Chris Littlecott

Now that China's new climate targets are out, here's a comparison to IPCC scenarios. The 2030 and 2035 targets are weak even compared to the median of 3-degree scenarios, which would entail devastating climate impacts, but the long-term 2060 target is in line with 2 degrees.

Let the right air in Urgent action is needed to tackle indoor air pollution, tobacco use, and outdoor pollutants, clean air is essential for health, climate, and sustainable development, says UNEP’s Inger Andersen.

Clean air is a critical health issue. One in nine people around the world are breathing unsafe air.

But this is a solvable problem.

At #UNGA Clean Air side-event, stressed the need for collective action, with solutions across sectors and agencies, backed by finance: www.unep.org/news-and-sto...

The world can move from coal power to clean energy, and our Solutions Bank shows how.

Featuring 1️⃣7️⃣case studies from 5️⃣ continents, this Bank will contribute to the Action Agenda for COP30.

Launching today at #ClimateWeekNYC. Find out more here ⏩

poweringpastcoal.org/solutions-ba...

a chart showing a steep decline of coal power use in Europe from 2010 onwards

It would be super cool to go back to 2014, find a rando and ask them whether a fall in EU coal use for power generation of 60% in 10 years feels possible or even likely

ember-energy.org/data/electri...

Towards net-zero electricity sector in emerging economies – Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Africa

⚡ Deep decarbonisation of the power sector is essential for the #netzero transition, & will require substantial financial support, market reforms, capacity building, technological innovation & more, analyse Vishwanathan, @chrisbataille.bsky.social et al. in study on 🇧🇷 🇮🇳 🇮🇩 🇿🇦 ⬇️

This disused Gateshead mine could be the future for cheaper heating bills Mine water technology extracts heat from floodwaters to power homes and it is hoped it could be used for millions of homes across the country

The mass deployment of district heating for UK cities fed by the warm waters of old coal mines would be both practical and poetic.

We can’t turn back the clock, but we can honour the past as we build a cleaner future.

inews.co.uk/news/environ...

We had ASHP installed and gas meter removed by Octopus. Kept receiving monthly emails asking me to provide meter readings. Flagged by various routes, told it would resolve (it didn’t). Eventually customer services fixed it, after ~15 months. At least I wasn’t billed for gas or standing charge.

New @globalenergymon.bsky.social analysis for @carbonbrief.org : EU&LatAm lead on coal phaseout, China & India pursue both coal+clean energy, US doubles down on fossil fuels but still on track for retiring more coal power this year than last: www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-c...

Driven past these vast monoliths many times. Gone now. All gone.
Bye bye coal.

🧵 What makes fossil fuel emissions "abated"?

Our 🛑 new paper 🛑 in Energy and Climate Change tackles this crucial but dangerously vague concept....

1/10

Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop - Carbon Brief Four common talking points surrounding China’s ongoing coal-power expansion and how and why the current wave of new projects might end.

NEW – Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop | Qi Qin @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social

Read here: buff.ly/0KFqDho

Coal Phaseout Tool Global coal phaseout: Tracking coal plant retirements In order to meet the Paris Agreement goals and put the world on a pathway to no more than 1.5°C of global warming, all existing coal plants must b...

Great new data viz from @globalenergymon.bsky.social showing progress to date (+ distance still to go) on coal power transition:

globalenergymonitor.org/projects/glo...

I was eyeing being a lawyer: Pompey boss John Mousinho's remarkable football journey An unconventional route but John Mousinho went on to represent Brentford, Wycombe, Stevenage, Preston, Gillingham, Burton and Oxford United

‘Had it not been for football, I would probably be stuck in corporate law reading contracts. It was a massive moment of luck.' John Mousinho long read on his unconventional route into football at 19 and rise to become #Pompey boss. What a man!

Food prices surge amid extreme weather

#climateflation graphic of the day, via @financialtimes.com

‘Significant legal breakthrough’ as NSW court blocks state’s largest coal expansion over emissions Decision is a significant blow for MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant coalmine expansion in Muswellbrook in the upper Hunter

The New South Wales court of appeal has overturned the approval of the largest coalmine expansion in the state after a community environment group successfully argued the planning commission failed to consider the impact of all of the project’s greenhouse gas emissions.

