World
Why Germany’s clean energy shift is vexing its neighbours
NEWS: Transition towards a grid based on fickle renewables is messing with Poland’s electricity markets
China five-year plan hints at deeper carbon cuts
NEWS: World’s largest carbon polluter may arrest rising emissions sooner than thought, says five-year economic plan, but details on boosting renewables remain light
Philippines touts gas, renewables as answer to energy demand
NEWS: Energy department says it is looking for alternatives to coal, but activists fear government will push ahead with fossil intensive investments
Sweet harmony: Why UN climate plans should use the same metrics
COMMENT: If the INDCs are going to be the foundations of a global climate solution, we need to make sure they are durable and clear argue experts
Budget 2016: Osborne moves to prop up UK oil and gas sector
NEWS: Ailing hydrocarbon sector welcomes tax relief, but green groups say first budget post 2015 climate deal should have offered more on renewables and efficiency
World’s top private coal company faces bankruptcy
NEWS: Staunch opponent of climate laws and science misses interest payment as global coal price slump continues
Europe’s capitals say diesel cars threaten health of residents
NEWS: Leaders in Paris, Athens, Madrid, Amsterdam, Vienna and Lisbon among those to protest at Brussels’ inability to deliver tougher air pollution laws
Budget 2016: Will George Osborne back a low carbon future?
COMMENT: Heavyweight lobby groups agree the country needs a smart, diversified and flexible energy system, and George Osborne has it in his power to deliver
Japan fleshes out Paris climate change plan
NEWS: Tokyo government says emission cutting strategy will be approved by May, but cuts likely to hinge on future of 40 planned coal power plants
UN welcomes UK pledge to enshrine zero emissions goal
NEWS: Proposed law in line with goals of Paris climate deal, says UN spokesperson, urging governments to attend New York signing ceremony in April
Rising seas could trigger ‘Great Migration’ from US shores
NEWS: Flooded coastlines may affect 13m people by 2100 on a similar scale of African-American exodus from rural South in 20th century
EU heavy industry pockets €24bn in ‘pollution windfall’ – report
NEWS; That’s ten times what Brussels green innovation fund pays out, says NGO in call for reform of EU emissions trading scheme
UK to make zero carbon emissions target law
NEWS: Energy minister Andrea Leadsom responds to call from Ed Miliband, saying Paris climate pledge will be legally binding, reports the Guardian
Tanzania’s forests at risk as foreign aid dries up
NEWS: Norway’s bankrolling of REDD+ scheme has ended, leaving trees under threat from logging, mining and farmland expansion, warn NGOs
German CO2 emissions rise 1% in 2015
NEWS: Higher heat demand and use of brown coal for power behind estimated 1.1% increase in climate pollution, says think tank Green Budget Germany
Mediterranean could be in driest spell for 900 years
NEWS: Drought in east spanning Cyprus to Syria the worst in at least half a millennium and may be nearly twice as long, scientists say
Short term politics is hurting EU climate goals
COMMENT: There won’t be a strong, coherent European response to Paris in the next few months – that’s down to Brussels fears of a deepening split
China backs ‘revolutionary’ clean coal
NEWS: Environment minister promotes power station technology to cut pollution as China sets out five-year energy blueprint
China’s Five Year Plan to radically tighten air pollution targets
NEWS: China’s draft economic plan for the next five years contains new targets that will need to be met if the country is to solve its environmental crises
Deep decarbonisation: Obama’s greatest climate legacy?
ANALYSIS: US president will leave his successor with a low-carb present: A roadmap to slash US emissions 80% on 1990 levels by 2050