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UK reassumes climate leadership at a critical time

February 05, 2025

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Hi,

Here’s some good news to start the day:

Despite “backtracking in the US” under Donald Trump, electric models will account for 25% of new car sales globally in 2025, up from a little over 20% in 2024, according to ING’s forecasts.
Portugal is working towards banning deep-sea mining off the country’s coast.
Solar accounted for 25% of Hungary’s power generation in 2024, up from 4% in 2019, Ember’s data shows.
China’s CO2 emissions have declined slightly since March, according to an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
This year, India will hit a clean power target five years early, according to BloombergNEF’s projections, which show non-fossil sources will reach 50% of overall capacity.
Americans bought 37% more air-source heat pumps than gas furnaces in the first 11 months of 2024, Canary Media reported.
China could shut 20,000 petrol stations by 2030 thanks to its rapid shift to EVs, according to Caijing, citing the CNPC Economics & Technology Research Institute.
Investment in the low-carbon energy transition worldwide grew 11% to a record $2.1 trillion in 2024, according to BloombergNEF.
Approvals for the UK’s Rosebank oilfield and Jackdaw gas fields have been ruled unlawful as they didn’t take climate impacts into account.

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Thanks for reading.

Nick Hedley

Editor, The Progress Playbook

UK ‘sets example for the world’ with bold climate action targets

At a time when climate action is faltering in some regions, the UK has promised steep emissions cuts over the next decade in its latest pledge to the world.

As the sixth-largest economy in the world, Britain can at least partially fill the void left by the US, and analysts hope the country’s bold commitments will encourage others to stay the course on climate action.

- Read the full story here.

In Oslo, construction projects are now clean and quiet

As of January 2025, all contractors providing work to Oslo’s government have to use clean and quiet concrete trucks, excavators, and other machinery. The industry has had plenty of time to prepare for the shift: From 2019, the use of emission-free equipment wasn’t mandatory, but did give firms an edge over their competitors when bidding for work, as did the use of recycled or low-carbon materials.

- Read the full story here.

These major Swedish banks have stopped lending to the fossil fuel industry

Two of Sweden’s three biggest banks have stopped providing finance to the fossil fuel industry, a report compiled by BankTrack and other organisations has found.

- Read the full story here.

Africa’s Green Economy Summit is now just a couple of weeks away, and as a media partner, we’re offering discounts on tickets to our subscribers. Register here and use the code below to access your discount.

How China became the world’s leading market for energy storage

China is currently the world’s largest market for energy storage, followed by the US and Europe. This position was driven by a combination of market need for balancing renewable energy and government efforts to build a “new power system”.

- Read the full story here.

Gleaning: The ancient practice fighting modern food waste

In the UK and elsewhere, gleaning has become a critical tool in the fight against food waste and poverty.

- Read the full story here.

Other articles you might find interesting:

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