The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) spring meetings took place this week in Washington. Fiona Harvey wrote in the Guardian about the Trump effect at the global finance talks. “Governments desperate for cash to protect their citizens from the growing impacts of the climate crisis are being put in a ‘beyond absurd’ situation this week at global finance talks: they are being urged not to mention the climate, even as they address the current oil crisis.” A new climate change action plan was to have been approved. Well, that did not happen. Reuters writes: “The World Bank’s current Climate Change Action Plan is set to expire around mid-2026. Instead of approving a replacement, discussions this week focused on whether and how to preserve or modify it.” There isn’t much time until the current action plan expires. What happens then?
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy published an excellent report on strategies for enhancing resilience and minimising vulnerabilities that are due to extreme heat events. While focusing on America, this is an important report for all of us.
The Financial Times reports that Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, argues that the current energy crisis must support green goals. “Ribera, who previously served as Spain’s ecological transition minister, said the experience during the pandemic and 2022 energy crisis underscored the need to act early to contain costs and build resilience. . . . support should focus on structurally lowering energy bills, for example by expanding solar panels, heat pumps and better insulation, rather than relying on emergency measures that risk distorting market signals needed for the green transition.”
One of the world’s most loved and cherished cities, Venice, is in existential trouble.The Financial Times wrote this week that “Venice will ‘ultimately be lost’ without rapid intervention to save it from climate-driven flooding, according to research published on Thursday, with current defences expected to face “hard limits” this century. Venice has become a beacon of the need to adapt cities and countries to the consequences of climate change, an issue that has risen up the agenda as the world struggles to limit greenhouse gas emissions. . . . If the world rapidly cuts emissions, the scientists say sea levels in Venice could rise about 0.42 metres by 2100 compared with the start of the century. But they could reach up to 1.8 metres in a worst-case scenario.” What will it take for us to seriously accelerate our actions?
You must watch this TEDxIbiza talk from one from our EiD community, Sophia Shnapp – Our world is out of tune. Music is now repairing it. The power of music cannot be understated.
Many relevant events are coming up – you can see the latest list here. Please note that there is still some space for attending the June eceee summer study. If you know of an upcoming event that EiD readers should know about, please contact us. Let us know your experience.
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here are some useful ideas to help you along:
- Check out the Good Night Train website for the unique way to travel through Europe while you sleep. Check out this video: Sleeper trains — the future of travel? A Berlin startup is developing compact sleeper cabins, designed to make night trains cheaper and greener. Check out this week’s post on night sleepers.
- World Walks provides us with walking holidays in Europe
- TimeOut provides the news that after two years, one of Europe’s most beautiful hiking trails – Madeira’s PR1 Vereda do Areeiro, a 7km trail which encompasses three of the archipelago’s highest peaks – will re-open this month.
- Cycling for Softies provides us with the 15 best cycling holidays in Europe in 2026.
Charles-Pierre Baudelaire (1821-1867), a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic, gives us an important message about nature: “Nature is a temple in which living columns sometimes emit confused words. Man approaches it through forests of symbols, which observe him with familiar glances.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- India has quietly abandoned its bid to host the UN’s top-tier climate conference COP33
- Earthrise to Earthset: 58 years of climate change on a fragile planet
- The hidden energy productivity gap: how industry could cut emissions without new technology
- New EEA briefing analysing Europe’s GHG emissions data
- Blog by Jane Marsh – The infrastructure challenge: weatherproofing the clean energy transition
- New report from IRENA: Moving from energy crisis to energy security with renewables
- Closing the scrap gap: the challenge behind the UK’s circular steel strategy
- From nega-watts to neglect: the changing direction of U.S. energy policy
- DR Congo’s energy transition challenges
- The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 