Businesswoman Deborah Meaden is a familiar face for British television audiences, starring as an investor on “Dragons’ Den,” a show where budding entrepreneurs seek financing for new ventures.

But Meaden has also become well-known for her public stance on environmental issues, views she has held since writing a thesis about climate change as a teenager.

The message could not have been clearer as protesters carried coffins labelled oil, coal and gas through Belém while negotiators met in the Amazonian city for the United Nations COP30 climate summit.

It may be too early to declare the end of the fossil fuel era, but up to 80 countries are demanding a concrete plan to move away from polluting power at the climate summit.

From the production of goods to the ways people work and communicate through tools like ChatGPT, artificial intelligence is driving a digital revolution – but also a very physical one.

The electricity demand of data centres is projected to more than quadruple by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), bringing into question how quickly countries can transition away from planet-heating fossil fuels.

The European Union (EU) is tainting its green credentials with a deregulation drive that has watered down progressive laws ahead of this week’s U.N. COP30 climate summit, policy analysts warn.

Several EU laws that were designed to reduce Europe’s role in driving deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions have been hit with delays and limitations.

Only some 20% of new petrol vehicles sold in India in the last 15 years are compliant with petrol blended with 20% ethanol (E20), analysis of government and industry data shows.

India’s government is pushing for a rapid rollout of E20 and said in July it had reached its goal of selling the fuel five years ahead of schedule, replacing the existing 10% blend.

The world’s demand for fast fashion has allowed greenhouse-gas emissions to rise despite ambitions to decarbonise supply chains by 45% by 2030.
More than 600 fashion companies have adopted science-based targets for emissions reduction, compared with just over a dozen in 2019.

Yet the sector’s emissions grew by 7.5% in 2023 from the year before, said a report last month by the Apparel Impact Institute (AII).

As India adds more biofuel ethanol to its petrol, consumers are filling social media with complaints that the fuel mix is hurting their engines and cutting into vehicle mileage ranges.

The government’s fast-expanding ethanol programme aims to cut costly oil imports by blending petrol with ethanol, a biofuel made from crops like sugarcane or from organic waste that burns more cleanly than does pure petrol.

There is a culture war on net zero in Britain.

From the alleged weight of electric vehicles to the supposed risk factors of heat pumps, each day brings a new story about the perceived ‘dangers’ of this new technology.

As temperatures soar around much of the world, people are cranking up the air conditioning, but blasting icy air into buildings fuels global warming, which increases demand for more cooling, creating a vicious circle.

Climate change, rapid urbanisation, rising incomes and population growth are driving huge demand for air conditioners (AC) globally, but particularly in developing countries.

Africa is often framed as a continent lagging behind in the global energy transition.

But this narrative misses a critical truth: Africa is uniquely positioned to leapfrog the fossil fuel era and lead the world into a clean energy future.