Standing inside a purpose-built laboratory at the University of Salford is a red-brick terraced house. At first glance, it looks just like the thousands of homes that line the streets beyond in the northern English city of Manchester.
But this is Energy House 1, located on Joule Terrace, and it has been designed by scientists researching what Britain’s dreams of an all-electric, net zero future might look like in reality.
The house, and its successor Energy House 2, have been used to test an array of technologies – from smart meters to thermal paints – combined with detailed modelling to understand their real world implications.
As countries race to wean their economies off fossil fuels and reduce their carbon emissions to net zero by mid-century, switching to electricity in homes and transportation looks like a relatively easy win.
Ageing gas boilers can be replaced with a heat pump to warm radiators and water tanks, for example. And millions of vehicles powered by petrol and diesel can be switched out for electric vehicles (EVs).
Yet the extent to which that shift contributes to a green energy transition will depend on the level of renewables and other clean energy sources adopted by each country.
‘Age of electricity’
Globally, power generation from solar panels and wind turbines increased at a record pace in 2024, an annual review by the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows. That was thanks to a rapid rate of new renewables installation, while nuclear power output was boosted by new projects and the restarting of reactors in France and Japan.
But electricity generation from fossil gas and coal kept growing and, overall, fossil fuels still represented 60% of the global electricity mix last year.
Soaring use of cooling technologies like air conditioning in response to extreme heat was a key factor in the growing appetite for electricity, especially in China and India, which are heavy users of coal power, the IEA said.
Growing electricity consumption by industry, the rollout of electric vehicles and the expansion of data centres also drove power demand, it added.
Rising gas and coal use fuelled a 0.8% increase in global carbon dioxide emissions generated by the energy sector in 2024, the IEA said – but trends varied widely across regions.
Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, noted that “even though oil and gas will remain essential energy carriers, we hear the footsteps of the age of electricity coming”.
Governments need holistic vision
Despite this expectation of a fundamental shift in how economies are run, electrification as a goal in itself is often neglected in governments’ climate plans, according to Richard Black, director of policy and strategy at Ember, a UK-based energy think-tank.
“Electrification as a concept is something that’s only really talked about by energy analysts,” he said.
“Governments don’t think in these terms. They think about electric cars or heating, or green steel. They don’t necessarily have a holistic vision of why it makes sense to consider all these sectors together, and how you would plan your electricity system expansion alongside that,” he added.
April’s massive power outage across Spain and Portugal was a reminder of the challenges of growing dependence on electricity, as transport networks and businesses were severely disrupted. While the cause is still being investigated, there have been calls for investment in national grid infrastructure and storage to ensure increases in electricity capacity can be managed appropriately – a challenge that is not limited to the Iberian peninsula.
In the Global South, meanwhile, some 750 million people still live without access to electric power – mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the IEA. That is putting the brakes on ambitious plans to boost EV adoption on the continent, especially in remote rural areas.
Electricity demand surges, expanding renewables and fossil fuels in 2024
Electric vehicles catch up
Despite such issues, vast strides have already been made on electrification globally, Black said, noting that researchers have dubbed China the world’s first major “electrostate”, having electrified by 10 percentage points per decade.
Crucially, the new clean industries leading the electrification charge will allow governments to meet their climate targets while offering the public the promise of economic growth and green jobs.
The boom in EVs over the last decade is a case in point.
EVs aren’t new. In the early 20th century, they were in widespread use in US cities, with up to 30,000 EVs in operation at their peak. This was followed by a short, sharp decline as cheaper and longer-range petrol cars came to dominate.
In 2010, EVs made up less than 1% of all car sales worldwide.
But by the end of 2024, global sales of EVs had reached 17 million units, an increase of 25% on the previous year, according to data firm Rho Motion. Separate figures put the total number of global car sales at 75 million during the year.
The shift to EVs has been supported by strong government incentives such as subsidies – in places such as Norway, these policies helped new EV sales reach 89% of all car sales last year.
Alongside tax exemptions, Norwegian EV drivers have in the past enjoyed perks such as access to bus lanes, free municipal parking and zero charges on toll roads.
