In brief | 24 March ‘26

Politico: EU should relax net-zero target, German energy minister says

The European Union should loosen its "rigid" adherence to climate neutrality and allow itself to miss its 2050 net-zero goal by up to 10 percent, Germany's minister for energy and economy told a major oil and gas conference in the United States.

Bloomberg: European car sales rise as EV demand gains momentum

Sales in Germany for vehicles with a plug jumped by a combined 27 percent after low- and middle-income earners started to tap into a new subsidy scheme.

BBC: Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

Slovenia has become the first EU member state to implement fuel rationing to tackle disruptions caused by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran and its retaliation on their allies in the Gulf - most major players in world energy markets.

Bloomberg: Denmark votes as Trump’s Greenland claims loom over election

Greenland will top the incoming government’s agenda, prime minister Mette Frederiksen said, alongside efforts to secure Europe’s energy independence and forge new alliances as traditional partnerships come under strain.

WMO: State of the Global Climate 2025

Report confirms that 2015-2025 are the hottest 11-years on record, and that 2025 was the second or third hottest year on record, at about 1.43 °C above the 1850-1900 average.

Nature energy: Fusion power experience rates are overestimated

Fusion power plants are viewed as a promising source of firm low-carbon electricity, attracting large investments. However, their future cost is highly uncertain.

NPR: Trump administration to pay French company $1B to drop US offshore wind leases

TotalEnergies has agreed to what's essentially a refund of its leases for projects off the coasts of North Carolina and New York, and will invest the money in fossil fuel projects instead, the Department of Interior announced Monday (23 March).