The US cancels over $4 billion in climate aid with more drastic cuts likely to follow. In contrast, the Center for Global Development expects China to exceed the U.S in climate aid financing contributions in 2025. Furthermore, according to financial clearing house ICE, nearly $600 billion in green bonds were issued in 2024, the largest total ever. Around $150 billion in green bonds have been issued so far in 2025.

U.S President Trump signs an Executive Order instructing the Attorney General to stop enforcement of  State laws “purporting to address “climate change” or involving “environmental, social, and governance” initiatives, “environmental justice,” carbon or “greenhouse gas” emissions,” and to take action to stop the enforcement of the laws.

International Energy Agency (IEA): The global energy demand from  AI data centres in 2030 will be equivalent to that of Japan. Only  50% will be powered by renewable sources. Some data centres wil consume as much as that of 2 million households.

The world generated more than 40 per cent of its electricity from low-carbon sources in 2024 with hydropower the largest contributor. For the same period the EU generated 47% of its electricity requirement from solar, wind , hydro and geothermal. However, power sector emissions also reached an all-time high last year, however, at 14.6 billion tonnes of CO2.

The U.S produced 500 million tonnes of Coal in 2024 down from 750 tonnes in 2018. However, while its consumption dropped by 100 million tonnes in the last quarter of 2024 compared to 2023, it continues production to meet the surge in demand from Asia.

A plastic developed in Denmark, made from barley starch and sugar beet waste decomposes in nature in about two months. Standard plastic takes around 20 to 500 years (or more) to decompose.

This new type of bioplastic  is stronger and can better withstand water than current bioplastics. At the same time, our material is 100% biodegradable and can be converted into compost by microorganisms

The EU has passed its controversial Nature Restoration Law by the slimmest of margins that will restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea by the end of the decade. At the last moment, in the face of fierce opposition from her coalition partners Austria’s climate minister Leonore Gewessler had the courage to support the proposal and save its demise at the last hurdle. 81% of European habitats are in poor shape. The law intends to increase biodiversity,  reverse the decline of pollinator populations such as bees by 2030, and  plant at least 3bn more trees.

Data centers and AI are likely to consume half of all the electricity available from renewable energy resources such as solar and wind farms.

A new wind farm off the coast of Scotland that is supposed to be able to power 1.3 million homes, but Amazon has just announced it has reserved more than half of its 880 MW output.Recently, Microsoft announced it would invest $3.2 billion for data centers in Sweden. Earlier this year, it committed a $4.3 billion data center investment for AI infrastructure in France. Are these signs of things to come ?

Coldplay reduce their world tour carbon footprint by 59% compared to previous tours  through innnovative solutions such as dancefloors that allow dancing fans to generate electricity, recyclable LED wristbands and the band travelling by train.

The increase in renewable energy use continues a  trend  in the EU’s electricity transition away from fossil fuels, with a corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions, down 18 per cent in the first four months of 2024 compared to the same period last year despite an almost 1% increase in energy consumption.

Coal is rapidly being replaced by solar and wind energy.

According to the journal Nature, new infectious diseases are on the rise and they often originate in wildlife. Loss of species was the greatest environmental factor in increasing the risk of outbreaks. Biodiversity loss was followed by climate change and introduction of non-native species.

Of five global change drivers – biodiversity loss, climate change, chemical pollution, non-native species, and habitat loss, four out of five increased disease spread: all except habitat loss increased disease.

Venezuela’s only remaining glacier – the Humboldt, or La Corona, in the Andes  has become too small to be classified as a glacier. It has been re-classified as an ice field. Due to climate change the glacier has shrunk from originally 450 hectares to just two.

Venezuela has lost at least six other glaciers in the last century.

The global average concentration of carbon dioxide in March this year was 4.7 parts per million (or ppm) higher than it was in March last year, which is a record increase in CO2 levels over a 12-month period.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have announced that global concentration of CO2 has hit 421ppm, a 50% increase on pre-industrial times and the highest in 14 million years. The latest reading from Mauna Loa observatory, Hawaii measured CO2 atmospheric concentrations at 426ppm.

New legislation, if passed in the state senate, would compel Vermont’s state treasurer, to establish a fund for climate damages.

The money collected would be used to fund projects to improve climate adaptation and resilience, as determined by the state’s Agency of Natural Resources. The measure could serve as a model for the rest of the country as interest in climate accountability is growing, and as New York, California, Maryland and Massachusetts consider similar initiatives.