Clear emissions targets and the threat of fines have played a role in pushing European manufacturers to go electric. Across the European Union, CO2 targets for new vehicles are coming into force in 2025, which, although recently watered down, still have the ultimate goal of reaching zero emissions by 2035.
“The EU’s green policies are beginning to bite,” William Todts, executive director at the climate advocacy group Transport & Environment, told Climate Home. “Thanks to the switch to EVs, we are starting to see a structural decline in transport emissions.”
“Now is not the time to roll back green measures. For the continent’s prosperity and security, now is the time to double down,” he added.
Heat pump race
In the lab at the University of Salford, researchers put the Energy House through its paces by recreating the gamut of British weather conditions – from torrential rain to temperatures from minus 13 degrees Celsius (8.6 Fahrenheit) to 30C (86F).
The weather simulations allow researchers to test the effectiveness of technologies such as battery storage, heat pumps and ‘V2G’, or vehicle-to-grid, where power stored in an EV can send electricity back to the national grid in times of need.
One of their recent studies found heat pumps are successful at meeting the hot water demands of an average UK household, even under challenging winter conditions.
Many countries are betting on pumps that suck in heat from the air, ground or water to heat homes and other buildings as a way to cut their emissions. Over 40% of buildings in Sweden and Finland, for example, contain heat pumps, and North America has the largest number of homes with one.
Britain, which has lagged its European neighbours, has a target to install 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028 – 10 times the current number of annual installations.
France has already hit over 600,000 units installed a year, and Poland, Italy and Germany have all reached similar numbers. As with EVs, the right government policies are vital to ensuring take-up, energy experts said.
“In the UK the principal problems are the relatively high costs of heat pumps and the electricity-to-gas price ratio,” said Professor Rob Gross, director at the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), calling for policies to reduce electricity prices, change how energy tariffs are structured, and cut gas dependence which often dictates prices.
High installation costs are also an obstacle. Industry estimates put the average cost at between $3,000 and $6,000, but in some markets it can be much higher, and significantly so when compared to a boiler fired by natural gas.
Tariffs and tensions
Another potential obstacle for clean power advocates is the dramatic US climate policy shift under President Donald Trump and his import tariffs, which have sparked a trade war with China that threatens to bring in other countries too.
This disruption – especially if it leads to rising prices for clean energy equipment, a market dominated by China – could lead policymakers to think twice about the need to electrify their economies.
At a recent global energy summit in London, a Trump administration official criticised renewables, arguing they cause power cuts and increase reliance on China.
But Black said heightened international trade tensions mean governments “should be thinking logically about energy security”.
“The only way for most countries to become totally energy secure is through renewables,” he said. “There’s no obstacle to really forging ahead with the transition.”
Adam Wentworth is a freelance writer based in Brighton, UK
The post Is electrification a no-brainer in the race to net-zero? appeared first on Climate Home News.
The US is expected to resume its attempt to sink measures for a greener global shipping sector at closed-door talks between governments at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in early September.
The US and oil-producing allies like Saudi Arabia want to weaken a proposed plan for cleaner fuels that aims to reduce planet-heating emissions from the industry, which relies heavily on dirty bunker fuels. Shipping currently represents 3% of global emissions.
Those that want a softer system are likely to back a Liberian proposal which expert analysis suggests would see emissions fall by only half at most by 2050, far short of the sector’s agreed climate goals.
After several years of debate, governments provisionally agreed in April 2025 on the “Net Zero Framework” (NZF), a series of emissions reduction targets for shipowners, backed up with financial rewards for meeting the targets and fees for missing them.
But in October 2025, after a high-profile intervention from US President Donald Trump and threats of sanctions and visa restrictions, the US convinced a majority of voting nations to postpone the adoption of the NZF for a year.
Ralph Regenvanu, climate minister for the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, called the delay “unacceptable” given the urgency of accelerating climate change.
After a round of low-profile talks in May, the first of three further sets of talks on how to clean up shipping will begin at the IMO’s riverside headquarters in London on Tuesday, culminating in a final public session in November.
