Climate crisis

New York

New York City to get a $3 billion, 80,000-acre offshore wind farm

/

New York City will soon be getting its own personal offshore wind farm. The Empire Wind 1 project just received a US$3 billion project financing package and is expected to go online in 2027, powering roughly half a million borough residents. A turbine-laden 80,000-acre plot of Atlantic Ocean – which is nearly half the size of NYC – could generate 810 MW if running efficiently at its designed capacity. That is around 3.19 TWh per year or roughly 6% of NYC’s overall consumption. Empire Wind 1 will be the first offshore wind project to connect directly to NYC’s electrical grid.

Power plant polluting

New York to fine fossil fuel companies $75 billion under new climate law

/

New York state will fine fossil fuel companies a total of $75 billion over the next 25 years to pay for damage caused to the climate under a bill Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law at the end of 2024.
New York state will fine fossil fuel companies $75 billion over the next 25 years to pay for damage caused to the climate. The new law is intended to shift some of the recovery and adaptation costs of climate change from individual taxpayers to oil, gas, and coal companies. The money raised will be spent on mitigating the impacts of climate change, including adapting roads, transit, water and sewage systems, buildings and other infrastructure. Fossil fuel companies will be fined based on the amount of greenhouse gases they emitted between 2000 and 2018.

Quebec city

Quebec passes bill that bans gas-powered vehicle sales by 2035

/

The ban, which is part of the province’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, will take place in two phases. First, as of Jan. 31, 2034, it will be prohibited to advertise the sale of a light combustion vehicle of the 2035 model year or later, whether it’s a new or used vehicle, including hybrid and plug-in hybrid models. Then, beginning Dec. 31, 2035, selling and leasing new light combustion vehicles of 2034 model year and earlier will be banned.

Brazilian flag

Brazil passes law to cap emissions and regulate carbon market

/

Brazil will join the short list of countries, which includes China, Mexico, and Kazakhstan, and most E.U. member states, with a nationwide regulated carbon emissions system. The Brazilian government and the law’s proponents in the industrial sector say a regulated market will encourage companies to adopt low-carbon technologies and innovate toward greener production methods. Fines for not complying will be largely rerouted toward Brazil’s national climate change fund and administrative costs, with 5% of the fines destined to compensate Indigenous communities.

Good news for British climate action

Renewable power set to overtake fossil fuels in the U.K. this year for the first time

/

While particularly windy periods have meant certain days in the last few years have been dominated by renewable power as turbines lit up the grid, this is the first time through an entire calendar year that renewable energy will be greater than power generated from burning oil, gas and coal. The shift is driven largely by a decline in production from coal, gas, and oil, as well as growing wind, solar, and biomass power, according to think tank Ember.

sidharth bhatia QstzxTWnXY unsplash scaled e

77% of universities have now pledged to divest from fossil fuels

/

115 U.K. universities have now pledged to exclude fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios, following Birmingham City University, Glasgow School of Art, Royal Northern College of Music, and the University of Bradford all incorporating fossil fuel industry exclusions into their Ethical Investment Policies. The divested universities represent 77% of the U.K. Higher Education sector and more than $22 billion USD worth of endowments.

Molten iron ore

China develops new iron making method that boosts productivity by 3,600 times

/

The flash iron making method, as detailed by Professor Zhang Wenhai and his team in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nonferrous Metals last month, can complete the iron making process in just three to six seconds, compared to the five to six hours required by traditional blast furnaces. According to Zhang and his colleagues, the new technology could improve energy use efficiency in China’s steel industry by over one-third. Additionally, by eliminating the need for coal entirely, it would help the steel industry achieve the goal of near-zero carbon dioxide emissions.

Coal

Indonesia aims to phase out all coal-fired and fossil fuel power plants by 2040

/

Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto has announced his country will seek to phase out all coal-fired and fossil fuel power plants by 2040, pairing the goal with a target to build over 75 GW of renewable energy capacity over the same period. This brings forward Indonesia’s goal of retiring coal-fired power plants from 2056 to 2040. As the world’s fifth-largest operator of coal-fired power capacity at 52.3 GW, Indonesia’s promise to transition completely away from coal could serve as a pivotal step towards global decarbonization if implemented as planned.

Green plant sprout in cracked soil

China completes historic 1,800-mile “Great Green Wall”

/

China has finished a 46-year campaign to encircle the Taklamakan Desert with trees, part of national efforts to end desertification and curb sandstorms. Efforts to enclose the desert with trees began in 1978 with the launch of China’s “Three-North Shelterbelt” project, colloquially known as the Great Green Wall. More than 116,000 square miles of trees have been planted, helping capture massive amounts of carbon and bringing China’s total forest coverage above 25% by the end of last year, up from around 10% in 1949.

A top view of solar farm

Solar power booms in Pakistan

/

Sky-high power prices are fueling a massive solar buildout in Pakistan. Solar is gaining traction on farms and factories after the government cut electricity subsidies, causing prices to spike. In many places, electric bills cost more than rent, and blackouts are common. Panels purchased in 2024 amount to 17 GW of capacity, enough to raise Pakistan’s total power capacity by a third.

Scroll to Top