The UK remains committed to tackling climate change even though the vote to leave the EU will make it harder to do so, energy and climate secretary Amber Rudd said yesterday in a widely reported speech that reiterated commitments to a coal phaseout, new nuclear, clean energy and the UK’s Climate Change Act. TheGuardianreports comments yesterday from energy minister Andrea Leadsom, who says she doesn’t believe “anything will change” for energy policy in the wake of Brexit and adds that the UK remains “absolutely committed” to its climate goals. Leadsom also denies that energy investor confidence has been dented by the Brexit vote, reportsBusiness Green.Reuters,Climate Home,Business GreenandEnergy Live Newsall carry coverage of Rudd and Leadsom’s speeches.Greenpeace EnergyDeskcompares the comments made Rudd and Leadsom, who took opposing positions on the EU referendum. Norwegian oil firm Statoil cites Brexit as an example of risks to co-operation on climate change and clean energy, reports theFinancial Times.

Prime minister David Cameron should ratify the Paris climate deal before he leaves office in October, says former Labour leader Ed Miliband. He told BBC News Cameron should ratify the deal “because we don’t want to end up with a climate change denier or sceptic as prime minister who tries to renegotiate the whole thing”. However, ministers will not alter their plans on the agreement, the BBC says, citing “government sources”.

The UK is to target a 57% cut in emissions by 2028-2032 in its fifth carbon budget, reports the BBC, confirming reports earlier this week fromBloombergand theGuardian. The Committee on Climate Change is expected to warn today that new policies are urgently needed to back up this ambition, the BBC adds, in particular in areas such as transport, agriculture and housing. Carbon Brief understands that legislation on the fifth carbon budget will be introduced to parliament today but will not pass into law until later, as the process takes time to compete. This means the legislation will technically breach a legal deadline of the end of June.

只有微弱的机会避免佤邦的1.5摄氏度rming, according to a new study published in Nature. It says: “The window for limiting warming to below 1.5C with high probability and without temporarily exceeding that level already seems to have closed.” Writing in theConversation, study author Malte Meinshausen says countries’ climate pledges are not enough “but we can close the gap”. The research is also covered by theWashington Post,IndependentandArs Technica. Study author Joeri Rogelj has a guest post for亚慱官网.

德国已经放弃了plans to set out a timetable for a coal phaseout, according to a leaked draft climate action plan seen by Reuters. An earlier version of the document had said a phaseout should come “well before 2050”. The new version has been revised following consultation with the economy and energy ministries, Reuters reports, and must still be signed off by other ministries and the German cabinet. The new draft includes stronger support for unilateral measures to strengthen the EU’s Emissions Trading System , reportsCarbon Pulse(£).

Nick Butler pictures the future of the energy industry in 2025. He outlines ten hypothetical scenarios – including would-be president (Chelsea) Clinton promising an early decision on the fate of the Keystone Pipeline after the 2028 elections, and Prime Minister Amber Rudd expressing optimism that Hinkley Point nuclear power station will be ready by the end of the year.

As plants and trees grow, they absorb CO2 through photosynthesis and release it through respiration. Overall, plants absorb more CO2 than they release, making them an important carbon sink. Previously, scientists thought that respiration is greater during the day, but a new study of deciduous forests suggests that trees respire more at night. This is the first evidence that light may inhibit respiration, the researchers say, and improves “understanding of forest–atmosphere carbon exchange.”

A new study investigates how climate change affects the timing of breeding and migration in different land and aquatic species in the UK. Analysing more than 10,000 datasets of 812 species for the period 1960-2012, the researchers find the magnitude and timing of climate sensitivity varies significantly among species at different levels of the food web. Out of the 812 species, the results suggest primary consumers (such as seed-eating birds and herbivorous insects) are most sensitive to climate variations, while secondary consumers (such as predatory birds, fish and mammals) are less sensitive.