Em Fenton, who follows the talks as senior director of climate diplomacy at Opportunity Green, an NGO focused on aviation and shipping, said governments should not be sidetracked by alternative proposals to the NZF, calling them “a distraction from a hard-fought multilateral compromise”.
“If countries want to deliver a just and fair maritime transition, there is really only one choice: back the NZF and stand together in solidarity against those who would tear it apart,” Fenton added.
Five proposals on the table
Governments will discuss five different proposals submitted in advance of next week’s meeting. The most ambitious of these is from the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, which has proposed a levy on the entirety of a ship’s emissions rather than just those above a certain level, as the NZF envisions.
That had been the original demand of Pacific nations before the NZF was provisionally adopted in April 2025. At the time, Tuvalu’s transport minister Simon Kofe described the NZF as disappointing and not ambitious enough.
For this reason, six Pacific countries abstained in the vote on the NZF. While they supported the original plan for its adoption in October 2025, they have used the delay to push again for more ambition.
John Kautoke, advisor to a group of Pacific nations called 6PAC+, told Climate Home News that the NZF “cannot diminish its already inadequate ambition. If anything, the NZF must increase in ambition if we are going to renegotiate its parameters.”
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Analysis by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) suggests that, of the five proposals, only Tuvalu’s would meet the 2030 and 2040 emissions reduction targets for global shipping that were agreed by governments in 2023. Those were for cuts of 20% between 2008 and 2030, 70% by 2040 and then reaching net zero “by or around, i.e. close to 2050”.
Despite this, the UK, Australia, Canada and South Africa have formally proposed that governments adopt the NZF, which won support in a 63-13 vote among governments at the April 2025 talks. Trump’s US walked out halfway through.
According to IMarEst’s analysis, while the NZF proposal will not be enough to meet the industry’s targets, it will reduce emissions more cheaply than the Pacific proposal.
A proposal by Brazil – which fought hard for the NZF last October – suggests tweaking the framework to make meeting targets easier in the short term and harder in the long term.
While this compromise will make it more appealing to the owners of polluting ships and countries that support them, IMarEst estimates it would lead to higher cumulative emissions than either the NZF or Pacific proposals.
The NZF stipulates that fees for high-polluting shipowners should be be put into a Net Zero Fund and used to promote clean shipping fuels and a fairer transition. The Brazilian proposal would delay raising and spending these funds by two years, from 2029 to 2031.
Liberia’s proposal weakens emissions cuts
The US and Saudi Arabia are likely to swing behind a new proposal from Liberia, whose government makes millions of dollars a year selling the right for shipowners to register their vessels in the small West African nation via a US-based company.
This proposal would weaken the emissions reduction targets. IMarEst says it would cut the industry’s emissions at most by a half by 2050, falling far short of the target agreed in 2023 for international shipping to reach net zero “close to 2050”.
It would also replace the NZF’s fees for missing targets with a carbon trading system. As a result, there would be no Net Zero Fund and therefore less money available to incentivise green fuels and make the transition more equitable for poorer nations.
Pacific advisor Kautoke said that, as well as preventing shipping from reaching zero emissions by 2050, Liberia’s proposal would mean the Pacific “will not receive any support to deal with the disproportionately negative impacts created by the cost of the transition”.
“We get a double blow if we adopt the Liberian proposal,” he warned. “We get all the cost of a transition without any support, and we have an industry that continues to burn fossil fuels to an unforeseen point.”
Japanese proposal favours shipowners
Japan has submitted a late proposal to amend the NZF so that shipowners have more control over how the fees they would pay for emitting above a set threshold are spent.
University College London professor Tristan Smith has argued that this change means there will be no central mechanism to incentivise investments in clean fuels. He wrote on LinkedIn that under the system put forward by Japan, shipowners would be able to select which green projects their fees would go to. They could choose their own or those of a sister company or other shipowners, rather than funding broader just transition projects that would benefit marine workers or developing countries hit by rising shipping costs.
Despite its flaws, Smith added that Japan’s proposal “could still get taken seriously by some, given how appealing it may seem to shipowners who have consistently demanded control of revenues, and given how the US and other member states have pushed back against the IMO Net Zero Fund and [greenhouse gas] pricing.”
