In 2021, climate action made major strides in the United States as President Biden released executive orders, Congress passed a major infrastructure law, and federal agencies strengthened climate-related regulations. However, 2022, by contrast, has brought significant setbacks for climate action. Likely the most important comes in a Supreme Court decision announced on June 30th, which...
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The New British Energy Security Strategy
On April 7 the UK government introduced their “British Energy Security Strategy”. The publishing of the strategy was accelerated by the crisis in Ukraine. It made it clear that the UK is very dependent on foreign sources of energy, primarily gas, oil, and coal.With energy prices on the rise globally, this has resulted in rising...
Turkey Experiencing Extreme Weather Events and Rising Energy Prices in 2022
Firstly, after an extended autumn, the winter season started later than usual in most of the country. It continued until mid-May in the western part of Turkey, including Istanbul, which is unusual. On the 19th of May, a heavy snowstorm hit Istanbul paralyzing the whole city and delaying the early summer. This resulted in low...
The Return of Energy Intensive Tourism in Spain
Back to the bars, beaches, and climate negligence. The almost-complete easing of travel-related restrictions in the first quarter of 2022 has jumpstarted recovery in Spain’s tourist industry, reaching around 70% of its pre-pandemic levels. With packed beaches, bars, and nightclubs, the world’s second most important holiday destination is showing nostalgic signs of normality. Despite providing...
South Africa’s Public Utility Commits to Producing Renewable Energy
South Africa depends heavily on coal for its electricity generation and is among the highest GHG emitters in the world. Over the last decade, South Africa has faced major electricity challenges, such as load shedding, which has become part of everyday life in the country. It is estimated that Stage 6 load shedding removed up...
Saudi Arabia Hosted PetroEnvironment Symposium in 2022
Description of the event In May 2022, Saudi Arabia hosted a 2-day symposium, PetroEnvironment 2022, that brought together environmental practitioners, policymakers, scientists, end-users, technicians, and engineers to discuss major current and emerging environmental opportunities for global sustainability. During the event, participants exchanged new ideas, approaches, research findings, and partnership initiatives to increase circularity and sustainability....
Sakhalin is Planned to Become the First Carbon-Neutral Region in Russia
Despite the difficult geopolitical situation in Russia, the problem of climate change has not disappeared, and the country’s leadership continues to move according to its plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. In this regard, the most important climate event in Russia within the first half of 2022 is undoubtedly the decision to conduct a...
Inauguration of a Government-Sponsored National Clean Cooking Committee in Nigeria
The most significant climate change-related event in Nigeria in the first half of the year 2022 is the federal government’s inauguration of a committee to develop a national policy on clean cooking. This development is important because of the country’s pledge to increase access to clean cooking by 2030 as part of its Nationally Determined...
Mexico Evalua’s Report on the Need to Reform the State-Owned Electricity Commission
According to a 2020 México Evalúa report, the state-owned Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) is responsible for 17% of Mexico’s carbon dioxide emissions. The CFE is an electric power company operating as a Productive State Company (Empresa Productiva del Estado), wholly owned by the Mexican Government. The report, based on an analysis of CFE’s Business...
Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Poses a Challenge to Japan’s Energy Security
Due to the scarcity of domestic natural resources, the Japanese energy sector is almost completely dependent on imports, making it vulnerable to even minor changes in the global energy market. Roughly half of the Japanese crude oil imports come from Russia’s Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects, and almost all its LNG import from Russia is supplied...