Excellent news, my dear readers! Our Good News of the Day comes from the UK: The last coal-fired power plant there will close on Oct. 1. The rapid expansion of renewables, climate targets and reliable policies have banished the most CO2-intensive energy source to the history books in the motherland of the industrial revolution. And, even better, the new Labour government under Keir Starmer is once again setting ambitious targets and announcing decisive measures at home and internationally, writes our colleague Chloé Farand. Britain is back, at least when it comes to amazing climate policy!
On the other hand, the famous “Made in Germany” trend is moving in the opposite direction: Under pressure to make savings, the coalition government is cutting funding for humanitarian aid. And the Chancellor’s promise to support international climate financing with six billion euros in public money every year from 2025 also looks bleak, as we have summarized for you. Our look at India, where the country’s rising demand for energy is earning it poor marks in the climate assessment despite the boom in renewables, doesn’t make us any happier.
But we have another good news for you: The next Climate.Table will be published tomorrow! Due to the public holiday this week, we are bringing forward everything important by one day. And will then inform you again at the usual intervals from next week.
We wish you an interesting read
Your Bernhard Pötter
Feature
UK stops burning coal as Labour sets out clean energy acceleration
The danger is now over: The last British coal-fired power station in Ratcliffe on Soar is now closed.
The UK will close its last coal-fired power station on 1 Oct. 1, ending the coal age of the country which began the industrial revolution by burning the fossil fuel. At the same time, the new Labour government is presenting an ambitious climate policy: A state-owned company for the expansion of renewables, new reduction targets, high-ranking personnel and more money for climate diplomacy are intended to bring the country back to the forefront of climate action and transformation.
At the stroke of midnight on the last day of September, the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in central England will stop burning coal, more than 140 years after the world’s first coal plant opened in the country in 1882. “What, until fairly recently, seemed unthinkable has become achievable,” said Gareth Redmond-King, the international lead at the London-based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).
Electricity supply transformed in just a decade
The site is earmarked to become a zero carbon technology and energy hub – a fitting symbol for the accelerated clean energy roll out the newly elected Labour government has promised to deliver at home and abroad. Over the past decade, the UK’s rapid coal decline has been a success story for successive Conservative governments. Coal’s share in power generation fell from 39% in 2012 to just 2% in 2019, falling to zero from next month.
In that time, the UK closed or upgraded 15 coal-fired power plants, avoiding the equivalent of more than double the country’s total economy-wide emissions in 2023 and reducing its power sector emissions by 74%, according to a recent analysis by energy think-tank Ember. “The positive side of the story is that coal has been replaced by wind and solar rather than gas,” said Frankie Mayo, the Ember analyst who authored the report.
Goal: Delivering a clean electricity system by 2030
In just a decade, the UK transformed its electricity supply, with more than half now coming from low-carbon sources, such as renewable and nuclear energy. Driven by a massive rise in wind power, the share of wind and solar energy in British electricity generation rose from 6% in 2012 to 34% in 2023.
The Labour government, which was elected in July, has made accelerating the clean energy roll out a centrepiece of its domestic and foreign policy. In a hugely ambitious target, it pledged to deliver a clean electricity system by 2030 – bringing forward the previous government’s goal by five years.
In two major speeches earlier this month, secretary of state for energy Ed Miliband and foreign secretary David Lammy laid out a “whole-of-government mission” to “reset” the UK’s climate policy at home and restore its leadership abroad.
Expert Kyte as new climate envoy
To deliver, Lammy said the UK will appoint “special representatives” on climate and nature and draw on its “diplomatic and development heft to push for the ambition needed to keep 1.5C alive”. Rachel Kyte, a giant in climate diplomacy circles who held the World Bank’s top climate job and was special representative to the UN’s secretary general on sustainable energy, was appointed the UK’s climate envoy last week. A climate finance expert, Kyte was a founding co-chair of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative.
Lammy added that a commitment to deliver £11.6 billion in climate finance by 2025/26 remains the government’s ambition. In recent years, UK climate finance spending has fallen behind the pledge. “It feels like a handbrake turn from the rhetoric of the previous government,” said Redmond-King of ECIU.
Double onshore wind, triple solar power, quadruple offshore wind – ban new oil
At home, Labour pledged to double onshore wind, triple solar power and quadruple offshore wind to gradually displace gas which still generates close to a third of the country’s electricity. It vowed to ban new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea and reverse some of the net zero policy rollbacks of the last Conservative government.
Analysts agree that meeting the 2030 deadline for clean electricity will require a step change in the pace and scale of building renewable energy projects and investing in the grid. The UK is also off track to meet its 2030 climate plan. But many see positive signs an acceleration is afoot. Since taking office, the government lifted a de facto ban on onshore wind, approved nearly 2GW of large-scale solar farm, and established Great British Energy – a publicly-owned clean energy company funded by a windfall tax on oil and gas firms, which will own, manage and operate projects.
Government vowed to take on the blockers
Miliband vowed to “take on the blockers, the delayers, the obstructionists” protesting renewable energy infrastructure, arguing “the clean energy sprint is the economic justice, energy security and national security fight of our time”. “They’ve got off to an absolutely flying start,” said Nick Davies, head of climate policy at the British environment think-tank Green Alliance. “There are a lot of areas where we could be doing better,” he said, citing the need for greater action to decarbonise transport, heating and buildings. “But we’re going to see much more consistent climate action from this government, because Labour, as a party, is much less divided on the issue of climate change than the Conservatives.”
Labour’s plans to accelerate clean energy roll out go beyond the UK’s border. Foreign secretary Lammy announced that the UK wants to build “a global clean power alliance” bridging developed and developing countries committed to accelerating the energy transition. Lammy said the alliance should focus on diversifying the production and supply of critical minerals, and inject momentum into expanding grids and storage, with the UK working on an energy storage pledge to be announced at the COP29 climate summit in November.
