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The May 2026 report 'Boom and Bust' by Global Energy Monitor analyzes the global coal power portfolio, highlighting a growing divergence between the installation of new coal capacity and actual electricity generation. While global capacity increased by 3.5% in 2025, generation fell by 0.6%, with coal increasingly serving as a backup rather than a primary energy source. The report details regional trends, noting that new construction is heavily concentrated in China and India, while other regions face stagnation or decline due to financing constraints and energy transitions.

This report by Global Energy Monitor and various partners analyzes the state of global coal-fired power generation in 2025 and early 2026. It highlights a growing divergence where global coal capacity continues to increase—driven primarily by China and India—while actual generation decreases as renewables displace coal. The document details regional trends, noting that while Latin America has reached a 'No New Coal' status, several countries in the region are experiencing delays in planned plant retirements due to political pressure or energy security concerns.

The 'Boom and Bust 2026' report by Global Energy Monitor analyzes global coal power trends in 2025, highlighting a divergence where new capacity continues to be added—primarily in China and India—despite a decline in actual electricity generation. The report notes that coal is increasingly serving as backup capacity for system security rather than a primary source, while the number of countries planning new coal projects has decreased to 32. A significant portion of the document focuses on Turkey, detailing the tension between strong social demand for energy transition and government policies that continue to support coal through guaranteed purchase mechanisms.

The report 'Boom & Bust Coal 2026' by Global Energy Monitor analyzes the global coal power portfolio in 2025, highlighting a divergence where coal capacity continued to grow despite a decrease in actual coal-fired electricity generation. The document details regional trends, noting that new coal development is increasingly concentrated in China and India, while other regions like Latin America have ceased new coal projects. It also examines the specific challenges facing Ukraine's energy infrastructure due to Russian attacks and the debate over whether to restore old coal plants or transition to decentralized renewable energy.

The report 'Pedal to the Metal 2026' by Global Energy Monitor analyzes the global iron and steel industry's struggle to decarbonize, highlighting a 'coal lock-in crisis' where continued investment in blast furnace (BF) capacity and relining of existing assets threaten net-zero targets despite incremental gains in electric arc furnace (EAF) and direct reduced iron (DRI) technologies.

This research paper analyzes the structural decline of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and the systemic failures in allocating climate finance toward adaptation and resilience between 2024 and 2026. It argues that the primary constraint is not a lack of information or foresight, but an institutional 'decision gap' that prevents organizations from translating risk analysis into operational preparedness.

The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) has issued guidelines for its May 2026 Innovation Challenges, a call for proposals seeking transformative resilience solutions from entrepreneurs and organisations in the Global South. The initiative offers selected winners up to US$50,000 in funding and a comprehensive support package including mentoring, a leadership academy, and communications assistance to scale innovations that address climate and environmental risks.

This briefing by the South African Institute of International Affairs examines the collapse of multilateralism in the Sahel, focusing on how military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have led to the formation of the Alliance des États du Sahel (AES) and a strategic pivot away from Western-led institutions toward partners like Russia and China.

The report 'Boom & Bust Coal 2026' bySS analyzes global coal power trends in 2025, highlighting a growing gap where coal capacity is increasing while actual electricity production isS is declining. This trend is most prominent in China and India, where coal plants are increasingly used as 'system insurance' to support the integration of renewables. While the number of countries pursuing new coal projects is decreasing, Indonesia remains a significant outlier, expanding coal capacity primarily through 'captive' power plants for mineral processing (nickel and aluminum) and facing regulatory contradictions between its climate commitments and energy planning documents.

An Ember report finds that global coal mine methane (CMM) emissions remained broadly steady between 2021 and 2023, despite an 8% increase in global coal production. The report highlights significant discrepancies between official UNFCCC-reported data and independent estimates, noting that six of the nine largest emitters failed to submit official 2023 CMM data.

The Global Coal Mine Methane Review 2026 reports that coal mine methane (CMM) emissions have remained steady at approximately 35 million tonnes despite rising coal production since the 2021 Global Methane Pledge. The report highlights a critical lack of transparency, estimating that 89% of emissions were unreported to the UNFCCC in 2023, and that 87% of global coal production relies on generic emission factors rather than direct measurements. While satellite monitoring is increasing, it currently captures emissions from only 10% of global hard coal production. The report concludes that existing technologies could reduce CMM emissions by 54-63% by 2030, with some measures available at no net cost, and that such reductions are affordable relative to industry profits.

This report by Ember analyses electricity generation data to demonstrate that fossil fuel power has reached a structural peak and is in permanent decline across all 38 OECD member countries as of 2025. It highlights how the rapid scaling of solar and wind is displacing thermal generation, a trend that is now extending into major emerging economies like China and India.

This research paper by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) analyzes the misalignment of global public finance, noting that in 2024, public support for fossil fuels exceeded USD 1.2 trillion, nearly five times the USD 254 billion provided to clean energy. The report examines fossil fuel subsidies, G20 renewable energy support, state-owned enterprise (SOE) capital expenditure, and international public finance, arguing that governments must shift from blanket subsidies to targeted social protection and clean energy investment to reduce fiscal exposure and energy vulnerability.

This policy brief examines the United States government's recent shift toward using equity investments to secure critical mineral supply chains, particularly to reduce dependence on China. While these deals provide essential up-front capital and have catalyzed private investment, the author argues that equity alone is insufficient and must be paired with demand-side supports, such as price floors and offtake agreements, to ensure long-term market stability.

The report argues that betting on long-term growth for metallurgical coal (met coal) is a losing strategy as demand plateaus due to China's economic shift and the rise of low-carbon steel production. It highlights the risk of stranded assets given the volume of planned mine expansions and recommends that governments accelerate the transition to green steel through subsidy reform and public procurement.

In 2025, record solar and wind growth met 99% of global electricity demand increases, causing fossil fuel generation to decline for the first time since 2020. Renewables surpassed coal as a share of global electricity generation for the first time in a century, reaching 33.8%.

The global electricity sector has transitioned from fossil-fuelled growth to clean growth, with clean power meeting all global demand growth in 2025. This shift is driven largely by the plateauing of fossil generation in China and the rapid scale-up of solar and wind power. Battery storage is now emerging as a critical technology to displace fossil fuels during non-daylight hours, particularly in high-solar regions.

This report by Ember analyzes global electricity demand and supply trends in 2025 and over the preceding two decades. It details the growth of low-carbon sources, specifically solar and wind, and the relative decline of fossil fuels, while noting the impact of weather and policy on national energy mixes.

This report provides a detailed analysis of the power sectors of the world's seven largest electricity markets in 2025: China, the United States, the European Union, India, Russia, Japan, and Brazil. These regions collectively represent 72% of global electricity demand. The document examines trends in generation mix, demand growth, carbon intensity, and emissions, highlighting a global shift toward wind and solar, though the pace and drivers vary significantly by region.

This research paper by the Institute for Security Studies examines agricultural reforms in China, Brazil, and Egypt to identify potential lessons for improving productivity and food security in Africa.