The big news this week was that more than 50 countries gathered in Colombia to work on trade measures to cut out fossil fuels, as reported below in EiD. The meeting was considered the “coalition of the willing,” and grew out of frustration of the UNFCCC process where there were simply too many fossil fuel lobbyists. The world’s biggest emitters, including China, the US and India, responsible for more than 40 % of greenhouse gases, were not present at the event. The meeting was co-hosted by the governments of Colombia and The Netherlands. In a story trailed on its frontpage, the Financial Times adds that the countries agreed to work on trade measures aimed at cutting demand for fossil fuels, as well as pledging to expose how much participant nations each support or subsidise fossil fuels and work on financial reforms to tackle subsidy “traps”. Scientific American reported that one of the first points at the conference was to launch a panel of scientists to advise countries, hailing that “scientists know how to phase out fossil fuels. Some countries are listening”. Bloomberg reports that the summit ended on an “optimistic note”, with the launch of new workstreams to help countries phase out fossil fuels and plans for a second meeting next year. The next meeting is to be co-hosted by the low-lying Pacific island nation of Tuvalu and Ireland in early 2027.
The Financial Times reported that Chinese green technology poses a national security problem for Europe. “Dependence on Chinese green technology is making European countries vulnerable to national security risks including cyber attacks, trade restrictions and espionage, new research warns. . . . A report co-authored by Michael Collins, a former deputy head of national security strategy in the UK Cabinet Office, said European governments were failing to fully account for such risks as they roll out Chinese green tech in a bid to secure energy supplies and address climate change.” The FT article goes on: “Countries should “get on with the transition” away from fossil fuels, but “be mindful of the risks” and diversify supply chains where possible, he said. “We don’t want to replace one set of dependencies on fossil fuel imports with a dependency on Chinese low-carbon technology.”
Marine Cornelis of Next Energy Consumer is running a survey to collect first-hand accounts from people who tried to install energy upgrades, from balcony solar, heat pumps, insulation, batteries in their (multifamily) home and ran into obstacles: approval processes, coordination burdens, product failures, or rules that helped or blocked them. The goal is to understand where things break down in practice, and who ends up carrying the weight, particularly in multi-apartment buildings where getting neighbours or landlords on board adds a layer of complexity that policy rarely accounts for. Responses will feed into a policy research report for a European consumer organisation, examining how governance structures and approval rules can be redesigned to be fairer and more accessible, especially for tenants and co-owners with less power to act unilaterally. Marine needs to hear from you. Please complete the survey here.
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.
Erich Fromm (1900-1980), a German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist gives us an important message about the search for meaning in our lives: “The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- EEA’s latest official reported data on levels of key air pollutants in Europe
- Countries unite to ditch fossil fuels — now comes the hard part
- Oil shock, solar boom: how crisis is accelerating the clean energy transition
- Blog by Jane Marsh – The fibre optic-energy grid convergence: building smart infrastructure for tomorrow
- Across Catalonia in Spain, an alternative housing system is emerging: a path to addressing inequality and climate change
- How climate change is influencing our daily jog
- What if coal didn’t have to be burned?
- In permissive Amsterdam, ads for fossil fuels or meat are now verboden
- Energy rules are redefining hotel values
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
If you know anyone who would like to receive this weekly notice, please invite them to contact EiD at news@energyindemand.com. It is not available on the WordPress website.
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 