Everything we do needs energy. The type of energy we use shapes the world around us, from how clean is the air we breathe, to how shock-proof our economies are.A rapid transition in energy use is at the centre of solving climate breakdown. The world still uses coal, oil and gas for over 80 percent of its energy needs. But the rise of renewable energy around the world is beating all expectations. Meeting climate targets means more than just having lots of solar panels and wind turbines, though – it means leaving fossil fuels in the ground, and radically reducing the amount of energy used in high-consuming countries and groups of people.
Story of change
Reclaiming power: The rapid rise of community renewable energy and why the added benefits of local, clean power can help accelerate transitionRenewable energy is on the rise. It made up more than a quarter of global electricity generation (27%) in 2019 and is outpacing all other energy sources’ growing capacity. Nevertheless, it is...
A rapid transition to clean and lower energy use can bring jobs, a wide range of health benefits, cleaner air and a more stable climate. Evidence shows that where communities own and develop renewable energy schemes the benefits spread more broadly and any problems are more easily overcome. It’s around energy that some of the most rapid and promising changes are happening right now.
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Story of change
The World’s first renewable island – when a community embraces wind powerThe Danish island of Samsø went from being entirely fossil fuel dependent to becoming the World’s first 100% renewable island, in under a decade. In...
Story of change
The Sunrise Movement: how a US grassroots youth movement helped set the national climate agenda for rapid changeThe enthusiastic and prominent position given to climate policy by the new United States (US) President, Joe Biden, might have surprised some. If so it...
Story of change
The rise of the rights of natureA global movement to give nature rights is growing in the face of a mass extinction event driven by climate change and human over-use of the natural...
Story of change
The Rise of Brazil’s Sugarcane CarsBrazil today is home to the world’s largest fleet of cars that use ethanol derived from sugarcane as an alternative fuel to fossil fuel based petroleum....
Story of change
The Rise and Rise of Green BondsIn 2013, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) packaged and issued a new financial instrument – a so called “green bond” – which was identical...
Story of change
The post-Cold War Cuban food experimentWith the rising awareness of the speed and scale of action needed to prevent climate breakdown, is a nervousness about our ability to meet the challenge....
Story of change
The New Deal and a Green New Deal – turning economic and environmental disasters into an opportunity for national, public renewalA proposal for a Green New Deal from the dynamic new Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become a rallying point for progressive politics...
Commentary
The need and opportunity for green recovery & why we need ecological interest ratesIf the Chancellor can get his carbon sums right, he can help save the economy and the climate together – the CEE Bill and an ecological interest rate...
Story of change
The jump to pumps: how Finland found an answer to heating homesHow to heat homes and workplaces without relying on fossil fuels is one of the more difficult challenges for moving rapidly to zero carbon economies. Within...