Thursday, 29 October 2026

Supporters of California's Proposition 45 have spent more than USD 56 million to pass the measure, according to Inside Climate News, citing the most recent state records.

Political action committees funded by technology companies, the state's major utilities and other corporate interests have spent nearly twice as much backing the ballot measure as public-interest and labor groups have spent opposing it, according to Inside Climate News. The measure would greenlight major development projects with minimal environmental or public review.

Proposition 45 would shift authority over the scope of environmental review from public agencies and communities to project developers, according to Inside Climate News. It would do so by rewriting the state's foundational environmental law to fast-track major projects.

The UK government is cutting GBP 1 billion from its warm homes plan and GBP 700 million from hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects to fund defence spending, according to Carbon Brief.

Chancellor John Healey tied the measures to what he called a "new course on energy" for the UK, aimed at keeping bills low amid the global crisis triggered by war in the Middle East, Carbon Brief reported.

Laying out his first budget, Healey said the Labour government would keep prioritising clean-power expansion and stay "unshakably committed to net-zero", according to Carbon Brief.

Canada announced a federal investment of over USD 1.2 million to improve access to the Shaakichiuwaanaan mining project in northern Quebec's Eeyou Istchee Baie-James region, according to Natural Resources Canada.

The funding comes through Natural Resources Canada's First and Last Mile Fund, which supports connectivity for mineral projects. Natural Resources Canada described Shaakichiuwaanaan as one of the largest lithium resources in the world.

The money will rehabilitate and upgrade approximately 20 kilometres of existing access road connecting the Trans-Taiga road to the Shaakichiuwaanaan site, according to Natural Resources Canada.

The project is being led by Lithium Innova Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of PMET Resources Inc., Natural Resources Canada said.

Carbon capture and storage funding could be cut in the UK's Autumn Budget as the government looks to increase defence spending, according to Energy Digital, which cited several reports.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, known as DESNZ, was asked to find a further USD 2.65 billion, according to reports cited by Energy Digital.

Separately, government insiders told The Guardian that the Rosebank oilfield in the North Sea can be approved without breaching the UK's emissions targets, the limits on climate-warming gases the country has committed to cutting.

Algeria is preparing to send troops to Niger in its first foreign military operation since 1973, according to Ghana Guardian. The deployment would mark the country's first overseas military action since it sent forces to Egypt during the Arab-Israeli war that year.

The soldiers are expected to help secure energy facilities in northern Niger, close to the border with Libya, Ghana Guardian reported.

Separately, Tanzania has discovered an estimated 223 billion cubic feet of natural gas in the Mnazi Bay area in the south of the country, its energy minister announced, according to MarketScreener. The find is Tanzania's first gas discovery in more than 10 years.