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
A fast plant for rapid shifts in construction – how the ancient supercrop Hemp can help build low carbon homesReducing emissions in the construction industry, with its dependence on carbon-intensive concrete, is notoriously difficult and extraordinarily important in...
Commentary
Real climate leadership means ending finance for fossil fuelsIf the UK is going to be a good host for COP26 and pave the way for rapid transition, its climate policies need to be more coherent – and it could start...
Story of change
Heating households not the planet: from China to Denmark rapid transition in heating brings warmer homes with less climate costWinter is coming in the northern hemisphere and keeping homes warm is on everyone’s minds. Much housing stock is old, inefficient and leaks heat, and the...
Commentary
‘Moment of truth’ to act on climate says UN’s GuterresUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned today that the planet is waging a “suicidal” war on the natural world. We are facing a ‘moment of...
Story of change
Catch Chile’s waste reduction bus – how behaviour change, new infrastructure and different business models are cutting wasteWaste is a huge global problem and it’s growing fast. According to a World Bank report in 2018, global annual waste generation is expected to jump to 3.4...
Commentary
Time to mobilise like we mean itExcerpt from A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency by Seth Klein Lessons from the Second World War have guided our pandemic response....
Story of change
An open goal for transition – will global sport follow the lead of a small English football club?Emerging out of the 2020 pandemic lockdown, international sport is set to dominate the popular imagination once again. It is a massive global industry...
Story of change
Badvertising – is changing the advertising industry the next step in speeding transition?As many look to ‘build back better’ from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, there are competing voices arguing on the one hand to restart...
Story of change
The big rebuild: one-week zero-carbon home makeovers and setting new comfort levels‘Build, build, build’ is a call heard to boost economies trying to bounce back from the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis impact of the...