Climate Focus

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello!

After focusing on the myriad environment, social and governance rollbacks in the United States this week, today’s newsletter turns its attention to Europe.

This week, the European Parliament gave its backing to soften its EU CO2 emissions targets for cars and vans and reduce potential fines for automakers.

Following heavy lobbying, the European Commission proposed allowing automakers to meet the targets based on their average emissions over the period 2025-2027, rather than just this year.

EU lawmakers voted by 458 votes to 101 in favor of the change. There were 14 abstentions.

European manufacturers had warned that enforcing the targets this year could have resulted in fines of up to 15 billion euros ($17 billion), given the goals rely on selling more electric vehicles – a segment they say is lagging behind Chinese and U.S. rivals.

Critics say the auto industry has had seven years to prepare for the 2025 targets and that the 15 billion euro estimate for fines is vastly inflated.

The European Commission also wants to “slash red tape” in its energy policies, according to draft conclusions for a summit of EU energy ministers next month seen by Reuters.

The draft conclusions backed the plans to simplify more EU laws, and said this "is expected to have a profound impact on lowering the regulatory burden for companies in the energy sector and energy intensive industries while maintaining alignment with the original policy objectives."

The EU's simplification efforts have met mixed reactions so far.

Some industries have backed the plans as a boost to their competitiveness, while large companies said they offered little relief from bureaucracy, and some investors and campaigners criticized the weakening of sustainability rules as a blow to Europe's efforts to curb climate change.

The Brazilian presidency of COP30, this year's climate summit, called for new global climate governance tools to help nations implement their commitments to curb global warming, according to a letter it released. The summit, to be hosted in the Amazonian city of Belem in November, marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Accord, when signatories agreed to limit warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.

Though nations have so far committed to plans that would limit warming to around 2.6 degrees Celsius, many are struggling to get their proposals off the drawing board and to lower carbon emissions enough to stop the planet from heating to catastrophic levels.

International climate ministers meet prior to the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen via REUTERS 

New York, California and 14 other states sued U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration over claims that the federal government was illegally withholding billions of dollars awarded to states for building electric-vehicle charging stations after the U.S. Transportation Department suspended the EV charging program in February and rescinded approval of state plans pending a review.

A spokesperson for Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy did not immediately comment.

In keeping with the Trump administration, Cameron Hamilton, the acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has been ousted from his position by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after opposing calls to eliminate the agency during a congressional hearing.

Trump and Noem have been critical of FEMA and both have suggested shrinking or eliminating the agency entirely. Hamilton will be replaced by David Richardson, a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the agency.

The leadership change comes as FEMA helps states prepare for hurricane season starting June 1.

Four government departments in China jointly issued disaster prevention and mitigation plans to ensure a stable grain harvest in response to drought, high temperatures and heat damage, national broadcaster CCTV reported. The plan came as multiple areas across the country, including Henan province, which produces about one-third of China's wheat, are battling a protracted period of drought.

A U.S. appeals court ruled that Citigroup must face a revived lawsuit claiming it caused more than $1 billion of losses by orchestrating and concealing a vast fraud at the now-bankrupt Mexican oil and gas services company Oceanografia.

A three-judge panel said 30 Oceanografia vendors, creditors and bondholders adequately alleged that Citigroup substantially aided the fraud, and a lower court judge erred in dismissing the nine-year-old case.

Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a Citigroup spokeswoman, declined to comment. Juan Morillo, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, said his clients were gratified by the decision.

California fire agencies gathered for a demonstration that set a model home on fire to show the importance of fireproofing houses as part of Wildfire Preparedness Week. Firefighting personnel said they are preparing for another potentially dangerous wildfire season.

Click here or the image above for more.

Oil fields can generate wealth quickly but decline just as fast – Spindletop in 1901 sparked the petroleum era but collapsed within two years from over-extraction. Today’s oil industry is more advanced, yet even the prolific Permian Basin, which helped make the U.S. the top oil producer, shows signs it may be peaking. 

Click here for more from Reuters Breakingviews columnist Robert Cyran.

That’s the amount that Bill Gates pledged to give away via his charitable foundation by 2045 and lashed out at Elon Musk, accusing the world's richest man of "killing the world's poorest children" through huge cuts to the U.S. foreign aid budget.