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Canada has two urgent housing jobs: build more affordable homes and preserve existing ones. Yet, we often assume they must be addressed separately when there is an opportunity for us to tackle them together. The Government of Canada has already...

August 2026—Civil society organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean denounce the lack of opportunities for effective participation in the negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty and warn of the impact this situation has on the transparency and legitimacy of the process.

The organizations, which have been following the negotiations since 2022, note that throughout 2026, heads of government delegations have participated in so-called “informal” meetings to discuss substantive aspects of the treaty, while observer organizations have been denied access to these forums.

Instead, they have been invited to virtual meetings with the Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), led by Ambassador Julio Cordano, in which the primary means of interaction available is a chat function.

“The Global Plastics Treaty cannot, under any circumstances, create new ‘sacrifice zones’ or consolidate existing ones—zones marked by opacity and decisions made without public input—and observers are working to ensure that this does not happen. Keeping them on the sidelines of delegate meetings is not merely a procedural decision: it is a political act that widens the gap between those who make decisions and those who suffer the consequences. If the treaty aspires to be fair, it must be participatory from the very beginning,” explains Cecilia Bianco of the Argentine organization Taller Ecologista.

According to the organizations, this approach prevents them from timely contributing independent scientific evidence, technical expertise, and the experiences of communities and territories affected by plastic pollution, as well as from understanding and contributing to the debate on the positions that governments bring to the negotiating table.

They also expressed concern over the INC Chair’s request that observer organizations designate single representatives. They believe this measure could limit the diversity of voices and reduce the range of scientific, technical, and territorial contributions available to the delegations.

The organizations maintain that the lack of substantive participation represents a step backward from the standards previously achieved in the negotiation process itself and runs counter to the principles of environmental democracy, particularly those related to transparency, access to information, and public participation established in the Escazú Agreement.

“We have insisted that the Escazú Agreement represents a benchmark of progress for our region. Therefore, it is concerning that, while Latin America and the Caribbean have made progress in recognizing higher standards of transparency, access to information, and public participation, the negotiations for the global treaty on plastics are adopting procedures that restrict the opportunities for participation that civil society had enjoyed in earlier stages of the process. This change represents a step backward in terms of participation and transparency, particularly given that these negotiations will shape responses to a global environmental and public health crisis.

“This situation is even more paradoxical in a region deeply affected by ‘Waste Colonialism,’ which historically has received and borne a disproportionate share of the impacts of plastic pollution and waste generated by other countries,” states Larisa de Orbe of the Mexican organization Acción Ecológica.

In light of this situation, the organizations are calling on INC President Ambassador Julio Cordano and the Executive Board to reestablish mechanisms that guarantee direct, effective, and meaningful participation by observer organizations at all stages of the negotiations.

The organizations maintain that a global treaty on plastics can only be legitimate, robust, and ambitious if it is developed through a transparent, inclusive process that respects the principles of environmental democracy.

Signatory Organizations

Acción Ecológica México; Alianza Resíduo Zero Brasil; Alianza Basura Cero Chile; Alianza Basura Cero Ecuador; AMAR Asociación de Defensa del Medio Ambiente; Libérate del Plástico; Centro de Tecnologías Aplicadas de Argentina; CESTA, Amigos de la Tierra (El Salvador); Coalición Ciudadana Antiincineración (Argentina); Colectivo Ecologista Jalisco (México); Colectivo Tz’unun Ya’ (Guatemala); El Poder del Consumidor (México); FAS (Panamá); FUNAM (Argentina); Fundación Agua Clara (Venezuela); Fundación PlastiCo. Proyecto (Ecuador); Alianza Global para Alternativas a la Incineración (GAIA); Manos Abiertas La Bandada (Argentina); Mingas por el Mar (Ecuador); Organización Ecologista Piuke (Argentina); RADA (Chile); RAPAL (Uruguay); Red Dominicana de Estudios y Empoderamiento Afrodescendiente (República Dominicana); Taller de Comunicación Ambiental (Argentina); Taller Ecologista (Argentina); Toxisphera Asociación de Salud Ambiental (Brasil).

Read the full statement here.

Most fast food chains have concerning chemicals on the menu Iris Myers September 3, 2026

When you’re trying to decide what to get at your favorite fast food spot, it can be hard to know exactly what you’re eating – including whether it’s made with potentially harmful ingredients. 

That’s because restaurants aren’t required to make their ingredients public. And due to a decades-long legal loophole called “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, many of the chemicals used in our food haven’t actually been reviewed for health or safety. Food companies, not the Food and Drug Administration, are deciding what’s safe to put in what you eat.

We took a closer look at menus from 12 of the top fast food chains in the U.S. to find out which were still using food chemicals with potential health and safety risks:

• Arby’s
• Burger King
• Chick-fil-A
• Chipotle
• Domino’s
• KFC
• McDonald’s
• Panera
• Pizza Hut
• Subway
• Taco Bell
• Wendy’s

Beyond the ingredient lists, our findings reveal a bigger picture: U.S. food policies are falling short of helping people eat healthy.

