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In 2025, global coal capacity increased by 3.5% while production fell by 0.6%, as new plants are increasingly built for backup reliability rather than primary generation. This trend is most prominent in China and India, where renewables are meeting most new demand. While the number of countries developing coal projects fell to 32, political interventions in the US and energy security concerns in the EU have delayed planned closures. The EU continues a terminal decline in coal, with solar and wind producing more energy than all fossil fuels combined for the first time in 2025.

The global iron and steel industry faces a 'coal lock-in crisis' as blast furnace (BF) capacity continues to expand despite decarbonization targets. While electric arc furnace (EAF) and direct reduced iron (DRI) capacities are growing, the transition is slowed by massive legacy assets in China and aggressive new coal-based developments in India. Green hydrogen remains a critical but underutilized bottleneck, with only 2% of operating DRI capacity using it as a primary reductant. The report highlights a significant gap between announced net-zero goals and actual industrial investment, particularly regarding the relining of existing blast furnaces.

The document analyzes a structural contraction in Official Development Assistance (ODA) and a persistent under-allocation of climate finance toward adaptation. It argues that while the sector possesses the foresight to predict these trends, institutional barriers prevent this knowledge from translating into action. The paper highlights the failure of blended finance to scale in high-exposure contexts, the inability of alternative donors like China and Gulf states to replace Western ODA, and emerging risks such as the centralization of risk analytics and sovereign debt traps.

The report identifies 47 unchallenged cases of climate misinformation across six German TV channels (Sat.1, ZDF, ProSieben, RTL, Das Erste, and Kabel Eins) from April 2025 to April 2026. It finds that misinformation is often reactive, peaking around political events like the 2025 federal elections and the 2026 Climate Action Programme. The most dominant narratives target the economic and technical reliability of the Energiewende, while others focus on nuclear energy inaccuracies and the deflection of national responsibility. Politicians and guests are the primary vectors, accounting for 70% of cases, though journalists and commentators also contribute nearly 30%. Both public (ZDF) and private (Sat.1) broadcasters show vulnerability, with ZDF's risk linked to political talk shows and Sat.1's to the loosely structured format of morning shows. The report recommends journalist training on obstruction mechanisms, real-time fact-checking for live panels, and the creation of an independent media observatory.

The report finds that TotalEnergies' investment strategy heavily favors fossil fuels, with 4.8 dollars invested in oil and gas for every dollar spent on integrated power in 2025. The company's 2030 production targets are projected to be at least 59% higher than levels required for NZE alignment. While diversifying into renewables, the report notes this is largely through acquisitions and remains marginal, with oil and gas expected to represent 83% of the energy mix by 2030. Additionally, the company is expanding its LNG capacity and gas power production, while relying on CCUS and offsets to meet emissions targets it has recently modified, including a statement in 2026 that it could no longer commit to a 'net zero' objective.

The briefing argues that while climate and sustainable development goals are theoretically synergistic, actual policy coherence is hindered by political inequality, vested interests, and the prioritization of economic growth. Through analysis of nine countries and global NDC data, the research demonstrates that coherence is not a neutral technocratic exercise but a political process with significant distributional consequences, often burdening vulnerable groups when political will for equity is absent.

The document outlines the Responsible Policy Engagement (RPE) Framework to help EU businesses align their direct and indirect advocacy with climate goals. It warns that legacy fossil fuel interests often dominate trade associations, creating a false impression of business consensus against climate policy. The guide provides a five-step process for companies—commit, engage, align trade orgs, allocate spending, and disclose—and offers specific recommendations for trade associations to be more representative and for EU policymakers to close transparency gaps, particularly within the European Council.

The report argues that electricity planning in Southeast Asia, specifically in Indonesia, Viet Nam, Thailand, and the Philippines, is overly focused on GDP and industrial growth, which masks a "well-being gap" in essential services. Using the Decent Living Standards framework, it estimates a sufficiency floor of 620–1,270 kWh per capita per year, finding that while aggregate generation often meets this threshold, poor allocation and affordability prevent basic needs from being met.

The report asserts that metallurgical coal demand is plateauing as the steel industry shifts toward low-carbon technologies like electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and green hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (DRI). While some governments and financial institutions remain bullish on long-term growth, particularly in Asia, the document predicts a 4.8% drop in met coal consumption between 2025 and 2030. It highlights the risk of stranded assets, noting that 145 companies are planning expansions that could increase global capacity by 580 million tonnes per year. The report recommends scrapping subsidies for traditional steel, lowering industrial electricity prices, and using public procurement to prioritise green steel to accelerate the transition.

