Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.  An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week Coral mass bleaching FOURTH MASS BLEACHING: US government scientists confirmed that the world is facing its fourth mass coral bleaching event, which is on track to be the “most extensive on record”, the Guardian reported. Mass coral bleaching is a phenomenon of the climate change era, first occurring in 1998, the story said. It added that 54% of ocean waters with coral reefs have experienced heat stress high enough for bleaching.  BARRIER BREACHED: The Great B ..read more

Welcome to Carbon Brief’s China Briefing. China Briefing handpicks and explains the most important climate and energy stories from China over the past fortnight. Subscribe for free here. Key developments China pushes back on US and EU ‘overcapacity’ complaints ‘FAIR’ COMPETITION: German chancellor Olaf Scholz and US treasury secretary Janet Yellen have visited China in the past fortnight, amid concerns regarding China’s dominance in clean-technology supply chains. Scholz commented in Shanghai that “competition must be fair” and, “in other words, that there is no dumping, that there is no ..read more

Hundreds of millions of Indians will head to the polls from 19 April to 1 June amid scorching heat to cast their votes in the world’s biggest elections. Their decisions could have significant consequences for how – or even if – India meets its climate goals and adapts rapidly to now almost daily extreme weather impacts.  Over the past decade, the Narendra Modi-led Indian government has been projected and perceived as a climate leader internationally: from his COP26 speech in Glasgow committing India to net-zero by 2070 through to his G20 presidency last year where he announced a renewable ..read more

The UK government has reclassified nearly £500m of aid for war-torn and impoverished countries as “climate finance”, in a bid to meet its international commitments under the Paris Agreement. This follows reports that the UK’s pledge to spend £11.6bn on climate aid between 2021-22 and 2025-26 is slipping out of reach, due to government cuts. A freedom-of-information (FOI) request by Carbon Brief reveals how, after the reclassification, money for humanitarian work in nations including Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia is now being double-counted as climate finance to help the UK hit its goal.  ..read more

Cold-blooded sea creatures seeking refuge from warming ocean waters may find themselves at increasing risk of deadly cold shocks due to changes in ocean currents, new research warns.  Climate change is pushing species to higher latitudes in an attempt to stay within their range of comfortable temperatures, but this migration can come with unforeseen consequences. The new study, published in Nature, documents a mass mortality event in March 2021 that saw at least 260 dead sea creatures wash up on the shores of South Africa. Using satellite data, ocean observations and data on the movements ..read more

Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.  An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week ‘Historic’ court victory FIRST-EVER RULING: The European Court of Human Rights this week ruled that insufficient action to tackle climate change is a violation of human rights, DeSmog reported. In a “historic” judgement, the court ruled that Switzerland’s inadequate action on cutting emissions breached the rights to respect for family and private life of some of its most vulnerable citizens, DeSmog said. The case was brought by a group of 2,000 older Swiss women, B ..read more

The once-stable climate that people have lived in for millennia is now rapidly shifting. Extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, are forcing many people to flee their homes. Meanwhile, in the face of slow-onset changes, such as sea level rise and droughts, others are making the difficult decision to leave in search of a better life. Climate change can interact with other factors, such as conflict, economic opportunity and politics, to drive migration. If managed well, migration can be a valuable adaptation strategy to reduce peoples’ vulnerability to a warming climate and increase ..read more

Climate change is already impacting human migration and displacement. Extreme weather events displace tens of millions of people every year, while multi-year droughts and rising sea levels are making many densely populated regions increasingly hostile to human habitation. However, the link between climate change and migration is complex. A person’s decision to leave home depends on a range of factors, including their socioeconomic situation, their family connections and the politics of their home country. To better understand these interlocking factors, an EU-funded research project known as&n ..read more

China accounted for 95% of the world’s new coal power construction activity in 2023, according to the latest annual report from Global Energy Monitor (GEM). Construction began on 70 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity in China, up four-fold since 2019, says GEM’s annual report on the global coal power industry. This compares with less than 4GW of new coal power construction starting in the rest of the world – the lowest since 2014. Outside China, only 32 countries have new coal projects at pre-construction phases of development and just seven have plants under construction. While global coal p ..read more

Welcome to Carbon Brief’s Cropped.  We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight. This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter. Subscribe for free here. Key developments Latin America news roundup TREE FELLING FALLS: Political shifts in Brazil and Colombia have “had a significant impact on tree felling”, with large reductions in deforestation occurring in both countries over 2023, according to analysis from the University of Maryland and the World Resources Institut ..read more