The European Union’s member states are locked in some heated debates this week about Europe’s energy future. The discussions involve about 10 different pieces of legislation, but they center on one fundamental question: Should the EU be technologically neutral about how it meets its climate targets?
India’s latest budget, which laid out plans to increase public investments in climate change mitigation efforts, signals progress on New Delhi’s commitment to halve its carbon emissions by 2030 and decarbonize its economy by 2070. But funding for adaptation is lacking, even as the effects of locked-in warming are already manifesting.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa named a new minister this week to tackle the country’s electricity crisis as part of a Cabinet shakeup ahead of general elections next year. But many regard it as a half-hearted measure that is unlikely to produce the tangible policy reforms they argue South Africa desperately needs.
European officials are whispering nervously about this week’s reports that a pro-Ukraine group, and not Russia, may have been behind the bombing of the Nord Stream pipeline. Should that be proven, it would create an immensely awkward diplomatic headache for Europe, particularly the countries through which the pipeline passes.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has largely chosen caution over confrontation in Rome’s foreign policy. But when it comes to Italy’s position on the war in Ukraine, and by extension its bilateral relationship with Russia, her administration’s emphasis on continuity seems to be diverging from domestic public opinion.