The First Conference for the Transition beyond Fossil Fuels, held in Santa Marta, Colombia, from April 24 to 29, aims to establish practical solutions for phasing out coal, oil, and gas. Co-sponsored by Colombia and the Netherlands, the event brings together at least 45 countries, including major exporters like Canada and Australia, though the largest producers—the US, China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia—are absent. The conference seeks to bypass the consensus-based delays of UN COPs to produce a report for COP30 and COP31, focusing on eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, planning production decline, and increasing renewable energy demand within a just transition framework.

In 2025, global electricity generation reached a historic milestone as renewables overtook coal power for the first time in 100 years, accounting for 33.8% of the global mix. This shift was driven by a record increase in solar power generation (636 TWh), which alone met 75% of the global electricity demand growth. Consequently, global fossil generation saw a slight decline of 38 TWh, marking the first such decrease since 2020 outside of a global recession or exceptionally mild year. This trend was most prominent in China and India, where fossil generation fell for the first time simultaneously in the 21st century. While Asia remains the only region where coal still exceeds renewables, the global emissions intensity of electricity fell to 458 gCO2e per kilowatt hour in 2025.

In 2025, clean power met all global electricity demand growth for the first time since the pandemic, as China's fossil generation plateaued. Solar power is the primary driver of this shift, and the deployment of battery storage is increasingly enabling solar to displace fossil fuels during non-daylight hours. India is expected to follow a less coal-reliant path than China due to lower energy intensity and the maturity of low-cost clean technologies.

In 2025, global electricity generation saw a significant shift toward low-carbon sources, with solar and wind reaching a combined 17.3% share of total generation. Solar was the fastest-growing source, adding 636 TWh and meeting 75% of global demand growth. Conversely, coal's share of global electricity fell below one-third for the first time on record to 33.0%, and renewable generation exceeded coal generation for the first time. Low-carbon sources (including nuclear) reached 42.6% of total generation, while the emissions intensity of electricity dropped by 2.7% in 2025, the largest annual decline in two decades.

The document examines how Spain's rapid expansion of wind and solar power has decoupled its electricity prices from volatile fossil fuel markets, particularly during the 2026 conflict in Iran. While Spain has achieved lower electricity costs and increased industrial competitiveness compared to other major EU economies, the author notes a critical shortfall in grid infrastructure investment. The text advocates for a reform of the EU's marginal pricing system and a shift toward domestic clean energy generation to ensure broader European energy security.

The report highlights a significant gap between the skills of African graduates and the requirements of the modern job market, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). It notes that sub-Saharan Africa has low enrollment in vocational programmes compared to global averages, though some countries like Angola perform better. The text argues for a balance between academic and vocational training to support agribusiness and manufacturing, while warning that poor foundational education in sub-Saharan Africa creates a lack of 'readily trainable workers' for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The briefing examines the surge in consumer demand for clean energy technologies in Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Spain, and the UK following the start of the Iran war. It highlights a strong correlation between fossil fuel price shocks and increased inquiries for solar PV and EVs, noting that supportive policies—such as feed-in tariffs, grants, and tax breaks—significantly bolster the economic case for adoption. Germany is identified as a leader in plug-in solar adoption due to its early policy interventions, while France and Germany are noted for social-based EV support models. The document also contains a disconnected section discussing the health and climate impacts of coal in Southeast Asia.

The document analyzes the strategic interests of the EU and Indonesia in Africa's critical raw materials sector, arguing that their differing strengths—the EU's financial and regulatory capacity and Indonesia's downstream industrialisation experience—could be combined through triangular cooperation to support African development and reduce mutual dependence on China.

The document analyzes a global trend of decreasing climate coverage in news media, particularly in the US, while identifying specific reasons for this decline and offering a prescription for revitalizing climate journalism to reflect the high level of public concern.

The document asserts that private finance continues to bankroll the fossil fuel industry despite net-zero alliances, which have largely collapsed or been gutted due to industry backlash. It calls for regulators to mandate climate transition plans, exclude fossil fuel assets from central bank collateral frameworks, and pass legislation to choke off funding for fossil fuels. While some progress is noted in coal restrictions and specific European institutional investor pledges, the author maintains that binding regulation is essential to ensure private capital accelerates rather than obstructs the global energy transition.

Turkey has developed a significant battery project pipeline of 33 GW due to regulations requiring new wind and solar plants to include storage. However, these projects average a storage duration of 1.1 hours, which is lower than the global average of 2.5 hours seen in 2025. While 208 MW were commissioned by February 2026, the pipeline is expected to diminish starting in 2026 as plants enter service or licenses are cancelled.