This week was marked by a number of climate disasters: flooding in the US state of Texas; flash flooding following heavy rain in the US state of New Mexico; and wildfires exacerbated by high winds in Syria.
Scientists have consistently said that these supposed once-in-a-lifetime events are becoming more frequent.
But while the US government is stripping back funding for climate adaptation and preparedness, other governments are calling for a strengthened global response to climate change.
The Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, concluded on Monday. The meetings of 11 countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran, was flagged by the Brazilian government as a major staging post ahead of COP30, which it will also host later this year.
The declaration signed at the close of the summit promises a commitment to multilateralism in response to climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with nationally set goals.
But Xi Jinping, the President of China, the world’s largest CO₂ emitter, snubbed the event, the first time he has not attended a Brics summit since 2012. The absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin was unsurprising given the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against him for war crimes in Ukraine.
And progress at the summit was overshadowed on Thursday by US President Donald Trump threatening Brazil with 50 per cent tariffs due to his opposition to the trial of the country’s former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Person in the news
UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, a vocal critic of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, became the latest figure to face US sanctions. At the end of June, Albanese authored a report investigating the “corporate machinery sustaining the Israeli settler-colonial project”.
Albanese told Sustainable Views this week that financial entities like Morningstar that do not consider human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory in their ESG investments are providing “ethical cover” to “Israel’s economy of occupation”.
Morningstar responded to requests for comment by referring to a company explanation of how it had “addressed anti-Israel bias concerns” in its research.
Companies globally are being forced to contend with the ethical and reputation impacts of conflict. Sustainable Views also recently reported on how European ESG investors are getting more comfortable with defence stocks, which are now included in more than a third of ESG funds in Europe.
As defence and conflict dominate the headlines, the European Commission launched the first ever EU stockpiling strategy focused on improving access to essential goods and resources, including critical raw materials. The commission says the strategy is “vital for industry and strategic autonomy” in thee times of trouble.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, members of the European parliament adopted a resolution calling for the accelerated implementation of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, which aims to expand and diversify the supply chain of critical raw materials across the bloc.
Europe
MEPs have voted on EU vehicle recycling rules. The draft regulation would require all vehicles to be designed in a way that supports the replacement, reuse, recycling, remanufacturing or refurbishing of their parts and materials. It also proposes to introduce requirements outlining the minimum content of recycled plastic that vehicles must contain, with MEPs proposing a target of 20 per cent within six years of the rule’s entry into force, and 25 per cent within 10 years.
The European Investment Bank has announced plans to lend €150mn to the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development to support the financing of green projects by Croatian businesses. At least €45mn of this funding will be allocated to strengthen the nation’s climate and environmental action through investments in renewable energy and clean transport projects. The loan marks the first stage of a €350mn financing deal between the two institutions to improve access to financing for Croatian businesses.
Separately, the EIB has agreed to loan €143.5mn to help upgrade the district heating in Moldova’s capital, Chișinău. By modernising the city’s heating networks and distribution systems, the project aims to reduce energy use by 25 per cent, cut greenhouse gas emissions by 7 per cent and lower heating costs for consumers.
In partnership with the European Commission, the EIB Group — the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund — announced a €2.3bn funding package aimed at supporting Ukraine’s recovery. Of the total funding, €265mn will be allocated towards supporting the country’s green transition through investments to improve energy efficiency, stabilise its energy grid and raise renewable energy capacity.
On July 4 the commission adopted a proposal to streamline the application of the EU Green Taxonomy, the bloc’s framework for identifying “environmentally sustainable” economic activities. As part of the commission’s sustainability simplification package, the draft delegated act would exempt companies from assessing the taxonomy alignment of any business activities deemed “not financially material” to their operations. It also proposes to reduce the number of mandatory data points for financial companies by 89 per cent, and by 64 per cent for non-financial companies.
Continuing with its simplification agenda, the commission has published a sixth round of omnibus proposals, this time targeting the bloc’s chemicals sector. While announcing an action plan to modernise and strengthen the chemicals industry, the commission also published measures aimed at streamlining the EU’s core chemicals legislation. The package includes proposals to simplify the rules for labelling hazardous chemicals and reduce reporting obligations under the EU Cosmetic Products Regulation. It also proposes easing the rules for registering fertiliser products by aligning them with those in the bloc’s flagship chemicals regulation, Reach.
As part of this action plan, the commission has pledged to impose a “robust, science-based restriction” to limit the emissions of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, along with measures promoting a polluter-funded clean-up and support for developing safer alternatives.
Meanwhile, the commission has also adopted a delegated act that would introduce a new method for classifying low-carbon hydrogen and other fuels. Under the rules, hydrogen and its derivatives must achieve a 70 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared with fossil fuels in order to qualify as “low carbon”.
