The quiet acceleration of clean energy

The encouraging news about climate mitigation is taken from the first four months of this year.

In January, Ember, an energy think tank, published its electricity capacity estimates: wind and solar generated more electricity in the EU than fossil fuels in 2025. Wind and solar generated a record 30% of EU power, ahead of fossil fuels at 29%. “This milestone moment shows just how rapidly the EU is moving towards a power system backed by wind and solar,” said report author Dr Beatrice Petrovich. “As fossil fuel dependencies feed instability on the global stage, the stakes of transitioning to clean energy are clearer than ever”¹.

As of March 2026, the REPowerEU has significantly reduced Russian fossil fuel dependency, cutting Russian gas imports from 45% (2021) to 12% by 2025. The EU enacted binding regulations on February 3, 2026, aimed at a permanent phase-out of Russian LNG by 2026 and pipeline gas by 2027. The EU strategy now focuses on massive renewable deployment (406 GW solar and wind expansion) and securing energy independence through mandatory, accelerated, and diversified supply².

Also in March, Germany approved the Climate Change Act, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65% from 1990 levels by 2030 and to be climate-neutral by 2045. The plan approved by Chancellor Friedrich Merz's cabinet includes a 12-gigawatt expansion of onshore wind turbine capacity, schemes to boost electric vehicle (EV) sales, and steps to help forests and soil. Results will be savings of more than 25 million metric tonnes of CO₂ by the end of the decade, according to the Environment Ministry, with reductions of nearly seven billion cubic metres in natural gas ‌and four billion litres of petrol use by 2030³.

The UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announced that his country will bring forward the large AR8 renewable energy auction round to July 2026. Miliband stressed that there was "no energy security while we are so dependent on fossil fuels". As many as 18 offshore wind farms could potentially compete in AR8, alongside new onshore wind and solar sites. This comes after the last offshore allocation round (AR7), the largest offshore auction to date, awarded enough power to power the equivalent of 23 million homes⁴.

In the US, clean energy additions for electricity production will break records in 2026. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory, a total of 86 gigawatts of new utility capacity is expected to come online this year, which would surpass the previous single-year record of 53 gigawatts added in 2025. As shown below, 93% of that capacity will come from solar, storage, and wind power⁵.

Planned Electric Generating Capacity in 2026 in the US.

Planned electric generating capacity in 2026 in the US

Solar and wind power are likely to grow worldwide at a pace compatible with limiting global warming to 2°C – but not 1.5°C, according to an analysis with a new AI-powered model⁶. This is a new modelling approach that helps predict the outcomes of ongoing policies. The study supports a more realistic goal of 2 °C warming, even though this entails sustained acceleration across all major regions, comparable to what the European Union is aiming for with its RePowerEU plan.

The spread of renewable energy applications and energy efficiency is because, in many cases, they are simply the most cost-effective solutions. Heat pumps cost less than traditional boilers and can provide cooling. Wind and solar are often cheaper than fossil fuels for electricity generation. Electric vehicles produce little CO2 and are becoming competitive with conventional cars. Energy efficiency pays off, and the benefits are almost double what was previously estimated.

Renewable energy has overtaken coal to become the world’s largest source of electricity in 2025, according to think tank Ember. The growth of solar and wind meant that, for the first time, the share of coal power was lower than that of renewables. Fossil-fuel generation fell by 0.2% in 2025, with wind and solar alone meeting 99% of the growth in electricity demand last year⁷.

The IEA issued its second edition of the State of Energy Innovation, highlighting that energy innovations can have outsize economic and social outcomes, impacting industrial competitiveness, trade, environmental health, infrastructure investment, and security. “Today, the global markets for energy technologies such as batteries, transformers, turbines, motors, and heat exchangers are worth trillions of dollars. With spending on energy representing as much as 10% of global GDP, innovation that reduces energy supply costs can transform a country’s comparative advantage.” Ten percent of all patents are related to energy, more than to pharmaceuticals or chemicals. “Public spending in energy R&D is essential, with cost-benefit evaluations typically showing that the economic benefits are far greater – even a hundredfold larger – than their costs.” Government spending on energy R&D over the last decade is shown below, also highlighting the growing role of China⁸.

Government Spending on Energy R&D (Billion USD (2024))

Investments in renewables and energy efficiency help reduce pollution. Globally, at least 4.2 million people die prematurely each year from fossil fuel pollution. WHO estimates that some 68% of outdoor air pollution-related premature deaths were due to ischaemic heart disease and stroke, 14% were due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 14% were due to acute lower respiratory infections, and 4% of deaths were due to lung cancers. People living in low- and middle-income countries disproportionately experience the burden of outdoor air pollution, with 89% of the total deaths⁹. In the US, it is estimated that 91,000 people die prematurely due to this pollution. In Italy, the estimate is 52,000 premature deaths annually. Green investments combat this unhealthy situation.

In April 2026, Colombia and the Netherlands co-hosted a summit that brought together 57 countries committed to creating transition roadmaps to reduce economic reliance on fossil fuels. Countries attending this first-of-its-kind summit explored plans to develop national roadmaps away from fossil fuels, along with new tools to address harmful subsidies and carbon-intensive trade. The group will present its first report at COP 31 in November. On the eve of the last UN Climate Conference, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres jointly launched this idea of an international roadmap for the phase-out of fossil fuels¹⁰.

Thanks to climate activists, scientists, engineers, concerned citizens, and responsible political leaders, progress has been made on fighting global warming. Let us celebrate these achievements and build on them.