In brief | 13 August '26

Eurostat: Record low coal share in EU electricity production

In 2025, hard coal represented 3.7 percent of the EU’s total gross electricity production, and brown coal represented 5.5 percent.

Montel: Muted German coal generation dampens barge disruption impact

Reduced coal-fired power generation has so far this summer limited the impact of barging disruptions caused by record low river levels.

Electrive: Porsche to form EU CO₂ pool with Xpeng

Porsche reported to leave Volkswagen Group’s EU CO₂ emissions pool.

EnBW: All wind turbines installed in Germany’s largest offshore wind farm

Manufacturer Vestas has finished installing 64 turbines in the “He Dreiht” wind farm, which is expected to be fully operational by late summer.

Euronews: As Lake Maggiore runs low, Switzerland steps in as Italy faces growing water shortage

Switzerland is opening the taps on Lake Lugano to help prop up Lake Maggiore, to guarantee supplies for the rice fields on the plain.

Bloomberg: Swiss government rejects initiative to ban banks from fossil-fuel financing

Government recommends parliament and voters reject a popular initiative to ban the country’s financial institutions from funding or insuring new fossil-fuel mining.

Euronews: What is the EU doing to tackle its growing water scarcity?

This summer's record heat has left 38 percent of Europe's land in drought.

New York Times: Europeans, braced for 5th heat wave of 2026, have had enough

With temperatures set to soar as high as 43 degrees Celsius this week, Europeans and tourists say that summer in Europe has lost its appeal.

Bloomberg: World’s AI giants are preparing to come clean on climate impact

OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX and rivals have so far revealed little about their emissions.

Ember: Batteries have unlocked the era of anytime solar

Solar hit a record 10 percent of global electricity in the first half 2026, a quarter at midday and near zero at night. Now, battery storage is unlocking the next stage of solar growth in the non-sunny hours.

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