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This report analyzes the emerging role of grid-scale batteries in the European Union as of 2025, highlighting their ability to compete with expensive gas-fired power during peak demand hours and reduce the curtailment of renewable energy. Using Italy as a primary example and California as a comparative case study, the document details how falling battery costs and widening price spreads are driving a record project pipeline aimed at lowering wholesale electricity prices and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

This case study by the Stockholm Environment Institute uses Pärnu City and County in Estonia to illustrate the development and impact of urban heat islands (UHI). It employs satellite-derived land surface temperature data and social vulnerability mapping to demonstrate how heat risk is an interaction between physical hazards, population exposure, and social sensitivity.

This research paper by the Stockholm Environment Institute evaluates the greenhouse gas mitigation potential of deep renovation and energy supply decarbonisation for the residential building stock in Estonia by 2050.

This policy brief by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the 2024 reform of the European Union's public procurement framework. It argues that while green public procurement (GPP) is a powerful lever for the green transition—given that public procurement accounts for approximately 14% of EU GDP—its implementation is hindered by legal uncertainties, administrative burdens, and capacity gaps. The document advocates for the use of robust, third-party verified tools such as ecolabels and life-cycle costing to simplify GPP and recommends specific legal and structural reforms to the EU directives to foster their uptake.

This policy brief presents insights from informal bilateral discussions conducted by Ember and the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA) with transmission system operators (TSOs) from six Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The document examines CEE TSO perspectives on the European Commission's upcoming European Grids Package, highlighting a tension between the shared ambition to modernise grids and concerns regarding EU-level governance, funding complexity, and the perceived dominance of Western European interests in policy shaping.

This report by Ember examines the critical role of electricity interconnectors in maintaining European energy security, preventing blackouts, and mitigating the impact of geopolitical conflicts and sabotage. It argues that expanding and securing cross-border grid capacity is a vital element of protecting European society against hybrid warfare and technical failures.

This document provides the sources and methodology for Ember's Europe Electricity Interconnection Data Tool. It details how the tool maps Bidding Zones to countries, calculates interconnection capacity (NTC), estimates import potential, and analyzes electricity flows and variable renewable energy (RES) penetration for 2024 and projected scenarios for 2030 and 2040.

This report by Ember analyzes the final National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) of EU Member States to project the bloc's energy trajectory for 2030. The findings indicate a structural shift toward a cleaner, electrified economy characterized by declining gas demand and rising renewable energy generation, though some targets still fall short of REPowerEU ambitions.

This briefing by Ember analyzes the energy security landscape of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) ahead of its 10th annual summit in Warsaw. It argues that while 3SI countries have the infrastructure to fully eliminate Russian gas, there is a significant risk of creating 'stranded assets' through the overexpansion of LNG and pipeline capacity. The document advocates for a shift in focus toward a 2027 Russian gas phase-out, renewable energy deployment, and the creation of a 'Transmission Highway' to move clean power from coastlines to Central Europe.

The EU Green Policy Tracker prototype reveals that the implementation of the European Green Deal in Sweden and Estonia is hindered by severe administrative capacity constraints and a lack of policy coherence. Key obstacles include overwhelming reporting requirements, conflicts between EU state aid rules and funding mechanisms, and tensions between economic interests and carbon sequestration targets. The report also notes a broader political shift in the EU, where environmental ambitions are being scaled back or rebranded as the 'Clean Industrial Deal' to prioritize economic competitiveness.

A statement by Trend Asia and a global coalition of civil society organizations arguing that large-scale forest biomass combustion for energy is not carbon neutral, harms biodiversity, violates community rights, and obstructs the transition to clean energy. The signatories call for the cessation of forest biomass expansion and the removal of related subsidies.

This research paper examines the perceptions and access constraints of users of climate information tools, based on a survey of 343 participants across five European countries.

This briefing summarizes a high-level roundtable discussion hosted by Ember and partners during the PCI Energy Days in Brussels on November 4-5, 2024. The discussion focused on the necessity of an integrated power grid in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to manage the rise of intermittent renewables, ensure energy security, and facilitate the transit of clean energy from coastal regions to landlocked countries.

The 'SEI strategy 2025–29' outlines the Stockholm Environment Institute's strategic framework to address global environmental and sustainable development challenges. The strategy focuses on three primary impact areas—climate transitions, nature and resources, and health and wellbeing—while introducing 'accelerating implementation' as a new strategic outcome to move from policy goals to on-the-ground action.

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics examines the proposal to expand the contributor base for climate finance to include emerging economies. It argues that while some emerging countries already contribute voluntarily, mandating their contributions at the current rate of developed countries would only provide an additional USD 51.19 billion, which is approximately 5.12% of the estimated USD 1 trillion annual need for developing countries. The document emphasizes that developed countries must maintain primary responsibility and calls for clearer definitions of 'developed countries' and 'climate finance' during the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) negotiations at COP29.

The report by Ember argues that the European Union must rapidly scale up 'clean flexibility' solutions, particularly battery storage, to complement the fast growth of wind and solar power. It highlights that without such flexibility, the EU will fail to capture abundant renewable energy, leading to higher reliance on fossil fuels and increased costs. The document provides evidence of current solar dominance in several Member States and simulates the potential for batteries to reduce fossil fuel imports and costs by 2030.

This report by Ember advocates for the implementation of transparent grid hosting capacity maps to accelerate the energy transition in Europe. It outlines how such maps can reduce grid connection queues and optimize network use, discusses new EU legislative requirements for TSOs and DSOs, and proposes a framework for an "ideal" map including substation-level granularity and open-source data access.

This research paper, commissioned by the Estonian Ministry of Climate, examines the feasibility of recycling capabilities for textile waste in Estonia in response to the European Union’s Waste Framework Directive.

This working paper, based on a 2023 study by the Stockholm Environment Institute and others, evaluates four decarbonization scenarios for the gas sectors of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland. The analysis focuses on transitioning from fossil gas to renewable methane and hydrogen to enhance energy security and meet 2050 EU sustainability goals, projecting a regional gas demand reduction from 63 TWh in 2021 to 38 TWh by 2050.

This executive summary, based on a report by Aeby et al. (2023), analyzes four decarbonization pathways for the gas sectors of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland to achieve full decarbonization by 2050. The study evaluates scenarios including Business-as-Usual (BAU), Renewable Methane (REN-Methane), Renewable Hydrogen (REN-Hydrogen), and a Cost-Minimizing (CM) scenario, emphasizing the need for regional coordination to reduce dependence on Russian gas and meet EU sustainability goals.