€27bn bill and counting: von der Leyen urges EU to learn energy lessons from Iran war
The EU Commission also unveiled plans to subsidise up to 70 percent of the extra cost of fuel caused by the Iran war for farmers, fishers and road hauliers.
Climate
-
-
Record heatwaves from Mediterranean to Arctic, new report finds
The continent of Europe is warming up two times faster than other regions in the world, with the biggest changes seen in colder regions, according to the 2025 European State of the Climate report.
-
Chernobyl: the work of self-confident fools, after whom invisible heroes had to clean up
The 40th anniversary of a major nuclear accident is a good opportunity to reflect on whether something similar can happen again today.
-
‘Hormuz crisis shows need for new nuclear power’. Does it really, though?
One nuclear expert told me he didn’t want to write an op-ed on the possible dangers of a meltdown of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine. He then added he’d stocked up on iodine tablets.
-
We have no other planet. 10 charts showing the state of the globe to mark Earth Day
Earth Day has been celebrated since 1970. To mark the occasion, we present 10 charts that show the current condition of humanity’s only home.
-
France expects green light for €70bn nuclear expansion despite EU probe
France’s plans for a €70bn expansion of its nuclear energy production come after EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said that abandoning nuclear had been a “strategic mistake”.
-
EU allows pollution permits to pile up in bid to placate industry
The plan adopted on Wednesday concerns the Market Stability Reserve, a buffer mechanism that can inject or absorb free pollution permits to keep carbon prices from swinging too wildly.
-
Counting the costs of a heating planet
With CO2 concentrations now at the highest level in the last two million years, Earth acts like an overheating smartphone unable to vent heat. 91 percent of this excess energy is surging into oceans, fueling “nuclear-grade” storms and $60bn wildfires. This isn’t just warming — it’s an accelerating climate emergency threatening global security and economic stability.
-
Iran war effect: boost for solar panels, US buyers turn to electric cars, but EU car sales may drop
European industry faces a difficult year, but for some companies there may be an exception: these are mainly suppliers and installers of solar systems.
-
How Iran war exposes Europe’s dangerous dependency on fertilisers
Roughly a third of the world’s fertiliser exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint now blocked by Iran in response to being attacked. Within days of the latest escalation, fertiliser prices surged, with urea (a nitrogen-based fertiliser) jumping sharply across global markets.
-
El Niño is coming, meteorologists say ‘super’ version is possible
In recent history, the El Niño phenomenon has in most cases brought exceptionally hot and wild weather. And 2026 is likely to be the same, especially its second half.
-
Spain’s Sánchez attacks other EU leaders for exploiting energy prices to gut climate policies
“Unfortunately, some governments are using this crisis and the rise in electricity prices to undermine climate policies,” Spain’s socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchéz said on arrival at an EU leaders summit in Brussels.
-
Major emissions trading fight looms at EU summit
A blocking minority of member states is pushing to weaken the bloc’s carbon pricing mechanism — which requires industries to pay for their pollution.
-
Why the EU Commission’s plan for an AI data-centres boom is short-sighted
Water-resource conflicts already happening in Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands will only worsen now that the EU Commission plans to triple data centre capacity in Europe over the next five to seven years. Little thought has been given to the oligopolistic cloud market and how it will evolve if the EU triples its data centre capacity.
-
EU bioeconomy aspirations require an increasing supply of renewable wood
As leaders of forest-based industries in Sweden, we have examined the EU Commission’s updated bioeconomy strategy — and would like to suggest a few improvements related to the role of wood.
-
How the EU lets plastic be labelled ‘recycled’ at just 2.5% re-used content
Plastic products in the EU could soon be labelled “recycled” — even when they contain barely any recycled material. A new definition backed by most member states allows plastics with as little as 2.5 percent waste-derived content. Critics warn that the rule relies on accounting tricks that may mask fossil-based plastic production.
-
Inside the mining lobby attack on key EU water law
The EU’s key water law is under pressure amid intensified lobbying by the mining industry. DeSmog analysis shows sector meetings with EU officials tripled in the year before the European Commission pledged to “review and revise” the Water Framework Directive.
-
EU leaders push to curb energy price spikes amid Strait of Hormuz crisis
EU leaders want the carbon market reviewed by July at the latest, instead of the currently planned third-quarter timeline, a leaked draft of next week’s European Council conclusions shows.
-
Row over EU emissions trading, as industry hits back at chemical lobby
The letter signed by 100 European companies and investors rebuffs the anti-emissions trading push from governments and the chemicals lobby — showing that not all European firms are aligned on weakening carbon pricing.
-
Listen: After Trump’s climate rollback, how solid are the EU’s green rules?
US president says greenhouse gases aren’t a threat anymore. The EU is also easing green rules to help businesses. Are European climate policies at risk?