An energy think-tank report by Ember covering 80 countries representing 92 per cent of the world’s energy demand has found that solar energy was the world’s main supplier of electricity last year, providing twice as much new energy than coal. For the 19th year in a row it is the fastest growing source of new energy.

The EU  generated 44 per cent of its electricity from renewables due to the wide adoption of  solar and wind generation.

In a major worldwide survey by The Guardian of the scientists on  the U.N Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 80% of respondents  foresee at least 2.5C of global heating, while almost half anticipate at least 3C (5.4F). Only 6% thought the internationally agreed 1.5C (2.7F) limit would be met.

A lack of political will was cited by almost three-quarters of the respondents, while 60% also blamed vested corporate interests, such as the fossil fuel industry, as major contrbutory factors.

Scientists have discovered a new process that could more than double the range of current electric vehicles. The research has identified solid-state sodium batteries as an alternative to conventional Lithium. Cheaper and safer, Solid-state Sodium batteries until now have  proved difficult to mass produce. A team from Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan claim that a  newly discovered process could overcome this obstacle.

Japanese automaker Toyota claims solid-state batteries could offer a range of 1,200 km and charge times for these new batteries could be as short as 10 minutes.

Researchers from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, find 2,305 billion tons of carbon stored in the top two meters of soil worldwide. This is more than five times the carbon found in all of the world’s vegetation combined. This hidden pool of soil carbon could be key to understanding how carbon moves around the globe.

However, this huge carbon pool is vulnerable to changes in the environment, especially soil acidification.

The towers of conventional wind turbines are predominately made using carbon-intensive materials like steel. Two tonnes of carbon dioxide are emitted for every tonne  of steel manufactured, and a modern onshore wind turbine contains around 120 metric tonnes of steel per megawatt of capacity.

A Swedish company Modvion has replaced steel with sustainable laminated veneer lumber (LVL), made from multiple layers of Scandanavian Spruce stuck together with adhesives.

Anand Malligavad tumbled into a lake, where he thought he might die from the stench of the polluted waters. The next day, Mr. Malligavad with no knowledge of water maintenance made an unlikely pitch to his company: He would restore the 36-acre lake if it funded the project.

Seven years later, employing techniques from the Chola dynasty dating back 1,500 years ago, he is now one of the foremost authorities on lake conservation in India and the world.

Irish wind farms generated a record 43pc, or 1,541 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of Ireland’s electricity grid capacity in March. The previous record was 1,392 GWh in March 2020, surpassing the previous record for the month which was set in March 2020, when 1,392 GWh were generated.

Kerry was the biggest provider of all counties with 187 GWh generated. Cork generated 163 GWh, amounting to 11pc of total electricity demand, while Tipperary produced 106 GWh, amounting to 7pc.

Ashgrove Cheese, Australia stated that its new eco-milk retains all the nutritional benefits and taste of Ashgrove full cream milk while reducing environmental impact. This new milk has proven to produce 25% less methane emissions, which marks a “significant” step towards sustainable dairy production”.

The use of a native Tasmanian seaweed to supplement normal cow feed has the natural ability to halve the amount of methane emitted when Ashgrove’s herd “burps”.

In 2023 forest destruction in Brazil and Colombia fell  by an impressive 36% and 49% in Brazil and  Colombia respectively, in new research by Global Forest Watch (GFW). This coincided with the new presidencies and policies of Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro

The steep declines “offer a ray of hope for the rest of the world, showing that progress is possible, given the right political will”, said Mikaela Weisse from the World Resources Institute, which runs GFW.

2023 was a record year for renewable-energy installations in the U.S. Companies installed a record 33.8 Gigawatts of clean energy projects across the United States last year, breaking the previous record by more than 12%, according to the American Clean Power Association’s annual market report.

The U.S. now generates approximately 16% of its electricity from solar and wind.

Carbon dioxide emissions regulated under the European Union’s emissions trading system (ETS) fell by a record 15.5% in 2023 as renewable power output soar.

The largest fall was in the power sector, which saw a 24% drop in emissions compared with 2022 levels. This decrease is due to a substantial increase in renewable electricity production (primarily wind and solar), at the expense of both coal and gas.