With clarity on the exact role the alliance will play still missing, Leo Roberts, of think-tank E3G, argues the initiative should bring together the myriad of existing global alliances working on accelerating the energy transition so they become more effective and coherent at getting investments flowing. “One of the key things that the UK could do is… figure out how these alliances can become the architecture that delivers the energy package agreed at COP28” to transition away from fossil fuels, he said. The UK’s credibility will depend on the government’s ability to deliver at home, warned Roberts. But, if they get it right, the alliance could become the UK’s biggest effort yet to accelerate the energy transition, he added.
Kohleausstieg
Translation missing.
Climate aid: How austerity is jeopardizing Germany’s global tasks
Flood victims in Bangladesh. The funds for humanitarian aid in the AA budget are halved.
The austerity measures of the coalition government are jeopardizing the international aid for the climate crisis that Germany has pledged. According to the government, Germany hasachieved the promised sums for global climate financing in recent years – but even within the government, there are doubts as to whether these pledges will also apply to the next, crucial year.
The Federal Foreign Office (AA) will practically halve its expenditure on humanitarian aid in the coming year due to the austerity measures. In addition, a central instrument for international climate aid, the “International Climate Initiative” (IKI), is criticized by the Federal Audit Office in an internal report: It is “uncertain whether the funds spent on the IKI have been used economically”.
AA: Less money for humanitarian projects, more political focus
AA State Secretary Susanne Baumann tried to justify the office’s new humanitarian aid strategy at her presentation last week: Aid would be focused “even more strongly on the most urgent needs”. At the same time, aid is “an important element of German foreign policy” and part of the national security strategy. Baumann spoke of more “forward-looking aid”, “regional prioritization”, and more cooperation, but also of a “painful step”. In the future, needs will be assessed more politically and should focus on crises with a direct impact on Europe. In concrete terms, a lot of money will continue to flow into Ukraine and the Gaza Strip – but the 20 million people in need in Sudan will probably have to adjust to less support from Germany.
For NGOs, it is difficult to accept that humanitarian aid is to be reclassified as a functional part of national foreign and security policy and no longer granted on the basis of value. “Does Germany still feel committed to humanitarian principles?”, asks Ralf Südhoff from the Centre for Humanitarian Action, a Berlin think tank. “Or is the situation in Ukraine more important to us so that the refugees don’t arrive here?” For Südhoff, it is clear: “If humanitarian aid is to be increasingly subordinated to foreign and security policy interests, it may be an instrument, but it no longer has anything to do with universal values.”
Climate finance: Germany with a ‘fair share’ of ten billion
When it comes to financing international climate action, Germany has so far fulfilled its “fair share”, the government emphasizes. The latest figures for 2023 from the Ministries for Development (BMZ) and for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) show that Germany is contributing a total of €9.9 billion to global climate aid. They are divided into:
Budget funds including “gift equivalents”, i.e. financial benefits of favorable loans,
Loans, and
Private investments that were “leveraged” with public funds.
The total sum of €9.9 billion corresponds to a good ten percent of the $100 billion that the industrialized countries have promised the poor countries as climate aid. €5.7 billion are public funds.
Aid falls from €6.4 to €5.7 billion
Nevertheless, Germany’s public climate aid has fallen from €6.4 to €5.7 billion compared to 2022 – partly because the BMZ budget shrank from €13.8 to €12.1 billion. According to State Secretary for Development Jochen Flasbarth, 43 percent of the €5.7 billion for 2023 went to adaptation and 57 percent to climate change mitigation. One billion of this will flow into the promotion of global biodiversity via natural climate action, which will be debated at the COP16 in Colombia at the end of October.
According to Flasbarth, more private money was mobilized for climate aid in 2023, and €700 million more in loans were granted. The “leveraging” of public funds is also important for the future, where public budgets are under strain in many countries. A major initiative is to be launched at the “Hamburg Sustainability Conference” on Oct. 7-8.
Promised six billion for 2025 ‘very difficult’
While Germany has fulfilled its pledges in the past, this is questionable in the future. Like his predecessor Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly promised that Germany will contribute at least six billion euros a year to climate financing from its budget by 2025 at the latest. However, the BMZ also had to accept further cuts in the austerity budget for 2025. Then “it will be difficult to provide budget funds in the amount of six billion”, said Flasbarth. This is “not unattainable, but very difficult“.
For the controversial 2025 federal budget, Jan Kowalzig, financial expert at the aid organization Oxfam, only expects a sum of around €5 billion for climate aid. With the austerity budget, “the internationally acclaimed €6 billion pledge is unlikely to be kept”, says Kolwalzig. The reduction in public funding could hit the poorest people particularly hard, as direct aid is financed by grants.
“This development is a cause for concern”, says Kowalzig. As financing issues will be at the forefront at COP29 in Baku, “this not only damages Germany’s reputation”, but also the necessary trust between industrialized and developing countries in general.
IKI: Curtailed and criticized by the Court of Auditors
The “International Climate Initiative” (IKI) was also cut in the federal budget, from €735 million in 2024 to €635 million for 2025. “The final determination and adoption of the sums is still pending”, said a BMWK spokesperson. Anja Hajduk, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, explained that the ministry is “paying close attention to the efficient use of taxpayers’ money” in the IKI.
The Federal Audit Office doubts this. In an internal report from September 2023, which is exclusively available to Table.Briefings, the auditors criticize several points at the IKI, which has spent a total of almost €5 billion on around 1,100 projects in 150 countries since 2008. According to the report, the IKI
lacks an “overall strategy with comprehensive, concrete objectives at program level”;
the concentration on 14 priority countries has “grown more historically” than based on demand;
there is no evidence of the cost-effectiveness of paying into international pots for the objectives of the IKI, and
the role of the GIZ in project implementation showed “a possible significant conflict of interest”.
