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The 2026 Global Electricity Review reports that in 2025, clean energy growth—driven primarily by solar power—met 100% of new global electricity demand, resulting in the first year since 2020 where fossil fuel generation did not increase. For the first time in the modern era, renewables exceeded coal, accounting for over one-third of global electricity generation. This shift was significantly influenced by declines in fossil fuel generation in China and India, both of which saw decreases in 2025. Solar energy's growth was 18 times greater than that of gas, and the deployment of battery storage is increasingly supporting the transition to 24/7 clean power, with countries like Chile and Australia leading in grid-scale storage.

Ember argues that the UK can achieve clean power by 2030 to combat inflation and energy price volatility. The organization identifies planning delays as a primary barrier and criticizes the economic efficiency and sustainability of biomass and BECCS subsidies.

In 2021, wind and solar power reached a record 10.3% of global electricity generation, with solar growing by 23% and wind by 14%. However, a massive surge in global electricity demand—the highest absolute increase ever recorded at 1,414 TWh—outpaced clean energy growth. Consequently, coal generation hit a new historical peak of 10,042 TWh, accounting for 36% of global electricity and driving power sector CO2 emissions to a record 778 million tonnes, a 7% increase over 2020.

The document examines how U.S. government-led research, simulation tools, and public-private partnerships between 1981 and 2011 drove significant improvements in diesel engine efficiency and emissions. It highlights the economic benefits of these investments, noting that less than $1 billion in funding generated over $70 billion in economic returns, while reducing heavy-duty truck emissions and increasing fuel economy.

In 2025, the BRICS nations experienced their largest power capacity expansion on record, characterized by a 'split transition' where both fossil fuels and renewables reached historic highs. While 125 GW of new coal, oil, and gas capacity was added, solar and wind additions totaled 497 GW. This growth was heavily concentrated in China and India, where record renewable deployment began to reduce coal-fired generation despite continued coal capacity expansion. In contrast, other BRICS members like Russia and Iran remain overwhelmingly fossil-based, while Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, and the UAE show varying degrees of renewable growth and fossil fuel reliance.

South Korea aims to triple its renewable energy capacity to 100GW by 2030 to mitigate the economic impact of volatile fossil fuel prices. Since 2010, wind and solar have saved the country USD 25 billion in LNG import costs. While the country possesses strong industrial capabilities in solar panels, batteries, and transformers, it faces significant land constraints and grid bottlenecks, particularly in transmitting power from Honam to Seoul. The government is prioritizing a high-voltage direct current energy highway and digital grid integration to support this transition.

Colombia is planning at least nine major LNG import terminal projects and expansions between 2026 and 2030, which could create a capacity of 2,500 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d). This capacity is more than double the 1,000 MMcf/d gas demand projected by the Unidad de Planeación Minero Energética (UPME) for 2030. The report argues that overbuilding LNG infrastructure risks creating stranded assets, increasing dependence on volatile global markets, and undermining the country's roadmap to reduce fossil fuel dependence and emissions by 90% by 2050.

The report identifies a widening gap between coal capacity and generation, particularly in China and India, where new plants are built as 'system insurance' while renewables displace coal in actual output. Globally, the coal pipeline is narrowing geographically, with 95% of construction concentrated in China and India. However, the report notes a significant slowdown in retirements in the U.S. and EU due to policy interventions and energy security concerns. Regional analyses highlight Indonesia's growth in captive coal for industrial processing, the U.S.'s political push to sustain aging plants, and the EU's structural shift toward a coal-free system. The document also examines the impact of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism on the Western Balkans and the challenges of rebuilding Ukraine's energy system.

The report examines the 'resource curse' in Southern Africa, specifically regarding LNG projects in Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. It highlights a gap between Africa's significant gas discoveries—accounting for nearly 40% of global discoveries in the last decade—and actual production due to socio-political instability. The document argues that without structural democratic reform and meaningful community consultation, resource wealth fails to translate into broad-based development, as seen in Angola. It recommends that governments and investors prioritize 'Free, Prior, Informed and Continuous Consent' and align mining projects with the Africa Mining Vision and SADC Protocol on Energy to avoid conflict and environmental degradation.

The report analyzes how Russia-aligned actors use disinformation in Germany to discredit Ukraine, NATO, and the EU. It categorizes these narratives into four types: targeting civilians (such as 'denazification' and anti-refugee claims), demoralization (focused on energy security and sanctions), conspiracies (including bio-laboratories and QAnon), and escalatory rhetoric (regarding NATO encirclement and nuclear threats). The document highlights that Germany is a prime target due to its economic status and historical ties to Russia, and recommends ad-tech reforms and continued monitoring to counter these narratives.

