Africa’s first green hydrogen plant to be complete in Namibia by 2024
French power producer HDF Energy is constructing a 3.1 billion Namibian dollar (USD $181.25 million) hydrogen plant powered by solar panels.
Climate crisis
The climate crisis demands action — and action is happening. This archive tracks real progress: policy wins, clean-energy milestones, community resilience, and scientific advances that show meaningful change is possible. Stories here come from every corner of the world.
Tokyo to require that new homes have solar panels from 2025
The move will make Tokyo the first prefecture in Japan to require that solar panels be installed on all new houses.
China’s CO2 emissions fall by record 8% in second quarter of 2022
China’s emissions have now fallen year-on-year for four consecutive quarters, extending what was already the longest sustained decline in recent history.
World’s first 100% hydrogen-powered trains begin operations in Germany
Hydrogen-powered passenger trains now cover an entire regional rail network in Lower Saxony, Germany — 14 Alstom Coradia iLint trains that have fully retired the diesel locomotives once used on the Cuxhaven-to-Buxtehude lines. Each train pulls oxygen from the air, combines it with hydrogen stored on the roof, and emits only water vapor, traveling roughly 1,000 kilometers between refuels. The regional operator has pledged to never buy another diesel train, citing both climate goals and the cleaner air passengers breathe at small-town platforms. It’s a modest fleet in a single corner of Germany, but it’s the first proof anywhere that diesel regional rail can be fully replaced — a template other countries with long, lightly used routes can now follow.
Hawaii shuts down its last coal-fired power plant
In 2020, Hawaii’s Legislature passed a law banning the use of coal for energy production at the start of 2023.
California bans new combustion car sales from 2035
The California Air Resource Board expects this move to slash vehicle emissions – the top source of anthropogenic carbon emissions – by 50% in 2040, paving the way for a race to zero emissions by 2050.
U.S. to plant 1 billion trees as climate change kills forests
The Forest Service plans over the next couple years to scale up work from about 60,000 acres replanted last year to about 400,000 acres annually.
Swiss scientists invent system that produces jet fuel from carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight
The amount of CO2 emitted during kerosene combustion in a jet engine equals that consumed during its production in the solar plant.
Nuclear fusion recieves $2.8 billion in investments over last year, more than entire past decade
The solution produces clean energy by fusing together atomic nuclei. Unlike nuclear fission, there is also no risk of radioactive waste and reactor materials can be recycled within 100 to 300 years.
Australian Capitol Territory becomes first state in Australia to ban conventional cars
Australia’s Capital Territory is sending a clear signal to the rest of the country: the fossil-fuel car has an end date. The region surrounding Canberra wants at least 80% of new light vehicles sold there to be zero-emission by 2030, as a stepping stone to the full 2035 ban. Interest-free loans up to $15,000 and registration fee exemptions are already helping residents make the switch today. When a high-visibility jurisdiction at the heart of national politics demonstrates this transition is manageable, neighboring states face far less risk in following — and that ripple effect is exactly how national change begins.