The report also documents that the BMWK is planning changes to some of the issues raised, such as the review of objectives and the definition of criteria. The ministry has also promised to examine the economic efficiency of measures more closely.
The German government presented a new “IKI Strategy 2030” at the end of 2023. In it, the focus on 14 priority countries is justified by the fact that these countries are central to global CO2 emissions and biodiversity hotspots. The work of the IKI should therefore be geared towards the goals of mitigation and adaptation to climate change, conservation and restoration of CO2 sinks and promotion of biodiversity.
Auswärtiges Amt
Translation missing.
News
LNG expansion: Worldwide protest against US plans
In an open letter to US President Joe Biden and his Energy Secretary Janet Granholm, more than 100 members of parliament from around 30 states have warned against further expansion of the LNG infrastructure in the US. They support the Biden administration in maintaining the temporary halt to further LNG terminals that was imposed in January. In their opinion, more gas exports from the USA are risky investments, violate global climate targets and do not contribute to energy security.
The expansion freeze was recently put on hold by a court in the US state of Louisiana. While the issue is controversial in the US election campaign, the alliance of parliamentarians from the US, Germany, Belgium, Thailand, Vanuatu and the UK is calling for “new LNG export permits to be rejected because none of them are in any public interest”. Such a rejection would protect local communities, drive global energy security, encourage investment and trade in clean technologies and “help our nations deliver on national and global climate pledges”. “Your allies do not want LNG exports”, the politicians write. They cite reasons for Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America as to why the existing LNG infrastructure is more than sufficient.
Badum: ‘Freedom energies instead of superfluous liquid gas’
The letter was initiated by Green MEP Lisa Badum and US Senator Ed Markey. Other signatories include US Senator Bernie Sanders, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter, Vanuatu’s climate envoy Ralph Regenvanu, MEPs Erik von Malottki (SPD), Carola Rackete and Anja Hazekamp (both Die Linke). The letter is supported by a letter from international NGOs.
Badum explained that it was “high time to break the power of the American fossil fuel industry“, which supports Donald Trump on a large scale. But “with the end of the energy crisis, the many planned LNG import terminals on the German coast should also be put to the test”, said the Green MEP. “Instead of making us dependent on superfluous liquefied natural gas, we should rather invest in freedom energies such as wind and solar.” bpo
Energiekrise
Klimaziele
Trump 2024
Hydrogen: How Europe wants to become less dependent on China
In a new study, the Boston Consulting Group warns that the hydrogen economy in Europe is expanding too slowly. The USA and China are threatening to leave Europe behind, as the Handelsblatt reports. The BCG criticizes:
High hurdles in the funding of hydrogen projects. According to the report, the application procedures are too complicated and sometimes take several years.
Comprehensive subsidies should be rejected. Instead, smaller ecosystems should be gradually scaled up. The state should provide guarantees, for example through climate action contracts.
Similar to the USA, subsidies should be introduced per unit of volume produced.
China could produce electrolyzers “with Western efficiency” from as early as 2025, at significantly lower prices. The BCG fears that European suppliers will be squeezed out of the market.
EU Commission wants to reduce dependency on China
However, the EU Commission recently announced measures to protect the European hydrogen industry. According to an EU publication, companies wishing to participate in the European Hydrogen Bank’s second call for tenders would have to limittheproportion of electrolysis stacks from China to a maximum of 25 percent. The EU wants to provide €1.2 billion in the second funding round. The sum is to be used to pay a fixed subsidy for up to ten years for every kilogram of hydrogen or its derivatives produced in the European Economic Area (EEA) – thus fulfilling one of the BCG’s demands. EU Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra announced “clear criteria for the development of European supply chains for electrolyzers” at the beginning of September. nib
China
Green hydrogen
Grüner Wasserstoff
Hydrogen
Industry
Lieferketten
Rail transport: Why investments should be prioritized
In an open letter, IG Metall and the NGO Germanwatch call on the German government to make more money available for rail transport and to reallocate funds accordingly. There needs to be a “prioritization of investments in the transport budget for the railways”. The rail network needs sufficient and predictable funds for renovation, modernization and expansion without pressure to generate returns. The Bundestag Budget Committee is currently negotiating the details of the 2025 budget and should amend the draft bill accordingly.
IG Metall and Germanwatch are calling for the rail network to be managed for the common good in the future. An increase in equity at Deutsche Bahn could only be a temporary budgetary solution. This is because it would put pressure on returns, which could lead to a distortion of competition by making rail transport more expensive and thus run counter to the goals of shifting traffic to rail. Therefore, improvements should now be made to track price compensation. They also propose setting up a multi-year infrastructure fund based on the Swiss model. It should overcome the dependence on annual budget decisions and thus ensure planning security. Minister Wissing also spoke out in favor of a fund at the beginning of the year.
Money for climate action in social institutions
At the same time, several German social organizations are also currently calling for more money for climate protection – daycare centers, hospitals and care facilities are not sufficiently prepared for the consequences of climate change and heat. In a demand paper, Climate Alliance Germany, AWO, Caritas, Diakonie and the Paritätische Gesamtverband argue that the majority of the 100,000 buildings in the social sector need to be modernized in the coming years. Energy-efficient renovations are particularly important here. kul
Sozialpolitik
India: Climate policy ‘highly inadequate’
A new analysis by the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) classifies India’s climate policy and climate targets as “highly inadequate”. The update was published on Friday and shows that there has been no significant progress since last year. One reason for this is the elections in May. Before and during the formation of the government, there were hardly any changes in climate policy. However, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term in office, there are at least signs of continuity in renewable energy policy and further investments, and a CO2 market is also planned.
