Energy

Companies still missing in action on methane-cutting goals

The farming and fossil fuel industries must help governments cut methane emissions 30% this decade by harnessing existing technologies and changing practices

Fossil fuel industry under pressure to cut record-high methane emissions

New regulations and monitoring advances could turn the tide on methane emissions from oil, gas and coal production this year

Fossil fuel firms seek UN carbon market cash for old gas plants

Fossil fuel companies that built gas power plants more than a decade ago are hoping for rewards from a new carbon credit market

China steps away from 2025 energy efficiency goal

The government aims to cut the amount of energy needed for its economic growth by 2.5% in 2024, putting it far off track for a key five-year climate target

Global energy-related CO2 emissions hit record high in 2023 – IEA

Global emissions from energy rose by 410 million tonnes, or 1.1%, in 2023 to 37.4 billion tonnes, hitting a record hight

Clean, cheap or fair – which countries should pump the last oil and gas?

The world will need oil and gas for a few decades more – and the debate is heating up over who should get to produce and sell it

Despite Cop28 pledge, France keeps fossil fuel subsidies for farmers

France has abandoned plans to phase out tax breaks on agricultural diesel in efforts to appease its increasingly disgruntled farmers

US trade agency backs oil and gas drilling in Bahrain despite Biden pledge

Ex-Im’s financing would boost fossil fuel production in the Gulf state with the construction of over 450 new oil and gas wells

Ecuador’s new president tries to wriggle out of oil drilling referendum

To fund a crackdown against gang violence, Ecuador’s recently elected president Daniel Noboa suggested a moratorium on a vote to ban an Amazon oil drilling project.

“Shameful”: Shell uses carbon credits under investigation to meet climate targets

The oil and gas giant offset part of its emissions with over a million credits from Chinese projects suspended because of integrity concerns

Energy

Renewable Energy

Cop29 host Azerbaijan launches green energy unit to sceptical response

Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas firm promises a green push but a lack of climate policies and plans to expand gas production are causing scepticism

No ‘phase-out’, but Dubai deal puts oil and gas sector on notice

One day into overtime at Cop28, countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems: a first for the UN climate process

Rooftop solar panels offer fragile lifeline to besieged Gazans

As Israel cuts off electricity to the Gaza Strip, rooftop solar panels help residents to survive frequent bombardment

China objects to UN fund warnings on solar’s forced labour risks

China opposed six Green Climate Fund projects because the proposals flagged the risk of forced labour in the manufacturing of solar panels.

China’s Belt and Road gets ‘green’ reboot and spending boost

Clean energy is a priority as China promises $100 billion of development funding – but don’t call it climate finance

G20 leaders strike renewables deal, stall on fossil fuels

The world’s largest economies agreed to push for a tripling of renewable energy capacity by 2030, but made no progress on oil and gas phaseout

Climate Home News seeks pitches on renewable energy supply chain

Send us you pitches for powerful accountability journalism stories on the trends and actors shaping the renewable energy supply chain

Indonesia delays $20bn green plan, after split with rich nations on grants and new coal plants

The launch of the Jetp investment plan has been hampered by disagreements over funding and technical challenges

Renewable energy

Fossil Fuels

US government pauses new gas export terminals in ‘historic win’ for climate

The Biden administration is freezing approvals of new LNG export permits as climate considerations take centre stage.

Don’t be fooled: CCS is no solution to oil and gas emissions

The oil and gas industry wants you to believe it can capture its emissions and keep drilling as usual. That’s no way to avert climate chaos

Ten years on from Haiyan, Shell’s intimidation won’t silence me

I am named in a Shell lawsuit against Greenpeace for trying to board their oil rig, but I won’t stop fighting their climate vandalism

The Cop28 climate summit must set us free from fossil fuels

My homeland of Denmark played its part in causing the climate crisis but is now phasing out fossil fuels. In Dubai, the world must follow

The ‘inevitable’ fossil fuel fight set to dominate Cop28

Could petrostate UAE be the climate summit host that lands an international agreement to exit coal, oil and gas?

China sets out methane plan, but no reduction target

Experts said that China didn’t want to shut down coal mines and was likely under-counting its coal mine methane emissions

The OECD must take its chance to stop funding oil and gas

Export credit agencies are still backing oil and gas projects – this week’s OECD meeting is a chance to change that

Forests, methane, finance: Where are the Cop26 pledges now?

Climate Home analysed how highly-publicised commitments are faring two years on from their announcement

Fossil Fuels

Nuclear energy

Nuclear fusion: Why Silicon Valley is betting on man-made star power

Students at MIT have found a way to make nuclear fusion reactors smaller and cheaper, but the tech is a long way from commercial operation

Clean energy jobs overtake fossil fuel sector but wages lag behind

Employment is booming in electric vehicle production, building insulation and renewable power sectors, the International Energy Agency reports

EU set to use ‘green’ label for gas, nuclear investments after parliamentary vote

Climate campaigners accused EU lawmakers of “betrayal” and some member states are preparing legal challenges to the sustainable taxonomy

Macron promises to abandon gas, oil and coal, but will he deliver?

The re-elected French president performed poorly on climate in his first term and is relying too heavily on nuclear, experts say

Saudi energy minister touts pink hydrogen made by “emancipated young ladies”

Saudi Arabia wants to become a leading exporter of hydrogen from both clean and dirty sources as part of an economic diversification plan

Pakistan signals coal power exit, in potential model for China’s belt and road

Imran Khan announced his government would not approve any more coal power plants and pivot to renewables, contrary to the grid operator’s forecast of a coal boom

UN development chief calls for green shift away from ‘irrational’ oil dependence

Governments, at a fork in the road because of the Covid-19 pandemic, should ‘insert the DNA’ of a low-carbon future into stimulus packages, says Achim Steiner

Japan’s woeful climate plan amounts to science denial

Japan reiterates past pledges for 2030 rather than mapping out a radical overhaul needed by the world’s fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter

Nuclear Energy

Efficiency

Cooking the books: cookstove offsets produce millions of fake emission cuts

Projects in India linked to Enking, the self-proclaimed world’s largest carbon credits producer, have vastly overestimated climate benefits

Turn down the heating: France unveils ‘ambitious’ energy saving plan

French people and businesses are encouraged to take shorter showers, turn down thermostats and car pool but none of the measures are binding

Demand response: A win-win solution to climate and energy price crises

By shifting electricity demand away from peaks, customers can get cheaper bills and cleaner electricity can be prioritised

EU lawmakers back stronger energy efficiency target in response to Russian war

The European Parliament’s four largest political groups are proposing a 14.5% efficiency goal by 2030, up from the 9% discussed last year

Tar sands companies aim for ‘net zero’ by 2050 – with no plan to extract less oil

The alliance of Canadian oil producers makes no mention of winding down oil production, which modelling shows is necessary to achieve global climate goals

Ships to get free pass on emissions until 2030, under compromise proposal

Ship efficiency measures backed by a broad coalition of 14 countries will fail to reduce emissions in line with industry and Paris climate goals, campaigners warn

Countries promise green recovery at Japanese virtual summit, keep quiet on fossil bailouts

Ministers from China, EU and other major economies outlined plans to build back better after the coronavirus pandemic at a meeting convened by Japan

For all its green talk, the IEA still gives comfort to oil and gas producers

Under Fatih Birol, the International Energy Agency leads talk of a green recovery, yet dodges hard questions about phasing out dirty energy

Efficiency