In the latest setback to the EU Deforestation Regulation, lawmakers in the European parliament have voted to reject the commission’s classification of countries by deforestation risk. The framework, published in May, categorised countries as low, standard or high risk. The objection, tabled by MEP Alexander Bernhuber on behalf of the centre-right European People’s party, argued that the classifications were based on outdated data that did “not accurately reflect the current realities in the countries concerned”. It also called for the inclusion of a fourth “negligible risk” category, reviving an earlier proposal from the party that failed to gain approval in the European parliament and the council. Environmental groups warn of further delay to the rule’s application.
UK
UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, has announced a £12mn commitment for disaster relief finance and insurance to support climate vulnerable countries. The government says the funding will unlock sustainable private sector investment opportunities for UK investors in emerging markets.
The UK public spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, has published a report updating its predictions for the fiscal costs of climate change on the UK economy and the costs of meeting the UK’s net zero targets. The UK economy could take an 8 per cent hit to GDP by the early 2070s if the climate warms by 3C, which would push up government borrowing, the report shows. Meanwhile, the OBR has lowered its estimate for the amount the UK would need to invest to reach net zero — from a cumulative government investment of 11 per cent to 6 per cent of GDP across the 25 years to 2050.
On July 9 more than 5,000 citizens and business leaders joined a “mass lobby” in London to call on 300 members of parliament to take stronger action on climate and nature. The event was staged during the same week as the second reading of the climate and nature bill (taking place on July 11).
The UK government has published an update on its electricity markets review, confirming it will not introduce zonal pricing. First proposed under the Conservative government, zonal pricing allows regions with high renewable generation to benefit from cheaper electricity prices. Renewables and utility company Octopus Energy supports the idea, but others say it could hamper investment certainty. Partner at clean energy investor LCP Delta, Chris Matson, says “the zonal pricing debate can be put to bed and industry can move forward with greater focus”.
In the update, the government confirmed the National Energy System Operator will publish a strategic spatial energy plan — outlining how energy projects will be spread out across the country — and a “reformed national pricing delivery plan” in 2026.
State-owned French energy company EDF has confirmed it will take a 12.5 per cent stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power station, which it is constructing on the Suffolk coast. The funding joins £14.2bn already confirmed by the UK government, which is taking a minority stake. Canadian investor Brookfield Asset Management is also set to become the largest single private investor in the project, according to the Financial Times. Negotiations on the private investment deal are ongoing.
UK environmental regulator the Environment Agency will receive a cash injection of £189mn during the next financial year to fund enforcement officers and improved equipment and technology to tackle water pollution, the government has announced. The funding will be provided through levies on polluting water companies under the Water (Special Measures) Act.
On July 4 energy secretary Ed Miliband greenlit the largest offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea, the Mona Offshore Wind Farm, which the government estimates could power the equivalent of 1mn homes.
US
President Trump signed an executive order on July 7 directing federal agencies to eliminate subsidies for wind and solar energy after formally signing the “one big, beautiful bill” into law on July 4. The order focuses on a threat to national security that the president says has arisen from the Inflation Reduction Act’s renewables subsidies, which have made the US “dependent on supply chains controlled by foreign adversaries”.
The Trump administration is considering opening new areas of Montana and Wyoming up to coal mining in support of the president’s push for “American energy independence”. The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management launched a public consultation on July 7 to make more land available, noting that coal produced from the Powder River Basin area in the two states accounts for more than 85 per cent of federal coal production. It has also announced the sale of new oil and gas leases in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and Utah.
The California Air Resources Board has published a set of FAQs on its upcoming corporate greenhouse gas reporting rules. The regulator is seeking public input on potential exemptions for companies whose main business is outside of California, and a number of the questions focus on the concept of “doing business in California”. Carb reconfirmed that it expects companies to report their Scope 1 and 2 emissions and their climate-related financial risk report starting in 2026.
The Supreme Court has lifted a lower court order that had frozen federal lay-offs, giving the Trump administration the green light to continue with job cuts. The decision could result in hundreds of thousands more job losses at the departments of agriculture, commerce, health and human services, state and treasury.
Americas
Canada is continuing to battle wildfires, with tens of thousands of people evacuated from their homes. Six members of Congress representing northern US states have written to the Canadian ambassador to the US, Kirsten Hillman, asking for information on how the government plans to mitigate wildfire smoke, saying their constituents have “been limited in their ability to go outside and safely breathe due to the dangerous air quality” from Canadian wildfires.
Parks Canada and the government of British Columbia have committed more than C$8mn in federal funding to support and advance ecological corridor projects, nature conservation and Indigenous stewardship in the province. Parks Canada will provide C$5.3mn and the province will contribute C$3mn.
Lobby group the Business Council of Canada has borrowed language from President Trump in a report in which it calls on the government to “unleash energy as Canada’s ‘hard power’”. The report asks Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to form an alliance with the US and Mexico, make Canada a “major supplier of critical minerals to Nato”, and streamline planning rules for new projects.
Africa
The International Seabed Authority opened Council and Assembly meetings in Kingston, Jamaica, on July 7 to discuss the need for deep sea rules, which will have implications for controversial deep-sea mining of rare earth metals.