Energy in Demand News, June 7-8, 2026

Le Monde reports that a new report by the World Inequality Lab (WIL) proposes ambitious plans to cut global inequality and curb climate change. The WIL is a research institute a!liated with the Paris School of Economics. “They are putting forward a utopia and make no apologies for it. They present it directly as an answer to the rising tide of nationalist-populist and climate-skeptic movements gaining ground on both sides of the Atlantic.”  The French economist Thomas Piketty, a co-director of the WIL, says “the technonationalist project is infused with an energy that is missing from the internationalist and egalitarian camp: in the ongoing cultural battle, we need to offer a future that is both desirable and appealing.” The Guardian writes that the WIL’s Global Justice Project “aims to be the most comprehensive attempt yet to navigate the polycrisis that is pushing the world toward climate breakdown, political extremism and ever greater economic and social tension.” The WIL  itself writes that the report “attempts to set out a new vision for global progress in the 21st century: grounding human development and equality in planetary habitability. It explores the conditions under which the world could move toward this horizon and traces an economically and ecologically consistent transition path from 2026 to 2100.” The Guardian article closes with a comment from Jason Hickel, a professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a visiting senior fellow at LSE: “It’s an important and timely intervention. All of this is technically feasible to achieve – we can have good lives for all within planetary boundaries – but it will require organised political struggle to make it happen.”

The Guardian reports that President Trump is using wartime powers to dole out $700m to ‘clean, beautiful’ coal. “Trump is using the Defense Production Act, a cold war-era statute used to accelerate American industrial output in times of national need, to provide grants to more than a dozen existing coal plants across the US, including facilities capable of exporting coal. . . . “You’re not allowed to say ‘coal’ within the Trump administration unless it’s preceded by the words ‘clean, beautiful’,” Trump said on Thursday. “Complicates our life, but it’s good.”

The Financial Times reports that seven US states are suing the Trump administration over its nearly $1bn payment to TotalEnergies for pulling out of offshore wind in the US. “A coalition of Northeastern states argues the March deal, in which the company gives up its two offshore wind leases in exchange for a full refund of their $928mn cost and a pledge to redirect the money to fossil fuel investments, is “blatantly unlawful” and should be struck down by the courts.”

There was an important message to big tech this week: EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen tells POLITICO that Europe is open to companies seeking to profit from the AI boom — but only if they buy into the EU’s clean energy goals.

This issue of EiD was put together at Lac d’Ailette, Hauts-de-France where we attended this year’s summer study for the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. The quality of the presentations in nine different panels was excellent. There is so much impressive analytical work underway throughout Europe. This will pay huge dividends to support our energy transition over many years to come. Some reflections on the event will come next week but one event stands out. eceee, through donations and Germany’s aid agency, GIZ, were able to bring seven Ukrainians from seven municipalities for the week. They did an excellent presentation of what each of their cities is doing to ensure sustainability during war conditions. We cannot thank them enough. They are so positive and doing everything imaginable under unbelievable conditions. It is an honour to call them friends.

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.
• Cycling for Softies provides us with the 15 best cycling holidays in Europe in 2026.

Enrique Peñalosa (b. 1954), a reforming mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, gives us an important message on urban mobility: “An advanced city is not one where even the poor use cars, but rather one where even the rich use public transport

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

• The missing piece in Australia’s energy planning puzzle
• “Uninsurable areas” are becoming increasingly common in Europe thanks to climate change
• Energy efficiency becomes a test of industrial competitiveness
• Why Poland must balance nuclear ambitions with renewable growth
• A cautionary tale for global climate finance
• The toxic legacy of the global plastic waste trade
• Bornholm, Denmark – from corporate profits to community wealth: a wind power success story
• The “Chiemgauer”: how a German community currency became a climate action tool
• New report on accelerating investment for an energy-independent and low-carbon future

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

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