Food chemicals appear on most fast food menus

We looked at how many popular chains used chemicals from EWG’s Dirty Dozen™ Guide to Food Chemicals. This guide spotlights some of the top food chemicals that experts recommend avoiding because of their potential health harms.

Because fast food chains don’t have to make ingredient lists public, EWG’s review of menu items was limited to the most recent information available online. It isn’t a comprehensive look at all fast food, but it does reveal some clues about how chemicals of concern are used in the places we eat.

At least one Dirty Dozen chemical appeared on almost every menu we reviewed, with the exception of Chipotle. 

Subway and Panera also appeared to use fewer chemicals of concern in their food, while McDonald’s used most of EWG’s top chemicals of concern somewhere on its menu.

Artificial dyes and other common additives

The most common additive on fast food menus was artificial dyes, which appeared on all menus except for Chipotle’s and Subway’s. Dyes were mostly used in artificially flavored beverages like sodas, lemonade and milkshakes, though not every chain posted drink ingredients.

Sodium nitrite, a meat preservative linked to cancer, appeared on more than half of the menus reviewed. Used in processed meats like sausage, ham and pepperoni, sodium nitrite was frequently found in foods from Pizza Hut, Subway, Domino's, McDonald’s and Wendy’s. 

Titanium dioxide, an additive European regulators say is no longer safe in food, was listed in about half of the menus – mostly in dressings. It also appeared in Taco Bell’s vanilla creamer, which is used in  some of its dirty sodas, Refrescas and coffee drinks.

Artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose showed up often in “zero sugar” beverages.

TBHQ, a preservative with potential toxicity, was used at pizza chains like Domino’s and Pizza Hut. Most Pizza Hut crusts were made with TBHQ, as were its chicken wings and breadsticks.

What should families in a fast food world eat?

It’s not practical to expect people to become experts on every food chemical. That’s why EWG advocates for policies that make healthy eating easier for everyone.

The FDA recently proposed to narrow the GRAS loophole, but far more is needed to make sure the food supply is safe.

In the meantime, you can scan nutrition facts and ingredient lists when they’re available, and try to avoid long lists of ingredients you wouldn’t find in your home kitchen.

If you’re grocery shopping, check EWG's Food Scores, which rates more than 150,000 products on nutrition, ingredients and processing and flags ultra-processed foods for you. Shoppers on the go can also use EWG’s Healthy Living app.

Areas of Focus Food Ultra-Processed Foods Food Chemicals Authors Sarah Reinhardt, MPH, RDN Guest Authors Adam Levin, EWG communications intern September 3, 2026

• Cities first started installing bollards after 9/11. Since then, they’ve been used to stop drivers from using their vehicles to ram into pedestrians on the sidewalk. The New York Times calls them a sign of the militarization of cities that have become just another part of urban life.
• Architecture and urban planning have a role to play in keeping people moving and healthy, rather than just telling everyone to get more exercise (Arch Daily). This has a lot to do with cars, because they take up much more space in limited public right-of-ways than people do (Princeton University Press). Plus, climate change won’t be solved by individual choices, but only by public policy and collective action, according to author Leah C. Stokes (MIT Press Reader).
• Philadelphia Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron has some practical tips for going car-free.
• More U.S. cities, including Seattle and St. Louis, are putting up gates at light rail stations to increase their farebox revenue. (Mass Transit)
• Richmond leaders want the state of Virginia to drop the legal limit for DUI from a 0.08 blood alcohol level to 0.05. Drinking was a factor in 37 percent of the city’s crashes. (Axios)
• The Minneapolis Blue Line is still short $224 million. (Minnesota Public Radio)
• U.S. DOT officials spent two days in Atlanta looking into transit agency MARTA’s safety and security. (AJC)
• Nashville is developing a tool to measure how new development affects traffic. (Fox 17)
• After a recent court ruling in its favor, Doug Ford’s Ontario government is already starting to rip out Toronto bike lanes. (CBC)
• A new report frames high-speed rail between Toronto and Quebec City as essential for Canada’s economic development. (The Whig)
• A German company invented a tire that’s made out of 43 percent recycled materials and allows electric vehicles to get more out of their batteries. (Auto Next)

China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by 1% in the second quarter of 2026, as oil consumption plummeted amid the strait of Hormuz crisis.

The country’s use of oil fell by 9% overall and by 16% for transport, after the disruptions to supply from the Gulf through the strait.

This guest post is by:

Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air

China’s total CO2 emissions fell despite a continued rebound in coal-fired power generation.

This is the first time that reductions in oil consumption have been responsible for a fall in CO2 emissions overall – in all previous cases, coal consumption has been the main driver.

