Climate Change

Forecasters warned residents to limit strenuous outdoor activity and stay hydrated as large swaths in central and south Texas were sweltered by a spring heat wave for the second consecutive day on Thursday. The National Weather Service issued heat advisories for 15 Texas counties spanning from the Rio Grande, Texas Hill Country and Gulf of Mexico. Temperatures were rising 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal (8 to 11 degrees Celsius), with readings in the upper 90s and triple digits Fahrenheit. Heat-index values were expected in central Texas, which includes San Antonio and Austin. The heat index in Laredo, on...

Democratic lawmakers harshly criticised the chief executives at BlackRock, JPMorgan, and other top financial companies for leaving global coalitions dedicated to combating climate changes. They urged them to maintain their previous commitments, and policy targets to reduce greenhouse gas emission. A letter sent to executives by members of Congress revealed that, in the face of increasingly severe weather and financial risks, their bosses "actively" decided to relinquish leadership over climate change. The letter sent on Thursday also requests records of any communications between the executives and the Trump administration about plans to reduce their environmental and social work. It said:...

FEWS NET, a global hunger monitor backed by the US, provided crucial data FEWS NET is now operating with reduced capacity Early warning alerts from FEWS NET helped to direct targeted aid Nelson Renteria & Nita Bhalla Treminio, armed with the public bulletins as well as regular alerts on food security produced by the Famine-Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), would pass the crucial data to farmers. It was funded by USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. Since President Donald Trump's January order to freeze USAID spending, it has operated at a drastically reduced capacity. It's a vital...

After being sued by environmental and farm groups, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has restored some climate change related webpages it had removed since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Trump's administration has frozen or canceled funding for climate-friendly farming, claiming that the work is not in line with its priorities. About 11% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to agriculture. According to a lawsuit filed by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York on February 24, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group, a USDA official instructed staff to remove any pages focused on...

Adam Schiff, a Democratic Senator from California, urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and acting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration secretary on Tuesday to restore a disaster database tracking U.S. disasters worth billions of dollars. He said that its removal prevented legislators, insurance companies and tax payers from seeing the rising cost of natural disasters as well as planning for future extreme events. NOAA announced that it would remove the "billion dollar weather and climate catastrophes" database "in line with evolving priorities", the latest example of how the agency has ended ongoing scientific datasets. Schiff, who represents California in the Senate,...

U.S. House lawmakers laid out plans on Sunday to phase out key clean energy tax credits, as well as slash billions in spending related to electric vehicles and renewable energy, fast-track gas exports and claw back unspent climate-related funds as part of the Republicans' attempt to pass a multi-trillion-dollar budget to carry out President Donald Trump's agenda. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has drafted a proposal that will be voted on on Tuesday. It would generate $6.5 billion by repealing climate-related portions of the massive Inflation Reduction Act legislation of the Biden Administration. The bill would repeal important...

JP Morgan has strengthened its green finance advisory and offering in Europe by appointing a new division leader to support clients on renewable energy and green technologies. An internal memo viewed by us on Thursday stated that the Wall Street lender promoted Kai-Christian Nerger into the newly created position of head of green economic banking for Europe in its global corporate banking division. Nerger has worked at JP Morgan more than 10 year and will now lead a team that helps the bank's European customers reduce their carbon emission levels, as well as benefiting from the growth opportunities available in...

Environmental groups have criticized comments made by the Tennessee Valley Authority's head, who said that the utility's coal-fired plants would continue to run after the planned 2035 shutdown. TVA's CEO Don Moul stated last week that TVA was evaluating the executive orders signed last month by President Donald Trump that sought to save coal plant that were likely to close, reduce regulations on coal plants and reduce barriers for coal mining. Moul, after a financial quarterly call last week, said: "We're re-evaluating our end-of life study on our coal fleet. We are also taking a close look at our asset...

Wildfire season in Canada has started. Officials from the province of British Columbia, located at the west-most tip of the country, have warned that the risk of fires will increase over the next few weeks. B.C. B.C. The warning stated that unseasonably dry, warm and windy weather conditions can create a high fire risk. The fire that was out of control on Friday spanned 56 ha (138 acres), and it was located just north of Fort St. John, in the northeastern part of the province. The fire forced some residents to evacuate the city on Thursday night, but they were...

Two major U.S. science associations called on Friday for submissions to a special compilation that would have fed the National Climate Assessment. This comprehensive report about climate change impacts in the United States was effectively cancelled by the Trump Administration. The American Geophysical Union, the largest association of Earth scientists and space scientists, and the American Meteorological Society, called for this research in an effort to "maintain momentum" with the sixth NCA whose 400 authors were fired by the Trump Administration last week. The two organizations stated that the new collection would not replace the NCA, but rather create a...

Three people who attended the meeting said that the board of the U.S. Export-Import Bank voted to reverse a long-standing restriction on lending for coal projects abroad. This reflects President Donald Trump's agenda, which calls for increased domestic coal mining and exports from the United States. The vote came less than one month after President Donald Trump issued an executive directive aimed at revitalizing the U.S. Coal Industry. This included a measure that directed Ex-Im to provide facilities for coal developers. The federal bank that finances overseas projects had tried to take climate change into account in its investment decisions...

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to revoke the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of California’s plans for a growing number of zero emission heavy-duty trucks. The House also voted on repealing an EPA waiver granted in December by former president Joe Biden to California's "Omnibus", low-NOx regulations for heavy-duty highway vehicles and off-road engines. Separately, the U.S. House will vote on Thursday against California's historic plan to stop selling gasoline-only cars by 2035. This plan has already been adopted by eleven other states. The EPA granted a waiver for the plan under the Clean Air Act in December....

