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, … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, September 20-21, 2026
Category: climate change
Data centre heat is too valuable to waste
Dorota Derlicka and Tomasz Chabrzyk write on the Bird & Bird website that data-centre waste heat is shifting from being an interesting sustainability opportunity to something developers may actually have to plan for and justify under EU law. Poland provides a particularly useful example of what that change could mean in practice. Waste heat … Continue reading Data centre heat is too valuable to waste
Blog by Grace Waters – Texas, Europe, India: what a summer of brownouts tells us about the grid we’re building
In 2026, many nations experienced the most extreme temperature fluctuations they had ever experienced during the summer months. It has led to an unsustainable number of brownouts, or major voltage reductions. When demand gets high, power systems malfunction or are intentionally shut down for emergencies. Grid tensions are growing higher, as citizens and governments await … Continue reading Blog by Grace Waters – Texas, Europe, India: what a summer of brownouts tells us about the grid we’re building
Europe’s climate insurance gap is becoming impossible to ignore
Kate Abnett writes on the Reuters website that Europe is beginning to confront the financial consequences of climate change, not simply the physical ones. With only about a quarter of climate-related economic losses insured, governments increasingly risk becoming the insurer of last resort. EU to launch climate insurance scheme after summer of extreme weather … Continue reading Europe’s climate insurance gap is becoming impossible to ignore
Trump clears the way for a new US coal boom
Mahima Kapoor writes on the Deutsche Welle website about how the EPA has repealed most of the 2024 power-plant carbon standards and is proposing to eliminate the remaining greenhouse-gas standards for the sector. The Environmental Protection Agency said it was repealing Biden-era limits on emissions made by power plants, in the "largest power sector deregulation … Continue reading Trump clears the way for a new US coal boom
Who pays the climate cost of Heathrow expansion?
In an article on the BBC News website, Matt McGrath discusses Heathrow airport expansion and the credibility of the UK’s net-zero commitment. The Climate Change Committee is not saying Heathrow expansion is impossible; it is saying the economics must include the full cost of dealing with aviation’s emissions—and that some of the technology being relied … Continue reading Who pays the climate cost of Heathrow expansion?
COP31: The EU says climate promises are no longer enough
Marta Pacheco writes on the Euronews website that the draft EU position for COP31 says that current implementation is insufficient and calls for concrete progress on renewables, energy efficiency, electrification and moving away from fossil fuels. EU heads to COP31 with a blunt message: climate pledges are no longer enough EU ambassadors want COP31 … Continue reading COP31: The EU says climate promises are no longer enough
Energy in Demand News, September 13-14, 2026
For once there was some truly encouraging news this week. Matthew Pearce writes in the Guardian about a new study that shows that a global shift towards clean electricity could trigger a ‘cascade’ of progress, helping reduce air pollution, cut waste and revive oceans. “The analysis focuses on “positive tipping points” – thresholds beyond which … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, September 13-14, 2026
Drought knows no borders. The world’s response still does.
In an article on The Conversation website, Susan Ann Samuel, Postdoctoral Researcher, International Climate Politics, University of Leeds, discusses failure of international politics to keep pace with a problem that is already affecting virtually every part of the world. Climate, biodiversity and land degradation are treated institutionally as separate problems when, physically, they are deeply … Continue reading Drought knows no borders. The world’s response still does.
Electric cars aren’t carbon neutral — but they’re still much cleaner
In an article on the Deutsche Welle website, Martin Kuebler discusses the clash between claims that EVs are not really climate-friendly once their full life cycle is considered and evidence that, even after battery production and electricity generation are included, EVs still have substantially lower lifetime emissions than combustion-engine cars. Some German politicians are calling … Continue reading Electric cars aren’t carbon neutral — but they’re still much cleaner
