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June 30, 2026
 

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RENEWABLES

An employee examines a solar panel at a factory in Cape Town.
WORLD
Jun 5, 2026
Green jobs can’t fix South African unemployment, experts say
Nearly one-in-three South Africans are unemployed, according to the latest government figures, and the numbers are rising.
Ambitious plans for space-based solar power face steep costs and engineering hurdles, making them far less practical than rapidly advancing terrestrial renewables.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2026
Solar in space is a solution in search of a problem
The thinking behind space solar makes some sense: The sun doesn’t always shine on Earth, which means solar panels on the ground aren’t always gathering energy.
Wind generators are seen in a farm in the countryside near the Sicilian town of Trapani, southern Italy, in 2009.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 21, 2026
Italy pays the price of Meloni’s stalled green energy transition
As fossil fuel prices surge, Italy is facing renewed scrutiny over its slow embrace of renewables.
A Volkswagen e-Golf charges at a kiosk outside an elementary school in Escondido, California. A group of corporate bosses and senior bankers has issued a report underlining how clean energy systems are structurally immune to the type of shock caused by the current Middle East crisis.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 15, 2026
Clean energy seen as ‘structurally immune’ to Hormuz-style shock
The war in Iran may ultimately strengthen the case for renewables.
The Las Rozas solar park, operated by Zelestra, near Seville, Spain, on June 18, 2025. In the coming months, about 40 terawatt-hours of solar-generated electricity, enough to power Greater London for a year, could go to waste in Europe.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 14, 2026
Solar power is so big in Europe that electricity is being wasted
A record amount of electricity is being wasted because grids can’t handle the surge in output.
A worker runs a machine in the process of building a solar panel at First Solar in Perrysburg, Ohio, on July 8, 2022.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 11, 2026
Trump’s crackdown on China-linked solar firms stalls U.S. factory boom
The policy could backfire by imperiling growth in U.S. manufacturing jobs and power generation at a time of rising utility bills and soaring electricity demand.
A solar panel manufacturing plant in Ohio. Policy uncertainty is driving installers and insurers away from U.S. solar factories with China ties.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 9, 2026
Trump’s crackdown on China-linked solar firms stalls U.S. factory boom
Policy uncertainty is driving installers and insurers away from U.S. solar factories with China ties.
Electric vehicles at a charging station in Kathmandu on April 29. An expanding network of charging stations in the country has made long-distance electric travel increasingly viable as the number of EVs on the road has risen sharply.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 4, 2026
More people in Nepal drive electric, evading global fuel shocks
The Himalayan nation imported more than 13,500 EVs between mid-2024 and mid-2025 — double that of gas vehicles and a sharp rise from just seven a decade ago, data shows.
An agrivoltaic crop, in which solar panels are raised about 3 meters off the ground so that agricultural machinery can freely operate on the crops underneath, in Sosa, Chiba Prefecture.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
May 3, 2026
As Iran war sends oil prices soaring, some see fresh potential for solar in Japan
While megasolar projects are facing headwinds at the government level, some see renewed potential for solar sharing and smaller-scale, off-grid systems.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro (right) and Colombian Environment Minister Irene Velez attend the International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 30, 2026
Nations urged to ‘go further’ as fossil fuel exit talks wrap in Colombia
Ministers and envoys from nearly 60 countries gathered in Colombia in the hope of speeding up the shift away from fossil fuels and breaking a stalemate at the U.N. climate talks.
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has exposed many countries' heavy dependency on oil and gas imports.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 28, 2026
Nations meet to discuss fossil fuel exit as Iran war drives up prices
The gathering will focus on practical steps to shift economies away from fossil fuels, rather than setting new global targets of the kind agreed to at U.N. climate summits.
Oil disruptions from the war in Iran and the turmoil in energy markets highlight Asia’s vulnerability to imported fossil fuels and underscore the need to rapidly scale domestic renewable energies.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2026
Iran war is a renewable energy wake-up call
The old narrative that fossil fuels are stable and reliable has been proved wrong.
Solar panels are seen on the roof of a home in Ronda, Spain, in February last year.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Apr 24, 2026
Iran war revives European rooftop solar demand to cut energy bills
The conflict has pushed oil, gas and electricity prices sharply higher, hitting companies and households alike.
Restrictions on fossil fuels, not climate change, pose the greater threat to the global food supply by raising costs and limiting fertilizer access, with the potential to increase hunger. 
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2026
War in the Gulf reveals the real risk to food security
Without fossil fuels, half the global population would suffer a severe lack of food.
Workers install solar panels in Lianyungang, China. Wang Changlin, the vice chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said on Friday the country will “significantly increase” the supply of non-fossil energy by 2030 and double it by 2035 compared with 2025 levels.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 17, 2026
China lifts green push with plan to double clean energy by 2035
A hydropower project in Tibet and desert-based renewable hubs will help propel clean-energy generation, the vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission says.
Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 1.9% to a record low of about 1.05 billion tons of carbon dioxide in fiscal 2024, the Environment Ministry said.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 14, 2026
Greenhouse gas emissions in Japan fell to record low in fiscal 2024
In fiscal 2024, emissions in Japan were down 28.7% from fiscal 2013 and the amount of carbon dioxide released slipped below 1 billion tons for the first time since then.
Workers monitor the water at the Sea Water Desalination Plant in Fukuoka.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 9, 2026
Waste water to clean energy: Japanese engineers harness the power of osmosis
Engineers in the city of Fukuoka and their private partners have opened what is only the world’s second osmotic power plant.
The U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran has left developing countries using Chinese tech and trade, like solar panels and EVs, better able to weather fallout than those relying on American-backed supply chains.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2026
Is Trump the president who lost Asia to China?
After six weeks of the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran and its ensuing counterattacks, it is the countries that bet on Chinese supply chains that are faring best.
The path toward sustainable AI lies in combining quantum computing with energy-efficient application design.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2026
Quantum computing could fix AI’s sustainability problem
Training Grok-4 alone reportedly required 310 gigawatt-hours of electricity — enough to power a town of 4,000.
Solar panels sit on the roof of a residential property in Sydney, Australia, on March 30. Global solar capacity grew by ⁠511 gigawatts in 2025 to 2,392 GW.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 1, 2026
Renewables grew to almost 50% of global electricity capacity in 2025
The growth was led by a leap ​in solar capacity, which grew by ⁠511 gigawatts in 2025 to 2,392 GW.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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