Tacit or explicit approval?
Next week, governments are expected to make statements saying which proposals – or which aspects of proposals – they prefer. Another set of talks will be held from November 23-27 before a potentially final round from November 30-December 4.
A new framework to tackle shipping emissions could be adopted at those talks if two-thirds of countries that are present and signed up to a regulation called Marpol Annex VI – endorsed by just over 100 states – vote in favour of it, as they did in April 2025.
The US and its allies are also trying to change the rules to make the next stage more difficult. Decisions that have been adopted at IMO meetings usually take effect automatically unless a certain number of countries object within a certain time period decided by governments, a system known as tacit approval.
But the US wants that to require explicit approval instead, so that any new emissions standard would not come into force unless enough governments – representing a certain percentage of the world’s shipping fleet – actively indicate support for it.
Critics say this change would give a small number of countries with large shipping registries the power to block implementation. Liberia has the world’s biggest shipping registry, run by an American company, followed by Panama and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Liberia and Panama have supported the US at the talks on the Net Zero Framework. The Marshall Islands has long been one of the most vocal supporters of climate action in shipping but, with its officials and shipping registry income vulnerable to US retaliation, did not sign on to the recent Pacific proposal vowing to strengthen the NZF if it is re-opened.
Brazilian negotiator Adriana de Medeiros Gabinio warned in April that the NZF’s opponents are trying to change the rules by which it comes into force as a “safety net to block” it.
The post Battle over cleaning up shipping set to resume at London talks appeared first on Climate Home News.
Battle over cleaning up shipping set to resume at London talks
SYDNEY, Wednesday 26 August 2026 — New 2026 Sustainability Reports released by supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths this week demonstrate the retailers are failing on their commitments to end deforestation in their supply chains.
Adele Chasson, Nature Policy Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific said:
“These so-called sustainability reports are revealing. Despite their public commitments in 2024 and 2025, neither Coles nor Woolworths have taken deforestation-linked beef off their shelves. Meanwhile, bulldozers continue to tear up forests and bushland, pushing wildlife closer to extinction and causing mass toxic runoff to flow into the Great Barrier Reef. Millions of native animals like koalas are losing their homes to beef pastures each year, while the big supermarkets put off action.
“Australians would be shocked to know that beef on the shelves of our biggest supermarkets could be pushing threatened species to the brink of extinction. Collectively Coles and Woolworths have made more than $2 billion in profits in the last year, profiting from the destruction of wildlife and precious Australian nature. Coles and Woolworths owe it to shoppers to deliver on their promises and end deforestation in their supply chains now.
“As big beef buyers, Coles and Woolworths have an essential role to play in keeping Australia’s unique forests standing. They can help stop the Great Barrier Reef from being poisoned by runoff and protect iconic forest wildlife by taking deforestation off their shelves. It’s time these big companies put their money where their mouths are and follow through on their promise of sourcing and supplying deforestation-free beef.”
New Zealand’s parliament has adopted a controversial new law blocking a whole avenue of climate litigation and shutting down its most advanced corporate lawsuit, which has been blamed by the government for shaking business confidence and investment.
The Climate Change Response (Tort Liability) Amendment Bill, expected to take effect in the coming days after it is formally signed by the Governor-General, prevents all current and future civil claims for climate loss or harm under tort law.
Justice minister Paul Goldsmith said last week that the aim was to give businesses “certainty around their climate change obligations”, noting it would not alter the government’s responsibilities under the Climate Change Response Act 2002 nor business obligations under the Emissions Trading Scheme.
“Our response to climate change is best managed by the Government at a national level and not through piece-meal litigation in the courts,” he added in a statement.
Such litigation, he said, “risks developing a new regime that contradicts the framework Parliament has already enacted” to tackle climate change.
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Goldsmith singled out a key domestic climate lawsuit brought by Northland iwi leader and activist Mike Smith against six big companies: dairy firms Fonterra and Dairy Holdings, energy firms Genesis Energy and Z Energy, New Zealand Steel and coal mining firm BT Mining. A seventh original defendant, Channel Infrastructure, was dropped after it permanently decommissioned its Marsden Point oil refinery.
