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In the first half of 2025, global solar and wind generation grew sufficiently to exceed total electricity demand growth, leading to renewables overtaking coal's share of the global electricity mix for the first time on record. While China and India saw declines in fossil fuel generation and emissions, the US and EU experienced increases due to demand growth outpacing clean energy in the US and unfavorable weather affecting wind and hydro in the EU.

Spain has significantly lowered its wholesale electricity prices by decoupling them from volatile fossil fuel costs through the expansion of wind and solar capacity. In the first half of 2025, Spain's wholesale prices were 32% lower than the EU average, with the share of hours where prices were tied to gas costs dropping from 75% in 2019 to 19% in 2025. However, a blackout on April 28, 2025, led to a 'reinforced mode' of grid operation that increased reliance on gas for stability services. This resulted in the cost of grid balancing doubling in May 2025 and renewable curtailment tripling from 1.8% to 7.2% between May and July 2025. The report highlights a lag in investment in battery storage and grid-enhancing technologies, noting that Spain's 120 MW battery fleet is only the 13th largest in Europe despite being the 4th largest power market. To address this, Spain is implementing reforms, including adding eight synchronous compensators to the mainland grid and expanding its battery storage pipeline.

The document provides a comprehensive introduction to the ETS2, a 'cap and trade' system starting in 2027 to reduce emissions in buildings and road transport by 42% relative to 2005 levels by 2030. It details the market mechanisms, including the Linear Reduction Factor and the Market Stability Reserve (MSR2), and emphasizes that carbon pricing must be paired with complementary policies—such as building renovations and EV electrification—to prevent price volatility and ensure a just transition. The guide also describes the Social Climate Fund (SCF), a €65 billion mechanism designed to support vulnerable households facing energy and transport poverty, and analyzes the distribution and potential misuse of ETS2 revenues among member states.

Friends of the Earth International argues that environmental rights are human rights and should form an autonomous basis for corporate liability in the UN Legally Binding Instrument. The document provides textual suggestions to ensure TNCs are obligated to prevent environmental harm, phase out emissions, and provide full ecological restoration, moving beyond voluntary due diligence and ESG frameworks.

The policy brief by Friends of the Earth International advocates for the integration of explicit environmental and climate obligations for transnational corporations (TNCs) into the UN's legally binding instrument. It argues that the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a recognized human right, as established by UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/76/300 and various regional courts. The document provides specific text proposals to ensure TNCs are held legally accountable for environmental damage, biodiversity loss, and climate change, moving beyond procedural due diligence to substantive obligations of result, including the total elimination of climate emissions across value chains and full ecological restoration.

The report analyzes climate disinformation in French and Brazilian mainstream media, finding that in France, disinformation is systemic and often linked to political and economic interests, while in Brazil, it manifests as a strategic 'invisibilization' of environmental issues driven by the agribusiness sector. It recommends strengthening media regulation, improving journalist training, and integrating disinformation detection into emergency response systems for extreme weather events.

The report analyzes climate disinformation in French and Brazilian mainstream media, finding that while France sees a high volume of structured disinformation narratives—particularly regarding energy and mobility—Brazil experiences a 'media invisibility' of environmental issues driven by agribusiness and political influence. It highlights the role of public broadcasting as a bulwark in France and warns that disinformation during extreme weather events can undermine emergency responses. The authors recommend strengthening media regulation, improving journalist training, and institutionalizing semi-automated disinformation detection systems.

Chile faces significant renewable energy curtailment due to limited transmission and storage capacity, with 5,642 GWh of solar and wind energy curtailed in 2024. The report recommends a National Curtailment Reduction Plan, the mass installation of Dynamic Line Rating (DLR) systems, minimum storage requirements for new projects in congested areas, and the creation of a formal demand response market. It also suggests strengthening electricity exchange markets with Argentina and Peru to improve system flexibility.

Chile faces significant energy curtailments due to transmission bottlenecks and a lack of system flexibility, with 2024 curtailments reaching 19% of solar and wind generation. The document argues that while large infrastructure projects like the Kimal-Lo Aguirre line are planned for 2029, immediate action is needed through a 'Clean Flexibility Kit' including battery storage, Dynamic Line Rating (DLR), and demand response markets. It compares Chile's situation with other high-renewable systems like China, Ireland, and California to provide a roadmap of short-, medium-, and long-term recommendations to improve grid efficiency and reduce economic losses for investors.

