Energy in Demand News, December 14-15, 2025

It’s not the year-end headline we wanted: “Three-year temperature average set to exceed 1.5C for first time,” writes the Financial Times. While not breaking news, it is still a shock to think that 10 years after the landmark Paris climate agreement, we’ve landed here. “Temperatures are on track to exceed the 1.5C threshold of average global warming for the longest period yet, as the latest data shows the past three years have been the hottest on record since the industrial era.” Le Monde tries to stay positive: “The Paris Agreement has reduced future warming: In 2015, the world was on track for a global temperature rise of 4°C by the end of the century. Now, according to the UN Environment Program (UNEP), current national policies are steering the planet toward a scenario of +2.8°C of warming by 2100. That overheating could be even less. If countries meet their commitments for 2035, warming would rise by 2.3°C to 2.5°C, or even to 1.9°C if they also fulfill their carbon neutrality goals.” How positive are you?

The New York Times reported that the Environmental Protection Agency “has quietly removed the fact that human activity is driving climate change from a handful of pages on its website. The information was deleted from one webpage titled “Causes of Climate Change,” and another that tracks the impacts of the global warming in the United States.” The article goes on: “E.P.A. is trying to bury the evidence on human-caused climate change,” Rachel Cleetus, the senior policy director for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit science advocacy organization. The article ends with this: “It’s not that complicated,” said Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University. “Humans are doing it. That can be the whole page.”

Now go and read this week’s quote below.

Mark your calendar. The eceee bi-annual summer study will be held next June 1-6, in Center Parcs Lac d’Ailette, in Haute-de-France, about an hour north-east of Paris. Just like in 2024, the 2026 Summer Study will continue to cover the broad range of topics from energy consumption and behaviour, over policy & evaluation, to local energy planning, transportation, buildings, appliance and product policy, and industry. The abstract submission deadline is only a few days away – December 17th. eceee will accept both peer-reviewed papers and extended abstracts. Details are available here.

There are two upcoming industrial energy efficiency events not to miss:

• The next eceee Zero Carbon Industry 3–5 February 2026 in Rome offers three days of discussions on industrial decarbonisation, competitiveness and industrial renewal. Information is available here.
• The Industrial Energy Transition Conference, part of World Sustainable Energy Days (WSED) in Wels, Austria on February 26, 2026, presents up-to-date information on policies and funding programmes, especially on the Clean Industrial Deal, the European roadmap for competitiveness and decarbonisation.

In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here are some useful ideas to help you along:

• Country Living Magazine provides 3 European train routes set to transform travel in 2025.
• Check out the Good Night Train website for the unique way to travel through Europe while you sleep.
• World Walks provides us with walking holidays in Europe.
• For those who want to combine hiking with food and wine in Europe and Australia, check out the Hedonistic Hiking website.
• Cycling for Softies provides us with the 15 Best Cycling Holidays in Europe 2025.

Ann Patchett (b. 1963), an American author, provides us with a very important message that we need to reflect on as we soon start a new year: “The question is whether or not you choose to disturb the world around you, or if you choose to let it go on as if you had never arrived.”

EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:

• EEA publishes 8th Environmental Action Programme
• How digitalisation and energy-as-a-service are accelerating the building transition
• AI, overconsumption and the climate crisis we don’t measure
• An expanding share of the world economy is cutting CO2 emissions while continuing to grow
• The hidden health and climate costs of bottled water
• EIB Investment Survey 2025
• The European Energy Network, EnR, has published catalogue of best practices of behaviour change programmes
• New report from CAN Europe: Small Modular Distractors: Why a European SMR strategy hinders the energy transition
• The Museum of Climate Hope: teaching the future through objects and stories
• France updates its 2050 carbon neutrality roadmap

Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.

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