Enter this easy compettion to win TWO tickets to a COLDPLAY concert in Dubin in August. For details go toUtopia-The- Edit’s Instagram page Utopia-The-Edit Instagram Page

Could an hour change the world? Earth Hour is your time to switch off and dedicate an hour to help bring our world back to life. You can do this any way you like, by spending 60 minutes doing something – anything – positive for our planet.

Every year in March, millions of people across the globe unite to show that they care about the future of our planet, by switching off for one hour. This year’s Earth hour is March 23^rd 20:30 to 21:30 local time across the globe.

Future Mobility Campus Ireland (FMCI) based in Shannon, Co Clare  is working on developing an electric-powered air taxi for “smarter, safer, more sustainable transport for people and goods”. The first ‘air taxis’ will be capable of carrying four passengers, with initial tests set to be carried out at their Clare base. The service is expected to commence in Ireland by 2027.

Future Mobility Campus Ireland is just one of the global experts presenting at TRA2024 at the RDS in Dublin from April 15th to 18th. TRA2024 is the largest European event covering all aspects of transport and mobility.

Preliminary analysis of Ireland’s CO2 emissions, indicate a 4 to 5 per cent drop to 57 million tonnes of CO2e in 2023. A level last seen in 1993.

While it is anticipated that agricultural emissions have fallen by 1 per cent to 2 per cent, the most significant drop was primarily from the electricity sector, with an astonishing  21 per cent fall in emissions. Transport emissions are likely to show a 3 to 4 per cent increase and the Climate Change Advisory Council has warned , it was “unlikely that the first carbon budget will be met” by the end of next year.

The EU’s Nature Restoration law is its response to the COP15 Montreal agreement  in 2022 to protect and restore 30% of the world’s degraded ecosystems by 2030. On 27^th February, the European parliament adopted the law with 329 votes in favour, 275 against and 24 abstentions,despite the European People’s Party (EPP) – the biggest lawmaker group  opposing the bill.

It aims to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030.  This increases to 60% by 2040 and at least 90% by 2050.

The UK will quit the controversial energy charter treaty (ECT) which allows fossil fuel investors to sue states for lost profit expectations in a complex arbitration system set up to protect fossil fuel investors in the former Soviet economies in the 1990s.

February is expected to break a record number of heat records due to human-made global heating and the  El Niño phenomenon in the South Pacific.

The heat experienced in February has such elevated sea-surface temperatures that expert observers are struggling to explain how the change is happening.

Hello London.

January 2024 inaugurates an exciting new year with the opening of Utopia-The-Edit’s first international office in London. The office will expand our business into the U.K., where there has already been a very positive interest and  response from numerous commercial and non-profit sustainably-minded organisations in the greater London area.

We are proud to announce that Utopia-The-Edit has been awarded the prestigious ESGmark® certification.

Through the rigorous assessment process, Utopia-The-Edit demonstrated a high level of performance against Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)  principles and an ongoing commitment to positive change.

http://www.esgmark.co.uk/

Ryanair has signed a deal to buy 33 million gallons of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) at Italian airports from Enilive,  a division of  Italian petroleum giant Eni. This is sufficient fuel for 20,000 flights from Dublin to Milano Malpensa Airport. Supply will start in 2025.

SAF is a blend of Kerosene and a non-palm oil biofuel derived from feedstocks such as used cooking oil and biomass. It reduces but doesn’t eliminate carbon emissions.

Products and services claiming to be “Climate Neutral, “Biodegradable” or “Eco-friendly” must provide proof, with carbon schemes banned as evidence.

Terms such as “climate neutral” or “climate positive” that rely on Offsetting will be banned from the EU by 2026 as part of a crackdown on misleading environmental claims.

In 2023, Ireland’s wind farms produced more electricity than ever, generating 13,725 gigawatt-hours (GWh), 35% of the total national energy needs, and sufficient to  meet the demand of 3.2 million average households. Compared to fossil-fuel generated electricity this reduced carbon emissions by 4.3 million tons.

Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory  identify 18 materials from a list of 32 million potential candidate substances that could replace 70% of Lithium in batteries. Using AI the screening process took less than a week.

Europe’s utilities generated a record 193 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity from wind compared to 184 TWh from coal-fired power plants in the last quarter of 2023 and will likely maintain this lead in the future.

The planet was 1.48C hotter in 2023 compared to the era before the industrial revolution. The figure is 0.2C away from the 1.5C limit set by the Paris Agreement in 2015.

Scientists at the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (CCCS) predict that the limit will be passed for the first time in the next 12 months.