A top contender to lead the U.S. Interior Department under Democratic President-elect Joe Biden said the federal government should prioritize expanding renewable energy projects on public land, changing course after the Trump administration paved the way for a surge in oil and gas drilling there.
China's state energy producers outlined initiatives to develop hydrogen and wind power after their earnings slumped along with the oil price in the first half but their renewables projects could take years to materialise.
A new climate fund backed by philanthropic donors is aiming to trigger $2.5 billion of clean energy investment in Southeast Asia and aid the region's green recovery after the coronavirus.
The European Union looks set to slightly beat its goal to get a third of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, but public support will be needed to offset a drop in clean power investment due to COVID-19, the bloc's top energy official said.
Global investment in new clean energy capacity rose 1% last year to $282.2 billion, research by UNEP, Bloomberg New Energy Finance and the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre shows.
The ongoing transition to low-carbon energy sources may accelerate as economies recover from the impact of the coronavirus crisis, the head of oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday.
Global carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector fell by 2% last year, the biggest fall since at least 1990, owing to reduced coal usage in Europe and the United States, a study showed on Monday.