Global Witness and a coalition of environmental and energy groups are calling on the UK House of Lords to support amendment 56 to the Energy Bill. The groups argue that the bill could force up to 2,000 homes in proposed 'Hydrogen Village' trials to switch to hydrogen heating, which they describe as dangerous and expensive. They specifically highlight concerns regarding expanded access powers for gas companies to enter homes and the lack of guaranteed opt-out rights for residents in potential trial areas such as Redcar, Teeside, Whitby, or Ellesmere Port.

Global Witness reports that BASF's subsidiary, Wintershall Dea, continued extracting and transporting Russian gas in 2022 despite BASF's public commitment to wind down non-food businesses in Russia. The brief estimates that Russian gas transported by Wintershall across Germany in early 2022 was worth over €14 billion and that the subsidiary earned €400 million from Siberian fields between January and March 2022. It highlights BASF CEO Martin Brudermüller's lobbying to maintain these supplies to avoid economic crisis, while noting that Wintershall's partnership with Gazprom has increased Russia's leverage over Germany's energy security.

The document contends that retreating from clean energy investments in the US is a mistake, citing the vulnerability of fossil fuel dependence and the rapid growth of renewables. It highlights that solar, wind, and battery power are projected to constitute 93% of new energy additions to the US grid in 2025. The author emphasizes that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) supports job creation and workforce preparation for a sustainable economy. Additionally, the text stresses the necessity of high environmental and human rights standards for the mining and recycling of transition minerals to protect communities and mitigate supply chain risks.

The Nomzamo Agri Village initiative implemented a decentralized solar energy model that provided electricity to 91% of households, leading to significant financial savings, improved safety through 60 solar streetlights, and the creation of 78 temporary jobs. This energy foundation enabled further interventions in communal refrigeration for small businesses, waterless and greywater sanitation pilots, and a transition from subsistence to commercial farming, with the first cabbage harvest sold to a supermarket in late 2024. The project, supported by GreenCape's Alternative Service Delivery Unit and international partners, generated over R350,000 in local earnings for enumerators and solar technicians.

The City of Cape Town (CCT) is developing a 7MW ground-mounted solar PV plant in Atlantis, marking the first utility-scale renewable energy project in South Africa owned and operated by a metropolitan municipality. Initiated in 2021 following a regulatory shift in the Electricity Regulation Act, the project aims to reduce reliance on Eskom and improve energy security. The CCT utilised a Corporate Project, Programme, and Portfolio Management (CPPPM) framework and an Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) contracting strategy via an NEC4 DBO contract to mitigate risks, including unexpected groundwater issues and global solar panel price shocks. The plant, which includes a 5MW/10MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), is expected to be completed by April 2026, avoiding 12,524 tonnes of CO2e emissions per annum and providing significant cost savings compared to Eskom tariffs.

The document examines the growth of embedded solar generation in South Africa, which reached over 3.2 GW of installed capacity in 18 months. It compares four primary procurement models: outright purchase, commercial debt, solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), and embedded generation leasing. While outright purchases offer the best long-term return on investment, PPAs and leasing are increasing in popularity—accounting for 20% to 30% of new commercial and industrial projects—due to their ability to reduce upfront costs and system performance risks. The brief also details specific financial incentives, including the 12B tax allowance and feed-in tariffs, and provides a decision framework for businesses to select the most appropriate financing model based on their capital availability and risk appetite.

UV Tooling CC, a parts manufacturer in Cape Town, installed a 150 kWp solar PV system and 290 kWh Li-ion battery storage to combat systemic loadshedding. The system provides 2.5 hours of protection per loadshedding event and utilizes peak shaving to reduce costs. This investment has resulted in a 47% reduction in monthly electricity bills and avoids over R1.2 million in annual diesel costs, with an expected payback period of 7.5 years.

The report argues that solar PV is highly suitable for packhouses because their peak energy demands for cooling and packing align with daytime solar generation. Through modelling an apple packhouse, the report finds that large-scale systems (500 kWp) are consistently profitable across various tariff and financing scenarios, while smaller systems (≤10 kWp) require favourable financing to be viable. It emphasizes that the primary value is derived from replacing expensive grid electricity rather than selling excess power back to the grid, which offers lower returns. The report also identifies regulatory hurdles, noting that feed-in tariffs are only available in specific Western Cape municipalities.

The transition to renewable energy is expected to reduce dependencies on fossil fuel importers and lower energy prices, but it introduces new geopolitical challenges. The author argues that 'pipeline politics' will be replaced by 'grid politics', where control over interconnectors, hubs, and storage facilities becomes central. For Europe, while the transition offers a path away from reliance on Russia and the Gulf region, success depends on the EU's ability to manage internal divergences in national energy priorities and compete with Asia and the US in the clean tech market and for rare minerals.

The IAI has developed a comprehensive set of 24 KPIs and 38 metrics to evaluate its progress in advancing transdisciplinary science, capacity building, and organizational sustainability in the Americas. These metrics cover areas such as fundraising, open data management, and the integration of underrepresented groups in research.