|
Lewis Jackson, Reuters
China’s rare earth exports “fell 31% in September from August, [Chinese] customs data showed on Monday, the third straight month of declines”, Reuters reports. The newswire says that Beijing’s new export curbs on critical minerals last week have “threatened a trade truce with Washington, and the three months of declines are expected to raise questions about its agreements with Europe and the US to ramp up exports after China’s decision to restrict shipments in April triggered shortages worldwide”. Meanwhile, China’s commerce ministry has “slammed Donald Trump’s plan to impose additional 100% tariffs on Chinese exports and threatened new countermeasures”, accusing the US of “escalating tensions” between the two countries, the Financial Times reports. Another article is published by the Financial Times under the headlines: “Trump talks tough with China but holds out hope of truce in trade war.” Despite rising trade tensions, China’s overall exports “grew at the fastest in six months, far exceeding forecasts in a sign of resilience that’s giving Beijing a stronger hand in the latest dispute with the US”, Bloomberg reports. Another Bloomberg article says that “while Trump sought to cool the latest stand-off with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the episode may feed into a push by western policymakers to reduce reliance on China”.
MORE ON CHINA
The NDRC and NEA have issued a notice saying that when a “power supply-demand gap” occurs, priority should be given to allocating resources and forming prices “through market-based means”, BJX News reports. CCTV reports that as of the end of last month, the number of fuel cell vehicles in demonstration operation in China has exceeded 20,000, adding that China’s fuel cell vehicles have achieved “initial commercial application”. China’s “gas imports performed poorly last month, dropping 6.8% from August”, but coal imports rose 7.6%, reaching their highest level this year, Bloomberg reports. Meanwhile, the country’s imports of oil increased by 3.9% over the same period, according to Reuters. The Yellow River, the second-longest in China, has seen its “first flood of the year following torrential rainfall”, Xinhua reports. Bloomberg: “Europe has eight car plants too many as Chinese rivals make inroads.”
Becky Bohrer and Sarah Brumfield, The Associated Press
A person has died and two are missing in western Alaska after Typhoon Halong brought “hurricane-force winds and ravaging storm surges and floodwaters that swept some homes away” over the weekend, reports the Associated Press. More than 50 people had to be rescued, with some “plucked from rooftops”, the article adds. Speaking at a press conference, Alaska’s two US senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, said they would “continue to focus on climate resilience and infrastructure funds for Alaska”, the article notes. It quotes Murkowski as saying: “Our reality is, we are seeing these storms coming…certainly on a more frequent basis, and the intensity that we’re seeing seems to be accumulating as well, and so the time to act on it is now because it’s going to take us some time to get these in place”.
Emiliano Rodríguez Mega, The New York Times
There is continued coverage of the torrential rains that hit Mexico over the weekend, with the New York Times reporting that 64 people have been killed and 65 are missing. Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum has said that roughly 100,000 homes were affected by flooding and landslides, the article notes. It quotes Sheinbaum telling reporters:“There were no scientific or meteorological conditions that could have indicated to us that the rainfall would be of this magnitude.” The Associated Press adds that the state of Veracruz, one of the worst affected, received some 24.7 inches (62.7cm) of rain between 6-9 October.
Damian Carrington, The Guardian
Speaking at the London School of Economics, economist Lord Stern has said that “investment in climate action is the economic growth story of the 21st century”, reports the Guardian. It says Stern talked about the falling costs of clean-energy technologies and the more productive societies they enable, meaning both climate change and faltering economic growth can be tackled simultaneously. Regarding fragile geopolitics and US president Donald Trump, the newspaper quotes Stern saying: “I’d point out to him that his place in Florida is going to be extremely vulnerable to more intense hurricanes, sea level rise and storm surges. The people and places he loves are under severe risk.” Separately, the Guardian reports on an interview: “Mary Lawlor, UN special rapporteur for human rights defenders, accuses US, UK and other governments of paying lip service to climate goals while criminalizing activists.”
Rachel Millard, Financial Times
A UK government energy efficiency scheme has been “blighted by ‘unacceptably poor’ work that has damaged people’s homes”, the Financial Times reports. It continues: “98% per cent of all external wall insulations fitted under the Energy Company Obligation scheme since 2022 need corrective work, as does 29% of the internal wall insulation, according to the results of sample audits.” BBC News reports that the National Audit Office (NAO) found the scheme, set up by the previous government, had left homes with problems that will lead to damp and mould if unaddressed. The Guardian quotes Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, who said: “The report reveals a system that has let cowboys through the front door, leaving thousands of victims living in misery and undermining public trust in efforts to tackle the cold, damp homes crisis facing many households.” Sky News, Bloomberg and others all have the story.
MORE ON UK:
A Guardian investigation has found that “towns may have to be abandoned due to floods with millions more homes in Great Britain at risk”. BBC News reports on a “century-old ship sail technology” that is catching on as the shipping sector looks at ways to improve fuel efficiency and reduce climate impacts.
Julie Steinberg, Gill Plimmer and Jim Pickard, Financial Times
The UK government is to amend its planning and infrastructure bill in an effort to overcome “blockers” to the development of infrastructure, including windfarms, reports the Financial Times. The bill has been “wending its way through parliament for months but is reaching its final stages, with it likely to receive royal assent by next month”, the article notes. The Guardian reports that the amendments are expected to be confirmed today by chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of the upcoming budget. It says the changes are designed to “mak[e] it easier to build new windfarms, reservoirs and large housing developments”. It adds that the changes include reducing the role of Natural England in minor application decisions and “freeing up developers to build turbines near seismic sensors in southern Scotland”. The Times says that other reforms to the bill include allowing developers to pay to offset the environmental damage they cause, as well as “making it harder for councillors to stop smaller developments and easier for the government to compulsorily purchase land”.
MORE ON UK ENERGY
The Press Association reports that Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey will use a speech later today to “call on the energy sector ‘to take on the lies’ put forward by Reform UK and the Conservative Party, who claim that clean-power policies will cost UK billpayers more money”. The Daily Express covers comments regulator Ofgem’s CEO Jonathan Brearley is expected to make at an event today, about how the energy system must change to meet the needs of future customers. There is continued coverage of Greenpeace’s threat to sue the Crown Estate over its impact on the cost of offshore wind in the Guardian, BusinessGreen, the Independent, the Times and others. The Guardian reports that Richard Tice, deputy leader of the hard-right populist Reform UK has “admitted the party cannot deliver the £90bn in tax cuts promised in its manifesto”, but said that if the party were elected, it would concentrate on “cutting [the] civil service and scrapping net-zero”. The Times says the party’s leader Nigel Farage will “abandon…big plans for tax cuts”, but will instead focus on other areas, including a “pledge to drive growth and lower energy costs with a programme of investment in part-nationalised nuclear power plants”. It quotes Farage saying: “Our commitment to ending net-zero policies, benefits for foreigners and wasteful behaviour by the Bank of England remains firm. We will bring back the biggest taxpayers, encourage businesses – especially small ones – and produce our own oil and gas.”
|