In just 10 years, the UK's electricity sector has gone from #1 emitter to #6 emitter... what a transformation 👏🇬🇧

Now to see what clean power can do to help cut the other sectors..

Coal produced just 6% of EU electricity in June 📉

Germany and Poland – the EU’s biggest coal users – also saw record lows in June amid solar and wind’s strong performance 🇩🇪🇵🇱

ember-energy.org/lat...

Solar tops EU power mix for first time in June, Ember says Solar power was the European Union's largest source of electricity for the first time in June, overtaking nuclear and wind while coal's contribution fell to an all-time low, data from energy think tank Ember showed on Thursday.

You know what's cool? Solar energy surpassing dirty coal across the EU!

Almost like the sun 🌞 and wind 🌬️ provide everything we need, and we don't need fossil energy of the past to power our homes 🧐

#Solar #GoodClimateNews

🔗

In the early 1990s, Ireland was getting more than 40% of its electricity from coal.

Last week it closed its last coal plant: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: Cheaper batteries mean near-24/365 solar is now economic☀️

We analysed 18 years of hourly insolation data at 12 places, to see how close to 24/365 electricity it was possible to get.

The sunniest places get over 90% - and up to 99% - of the way... from just $100/MWh. 🧵

A slightly more positive perspective: The three largest power sectors are cleaning up their electricity supply in lockstep.

Different levels, same trajectory...

Carbon intensity of electricity generation has fallen a lot in China, the US and the EU in the last two decades.

A stacked area chart of coal generation on the island of Ireland between January 2019 and June 21, 2025. The area is divided up by individual plants. There are just two: Moneypoint and Kilroot. Footnote reads: Source: SEMO

RTÉ reporting this morning that the coal-burning units at Moneypoint will become emergency-only oil units starting today 🙌

With Kilroot in Northern Ireland - along with all other coal plants in the UK - having shut down in 2023, it looks like the end of the coal era in these islands.

Ireland shutters its last coal-fired power plant “Ireland has quietly rewritten its energy story, replacing toxic coal with homegrown renewable power,” said pressure group Beyond Fossil Fuels.

Ireland shutters its last coal-fired power plant

Moneypoint to end burning coal after 40 years The ESB is to cease burning coal at its Moneypoint Power station in Co Clare from today. The plant has been burning coal since it was set up 40 years ago.

End of coal fired electricity generation in Ireland

www.rte.ie/news/2025/06...

Even better news? Spain 🇪🇸 and Italy 🇮🇹 are set to follow suit in the coming months!
With 15 European countries now operating coal-free power systems, #coal in Europe isn’t just in retreat, it’s a power source of the past.
beyondfossilfuels.org/2025/06/20/i...

Ireland 🇮🇪 is kicking off a summer of European #coal plant closures and has officially eliminated coal from its electricity mix with the closure of its Moneypoint plant!

Wind energy now powers more than a third of its electricity and is central to Ireland’s coal phase-out.

EPA proposes slashing power plant carbon, mercury emission limits However, the Environmental Protection Agency’s rationale behind the move may be legally flawed, according to environmental and other groups.

EPA proposes scrapping power plant greenhouse gas limits and repealing stricter mercury and air toxics rules for coal and oil plants. “The critical protections that EPA now seeks to undo exist because science and the law demand that EPA act.” - Jill Tauber, Earthjustice VP of climate & energy

A pleasure to be in Tylorstown today.

Mae'r gwaith maen nhw'n ei wneud yma i gynnal tomenni glo yn bwysig iawn.

I’m pleased that the UK Government will continue to match our investment in coal tip safety, taking our joint investment to £220m to date.

Turning coalmines into solar energy plants ‘could add 300GW of renewables by 2030’ Solar panels on defunct surface mines could put land to productive use for renewable generation, report says

🌏☀️📈 Repurposing the 5,800-plus square kilometres of coal mines closed or closing this decade into solar farms could boost global #solar capacity by a whopping 15% by 2030—creating more jobs "than the number of workers the coal industry will shed by 2035", finds a new Global Energy Monitor analysis.