Thawing permafrost is not a global climate tipping point, according to an international team of scientists. Permafrost soils cover about a quarter of the land surface in the Northern Hemisphere and store large amounts of carbon. When these soils thaw, microorganisms become active, releasing significant amounts of carbon in the form of CO2 and methane […]
Shortly before the Bonn Climate Change Conference SB60 next week, positive news has come from climate finance: According to new OECD figures, developed countries mobilized 115.9 billion US dollars in climate finance for developing and emerging countries in 2022. This is the first time that the 100 billion target that developed countries exceeded the goals […]
On Tuesday, climate action once again received legal backing. According to a legal opinion by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, greenhouse gases are a form of marine pollution. This means that countries must step up their efforts to protect the climate. In the Tribunal’s opinion, the Paris Agreement is not enough. […]
Annual global investment in the energy and transportation transition must increase by over 200 percent by 2030 to limit the temperature rise to 1.75 degrees. This is according to a new report by the information service BloombergNEF. The report shows that global investments in 2023 amounted to 1.8 trillion US dollars. To achieve a pathway […]
The US tariff increase on Chinese electric car batteries will likely shift Chinese exports to Europe. Last week, President Biden announced additional tariffs on Chinese electric car batteries, battery parts, electric vehicles and solar panels to counteract the flood of cheap Chinese overcapacities.Tariffs on electric car batteries have tripled to 25 percent. In 2026, tariffs […]
The aviation sector fails to meet its self-imposed climate targets and uses 100 times less sustainable fuels than it had set. Furthermore, the targets have been increasingly watered down in recent years. This is the conclusion of a new study by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). As recently as 2007, the International Air Transport […]
A coal phase-out in China and India could cost two trillion US dollars in compensation. This is according to a recently published study. The authors from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and the Central European University in Austria analyzed national and international coal phase-out plans. According to the study, 23 countries with coal phase-out […]
Climate issues tend to take a back seat in the upcoming European elections on 9 June. Chiara Martinelli, head of the climate action network CAN Europe, laments a “backlash against climate and energy issues” and a threat to democracy. Bernhard Pötter spoke with Martinelli about gaps in the Green Deal and a climate action investment […]
Climeworks has launched a second commercial plant for capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide (Direct Air Capture – DAC). The plant will be modular. It is expected to be fully completed by the end of 2024 and will then be able to remove 36,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere every year, the company announced […]
A new International Energy Agency (IEA) study shows that the industry can already produce enough solar modules to meet the demand required for a net-zero pathway. However, more factories are needed to produce the raw materials for solar modules – polysilicon and wafers.However, the outlook is less positive for wind power and battery plants: Here, […]