The report argues that interconnectors are critical for European energy security, having prevented three major blackouts in the last five years and providing a lifeline to Ukraine and Moldova during Russian aggression. It highlights that 55% of Europe's power system remains at risk due to limited import options, with Spain, Ireland, and Finland being particularly exposed. The document also details the vulnerability of infrastructure to sabotage, citing nine incidents in the Baltic Sea, and calls for accelerated deployment of new capacity and strengthened security measures to protect the grid from hybrid warfare.

The document asserts that blackouts are predominantly caused by infrastructure failure, human error, and extreme weather, rather than the deployment of variable renewables. It highlights a significant investment gap in electricity grids, noting that while renewable energy investment has more than doubled since 2015, grid investment has only grown by 24%. The briefing argues that modernising grids with storage, interconnections, and decentralised generation can enhance adequacy, operational security, and resilience, including 'black start' capabilities. However, the IEA warns that grids risk becoming the "weak link" in the energy transition due to underinvestment in ageing assets and the inability to keep pace with rising global electricity demand.

Mexico possesses world-leading solar resources that could technically supply 90% of its electricity when paired with battery storage. While reaching a 45% clean electricity target by 2030 could reduce US gas imports by 20%, a more ambitious 'solar superpower' scenario could eliminate these imports entirely. However, high local installation costs—38% higher for solar and nearly double for batteries compared to global averages—act as a significant barrier to this transition.

The document argues that common myths about renewable energy are outdated and unsupported by evidence. It provides data showing that solar and wind are now the cheapest sources of new power generation, with costs falling up to 90% since 2010. It asserts that modern grids can manage intermittency through storage and diversification, and that renewables have significantly lower impacts on wildlife, public health, and waste compared to fossil fuels. Specific case studies, such as the April 2025 Iberian Peninsula blackout, are used to demonstrate that grid instability is often caused by technical planning issues rather than the presence of renewables.

Between June and August 2025, human-induced climate change significantly increased global temperatures, with at least 22% of the global population experiencing temperatures at Climate Shift Index (CSI) level 2 or higher every day. Nearly 955 million people faced 30 or more 'risky heat days' added by climate change, with the highest impact seen in Asia. The report also documents severe climate-driven events, including record rainfall and flooding in China, India, Pakistan, and the U.S., as well as historic wildfires in Europe and Canada.

The report examines how battery energy storage can enhance grid reliability—specifically resource adequacy, stability, and resilience—while reducing costs. It contrasts the successful deployment of batteries in Texas (ERCOT) and California (CAISO), where well-defined ancillary services and value stacking have lowered costs, with the PJM region, where high uplift costs and interconnection hurdles persist. The author recommends that regulators and planners define competitive ancillary service products, properly value resource adequacy, and modernize interconnection processes to replace expensive legacy fossil fuel generators.

The 2025 fire season in Spain and Portugal saw extreme burned areas, with Spain experiencing its worst fires in 30 years and Portugal burning 260,000 ha. These events coincided with the most intense heatwave on record in Spain. Analysis indicates that a 1.3°C increase in global temperatures since preindustrial times has made these extreme fire-conducive weather conditions approximately 40 times more likely, transforming an event that would have occurred once every 500 years into one expected every 15 years.

ClientEarth argues that CSOs in the EU, particularly those focused on environment and climate, face a deteriorating environment characterized by shrinking civic space, legal harassment (SLAPPs), and financial insecurity. The document criticizes the European Commission for restricting public access to documents and prioritizing corporate interests in 'strategic dialogues' over civil society. It calls for a binding framework for civil dialogue, systemic consultation at all legislative stages, and increased funding for protection mechanisms like the Aarhus Rapid Response Mechanism. Specific national examples of repression are cited in Poland, France, Italy, Germany, and Hungary, while Finland and Denmark are noted for positive engagement models.

The document examines Nigeria's vulnerability to global energy transitions due to its heavy reliance on oil and gas exports, high production costs, and limited economic diversification. It highlights the risks of reduced government revenue and job losses while identifying opportunities in critical minerals, natural gas as a transition fuel, and non-oil sector growth.

A research paper by World Weather Attribution finding that climate change made the extreme fire weather conditions of 2025 in Türkiye, Greece, and Cyprus approximately 10 times more likely and significantly more intense.

The document examines geologic hydrogen—molecular hydrogen formed naturally underground—as a potential low-cost, low-emissions energy source. It details three extraction pathways: natural accumulation, stimulated accumulation, and stimulated generation. While offering theoretical costs as low as $0.50 to $1.00 per kilogram and vast global reserves estimated at 5-6.2 trillion tons, the resource faces significant hurdles, including extreme resource uncertainty, a lack of commercial-scale extraction methods, and potential methane leakage during production.