Multilateral development banks are under pressure from the United States to scrap climate finance targets. “The UN agreement to provide $1.3tn in climate finance is under threat, as multilateral lenders are expected to follow the World Bank in dumping green targets after intense US pressure,” the Financial Times reports. “At least two multilateral development banks, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank, were in discussions about scrapping climate finance targets, people familiar with talks said.” One finance expert is quoted as saying: “MDBs are kowtowing to US pressures . . . It will have enormous consequences.” The FT noted that “MDBs have become an increasingly key part of climate finance efforts. Their contribution to lending to low and middle income countries was boosted to $103bn last year, up a fifth on the year before. This is typically leveraged by using the relatively small amounts of paid-in public donor capital to borrow larger sums at low rates from capital markets and work with the private sector.” The article concludes that “In 2024, the hottest year on record, climate finance reached $2tn, but the vast majority went to developed countries and China.” How is this going to be discussed at COP 31.
Continuing on climate finance, the New York Times reports that Nepal’s Gen Z is taking on the world’s polluters over climate disasters. “The young government of Nepal, a nation with a tiny carbon footprint, is seeking reparations from the world’s major economies as it bears the brunt of collapsing Himalayan glaciers. . . . After the Aug. 26 floods, the Nepali government has made climate justice its global calling card. Next week, Balendra Shah, the 36-year-old prime minister of Nepal, is expected to address the United Nations General Assembly and push for industrialized powers to foot the bills faced by lesser-developed countries disproportionately affected by climate-linked disasters. The prime minister’s office is now in close contact with Greta Thunberg, the young campaigner who made a video supporting Nepal’s quest for climate reparations. . . . Nepal has put the initial price tag for flood recovery and reconstruction at $4.74 billion. . . . This year, the Nepali government was provisionally allocated about $20 million from a special U.N. fund for nations vulnerable to climate change, from a special U.N. fund for nations vulnerable to climate change, according to Nepali officials. But an emergency request that the Nepali government made after the floods has yet to receive a reply.” They’d better get a reply soon.
The Guardian reports that advertising contracts for fossil fuel hit an all-time high in 2027. In year of extreme weather, it reports that ad agencies are “building Big Oil’s image as integral to family life and security.” According to a researcher analysing fossil fuel advertising, advertising executives are portraying their fossil fuel industry clients as indispensable to our ways of life and economic security. The advertising industry campaign group Clean Creatives found that 386 fossil fuel companies across 73 countries had engaged 802 advertising and PR agencies to shape their public image and messaging.
Costs are coming down drastically for solar PV. The Financial Times reports that “at the turn of the millenium, solar panels cost $5-$6 per watt of generation capacity. Today, they sell for around 12 cents per watt, a level described as “offensively cheap” by Dave Jones, co-founder of think-tank Ember… The reduction is entirely the result of an explosion in China’s production capacity . . .” There is quite an impact globally. For example, Africa will install around 17 gigawatts of new solar this year, mostly for small-scale installations at factories or other businesses.
To ensure the momentum of the zero carbon energy transition, we need a new generation of experts to continue the good work. EiD encourages all young researchers (born after 1991) in energy efficiency and biomass to submit contributions for next year’s Young Energy Researchers Conference next March 2nd as part of World Sustainable Energy Days, March 2-5, 2027 in Wels, Austria. Altogether there are five dedicated conferences and a tradeshow packed into the four days. See the overview of the conferences. The young energy researchers conference has 2 tracks, one for energy efficiency and one for biomass. Submissions (in English only) are welcome from all scientific fields (e.g. technology, engineering, economics, social sciences, architecture, law, arts). The deadline for submissions for all the events is October 9th.
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.
- There’s never been a more important moment to travel right in Europe with masses of overdevelopment, cruise ships, walking pollution and captive cetaceans still hot topics when it comes to responsible tourism issues in Europe. Check out the Responsible Travel website.
- Wilderness Scotland encourages you to experience the beauty of Scotland in autumn.
- Autumn is the best time for a cycling trip in Europe because the summer heat is gone, the roads are quiet, and the trees turn bright red and gold. Check out Bike Tours in Europe for some inspiration.
Ken Kesey (1935-2001), an American novelist, essayist, and countercultural figure, known for writing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, gives us reason to smile: “You have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- COP31: The EU says climate promises are no longer enough
- When homes are protected as assets but not as homes
- Who pays the climate cost of Heathrow expansion?
- Trump clears the way for a new US coal boom
- Europe’s climate insurance gap is becoming impossible to ignore
- Blog by Rose Morrison – Europe’s industrial battery compliance countdown: why forklift fleet managers have 6 months to prepare for the battery passport
- Europe has the metals it needs — in its waste
- Climate change is redrawing the world’s wine map
- Blog by Grace Waters – Texas, Europe, India: what a summer of brownouts tells us about the grid we’re building
- Data centre heat is too valuable to waste
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 