Climate

New reporting on China’s energy system puts wind and solar capacity above coal-fired thermal capacity in 2025. More revealing, wind, solar and biomass supplied over 90% of the increase in electricity generation. Yet national coal output also rose: clean power’s growing scale is clearer than its absolute displacement of fossil fuels. Alongside that deployment assessment, research quantified financial exposure in Nigeria’s planned oil and gas investments, while yesterday’s reporting on an attribution review consolidated evidence of human influence on climate systems and extremes. These are separate developments—not a common policy turning point—but each sharpens a practical question about how evidence translates into decisions.

• The distinction between adding clean power and reducing fossil generation remains central. Recent briefings documented actual gas-generation declines in California and renewable curtailment in Australia. China’s new figures strengthen the evidence for clean-generation growth, but do not provide the equivalent test of absolute coal displacement.
• Current accounts of India and Southeast Asia reinforce why capacity totals are insufficient: transmission, storage, operating flexibility and financeable market arrangements still constrain delivery. These accounts describe continuing bottlenecks, not newly completed infrastructure or adopted reforms.