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.
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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Commentary
What would a climate emergency plan look like?Across the world, national and local governments are declaring a climate emergency on the back of dire warnings from UN scientists about the need for urgent...
Story of change
From oil crisis to energy revolution – how nations once before planned to kick the oil habitJust as the modern oil and debt fuelled consumer age was building momentum in wealthy industrialised countries, the energy taps were turned off by the 1973...
Commentary
Given Half a Chance: Ten Ways to Save the WorldEnvironmentalist Edward Davey’s new book, Given Half a Chance: Ten Ways to Save the World shows how little it would take to set a rapid transition in...
Story of change
Leaving the burning building – the rapid spread of fossil fuel divestmentFrom the first known, active divestment from fossil fuels by the small Unity college in Portland, Maine, United States in 2012, in just six years the...
Story of change
A kiss of life for climate action: the rapid growth of youth protestA global youth movement to force government action on climate change has brought 1.4 million children and young people out on strike and created a dilemma...
Story of change
Local, civic action is growing a climate revolution from belowIn the yawning gap between national action and what is needed to stop climate breakdown, a rapid rise of local and city level activism is growing a...
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
Make do and mend: the rise of repair cafesThe relationship with ‘stuff’ in high-consuming, wealthy economies is set to change. From the European Union to the United States new laws are being...
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...