On the other hand, the rising demand for energy is reversing the progress made in the expansion of renewables. India’s demand for fossil fuels remains high due to its growing economic output. Coal production and imports were at record levels in the first half of 2024.
India’s climate target not compatible with Paris Agreement
The goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2070 is also “highly inadequate”. According to CAT, this is not compatible with the 1.5-degree limit of the Paris Agreement. The current climate policy is also “inadequate”. If applied to all countries, the measures taken would lead to global warming of around four degrees Celsius. Although the plans for renewables are “ambitious” and there are increasing investments and constant expansion rates, India has still not committed to moving away from coal and fossil gas.
In view of rising energy demand, the analysis recommends expanding renewables and storage capacities more quickly, for example, as both are more cost-effective than fossil fuels. The analysis was carried out by the New Climate Institute and Climate Analytics, which regularly assesses the climate policy of more than 40 countries in the CAT as part of the UNFCCC negotiation process. lb
Fossile Brennstoffe
Klimaziele
Green claims: Study questions effectiveness of EU proposal
Although the Green Claims Directive is supposed to put an end to misleading climate advertising, the Commission’s proposal would still allow labels that distort consumer perceptions. This is the result of a scientific study published in the journal “Food Quality and Preference”. According to the study, labels with the inscription “climate neutral” lead consumers to believe that food is significantly more climate-friendly than it actually is.
According to the researchers, this is also the case if it is made clear that a product is only climate-neutral through CO2 offsetting. For example, by using labels such as “100 percent CO2-compensated”, as envisaged in the Commission’s proposal on green claims for such cases. “Such labels therefore promote greenwashing, make market transparency more difficult and offer consumers no guidance for sustainable nutrition”, criticizes lead author Denise Dreist from the University of Göttingen.
Traffic light label is the most effective option
The study identifies a traffic light system similar to the Nutri-Score as a more effective alternative. This would allow consumers to assess the climate impact of food more accurately. Study leader Anke Zühlsdorf advises making traffic light labeling mandatory. This would make it easier to compare products and not only highlight climate-friendly products. However, a first step could be a ban on product-related advertising with climate neutrality.
For the study, test subjects from Germanywere asked to assess the climate impact of various food products. The authors compared how the assessment differed depending on which climate label the respective product carried.
While the EU Council of Environment Ministersand the Commission are in favor of companies being able to continue to claim CO2 offsets for climate labels, the European Parliament only wants to allow this in exceptional cases so that the focus is on reducing emissions. The trilogue negotiations, in which the Council and Parliament must agree on a version, are expected to start at the beginning of next year. jd
Food
Climate financing: EU states doubt COP29 target without new donors
For the EU member states, a “prerequisite” for an ambitious global climate finance target is that the number of donor countries for international climate finance increases. This is stated in a draft Council conclusion for COP29, which is exclusively available to Table.Briefings.
International public funding should be provided and mobilized by a broader group of contributors, the EU states demand. The amount of the contribution should “reflect the development of the respective economic capacities and the high greenhouse gas emissions since the early 1990s”. In particular, countries such as China and the oil and gas-producing Gulf states are being asked to participate in the new climate finance target – known as the NCQG.
China and Saudi Arabia spared so far
So far, only industrialized countries have contributed to the current annual climate finance target of $100 billion. A new climate finance target must be negotiated at COP29 in Baku, as the $100 billion target expires next year. The NCQG negotiations are considered to be the most important negotiation strand of this year’s COP. The industrialized countries and primarily Europe have been calling for new donor countries for public climate financing for two years now.
In the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted in 1992, the signatory states were divided into industrialized and developing countries. Since then, this categorization has hardly changed, meaning that emerging economic powers such as China, India and the oil-producing Gulf states are still considered developing countries.
Fossil fuel producers should also pay
The EU member states are also in favor of making the fossil fuel supply chain pay “to support the most vulnerable countries in mitigating climate change and building resilience”. Government funding alone cannot provide the financial resources needed for a climate-neutral and resilient global economy. “Private donors will have to provide the largest share of the necessary investments in the green transition”, the draft states. luk
Climate & Environment
Climate financing
COP29
COP29
EU climate policy
NCQG
Climate policy: How an international network should strengthen the role of women
The “Women Leading on Climate Network” was founded on Wednesday. The international network aims to strengthen the influence of women in leadership positions on climate protection. The founders include Catherine McKenna, former Canadian Environment Minister, and Jennifer Morgan, German State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Policy. Other members are the Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) of large corporations such as HSBC, BNP Paribas, Netflix, Walmart and Ikea. Executives from NGOs are also involved.
The aim is to pool the expertise and political influence of its members, implement climate protection measures and protect the communities most affected by climate change. Particular attention should be paid to climate-damaging impacts that disproportionately affect women. “Women are pushing for more ambitious climate action in negotiating rooms, in boardrooms and in their communities”, said McKenna, who currently chairs the United Nations Panel on Net-Zero. “If we come together, we can make faster progress.”
Network calls for ‘investable national climate plans’ to implement the NDCs
The “Women Leading on Climate Network” wants to focus on mobilizing public investment in climate protection. A central demand is that governments should draw up “investable national climate action plans” in order to drive forward the implementation of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
Women – and especially non-white women – are still underrepresented in leadership positions in the field of sustainable finance, for example. The new network thus joins a number of other initiatives that advocate for more female participation in climate protection, including:
the Women’s Climate Leaders Network, which has been bringing together women in leadership positions from the private sector since the beginning of 2024 and is supported by the European Investment Bank, and
Excellent news, my dear readers! Our Good News of the Day comes from the UK: The last coal-fired power plant there will close on Oct. 1. The rapid expansion of renewables, climate targets and reliable policies have banished the most CO2-intensive energy source to the history books in the motherland of the industrial revolution. And, even better, the new Labour government under Keir Starmer is once again setting ambitious targets and announcing decisive measures at home and internationally, writes our colleague Chloé Farand. Britain is back, at least when it comes to amazing climate policy!
