to build a virtually zero-carbon power system by 2030.” Reuters reports: “[Neso] will prioritise grid connection for the most viable power generation and storage projects in a huge overhaul of the system, it said on Monday, designed to root out zombie projects clogging up the process…Under the new process, projects with planning permission, land rights and alignment with national energy goals will be fast-tracked for connection. Around 3,000 grid connection applications were assessed, with 132GW identified as crucial for meeting the government's clean power 2030 target and a further 151GW needed by 2035. A further 99GW of projects seeking power from the grid, such as data centres, will also be prioritised for connection.” The Financial Times says: “The bulk of those getting connection dates in the first phase are battery projects (34.5GW), followed by offshore wind (32.1GW) and solar (29.9GW).”
MORE ON UK
The Times carries the views of the chairman of Ineos’s energy division who claims that “jobs, investment and Britain’s energy security are under threat from punitive taxes on North Sea oil and gas producers”. The Press Association reports that energy minister Michael Shanks has “hailed offshore wind as the ‘backbone’ of the country’s clean energy system as the sector marks 25 years since the UK’s first turbines were erected off the coast of Northumberland”. (See Comment below.) The Times reports that “extreme weather and disease” has helped to “make Maltesers more expensive than steak”. The Daily Mail covers new survey data showing that “an overwhelming majority of electric car drivers are happy with their vehicle and Britain's charging network”.
Xinhua
China and France have said in a joint statement that they will continue strengthening cooperation on “accelerating global renewable energy deployment”, reports Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency. The two countries will continue to “enhance communication” in areas such as “carbon pricing, climate finance, methane, carbon footprint methodologies and adaptation”, the newswire adds. The statement also says that the two sides are willing to cooperate to support developing countries in “access[ing] financing”, adding that developed countries should “take the lead in providing and mobilising climate and environmental financing” for developing countries before 2035, while encouraging developing countries to “voluntarily contribute to this global effort”. Xinhua says the two nations have also issued a statement on “nuclear energy”, in which China supports France’s proposal to triple global nuclear-energy capacity. Xiamen University professor Lin Boqiang says in state-supporting newspaper Global Times that Europe should strengthen cooperation with “major clean-energy technology and manufacturing countries”.
MORE ON CHINA
A State Council meeting chaired by Chinese premier Li Qiang has called for energy conservation and carbon reduction “at a higher level and with higher quality”, Xinhua reports. Xinhua reports that China has seen “rapid green and low-carbon energy transition” over 2021-25. Caixin reveals how acquisition of China’s largest aviation fuel distributor by oil giant Sinopec could slow “the country’s push to decarbonise air travel”. Sixth Tone covers how “extreme weather” and “climate volatility” are pushing out small-scale farmers in agriculture-focused Henan province. A comment piece by Nathaniel Mong’are in Foreign Policy: “Africa was the biggest loser of China’s COP30 triumph”. South China Morning Post: “Why China’s consumers found the hype around plant-based meat hard to swallow.”
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