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The UK officially entered a coal-free power era on 1 October 2024 following the closure of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power plant. This milestone concludes a rapid decline in coal use since 2012, during which power sector emissions fell by 74% and renewable energy generation expanded significantly.

Ember analysis indicates that global solar capacity additions will reach 593 GW in 2024, a 29% increase over 2023. This growth is driven by continued dominance in China and the US, as well as emerging markets like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, significantly exceeding several industry forecasts.

This policy brief analyzes the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and the UK Critical Minerals Strategy (CMS), evaluating their potential to support African industrialization. It argues that both frameworks are primarily driven by domestic energy and economic priorities, focusing on reducing dependency on China and mitigating geopolitical risks. The author contends that current capital allocations and the emphasis on domestic processing capacity are insufficient to attract private investment for African value addition and beneficiation, suggesting a need for a shift in political and commercial relations to align with African industrialization goals.

This briefing analyzes the rise of climate litigation against major fossil fuel companies, noting that 86 lawsuits have been filed, with annual filings nearly tripling since 2015. The most prevalent cases seek compensation for climate damages (38%), followed by claims of misleading advertising (16%) and demands for emissions reductions (12%). The report highlights a shift toward criminal litigation, targeting executives for 'crimes against humanity' and involuntary manslaughter, and notes a growing trend in challenging project permits and corporate directors' liability.

This policy brief by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) argues for the integration of natural capital accounting (NCA) into global economic models and national systems of accounting. It highlights the critical importance of natural assets for low-income countries and Africa, and provides specific recommendations for the 2025 South African G20 presidency to champion the natural capital agenda, build conceptual consensus, address data gaps, and implement bioeconomy initiatives.

This policy brief examines the global race to secure critical minerals for green and digital industrial revolutions, detailing the strategies of the US, EU, UK, Canada, and China. It argues that African countries can leverage their mineral wealth through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by adopting a 'climate-resilient developmental regionalism' approach to build regional value chains and achieve sustainable structural transformation.

This report provides a comparative analysis of how central banks manage physical climate risks, offering a phased roadmap for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It examines case studies from six central banks—Banco Central do Brasil, Bank of England, Bank Negara Malaysia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and South African Reserve Bank—to identify common challenges in data availability, technical capacity, and modelling. The document emphasizes a 'phased approach' and the 'principle of proportionality' to help regulated entities (REs) build capabilities before implementing mandatory capital requirements or reporting standards.

This research paper examines how energy network regulation in the UK can be adapted to manage uncertainties associated with net zero climate policy, utilizing theories of adaptive regulation and lessons from other sectors.

This report by Ember analyzes national wind capacity targets for 2030, finding that while current targets aim for a doubling of global capacity, they fall short of the tripling required to maintain the 1.5C climate goal. The report highlights a significant implementation gap outside of China, where most countries are projected to miss their targets, while China is expected to over-deliver.

This report by the Stockholm Environment Institute describes the work of the Transforming Foundation Industries Research and Innovation Hub (TransFIRe) in facilitating transformative change and resource optimization across six UK foundation industries and their supply chains. Based on interviews with 12 technical academic leads and seven trade organisation representatives, the report identifies shared barriers to innovation, such as infrastructure deficits, and potential enablers, including financial support and regulatory changes.

This report summarizes stakeholder dialogues conducted in 2023 and 2024 across Brazil, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam regarding the design and implementation of Border Carbon Adjustments (BCAs). It examines BCAs as a tool to prevent carbon leakage—where economic activity shifts to jurisdictions with less ambitious climate policies—and analyzes the perspectives of government, industry, finance, labour, academia, and civil society on the opportunities and challenges these mechanisms present.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) analyzes the 2023 activities of UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) regarding states' human rights obligations in the context of climate change. It tracks the increasing frequency of climate-related references in state reporting procedures and examines specific themes such as fossil fuel extraction, the right to a healthy environment, loss and damage, and intergenerational equity.

This briefing by RMI argues that battery energy storage systems (BESS) are a cleaner, more flexible, and often more cost-effective alternative to fossil fuel resources for maintaining electric grid reliability. It details how batteries can manage variable renewable energy, provide critical stability services, and support grid restoration, while urging utilities to adopt all-source procurement processes to identify the most cost-optimal reliability solutions.

This report analyzes the proposed United Kingdom Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), comparing its design and implementation to the European Union's CBAM and evaluating its potential impacts on industries, trading partners, and developing nations.

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 report summarizes a webinar held on 12 July 2024, titled "Youth Action for Climate and Clean Air Now," which brought together over 140 youth activists and experts to discuss the role of young people in reducing short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and improving global air quality.

The UK is currently off track to meet its 2030 offshore wind targets, facing a capacity shortfall of approximately 20-22 GW. While a sufficient pipeline of potential projects exists, the report argues that policy failures—specifically low strike prices in recent Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions—have stalled development. To course-correct, the report recommends increasing the budget for the AR6 auction, shifting the CfD focus from price competition to delivery scale, and implementing strategic industrial growth plans to support the supply chain.

A statement from the World Resources Institute Europe UK Office regarding the election of a new Labour government in the United Kingdom, outlining recommended priorities for national climate policy and international leadership on finance, nature, and development.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and the Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE) examines how public development banks (PDBs) can align their operations with the Paris Agreement. It distinguishes between 'project-level alignment,' which focuses on consistency with national low-emission climate-resilient development pathways, and the 'portfolio-level net-zero' approach common in the private sector. The document evaluates 11 operational benchmarks—such as inclusion/exclusion lists and scenario modeling—and provides recommendations for PDBs to integrate these tools to maximize climate impact while maintaining their development mandates.

This report details a series of national dialogues in Brazil regarding Border Carbon Adjustments (BCAs), specifically focusing on the impacts of the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). While the immediate economic impact of the EU CBAM on Brazil is estimated to be limited, the report highlights significant risks if such mechanisms proliferate to other major trading partners like the United States and Japan. The document synthesizes the concerns of the Brazilian government and industrial sectors, emphasizing the need for standardized emissions reporting, the recognition of non-price-based climate efforts, and the provision of financial support for technological adaptation in developing countries.