On the other hand, the famous “Made in Germany” trend is moving in the opposite direction: Under pressure to make savings, the coalition government is cutting funding for humanitarian aid. And the Chancellor’s promise to support international climate financing with six billion euros in public money every year from 2025 also looks bleak, as we have summarized for you. Our look at India, where the country’s rising demand for energy is earning it poor marks in the climate assessment despite the boom in renewables, doesn’t make us any happier.
But we have another good news for you: The next Climate.Table will be published tomorrow! Due to the public holiday this week, we are bringing forward everything important by one day. And will then inform you again at the usual intervals from next week.
We wish you an interesting read
Your Bernhard Pötter
Feature
UK stops burning coal as Labour sets out clean energy acceleration
The danger is now over: The last British coal-fired power station in Ratcliffe on Soar is now closed.
The UK will close its last coal-fired power station on 1 Oct. 1, ending the coal age of the country which began the industrial revolution by burning the fossil fuel. At the same time, the new Labour government is presenting an ambitious climate policy: A state-owned company for the expansion of renewables, new reduction targets, high-ranking personnel and more money for climate diplomacy are intended to bring the country back to the forefront of climate action and transformation.
At the stroke of midnight on the last day of September, the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in central England will stop burning coal, more than 140 years after the world’s first coal plant opened in the country in 1882. “What, until fairly recently, seemed unthinkable has become achievable,” said Gareth Redmond-King, the international lead at the London-based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).
Electricity supply transformed in just a decade
The site is earmarked to become a zero carbon technology and energy hub – a fitting symbol for the accelerated clean energy roll out the newly elected Labour government has promised to deliver at home and abroad. Over the past decade, the UK’s rapid coal decline has been a success story for successive Conservative governments. Coal’s share in power generation fell from 39% in 2012 to just 2% in 2019, falling to zero from next month.
In that time, the UK closed or upgraded 15 coal-fired power plants, avoiding the equivalent of more than double the country’s total economy-wide emissions in 2023 and reducing its power sector emissions by 74%, according to a recent analysis by energy think-tank Ember. “The positive side of the story is that coal has been replaced by wind and solar rather than gas,” said Frankie Mayo, the Ember analyst who authored the report.
Goal: Delivering a clean electricity system by 2030
In just a decade, the UK transformed its electricity supply, with more than half now coming from low-carbon sources, such as renewable and nuclear energy. Driven by a massive rise in wind power, the share of wind and solar energy in British electricity generation rose from 6% in 2012 to 34% in 2023.
The Labour government, which was elected in July, has made accelerating the clean energy roll out a centrepiece of its domestic and foreign policy. In a hugely ambitious target, it pledged to deliver a clean electricity system by 2030 – bringing forward the previous government’s goal by five years.
In two major speeches earlier this month, secretary of state for energy Ed Miliband and foreign secretary David Lammy laid out a “whole-of-government mission” to “reset” the UK’s climate policy at home and restore its leadership abroad.
Expert Kyte as new climate envoy
To deliver, Lammy said the UK will appoint “special representatives” on climate and nature and draw on its “diplomatic and development heft to push for the ambition needed to keep 1.5C alive”. Rachel Kyte, a giant in climate diplomacy circles who held the World Bank’s top climate job and was special representative to the UN’s secretary general on sustainable energy, was appointed the UK’s climate envoy last week. A climate finance expert, Kyte was a founding co-chair of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative.
Lammy added that a commitment to deliver £11.6 billion in climate finance by 2025/26 remains the government’s ambition. In recent years, UK climate finance spending has fallen behind the pledge. “It feels like a handbrake turn from the rhetoric of the previous government,” said Redmond-King of ECIU.
Double onshore wind, triple solar power, quadruple offshore wind – ban new oil
At home, Labour pledged to double onshore wind, triple solar power and quadruple offshore wind to gradually displace gas which still generates close to a third of the country’s electricity. It vowed to ban new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea and reverse some of the net zero policy rollbacks of the last Conservative government.
Analysts agree that meeting the 2030 deadline for clean electricity will require a step change in the pace and scale of building renewable energy projects and investing in the grid. The UK is also off track to meet its 2030 climate plan. But many see positive signs an acceleration is afoot. Since taking office, the government lifted a de facto ban on onshore wind, approved nearly 2GW of large-scale solar farm, and established Great British Energy – a publicly-owned clean energy company funded by a windfall tax on oil and gas firms, which will own, manage and operate projects.
Government vowed to take on the blockers
Miliband vowed to “take on the blockers, the delayers, the obstructionists” protesting renewable energy infrastructure, arguing “the clean energy sprint is the economic justice, energy security and national security fight of our time”. “They’ve got off to an absolutely flying start,” said Nick Davies, head of climate policy at the British environment think-tank Green Alliance. “There are a lot of areas where we could be doing better,” he said, citing the need for greater action to decarbonise transport, heating and buildings. “But we’re going to see much more consistent climate action from this government, because Labour, as a party, is much less divided on the issue of climate change than the Conservatives.”
Labour’s plans to accelerate clean energy roll out go beyond the UK’s border. Foreign secretary Lammy announced that the UK wants to build “a global clean power alliance” bridging developed and developing countries committed to accelerating the energy transition. Lammy said the alliance should focus on diversifying the production and supply of critical minerals, and inject momentum into expanding grids and storage, with the UK working on an energy storage pledge to be announced at the COP29 climate summit in November.
