Anna Stacey

The European Central Bank faces calls to toughen climate-risk penalties. Meanwhile, UN negotiations to finalise the world’s first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution collapsed after three years of talks.

Ford will invest $5 billion to expand its U.S. electric vehicle production and has plans for what will be the most affordable electric pickup truck on the market. Elsewhere, one of the largest nuclear power plants in France has been shut down after a massive jellyfish swarm clogged cooling systems.

Italy has fined fast fashion giant Shein €1 million for making misleading environmental claims on its website. Elsewhere, a database documenting the billion-dollar impact of increasingly severe weather events will be revived this autumn.

Australia is ramping up its renewable energy efforts by expanding its key clean energy investment scheme by 25%. Meanwhile, China's massive coal expansion is sparking alarm, with over 450 new mine projects in development, and 40% already under construction, posing a serious threat to global climate targets.

F1’s climate emissions have dropped 26% since 2018, halfway to its minimum 50% reduction target. Elsewhere, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres urged tech companies to use 100% renewable energy to power data centres by 2030.

Amazon’s emissions grew by 6% in 2024, the first time that they have risen in three years. Meanwhile, in the UK, drivers are being encouraged away from petrol and diesel cars by discounts of up to £3,750 on electric vehicles.

The UK Government is set to ban bosses from using NDAs to silence workers who have been the victim of harassment and discrimination. Meanwhile, T-Mobile US has halted DEI policies to appease the Federal Communications Commission’s Chairman as the company seeks approval for two major deals.

Microsoft is still committed to its goal of being carbon negative in 2030 despite a large expansion of emissions-intensive data centres causing a 23% increase from 2020 in the company’s planet warming impact. Meanwhile, record-high emissions are set to deplete the planet’s carbon budget within three years.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed repealing regulations that limit emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants. Meanwhile, companies globally continue to retreat from climate goals.

The World Bank is committing $1 billion to help build what could be the world’s largest hydropower project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Meanwhile, in the US, areas of Alaska’s wilderness are being opened up to oil and gas extraction by the Trump administration.