Published on 16/07/2025
Global clean energy investment set to hit record $3.3 trillion in 2025 according to IEA
A surge in clean energy spending is expected to drive a record $3.3 trillion in global energy investment in 2025, despite economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions. Solar power is expected to be the biggest beneficiary, with investment forecast to reach $450 billion in 2025, while spending on battery storage is predicted to surge to around $66 billion, the IEA report said. Batteries are seen as a way to mitigate the intermittency of renewable energy projects, by storing power during peak supply and discharging during peak demand, but investments in the technology have lagged behind solar and wind power.
The IEA also warned that investment in grids of $400 billion per year is lower than spending on generation and electrification, which could pose a risk to electricity security. Grid investments will need to rise to near parity with generation spending by the early 2030s to maintain electricity security, but this is being held back by red tape and tight supply chains for transformers and cables.
Spending patterns remain very uneven globally, with many developing economies struggling to mobilise capital for energy infrastructure, while China dominates global clean energy investment at almost one-third of the total. In contrast, investment in oil and gas is expected to decline, with upstream oil investment set to fall by 6% in 2025, driven by lower oil prices and demand expectations and the first drop since the Covid crisis in 2020.
In France, a "green social security" system to protect citizens from the ecological crisis
What if we created a "green social security" system, modelled on the healthcare system, to protect ourselves from the environmental crisis and guide the ecological transition? This is the idea put forward by the progressive think tank Terra Nova in a paper written by Marine Braud, former ecology advisor to the French President and specialist consultant. With environmental risks multiplying and the transition more complex than ever, the idea would be to create a "genuine public service for ecological transition [...] to support citizens, businesses and regions in the face of environmental upheavals and future changes."
There would no longer be any need to put together a separate application to submit to a different authority in order to benefit from thermal renovation grants, subsidies for the purchase of a clean vehicle, or repair bonuses and penalties. Everything would be done automatically thanks to this "green social security", which would reduce the administrative complexity of the transition for individuals. The mission of green social security would thus be to "remove the various obstacles – psychological, economic, social and cultural – that are hindering action."
Like the social security system, the green social security system would also have the mission of contributing to ecological prevention by informing the public about useful measures to adapt their lifestyles or protect themselves from environmental crises such as heat waves, violent storms, rising water levels or clay shrinkage and swelling, for example, which are increasingly affecting citizens. Ultimately, it could also compensate victims of natural disasters, complementary to insurance and mutual insurance schemes, or help workers in their professional transitions, particularly the lowest-paid workers in industries that are likely to be affected by job losses linked to the sustainable transformation of the economy.
Sources: Novethic, Terra Nova
ECB sets goal to reduce emissions of €331 billion corporate bond portfolio by 7% per year
The European Central Bank (ECB) announced the publication of a new set of climate-related financial disclosures, providing information on the carbon footprint of its portfolios and their exposure to climate risks, indicating that the carbon intensity of its €331 billion corporate bond portfolio has declined by 38% from 2021 to 2024. Alongside the disclosures, the ECB revealed that it has set a new climate goal for its corporate portfolio holdings in the asset purchase programme (APP) and the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP), targeting an emissions intensity reduction of 7% on average per year.
While the ECB’s initiative to tilt investments to better climate performers contributed significantly to its reduced portfolio carbon footprint, these actions accounted for around 26% of the reduction through 2024, with emissions reductions at issuers accounting for most of the decline. Tilting also slowed significantly following an ECB decision to discontinue reinvestment, although the central bank noted that the scope 1 and 2 of purchases conducted in 2024 declined by 76% compared with the year prior to the implementation of the tilting framework. The ECB also announced the introduction of a new metric, measuring the exposure of the ECB’s and the Eurosystem’s corporate portfolios to sectors with material dependencies or impacts on nature.
UNOC: Main takeaways from the conference
The 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference concluded with more than 170 countries adopting an intergovernmentally agreed declaration committing to urgent action to conserve and sustainably use the ocean. The political declaration commits to expand marine protected areas, decarbonize maritime transport, combat marine pollution, and mobilize finance for vulnerable coastal and island nations, among others.
19 countries ratified the high seas treaty bringing the total number to 50. While shy of the required 60 ratifications, additional countries are in progress with a definite date and another set due to complete by the end of the year. France's oceans envoy, Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, said the numbers would be reached by September and the treaty should take effect by January, 2026.
Regarding deep-sea mining, four countries joined the list of nations calling for a moratorium or precautionary pause on deep-sea mining, bringing the total to 37. On the plastic pollution topic, a total of 95 countries signed a joint declaration calling for a legally binding international treaty to reduce plastic production and consumption, phase out the most problematic plastic products, and establish a financial mechanism to support these actions.