With clarity on the exact role the alliance will play still missing, Leo Roberts, of think-tank E3G, argues the initiative should bring together the myriad of existing global alliances working on accelerating the energy transition so they become more effective and coherent at getting investments flowing. “One of the key things that the UK could do is… figure out how these alliances can become the architecture that delivers the energy package agreed at COP28” to transition away from fossil fuels, he said. The UK’s credibility will depend on the government’s ability to deliver at home, warned Roberts. But, if they get it right, the alliance could become the UK’s biggest effort yet to accelerate the energy transition, he added.
Kohleausstieg
Translation missing.
Climate aid: How austerity is jeopardizing Germany’s global tasks
Flood victims in Bangladesh. The funds for humanitarian aid in the AA budget are halved.
The austerity measures of the coalition government are jeopardizing the international aid for the climate crisis that Germany has pledged. According to the government, Germany hasachieved the promised sums for global climate financing in recent years – but even within the government, there are doubts as to whether these pledges will also apply to the next, crucial year.
The Federal Foreign Office (AA) will practically halve its expenditure on humanitarian aid in the coming year due to the austerity measures. In addition, a central instrument for international climate aid, the “International Climate Initiative” (IKI), is criticized by the Federal Audit Office in an internal report: It is “uncertain whether the funds spent on the IKI have been used economically”.
AA: Less money for humanitarian projects, more political focus
AA State Secretary Susanne Baumann tried to justify the office’s new humanitarian aid strategy at her presentation last week: Aid would be focused “even more strongly on the most urgent needs”. At the same time, aid is “an important element of German foreign policy” and part of the national security strategy. Baumann spoke of more “forward-looking aid”, “regional prioritization”, and more cooperation, but also of a “painful step”. In the future, needs will be assessed more politically and should focus on crises with a direct impact on Europe. In concrete terms, a lot of money will continue to flow into Ukraine and the Gaza Strip – but the 20 million people in need in Sudan will probably have to adjust to less support from Germany.
For NGOs, it is difficult to accept that humanitarian aid is to be reclassified as a functional part of national foreign and security policy and no longer granted on the basis of value. “Does Germany still feel committed to humanitarian principles?”, asks Ralf Südhoff from the Centre for Humanitarian Action, a Berlin think tank. “Or is the situation in Ukraine more important to us so that the refugees don’t arrive here?” For Südhoff, it is clear: “If humanitarian aid is to be increasingly subordinated to foreign and security policy interests, it may be an instrument, but it no longer has anything to do with universal values.”
Climate finance: Germany with a ‘fair share’ of ten billion
When it comes to financing international climate action, Germany has so far fulfilled its “fair share”, the government emphasizes. The latest figures for 2023 from the Ministries for Development (BMZ) and for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) show that Germany is contributing a total of €9.9 billion to global climate aid. They are divided into:
Budget funds including “gift equivalents”, i.e. financial benefits of favorable loans,
Loans, and
Private investments that were “leveraged” with public funds.
The total sum of €9.9 billion corresponds to a good ten percent of the $100 billion that the industrialized countries have promised the poor countries as climate aid. €5.7 billion are public funds.
Aid falls from €6.4 to €5.7 billion
Nevertheless, Germany’s public climate aid has fallen from €6.4 to €5.7 billion compared to 2022 – partly because the BMZ budget shrank from €13.8 to €12.1 billion. According to State Secretary for Development Jochen Flasbarth, 43 percent of the €5.7 billion for 2023 went to adaptation and 57 percent to climate change mitigation. One billion of this will flow into the promotion of global biodiversity via natural climate action, which will be debated at the COP16 in Colombia at the end of October.
According to Flasbarth, more private money was mobilized for climate aid in 2023, and €700 million more in loans were granted. The “leveraging” of public funds is also important for the future, where public budgets are under strain in many countries. A major initiative is to be launched at the “Hamburg Sustainability Conference” on Oct. 7-8.
Promised six billion for 2025 ‘very difficult’
While Germany has fulfilled its pledges in the past, this is questionable in the future. Like his predecessor Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly promised that Germany will contribute at least six billion euros a year to climate financing from its budget by 2025 at the latest. However, the BMZ also had to accept further cuts in the austerity budget for 2025. Then “it will be difficult to provide budget funds in the amount of six billion”, said Flasbarth. This is “not unattainable, but very difficult“.
For the controversial 2025 federal budget, Jan Kowalzig, financial expert at the aid organization Oxfam, only expects a sum of around €5 billion for climate aid. With the austerity budget, “the internationally acclaimed €6 billion pledge is unlikely to be kept”, says Kolwalzig. The reduction in public funding could hit the poorest people particularly hard, as direct aid is financed by grants.
“This development is a cause for concern”, says Kowalzig. As financing issues will be at the forefront at COP29 in Baku, “this not only damages Germany’s reputation”, but also the necessary trust between industrialized and developing countries in general.
IKI: Curtailed and criticized by the Court of Auditors
The “International Climate Initiative” (IKI) was also cut in the federal budget, from €735 million in 2024 to €635 million for 2025. “The final determination and adoption of the sums is still pending”, said a BMWK spokesperson. Anja Hajduk, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, explained that the ministry is “paying close attention to the efficient use of taxpayers’ money” in the IKI.
The Federal Audit Office doubts this. In an internal report from September 2023, which is exclusively available to Table.Briefings, the auditors criticize several points at the IKI, which has spent a total of almost €5 billion on around 1,100 projects in 150 countries since 2008. According to the report, the IKI
lacks an “overall strategy with comprehensive, concrete objectives at program level”;
the concentration on 14 priority countries has “grown more historically” than based on demand;
there is no evidence of the cost-effectiveness of paying into international pots for the objectives of the IKI, and
the role of the GIZ in project implementation showed “a possible significant conflict of interest”.