Smith argued that these companies had caused him harm under public nuisance and negligence law, as well as a third breach of a duty to cease contributing to climate change that has yet to be tested domestically. He did not seek financial compensation, instead asking for the companies to immediately stop emitting or contributing to net greenhouse gas emissions.
In one of the most advanced corporate climate accountability lawsuits in the world, a trial had been scheduled for April 2027 after the Supreme Court unanimously allowed the case to continue.
Corporate lobbying in the shadows
Smith described the passing of the bill as “deeply concerning”, particularly as it coincided with the Supreme Court hearing another of his climate lawsuits. In that case, Smith v Attorney-General, he argues that the government’s response to climate change and its impacts on Māori communities in particular breaches rights to life and culture.
“That timing raises profound questions about the separation of powers and the rule of law,” said Smith. “Whatever one’s view of the merits of these cases, it is deeply troubling when parliament intervenes to remove a legal pathway while the courts are actively considering fundamental questions about climate responsibility, rights and the crown’s obligations.”
The bill – which says that no person (including the government) can be found liable in tort for emissions-related climate change effects – followed major lobbying efforts by the companies defending themselves in Smith’s lawsuit. They outlined a proposed legal amendment in a briefing note to the government in 2024.
The centre-right government has been fiercely criticised over its lack of transparency in relation to this lobbying activity. The national ombudsman recently found that the Prime Minister’s Office effectively withheld information requested by the Environmental Law Initiative about meetings, discussions and conversations regarding Smith’s case.
Green groups fail to stop bill
The bill sparked huge concern among environmental campaigners in New Zealand and elsewhere. Greenpeace Aotearoa called it a “shocking abuse of executive power” and the vast majority of submissions to a parliamentary inquiry said it should be rejected.
But in the end, it was adopted with little resistance, moving relatively smoothly through parliament, passing its third reading by 67 votes to 53. Sam Bookman, climate law lecturer at Melbourne Law School, told Climate Home News he was not surprised by this, given that the coalition government has a secure majority.
A complaint has been made to the UN special rapporteur on climate change and human rights by Smith, the National Iwi Chairs Forum Pou Tikanga and youth coalition Climate Clinic Aotearoa over what they see as the government’s heavy-handed approach. Smith is also challenging the new law in yet another lawsuit.
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Bookman thinks it “very unlikely” that such a challenge will succeed, noting that New Zealand’s constitution is firmly anchored in parliamentary sovereignty.
But the expert in climate law does not see the bill as the end of legal action in the country, noting that New Zealand has a “sophisticated climate litigation landscape with a growing number of specialist and experienced lawyers and NGOs”.
The country is also approaching its next general election in November, and some opposition parties have pledged to restore access to the courts if elected.
Amanda Larsson, global project lead on agriculture for Greenpeace International, said: “This law deserves to be tested, and I strongly encourage the international climate litigation community to unite and help defend New Zealanders’ fundamental right to hold polluters accountable before this becomes a global blueprint.”
Copycat legislation on the rise
New Zealand’s move is part of a small but growing legislative effort to shut down climate litigation around the world.
In the US, Republican politicians introduced legislation in the House and Senate in April that would shield fossil fuel firms from climate liability lawsuits. Similar laws have already been passed at state level in Tennessee, Utah, Iowa and Louisiana.
The German state of Bavaria has put forward a similar proposal to the Federal Council, aiming to block private climate claims as well as the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments imposing such liability. There are also proposals to limit available remedies and actions in the Netherlands and Belgium.
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Bookman said he expects more efforts to counter climate damages litigation and advised plaintiffs to think about how to respond, including drawing on broader support in opposing them.
“Even though it’s very hard for plaintiffs to win these types of cases, companies are very eager to avoid the expense, embarrassment and political accountability that come even with unsuccessful lawsuits,” he said.
The post New Zealand moves to protect business with law curtailing climate litigation appeared first on Climate Home News.
New Zealand moves to protect business with law curtailing climate litigation
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