Six of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies are projected to earn almost $3,000 every second in 2026 while households continue to struggle with energy costs worldwide, Oxfam warned on Monday, one day before the first global conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels.

The EU has no shortage of financial instruments to cut livestock methane, but farmers are still struggling to access them, according to a new analysis of the European Investment Bank's agricultural finance strategy.

Tracking the backtracking - NatWest is facing investor and expert pressure ahead of its upcoming annual general meeting, with campaigners warning of a potential protest vote against the board over perceived weakening of its climate commitments. According to The Guardian, groups including ShareAction are urging shareholders to oppose the reappointment of chair Rick Haythornthwaite, arguing the bank has diluted restrictions on fossil fuel financing and dropped certain decarbonisation targets without sufficient justification. Institutional investors, notably the Church of England, have signalled support for the campaign. A coalition of investors managing $1.4 trillion in assets plans to push the bank to engage within three months on its climate strategy, while a separate letter signed by 70 climate scientists calls on NatWest to reverse what they describe as “backtracking”. Criticism centres on policy changes such as removing limits on lending to oil and gas firms without credible transition plans, easing restrictions on financing exploration and production companies, and scrapping sector-specific targets for industries including aluminium, cement, and steel. NatWest has defended the revisions, stating it retains interim goals to halve its climate impact from 2019 levels and remains committed to achieving net zero financed emissions by 2050, while adapting its approach to evolving policy and transition needs.

Energy-intensive firms’ ability to pass carbon costs on to customers and secure sufficient financing will be decisive in determining whether they can survive tightening climate policy and deliver decarbonisation, according to new research.

A Californian bean-to-bar chocolate company helped co-found a biochar tech platform through which it plans to decarbonise its cocoa supply chain while converting agricultural waste into biochar.

Watts next – INNIO Group and partners announced on Thursday they had completed a 3 MW-scale demonstration of hydrogen-fuelled backup power for data centres, marking what they said was an industry-first test at this scale. The company, working with the Net Zero Innovation Hub for Data Centers and with technical experts from Microsoft, Google, and Data4 witnessing the trial, said the hydrogen-powered Jenbacher engine met key performance requirements under simulated real-world conditions. The trial comes as data centre operators face rising AI-driven power demand and are increasingly seeking low-carbon, behind-the-meter solutions, with such systems forecast to account for 50-60% of new-build capacity by 2030.

Companies face growing exposure to climate litigation not from a lack of environmental ambition but from gaps between public commitments and operational reality, a report published on Thursday found.

A Netherlands-based forest carbon developer has been declared bankrupt, with options under review to restart operations or sell individual projects.

US lawmakers have urged the European Commission to resist pressure from Washington to dilute its landmark anti-deforestation law, warning that proposed concessions risk undermining both environmental integrity and businesses that have already invested in compliance.

European carbon allowances posted a 3.3% weekly drop despite ending Friday with a marginal gain, as EUAs gave up gains from a sharp burst of aggressive buying that took prices up by €1 in just 10 minutes, while traders reported a market that appeared largely content to trade around a technical level while waiting for more geopolitical and regulatory news inputs.

The EU has set a first-quarter 2027 deadline to clinch a political deal on a major overhaul of its Emissions Trading System (ETS), anchoring carbon market reform in a newly adopted roadmap to deepen the bloc’s single market and boost competitiveness.

New direction - The UK's development finance institution, British International Investment (BII), has announced a new five-year strategy to shift its focus towards high-impact sectors including sustainable industries in low-income countries, against a backdrop of the UK Treasury cutting climate aid for developing countries by over 10%. BII's new strategy focusses on sectors linked to economic transformation, with plans to mobilise up to £7.5 bln of private capital over five years. As part of this, it is launching a £1.1 bln climate initiative called British Climate Partners to channel private investment into Asia’s energy transition. (edie.net)

The US and Israeli war against Iran has delayed a wave of fresh liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity by at least two years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Cleaner = cheaper - The build-out of wind and solar power has driven wholesale electricity prices in  Europe down by an average of 24.2% fr0m 2023-25, with countries with the cleanest power mixes set to save billions more than those still reliant on gas, two separate analyses found this week. Many countries are starting to see a decoupling of wholesale electricity prices from gas prices during hours of of high renewables generation, exerting downward pressure on prices, explained the first study, by nonprofit Positive Money. That said, gas still remains the marginal price setter most of the time, it added. It called for policymakers to prioritise faster deployment of renewables, flexibility resources, and electrification. Separately, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) estimated that the five EU countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Sweden, and Slovakia) with the highest share of clean electricity will this year save €8.5 bln, or 58% more than the five dirtiest (Poland, Italy, Greece, Estonia, and the Netherlands). CREA also found that in 2025, electricity was 8% less sensitive to gas prices than in 2022, which it attributed to the EU's transition to renewables. Positive Money identified battery storage as the next step in decoupling Europe's power markets from gas. (Positive Money and CREA)

Surging solar - Demand for rooftop solar across Europe has surged since the outbreak of the Iran war, as households rush to shield themselves from soaring power prices. Demand from homeowners has more than doubled for some industry players since late February, according to interviews by Reuters with over half a dozen energy equipment wholesalers and renewable utilities in Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands. Solarhanel24 said net sales more than tripled in March to nearly €70 mln from a year earlier, and are expected to triple again this month to some €60 mln, with plans to extend its workforce as a result. Meanwhile, German energy firms Enpal said orders rose 30% y-o-y in March to €130 mln, while April was on tracked for a 33% increase to about €120 mln, driven by rooftop solar installations. Industry bodies in Germany and the Netherlands also confirmed a similar demand pickup. The trend is also lifting demand for energy storage, as homeowners seek ways to improve resilience against geopolitical shocks.

An investor group plans to challenge the German chemical producer BASF on climate lobbying at its annual general meeting on Apr. 30, and will call on to align lobbying with its stated climate commitments.

The upcoming revision of best-in-class production benchmarks that determine the volume of free CO2 permits allocated under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) has caused anger in the aluminium sector, with one senior industry executive threatening to challenge the plan in court.

Those countries working to progress a global climate framework for shipping have this week engaged specifically on how to collect and distribute the revenues generated by a carbon price, despite continued opposition from petrostates and the US.

The CLEAR methodology for cooking energy transitions remains under review by an expert methodological group working to advance the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), while a framework covering N2O abatement has been put forward for adoption.

Paris has outlined its initial stance on the upcoming revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), due in July, saying that the scheme’s overall level of ambition must be considered alongside efforts in non-ETS sectors such as transport, buildings, and forestry, while pushing for up to 300 million carbon permits to remain in circulation in 2040.

The second phase of a vegetation restoration project in South Africa has secured funding from a World Bank-issued bond linked to revenues from the partial sale of carbon credits to Amazon and over-the-top financing.