Ursula von der Leyen used her 2021 State of the European Union address to urge urgent climate action, but EU capitals will likely deflate the ambition of her proposal over the coming months – and escape scrutiny for doing so.
Hydrogen, electric planes, cybersecurity, heat pumps, electric vehicles, gas, oil, CO2 removal, bitcoin and batteries have been some of our biggest hitters over the past year. To mark its first birthday, Energy Monitor takes stock of what is driving the energy transition.
The US states of Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia have signed a pact to collaborate on offshore wind development. The regional partnership is a potential model to avoid zero-sum, state-by-state competition and build a larger US market.
The droughts, wildfires, floods and hurricanes of the past months have prompted US and EU leaders to connect domestic weather events to climate change in an unprecedented way – but will they change policy?
A confusing financial ecosystem is impeding the provision of climate finance to developing countries, and threatens to destroy what trust remains between rich nations and the Global South.
Top ten institutional investors in the coal industry overseas (Source: Urgewald - Financing GCEL 2020)
| Investor | Total, $mn |
|---|---|
| Vanguard (US) | 85,852 |
| BlackRock (US) | 84,355 |
| Capital Group (US) | 38,351 |
| State Street (US) | 32,505 |
| Government Pension Investment Fund (Japan) | 29,083 |
| T. Rowe Price (US) | 15,436 |
| Fidelity Investments (US) | 14,857 |
| Government Pension Fund Global (Norway) | 14,572 |
| JPMorgan Chase (US) | 14,232 |
| TIAA (US) | 13,829 |
US banks, insurers and asset managers are not divesting from overseas coal assets fast enough, research from a German non-profit suggests.
Average flaring intensity per barrel is at its highest in five years – even as the IEA's Sustainable Development Scenario says it must fall 90% by 2025.
Industry group COGEN Europe believes the efficient use of renewable fuels, such as biofuels and hydrogen, in buildings could help the EU achieve its 2030 energy efficiency and climate targets.
Policy barriers are preventing capital flowing towards low-carbon transport. Ingrid Holmes, executive director of the UK’s Green Finance Institute, tells Energy Monitor how the organisation plans to bring them down.
Investors were getting ready to turn up the heat when the world’s largest chemicals company made its pledge to go net zero.
Concerned investors are starting to make corporate laggards take real action on climate change, but for some investors, they are not moving fast enough.
Recently announced 2021 power targets will see electricity generation from LNG in Japan fall nearly 50% by 2030. It marks an end to the country's dominance of the global LNG market.
Vast offshore generation is not a goal in itself, costs for new ‘transit' infrastructure need redistributing and hydrogen needs a business case, says Christian Zinglersen, director of the EU agency promoting cooperation among energy regulators.
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