The European Commission announced an investment of €1 billion to support ocean conservation, science, and sustainable fishing, while French Polynesia pledged to create the world’s largest marine protected area, encompassing its entire exclusive economic zone – about five million square kilometers. Germany launched a €100m action plan to clear World War II-era munitions in the Baltic Sea and North Sea, while, New Zealand committed $52 million to strengthen ocean governance in the Pacific, and Spain announced five new marine protected areas. Indonesia and the World Bank launched a 'Coral Bond', a new financial instrument to raise private capital to conserve coral reef ecosystems in Indonesia's marine protected zones. The 'High Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean', a 37-country coalition led by Panama and Canada, was launched to tackle underwater noise pollution.
Overall, the UNOC3 has been recognized as a decisive moment in global ocean governance, with major progress in marine biodiversity protection, fighting plastic pollution, and supporting coastal communities. The effective implementation of the commitments will be critical and closely monitored by observers.
Source: United Nations
Meta secures nearly 800 MW of renewable energy to power U.S. data centers
- Company: Meta Platforms
- Sector: Communication services
- Clover rating: 3/10
Meta and clean energy developer Invenergy announced that they have signed a series of agreements, providing Meta with nearly 800 MW of renewable energy from new wind and solar projects in the U.S. to support its operations and data center growth. Under the new agreement, electricity from four new projects in Ohio, Arkansas, and Texas will deliver 791 MW of electricity to local grids, with Meta receiving clean energy credits associated with the new generation capacity.
Three of the projects, including two solar energy centers in Ohio and one in Arkansas, are expected to begin commercial operations in 2027, with the Texas-based wind energy center coming online in 2028. The agreement marks the latest in a series of clean energy deals between the companies, including an announcement late last year of an agreement to supply Meta with 760 MW. The new transaction brings the partnership to a total of 1,800 MW of renewable energy.
Schneider Electric, Vestas, Alstom: companies driving sustainability in Europe according to Corporate Knights
- Company: Schneider Electric SE, Vestas, Alstom
- Sector: Industrials
- Clover rating: 7/10, 6/10, 5/10
While setbacks are mounting in terms of ecological and social transition on the political scene, some companies are continuing to invest. And it is European companies that are leading the way. This is revealed in a recent report published by the organisation Corporate Knights, which for the first time includes its Europe 50 ranking, listing the large companies most committed to sustainable economic models. To do this, the organisation uses nearly 25 indicators, including environmental productivity, contribution to sustainable activities and various ESG (environmental, social and governance) indicators. "A few years ago, the sustainable economy was a niche market, but today it is the main issue," explains Toby Heaps, editor of Corporate Knights.
Among them, at the top of the Europe 50 ranking are Schneider Electric (also at the top of Corporate Knights' Global 100 ranking), Vestas, the Danish wind turbine manufacturing giant, SMA Solar, the German manufacturer of inverters for solar panels, and Alstom, the world's second-largest manufacturer of railway equipment. For Toby Heaps, sustainability is now the issue "that will determine who wins and who loses, who rises and who falls" in tomorrow's economy. "Over the past five years, sustainable revenues for European companies have grown twice as fast as all other revenues," he explains.
Source: Novethic
Volkswagen reports electric vehicles sales surge in 2025
- Company: Volkswagen AG
- Sector: Automobiles
- Clover rating: 4/10
The Volkswagen Group reported that in the first half of 2025, 465,000 electric vehicles were sold — amounting to a 47% increase when compared to the same time period last year. "Gains in South America and Europe more than compensated for the expected declines in China and North America," said Marco Schubert, member of the extended VW Group Management Board. In Europe, Volkswagen saw sales of electric vehicles up nearly 90% compared to the same period in 2024. In Germany, Volkswagen is a market leader with almost every second new electric car registered in Germany in the first half of the year from the company.
According to Volkswagen, sales in North America declined sharply in the second quarter of the year. At the end of March, US President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on cars, and further import surcharges in April. In China, EV competition is high and Volkswagen has been losing market share to domestic companies. The company saw its electric vehicle sales drop by a third.
In the luxury market, companies are still struggling. At Audi, which is owned by the Volkswagen Group, sales dropped. Competitors Porsche and Mercedes-Benz also saw declines in sales and have reported struggles with a weak market in China.
How marine life provides climate benefits worth billions of dollars
The ocean plays a vital role in regulating the climate, storing roughly 50 times more carbon dioxide (CO2) than the atmosphere. Marine life plays a significant part in this process, as organisms transfer carbon from the ocean surface to the deep sea upon death or as they migrate. New research, published in Nature Communications, suggests the contribution of ocean biology to climate regulation is more complex than previously thought. To explore how ocean biology shapes the past, present and future climate, researchers explore an extreme scenario where all marine life has been wiped out. They find that – in a pre-industrial climate – CO2 levels would rise by 50% without marine life, leading to 1.6C of global warming.
In a separate study in Nature Climate Change, they estimate that ocean biology sequesters the equivalent of 10bn tonnes of CO2 each year. This is more than one quarter of annual fossil-fuel emissions from human activity. Based on that and a carbon price of $90 per tonne of CO2, they calculated that the carbon storage provided by the marine carbon pump is worth $545bn per year in international waters and $383bn per year within national waters. Its total value is projected to exceed $2.2tn by 2030.
Source: Carbon Brief