The report also documents that the BMWK is planning changes to some of the issues raised, such as the review of objectives and the definition of criteria. The ministry has also promised to examine the economic efficiency of measures more closely.
The German government presented a new “IKI Strategy 2030” at the end of 2023. In it, the focus on 14 priority countries is justified by the fact that these countries are central to global CO2 emissions and biodiversity hotspots. The work of the IKI should therefore be geared towards the goals of mitigation and adaptation to climate change, conservation and restoration of CO2 sinks and promotion of biodiversity.
Auswärtiges Amt
Translation missing.
News
LNG expansion: Worldwide protest against US plans
In an open letter to US President Joe Biden and his Energy Secretary Janet Granholm, more than 100 members of parliament from around 30 states have warned against further expansion of the LNG infrastructure in the US. They support the Biden administration in maintaining the temporary halt to further LNG terminals that was imposed in January. In their opinion, more gas exports from the USA are risky investments, violate global climate targets and do not contribute to energy security.
The expansion freeze was recently put on hold by a court in the US state of Louisiana. While the issue is controversial in the US election campaign, the alliance of parliamentarians from the US, Germany, Belgium, Thailand, Vanuatu and the UK is calling for “new LNG export permits to be rejected because none of them are in any public interest”. Such a rejection would protect local communities, drive global energy security, encourage investment and trade in clean technologies and “help our nations deliver on national and global climate pledges”. “Your allies do not want LNG exports”, the politicians write. They cite reasons for Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America as to why the existing LNG infrastructure is more than sufficient.
Badum: ‘Freedom energies instead of superfluous liquid gas’
The letter was initiated by Green MEP Lisa Badum and US Senator Ed Markey. Other signatories include US Senator Bernie Sanders, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter, Vanuatu’s climate envoy Ralph Regenvanu, MEPs Erik von Malottki (SPD), Carola Rackete and Anja Hazekamp (both Die Linke). The letter is supported by a letter from international NGOs.
Badum explained that it was “high time to break the power of the American fossil fuel industry“, which supports Donald Trump on a large scale. But “with the end of the energy crisis, the many planned LNG import terminals on the German coast should also be put to the test”, said the Green MEP. “Instead of making us dependent on superfluous liquefied natural gas, we should rather invest in freedom energies such as wind and solar.” bpo
Energiekrise
Klimaziele
Trump 2024
Hydrogen: How Europe wants to become less dependent on China
In a new study, the Boston Consulting Group warns that the hydrogen economy in Europe is expanding too slowly. The USA and China are threatening to leave Europe behind, as the Handelsblatt reports. The BCG criticizes:
High hurdles in the funding of hydrogen projects. According to the report, the application procedures are too complicated and sometimes take several years.
Comprehensive subsidies should be rejected. Instead, smaller ecosystems should be gradually scaled up. The state should provide guarantees, for example through climate action contracts.
Similar to the USA, subsidies should be introduced per unit of volume produced.
China could produce electrolyzers “with Western efficiency” from as early as 2025, at significantly lower prices. The BCG fears that European suppliers will be squeezed out of the market.
EU Commission wants to reduce dependency on China
However, the EU Commission recently announced measures to protect the European hydrogen industry. According to an EU publication, companies wishing to participate in the European Hydrogen Bank’s second call for tenders would have to limittheproportion of electrolysis stacks from China to a maximum of 25 percent. The EU wants to provide €1.2 billion in the second funding round. The sum is to be used to pay a fixed subsidy for up to ten years for every kilogram of hydrogen or its derivatives produced in the European Economic Area (EEA) – thus fulfilling one of the BCG’s demands. EU Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra announced “clear criteria for the development of European supply chains for electrolyzers” at the beginning of September. nib
China
Green hydrogen
Grüner Wasserstoff
Hydrogen
Industry
Lieferketten
Rail transport: Why investments should be prioritized
In an open letter, IG Metall and the NGO Germanwatch call on the German government to make more money available for rail transport and to reallocate funds accordingly. There needs to be a “prioritization of investments in the transport budget for the railways”. The rail network needs sufficient and predictable funds for renovation, modernization and expansion without pressure to generate returns. The Bundestag Budget Committee is currently negotiating the details of the 2025 budget and should amend the draft bill accordingly.
IG Metall and Germanwatch are calling for the rail network to be managed for the common good in the future. An increase in equity at Deutsche Bahn could only be a temporary budgetary solution. This is because it would put pressure on returns, which could lead to a distortion of competition by making rail transport more expensive and thus run counter to the goals of shifting traffic to rail. Therefore, improvements should now be made to track price compensation. They also propose setting up a multi-year infrastructure fund based on the Swiss model. It should overcome the dependence on annual budget decisions and thus ensure planning security. Minister Wissing also spoke out in favor of a fund at the beginning of the year.
Money for climate action in social institutions
At the same time, several German social organizations are also currently calling for more money for climate protection – daycare centers, hospitals and care facilities are not sufficiently prepared for the consequences of climate change and heat. In a demand paper, Climate Alliance Germany, AWO, Caritas, Diakonie and the Paritätische Gesamtverband argue that the majority of the 100,000 buildings in the social sector need to be modernized in the coming years. Energy-efficient renovations are particularly important here. kul
Sozialpolitik
India: Climate policy ‘highly inadequate’
A new analysis by the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) classifies India’s climate policy and climate targets as “highly inadequate”. The update was published on Friday and shows that there has been no significant progress since last year. One reason for this is the elections in May. Before and during the formation of the government, there were hardly any changes in climate policy. However, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term in office, there are at least signs of continuity in renewable energy policy and further investments, and a CO2 market is also planned.
