Search Climate Insights Directory

Climate Central analysis indicates that human-caused climate change has made the extreme heat gripping Spain and southern France in June 2025 at least five times more likely. Temperatures are forecast to reach up to 40°C, with approximately 94% of Spain's population expected to experience at least one day of exceptional climate-driven heat.

The report details a critical shortage of grid connection capacity in Turkey and worldwide. In Turkey, 65% of unlicensed project applications were rejected between February 2024 and April 2025 due to regional capacity constraints. Globally, 1.65 TW of wind, solar, and hydro projects are awaiting connection. The document identifies economic risks, long construction timelines, cautious technical planning, and procedural inefficiencies as primary barriers to the energy transition.

Türkiye is facing significant grid connection bottlenecks, with 65% of unlicensed solar project applications rejected between February 2024 and April 2025. Hybrid solar plants, which share existing transmission lines with wind or hydroelectric facilities, offer a way to bypass these constraints without new grid investments. The report estimates a baseline hybrid solar potential of 8 GW, which could increase to 25.6 GW under more favorable economic conditions. Implementing these systems could raise total solar capacity to 30 GW and mitigate the impact of climate-induced droughts on hydroelectric generation.

The report highlights a critical shortage of grid connection capacity in Türkiye, where 65% of unlicensed project applications (7.5 GW) were rejected between February 2024 and April 2025 due to regional constraints. Globally, 1.65 TW of wind, solar, and hydroelectric capacity is awaiting connection approval as of July 2024. The document identifies high investment costs, inflation, exchange rate fluctuations, and cautious technical planning assumptions as primary drivers of these bottlenecks. It also notes procedural delays in Europe, where wind farm connection permits can take up to 9 years, and suggests that improving data transparency and tightening application criteria—as seen in France, Greece, and Romania—could accelerate the energy transition.

The CEO of Mighty Earth discusses the risks associated with JBS's listing on the New York Stock Exchange, citing a history of bribery, fraudulent climate claims, and pollution. While noting progress such as the suspension of 1,000 suppliers linked to deforestation by JBS and other Brazilian meatpackers, the author highlights ongoing failures in South American cattle companies to prohibit deforestation in the Cerrado, Pantanal, and Chiquitania ecosystems, as well as a general lack of methane pollution disclosure.

The document argues that African countries face a precarious development finance landscape due to declining official development assistance (ODA) and a market bias known as the 'Africa premium'. It proposes that South Africa use its G20 presidency to advocate for a technical committee on financing barriers, host a Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable meeting on restructuring, facilitate dialogue with the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions, and coordinate with international conferences to promote a more equitable financial system.

The report argues that while Europe possesses world-class R&D infrastructure and talent, its fusion energy sector is hindered by fragmented governance and an outdated sequential roadmap. It recommends shifting to a Key Enabling Technologies (KET)-based strategy, centralising governance under Fusion for Energy (F4E), and establishing a robust public-private partnership (PPP) framework to support startups and prevent 'brain drain' to the U.S. and China.

The document argues that current development and climate finance is insufficient to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, noting a $4 trillion annual investment gap for SDG implementation in developing countries. It promotes the work of the Global Solidarity Levy Task Force (GSLTF), which has proposed 16 levy options targeting undertaxed sectors responsible for carbon emissions, including aviation, fossil fuels, and financial transactions. The GSLTF estimates that these levies could potentially generate over $500 billion in annual revenue, with specific examples such as a 0.1% levy on trading stocks and bonds potentially raising $418 billion. The brief calls for developing countries to engage in the design and assessment of these levies to ensure equitable access to funds, as the recovery of these taxes generally occurs through individual national tax systems, leaving the allocation of grants to developing countries to the discretion of developed nations.

The report argues for a 'hybrid market model' in Europe that combines proactive procurement for the market with competition in the market to ensure a reliable, 24/7 decarbonised power system. It identifies significant gaps in current National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), noting that many Member States are not on track to meet 2030 EU targets. To address this, the authors recommend expanding system needs assessments to include flexibility and resilience (including climate and cyber risks) and extending their time horizon to 2050. On the contracting side, the report suggests enhancing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) through standardisation and public demand, and improving Contracts for Difference (CfDs) by embedding dispatch incentives to avoid distorting market signals. It also proposes a tripartite contracting framework involving a central public entity to hedge risks for both the state and industrial consumers, thereby fostering industrial electrification and competitiveness.

ClientEarth advocates for a shift from 'paper commitments' to legal action to address the ocean crisis. The briefing prioritises the enforcement of existing frameworks, such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), to protect marine biodiversity and combat climate change. It specifically calls for the elimination of harmful fisheries subsidies, the banning of bottom trawling in marine protected areas (MPAs), and the ratification of the BBNJ Agreement to protect the high seas. The document also highlights the need for a 'Protection Principle' that makes ocean conservation the default norm and outlines specific legal priorities for the EU, Mediterranean, China, and the UK.

