2026 will be a turning point for climate litigation
In 2026, the courts will be the new battleground for the climate crisis. This is not a metaphor: Ukraine is preparing to file the first claim for climate reparations in history against Russia, ...
Global Risks Report 2026: The “Age of Competition” shapes the future threats
The year ahead opens against a backdrop of accumulated tensions, unresolved crises and shifting global balances. After years marked by pandemics, wars, inflationary shocks and accelerating technolog...
Copernicus: 2025 has been the third hottest year ever recorded
2025 has been a particularly critical year for our planet: with an average global temperature of 14.97°C, which is 0.59°C above the 1991-2020 average, last year has been the third hottest ev...
Trump's aims for Greenland divide Europe and put NATO at risk
The United States has set its sights on Greenland, and the matter can no longer be dismissed as a far-fetched provocation, especially by the European Union. As White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavi...
Trump's energy imperialism is a danger to the future of the human species
Oil's role in the US military action in Venezuela is first and foremost made clear by figures: the world's leading oil producer has attacked the country with the world's largest oil reserves. But it...
7 Transition Economy Stories to Follow in 2026
The year 2026 is shaping up to be a year of transition, in which major economic shifts will enter a harsher and less ideological phase. Between technology, climate, raw materials and finance, the sy...
The 12 most read Renewable Matter articles of 2025
As 2025 draws to a close, it is increasingly clear that this has been a year of transition, marked by overlapping crises, geopolitical uncertainty and structural shifts in the global economy. Climat...
9 books to read on Christmas 2025 to envision the future
The final weeks of the year are a time of suspension, allowing, for those who can afford it, to slow down the pace, open up room for reflection, and go back to the essential questions. It is also th...
Omnibus I, EU backtracks on sustainability
On Tuesday, 16 December, the European Parliament definitively approved the Omnibus I package with 428 votes in favour, 218 against and 17 abstentions, thus confirming the agreement reached on 9 Dece...
The Paris Climate Agreement marks its first ten years
Ten years ago, the Paris Agreement united the world in the fight against climate change at the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference. With this historic agreement, 195 countries pledged to t...
Earth may be in crisis, but we can still choose our future: UNEP GEO-7
In one of Africa's major cities, Nairobi, Kenya, the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) is being held in early December. In this context, UNEP has published the new&...
Building an African Early Warning System “from the ground up”
In 2018, only 40 percent of Africa’s population had access to Early Warning Systems (EWS), resulting in poor advance notice to hazards from natural phenomena, and thus to greater losses. Howev...
A valuable COP for undervalued wetlands
COP30 in Brazil is done and dusted. As always, the outcome was mixed with many crying “too little, too slow”, while others pointed to potentially significant progress woven into the fina...
NextChem launches sustainability-linked finance plan to boost decarbonisation
MAIRE announced that NEXTCHEM has launched its first Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework, a strategic move designed to anchor financial activities to measurable sustainability targets. The &ld...
Soil: over 70% of all countries underestimate its importance in mitigation strategies
Much is often said – and even more so these days, with COP30 underway in Belém, Brazil – about reducing emissions, mitigating and absorbing CO₂. Much less often, however, is it ...
The climate crisis exacerbates inequalities, especially for women and girls
Walking for hours in the sun to fetch water. Giving birth without medical assistance because the clinic is unreachable after a flood. Giving up contraception as it is too expensive, while the family...
COP30’s local legacy: Cities will make or break the climate fight
As ICLEI’s Regional Director for Europe, I am often asked why we invest so much effort in global climate negotiations. Why does an organisation of cities and regions engage so deeply in p...
From offshore to onshore: Europe expands carbon storage with nature-inspired tech
For the first time, Europe will bury its carbon not beneath the sea, but under its own soil, heralding a new chapter in the continent’s fight against climate change. On 30 April 2025, the EU i...
COP30, awaiting a negotiation reform
COP30 comes to an end as a mirror of the current times. Multilateral cooperation on climate change barely survives, notwithstanding geopolitical tensions. Growing are the divisions between countries...
Climate finance at COP30: how to leverage $1.3 trillion by 2035
During the climate summit in Brazil, the focus shifted back to climate finance: without adequate resources, making progress on adaptation, mitigation and combating global warming is difficult, parti...