On the other hand, the rising demand for energy is reversing the progress made in the expansion of renewables. India’s demand for fossil fuels remains high due to its growing economic output. Coal production and imports were at record levels in the first half of 2024.
India’s climate target not compatible with Paris Agreement
The goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2070 is also “highly inadequate”. According to CAT, this is not compatible with the 1.5-degree limit of the Paris Agreement. The current climate policy is also “inadequate”. If applied to all countries, the measures taken would lead to global warming of around four degrees Celsius. Although the plans for renewables are “ambitious” and there are increasing investments and constant expansion rates, India has still not committed to moving away from coal and fossil gas.
In view of rising energy demand, the analysis recommends expanding renewables and storage capacities more quickly, for example, as both are more cost-effective than fossil fuels. The analysis was carried out by the New Climate Institute and Climate Analytics, which regularly assesses the climate policy of more than 40 countries in the CAT as part of the UNFCCC negotiation process. lb
Fossile Brennstoffe
Klimaziele
Green claims: Study questions effectiveness of EU proposal
Although the Green Claims Directive is supposed to put an end to misleading climate advertising, the Commission’s proposal would still allow labels that distort consumer perceptions. This is the result of a scientific study published in the journal “Food Quality and Preference”. According to the study, labels with the inscription “climate neutral” lead consumers to believe that food is significantly more climate-friendly than it actually is.
According to the researchers, this is also the case if it is made clear that a product is only climate-neutral through CO2 offsetting. For example, by using labels such as “100 percent CO2-compensated”, as envisaged in the Commission’s proposal on green claims for such cases. “Such labels therefore promote greenwashing, make market transparency more difficult and offer consumers no guidance for sustainable nutrition”, criticizes lead author Denise Dreist from the University of Göttingen.
Traffic light label is the most effective option
The study identifies a traffic light system similar to the Nutri-Score as a more effective alternative. This would allow consumers to assess the climate impact of food more accurately. Study leader Anke Zühlsdorf advises making traffic light labeling mandatory. This would make it easier to compare products and not only highlight climate-friendly products. However, a first step could be a ban on product-related advertising with climate neutrality.
For the study, test subjects from Germanywere asked to assess the climate impact of various food products. The authors compared how the assessment differed depending on which climate label the respective product carried.
While the EU Council of Environment Ministersand the Commission are in favor of companies being able to continue to claim CO2 offsets for climate labels, the European Parliament only wants to allow this in exceptional cases so that the focus is on reducing emissions. The trilogue negotiations, in which the Council and Parliament must agree on a version, are expected to start at the beginning of next year. jd
Food
Climate financing: EU states doubt COP29 target without new donors
For the EU member states, a “prerequisite” for an ambitious global climate finance target is that the number of donor countries for international climate finance increases. This is stated in a draft Council conclusion for COP29, which is exclusively available to Table.Briefings.
International public funding should be provided and mobilized by a broader group of contributors, the EU states demand. The amount of the contribution should “reflect the development of the respective economic capacities and the high greenhouse gas emissions since the early 1990s”. In particular, countries such as China and the oil and gas-producing Gulf states are being asked to participate in the new climate finance target – known as the NCQG.
China and Saudi Arabia spared so far
So far, only industrialized countries have contributed to the current annual climate finance target of $100 billion. A new climate finance target must be negotiated at COP29 in Baku, as the $100 billion target expires next year. The NCQG negotiations are considered to be the most important negotiation strand of this year’s COP. The industrialized countries and primarily Europe have been calling for new donor countries for public climate financing for two years now.
In the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted in 1992, the signatory states were divided into industrialized and developing countries. Since then, this categorization has hardly changed, meaning that emerging economic powers such as China, India and the oil-producing Gulf states are still considered developing countries.
Fossil fuel producers should also pay
The EU member states are also in favor of making the fossil fuel supply chain pay “to support the most vulnerable countries in mitigating climate change and building resilience”. Government funding alone cannot provide the financial resources needed for a climate-neutral and resilient global economy. “Private donors will have to provide the largest share of the necessary investments in the green transition”, the draft states. luk
Climate & Environment
Climate financing
COP29
COP29
EU climate policy
NCQG
Climate policy: How an international network should strengthen the role of women
The “Women Leading on Climate Network” was founded on Wednesday. The international network aims to strengthen the influence of women in leadership positions on climate protection. The founders include Catherine McKenna, former Canadian Environment Minister, and Jennifer Morgan, German State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Policy. Other members are the Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) of large corporations such as HSBC, BNP Paribas, Netflix, Walmart and Ikea. Executives from NGOs are also involved.
The aim is to pool the expertise and political influence of its members, implement climate protection measures and protect the communities most affected by climate change. Particular attention should be paid to climate-damaging impacts that disproportionately affect women. “Women are pushing for more ambitious climate action in negotiating rooms, in boardrooms and in their communities”, said McKenna, who currently chairs the United Nations Panel on Net-Zero. “If we come together, we can make faster progress.”
Network calls for ‘investable national climate plans’ to implement the NDCs
The “Women Leading on Climate Network” wants to focus on mobilizing public investment in climate protection. A central demand is that governments should draw up “investable national climate action plans” in order to drive forward the implementation of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
Women – and especially non-white women – are still underrepresented in leadership positions in the field of sustainable finance, for example. The new network thus joins a number of other initiatives that advocate for more female participation in climate protection, including:
the Women’s Climate Leaders Network, which has been bringing together women in leadership positions from the private sector since the beginning of 2024 and is supported by the European Investment Bank, and
