China

At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, China showcased rapidly expanding renewable technology and flatlined CO2 emissions, positioning itself as a potential climate leader while the United States was absent.

Pierre Friedlingstein, Katharine Hayhoe, Du Toit, Mark Lubell, Dominik Wiedenhofer and 17 more

Project Syndicate, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, The Guardian and 8 more

Operators worldwide invested billions in new data centers to power artificial intelligence, expanding capacity especially in Germany but sparking environmental and grid‑strain concerns and widening the US–China gap.

Serge Belongie, Julie L. Lockwood, Margaret Mitchell, Matthew E. Kahn, Avi Goldfarb and 11 more

A decade after the 2015 Paris Agreement, global greenhouse-gas emissions remained above pathways consistent with 2°C, while emissions cuts and climate ambition varied widely among countries, analyses showed.

Pierre Friedlingstein, Valerie M. Delmotte, Fernando Valladares, Wim Thiery, Rob Marchant and 30 more

Three major Chinese firms offered a €6,000 electric car with swappable batteries in China, heightened pressure on BYD, Volkswagen and other automakers amid a subsidy-driven market slowdown.

Aric Rindfleisch, Edgar Morgenroth, Oliver Stuenkel, Francesco Nicoli, Paul Dorfman

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi defended her suggestion that Japan could join defense of Taiwan after a Beijing diplomat threatened to "decapitate" her on social media.

Ian Hall, Lithuania, Tim Wu