The EU has passed a nature restoration law which, despite its reduced scope appeared to be headed for the policy graveyard. The law was saved by Austria's climate minister, Leonore Gewessler, whose vote of conscience hit the bar of support of 55% of EU member states representing 65% of EU population. Her government attempted to have her vote disregarded, and she now looks likely to face criminal prosecution. (Via fixthenews)

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are surging "faster than ever" to beyond anything humans ever experienced, officials say - "Not only is CO2 now at the highest level in millions of years, it is also rising faster than ever."

Secretary-General's special address on climate action "A Moment of Truth" [yt] - "Climate change is the mother of all stealth taxes paid by everyday people and vulnerable countries and communities. Meanwhile, the Godfathers of climate chaos – the fossil fuel industry – rake in record profits and feast off trillions in taxpayer-funded subsidies."

Fourth and finally, we must directly confront those in the fossil fuel industry who have shown relentless zeal for obstructing progress – over decades. Billions of dollars have been thrown at distorting the truth, deceiving the public, and sowing doubt. I thank the academics and the activists, the journalists and the whistleblowers, who have exposed those tactics – often at great personal and professional risk. I call on leaders in the fossil fuel industry to understand that if you are not in the fast lane to clean energy transformation, you are driving your business into a dead end – and taking us all with you... Many in the fossil fuel industry have shamelessly greenwashed, even as they have sought to delay climate action – with lobbying, legal threats, and massive ad campaigns. They have been aided and abetted by advertising and PR companies – Mad Men – remember the TV series - fuelling the madness. I call on these companies to stop acting as enablers to planetary destruction. Stop taking on new fossil fuel clients, from today, and set out plans to drop your existing ones.

World hits streak of record temperatures as UN warns of 'climate hell' - "Coal, oil and gas still provide more than three quarters of the world's energy, with global oil demand remaining strong." India runs power plants flat out to keep cool in heatwave and election - "In the autumn of 2021 and again in the spring of 2022, coal shortages meant many power generators were unable to start up in response to instructions from the grid... Since then, the government has attempted to prevent a repeat by prioritising coal movements across the rail network and accumulating large coal inventories on site at power generators." Despite extreme heat, climate change barely rated a mention in India's elections - "Low voter turnout was attributed to ongoing extreme heat, with temperatures in New Delhi reaching as high as 52.9 degrees Celsius, causing a party leader to faint during an election rally. But the sweltering temperatures did little to drive climate up the agenda." Phoenix Is Facing a Hurricane Katrina of Heat. It's Not Alone. - "You can see the risk here: If you don't have air conditioning, then Phoenix's summer heat quickly changes from unpleasant to deadly... a power failure during a heat wave in Phoenix or any other city will spread the misery far more broadly and kick a Heat Katrina into high gear." (The Heat Wave Scenario That Keeps Climate Scientists Up at Night)[1]

The number of unhoused people in the city has boomed along with the total population, rising 72% in the past six years to nearly 10,000. People experiencing homelessness made up 45% of the county's heat-related deaths last year, compared with 38% for people with housing (the living situation was unknown for the other 17% of deaths). And none of the 156 people who died indoors last year had functioning air conditioning. In 85% of those cases, AC units were present but broken. When temperatures hit 110F for weeks at a stretch, cooling systems can struggle to keep up. Retirees and people living from paycheck to paycheck may not have the money for repairs.

IEA expects global clean energy investment to hit $2 trillion in 2024 - "China is set to account for the largest share of clean energy investment in 2024 with an estimated $675 billion, while Europe is set to account for $370 billion and the United States $315 billion. More spending is focused on solar photovoltaic (PV) than any other electricity generation technology with investment set to grow to $500 billion in 2024 due to falling solar module prices. Global upstream oil and gas investment is expected to increase by 7% in 2024 to $570 billion, following a similar rise in 2023. This was mostly led by national oil companies in the Middle East and Asia, the report said." India to spend up to $385 bln to meet renewable energy target, Moody's Ratings estimates - "However, despite the steady growth in renewable energy, most of which will likely be solar power, Moody's expects coal will play a significant role in electricity generation for the next eight to ten years." US solar installations hit quarterly record, making up 75% of new power added, report says - "Solar accounted for 75% of electricity generation capacity added to the U.S. power grid early this year as installations of panels rose to a quarterly record, according to a report published by Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association on Thursday. The country's solar industry saw 11.8 gigawatts of new capacity in the first three months of 2024 as electric utilities continued their rapid additions of the renewable power sources, the report said." The Solar Breakthrough That Could Help the U.S. Compete With China - "South Korea's Hanwha Group says it will be the first company to use Lumet's technology. Hanwha's Qcells unit, one of the biggest solar-panel makers outside China, is building a multibillion-dollar solar supply chain in Georgia. The company expects the financial savings and performance gains to help it compete with low-cost products from the world's biggest producer."[2] Giant Batteries Are Transforming the Way the U.S. Uses Electricity - "They're delivering solar power after dark in California and helping to stabilize grids in other states. And the technology is expanding rapidly."[3,4,5] EU wind and solar growth displaces fossil fuel generation, report says - "The additional solar and wind capacity helped push the share of total renewables to 44% of the EU electricity mix in 2023 from 34% in 2019. Meanwhile, a decline in coal and gas generation has pulled the share of fossil fuel generation down to 32.5% from 39%."