The document analyzes the legal requirements of Article 9 of the Nature Restoration Law (NRL), which mandates the restoration of at least 25,000km of free-flowing rivers in the EU by 2030. It details the process for creating barrier inventories, prioritizing the removal of obsolete structures, and ensuring these actions align with other EU frameworks like the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Habitats Directive. The briefing emphasizes the need for longitudinal, lateral, and vertical connectivity and warns against using the Renewable Energy Directive to justify the retention of obsolete barriers.

The report finds that while some fashion companies have improved their GHG emission reduction targets, these commitments often lack credibility due to a failure to implement systemic transitions. Key issues include a reliance on 'false solutions' like biomass and fossil gas instead of electrification, limited transparency regarding supply chain energy, and a persistent adherence to fast fashion business models that prioritise volume over value. While H&M Group is noted for its transparency in disclosing supply chain energy balances, the sector generally lacks the prescriptive guidance and regulatory interventions needed to curb overproduction and scale low-GHG fibres.

The document argues that the EU ETS1 is fit for purpose until 2035, after which a supply-demand mismatch for allowances may emerge. It strongly warns that integrating international carbon credits (Article 6) or carbon removals into the ETS would undermine the carbon price incentive, risk emissions mitigation avoidance, and divert investment away from domestic decarbonisation. For the upcoming ETS2, the brief recommends allowing the market to function for several years before making adjustments due to high price uncertainty. It also cautions against merging ETS1 and ETS2 due to differences in market actor price sensitivity and suggests maintaining national targets beyond 2030 to support the ETS.

The report examines the international demand for eco-certified seafood, noting a growing preference for sustainable products among youth in the US and a strong market in Northwestern Europe. It highlights that while consumers may pay a premium, this rarely reaches producers. To support Manitoba fishers, the report recommends improving information distribution through community liaisons and accessible formats like infographics, while urging federal and provincial officials to engage in more direct listening sessions with fishing communities.

The report addresses the need for a transparent mechanism to measure the workforce transition in Canada following the enactment of the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act in June 2024. It argues that tracking must go beyond counting 'green jobs' to include job quality, social equity, and governance. The authors propose a framework based on 'Risk, Response, and Results,' identifying 18 key indicators—such as community susceptibility, Indigenous partnership in governance, and sustainable job compensation—to monitor federal progress. The report emphasizes that these indicators require operational definitions and a whole-of-government approach to data collection to ensure the transition is equitable and aligned with the Paris Agreement.

The document outlines the work of the Global Solidarity Levy Task Force (GSLTF) in developing 16 tax options targeting undertaxed, high-emission sectors to bridge the trillion-dollar financing gap for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. It highlights the potential for these levies to generate over $500 billion in annual revenue and calls for developing countries to engage in the design and assessment of these mechanisms to ensure equitable access to funds. The brief details the GSLTF's efforts to build political momentum through international forums and its submission to the Baku to Belém Roadmap to support the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance.

The report calls for the EU to adopt a 2035 NDC target of at least 72.5% emissions reduction, aligning with a straight-line path toward a 90% reduction by 2040 and net zero by 2050. It emphasizes that a robust, investible target, supported by the Clean Industrial Deal and sectoral policies in energy, transport, and industry, will reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports—which cost the EU EUR 376 billion in 2024—and enhance global competitiveness. The authors advocate for a 'competitive sustainability' approach and strengthened public-private collaboration, citing models from Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands to accelerate the transition.

Following a major power outage in Spain and Portugal on 28 April 2025, disinformation networks utilized social media algorithms to spread false claims attributing the event to renewables and net zero policies. The report notes that these falsehoods were often presented as speculation or news reporting to undermine climate solutions, mirroring patterns seen during extreme weather events.

The document analyzes the interdependencies between the EU, China, and Africa regarding critical raw materials (CRMs). While the EU seeks to reduce its reliance on China through initiatives like the Critical Raw Materials Act and the Global Gateway, the paper argues that complete decoupling is unfeasible due to China's dominance in midstream processing and the high costs of establishing independent European supply chains. It highlights that African nations, particularly the DRC and Zimbabwe, are increasingly pushing for local value addition and processing rather than mere extraction. The author proposes a trilateral cooperation model, using a hypothetical cobalt project in the DRC, where the EU provides technical training and financing, China provides refining technology and market access, and the DRC ensures resource ownership and local industrial development.

The document analyzes the implementation of just transition policies in European regions, emphasizing the role of subnational authorities in tailoring climate policies to local contexts. It identifies best practices in economic diversification, worker retraining, the application of the Polluter Pays Principle in environmental restoration, and the necessity of multi-level governance and inclusive funding to ensure a climate-neutral economy that leaves no one behind.