China warned on Friday of a high-risk of hot, dry winds between Monday and Thursday, which could cause damage to winter wheat crops, especially in Henan, a major wheat-growing region known as "the granary" for the country. The China Meteorological Administration has predicted that temperatures will exceed 40 degrees Celsius during this period. CMA warns that extreme heat and wind could cause wheat to grow too quickly and disrupt the filling process. Henan will produce about 27% (or more) of China's total output of wheat in 2024. Harvesting usually begins around late May. China could increase its wheat imports if...

The European Parliament has cleared the way for a rapid approval of EU CO2 emission targets for cars and vans, which will give automakers more time and reduce potential fines. European automakers warned that failing to meet existing targets this year could lead to fines up to 15 billion euro ($17.0 billion), as the goals depend on selling more electric cars, a segment in which they are behind their Chinese and U.S. competitors. After heavy lobbying by automakers, the European Commission has proposed that they meet their targets using the average emissions for the period of 2025-2027 rather than this...

Scientists said that climate change made the worst wildfires ever seen in South Korea twice as likely. They also warned that such disasters may become more common if temperatures rise. The fires that raged in the southeast of the country lasted for almost a week. They killed 32 people and destroyed around 5,000 structures before being brought under control at the end of March. The fires spread over 104,000 hectares (257,00 acres), which is nearly four times as much land as South Korea's worst fire season of 25 years ago. After combining observations with climate models, a 15-member team from...

According to a termsheet seen by, China has set final price guidance for green bonds with a three-year and five-year maturity to raise 825 million yuan. The term sheet stated that the price guidance for a three-year bond was 1.88%, and the price guide for a five-year tranche was 1.93%. The green bond issued by China's Ministry of Finance is the first of its type by China in an overseas market. The Chinese finance ministry was not immediately available for comment after regular business hours. According to a termsheet, the initial price guidance for Wednesday was that the bond would...

The bank announced on Wednesday that MUFG, a Japanese bank, has appointed its first Chief Sustainability Officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa to help clients become more sustainable. Stephen Jennings is a veteran energy and renewables financier with 24 years of experience. He will now be the chief sustainability officer for EMEA in addition to his existing roles as head of EMEA energy structured finance and head of EMEA sustainable business division. The appointment comes just weeks after MUFG resigned from a UN Climate Alliance that helped banks develop policies to reduce their carbon footprint. In recent months, the...

China will finalise the long-awaited global green sovereign bonds on Wednesday. This is expected to mark the beginning of a series that will increase its market share at a crucial time. The signal was sent to indicate that the vehicle was ready Last month Top Chinese Finance Ministry officials laid out the detail at a meeting in London with investors on Tuesday. The 6 billion yuan bond ($825 millions) is scheduled to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. Green bonds have grown to a market value of $3 trillion over the past few years. China's state-run firms have made...

The size of the wildfires raging across South Korea on Thursday doubled from the day before, with authorities calling the fires the worst natural disaster in the country. At least 26 people were killed and ancient temples destroyed. The largest fire that started in central Uiseong County has burned or is still burning more than 33,000 hectares (81,500 acres). This makes it the largest forest fire in South Korea history. The previous record for a fire in March 2000 was 24,000 ha (59,000 acres). Han Duck-soo, acting president of South Korea, told a government meeting that the rapid spread of...

Official data released in march showed that China's glacier areas have shrunk 26% due to global warming. 7,000 small glaciers have disappeared completely, and the glacial retreat has intensified in recent years. According to a UNESCO study, glaciers are disappearing more quickly than ever. The largest glacial mass losses on record occurred in the past three years. Environmental groups warn that the shrinking of important water towers will lead to a greater competition over water resources. The retreat of the glaciers also presents new disaster risks. China's glaciers can be found mainly in the north and west of the country....

Wildfires raged in the southeast region of South Korea on Tuesday. They threatened a World Heritage site and forced thousands more residents out of their homes. A city official and a text message alert informed residents of Andong's 150,000-strong population to move to safer areas. Officials said that the fire is currently located about 10 kilometers (6.21 miles), from Hahoe. Authorities designated counties affected as'special disaster areas'. Wildfires continue to burn in the region, causing death. Since Saturday, when fires broke out across several regions, fuelled by dry weather and strong winds, at least four people were killed and hundreds...

A study commissioned by WaterAid on Wednesday showed that the weather in many of the most densely-populated cities around the world is changing from droughts to flooding and back again, as rising temperatures disrupt the global water cycle. Researchers found that South and Southeast Asia are experiencing the most wet weather, while Europe and the Middle East, as well as North Africa, are getting drier. The study was based on 42 years' worth of data from over 100 of the largest cities in the world. Michael Singer, Water Research Institute at Cardiff University and one of the study's authors, said...

David Lammy, British Foreign Minister, said that Britain and the Philippines are committed to an international order based on rules. Lammy, on an official visit to the Philippines, said that both countries had stood together, supporting Ukraine, and promoting a free, open Indo-Pacific. Lammy and his Philippine counterpart said at a press conference that they were charting a course for their relationship in the face of global instability. They also emphasized that it was important to strengthen ties with other like-minded countries, such as the Philippines. The Philippines and Britain have signed a framework agreement for enhanced cooperation in multiple...

In a small workshop in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, goldsmith Nadja Kreutzmann polishes stones and metals mined on this vast island rich in minerals. Her jewellery is decorated with Inuit symbols for life and survival. Indigenous identity in Greenland is resurging ahead of the March 11 general elections called by U.S. president Donald Trump after he said he wanted Greenland to be his. Trump's interest in Greenland has shaken up the status quo. This, coupled with growing Inuit pride has led to some locals viewing the vote as an historic opportunity to free Greenland of Danish influence. Greenland is...