Other key findings for the second quarter of 2026 include:

• Electric vehicles (EVs) and public transport have become key factors in China’s oil demand, enabling transportation levels to increase even as fuel use fell sharply.
• The effect of EVs on oil consumption was almost twice as large as would be expected based on the increase in the number of EVs on the road alone, as the usage of existing EVs surged.
• Oil consumption displaced by EVs in China in the first half of 2026 exceeded the UK’s total oil consumption over a six-month period.
• These structural factors are not sufficient to account for the size of the fall in oil consumption, leaving behaviour changes as the other explanation.
• “Curtailment” of solar and wind output caused coal power to rise, despite strong hydro output, solar and wind capacity growth, as well as slower demand growth.
• Major increases in coal-power capacity and a power market that continues to favour coal limited the amount of coal generation displaced by new wind and solar capacity.
• Defying expectations of a boom, annual growth in coal use for chemicals production slowed down to 8%, from 15% in 2025 and 19% in the first quarter.

The second quarter of 2026 was a busy time for China’s government planners, with numerous energy-related five-year plan documents being released.

These plans list new measures to address solar and wind curtailment, as well as signalling a higher bar for the approval of new coal-power plants, but add few new quantitative targets.

After a 2% increase in the first quarter of 2026 and a 1% decline in the second, emissions are up marginally across the first half of the year, but they remain below their peak in 2023-24.

In addition, China is on track to add enough wind, solar, nuclear and hydropower this year to cover electricity demand growth, despite a slowdown in new capacity.

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Given the structural pressures on oil demand, continued declines in real-estate construction and slower growth for coal-chemicals, China’s emissions could still fall this year. The emission trend remains a race between energy demand growth and clean-energy growth, both of which have slowed down this year.

Emissions still flat

There has now been a plateau in China’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement for more than two years, following a peak in March 2024.

Previous analysis for Carbon Brief described this as a “flat or falling” trend, which extended until the end of 2025. There was then a 2% increase in emissions year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, resulting from a rise in the amount of “wasted” wind and solar power.

The latest analysis shows that this was followed by another decline in the second quarter of this year, when China’s emissions fell by 1%, as shown in the figure below.

For further details see: About the data. 

Notably, China’s emissions fell in the second quarter despite an increase in coal use. For the first time ever, a drop in oil use was sufficient to drive a decline in emissions overall.

Oil use plummeted while coal grew

Within the overall 1% decline in China’s emissions in the second quarter of 2026, there were divergent trends when looking sector by sector and fuel by fuel.

The largest fall in CO2 emissions came from the consumption of petrol, diesel and jet fuel, with oil consumption in industry also falling, as shown in the figure below.

For further details see: About the data. 

Crude oil processing volumes fell 11% in the second quarter, but some of the fall was absorbed by drawing down oil product inventories, with Sinopec sales down 9%.

In total, China cut back oil imports by 32% in the second quarter. The million–barrel question has been how much of this was enabled by genuine reductions in oil consumption and how much by the drawdown of the country’s vast oil stockpile.

Energy mix numbers reported by the National Bureau of Statistics indicate that oil consumption fell by 3% in the first half of the year and around 9% in the second quarter. This shows that reduced consumption played a substantial role, while still leaving 60% of the fall in imports to be covered by the swing from building stockpiles to using them.

The sector with the largest increase in emissions during the second quarter of the year was power, where coal use grew 2.4% while gas-fired generation fell 1.2%. This was despite strong growth in wind and solar capacity over the preceding year, a significant rebound in hydropower generation, a small increase in nuclear power output and a slowdown in electricity consumption growth.

The explanation for the rise in emissions was – similar to the first quarter of 2026 – an increased amount of solar and wind generation being “wasted” due to the power market and grid not being adapted to increasing shares of variable renewable generation.

In other sectors, there was a fall in cement production, driven by falling construction volumes, which accelerated to 9% in the second quarter, from 8% in the first quarter. Crude steel output fell by 1% and pig-iron production by 3% in the second quarter.

Growth of coal use for chemical production slowed down in the second quarter, both compared with the previous quarter and the last year.

The rate of utilisation of installed coal processing capacity was already high before the current oil shock, so there was no headroom for production to increase even though rising oil prices made coal-chemicals more profitable. Oil-based chemical production also kept growing, with ethylene output up 17% and primary plastics production flat.

Coal use for heating continued to increase, with the sector’s coal consumption in the second quarter dominated by industrial heat, as there is little need for space heating at this time of year. Growth has continued despite the prominent drive for “zero-carbon industrial parks”, demonstrating the importance of the initiative for tackling industrial coal use.

What drove the fall in oil consumption?

The dramatic fall in China’s demand for oil imports during the Hormuz crisis has been widely hailed as the most important price stabilising factor for the global oil market. 

To understand the implications for China’s oil consumption and CO2 emissions going forward, it is important to unpack what enabled this reduction in imports.

A significant contribution comes from ongoing, structural reductions in transport oil demand driven by electrification. Sinopec had forecast 6% and 5% drops in diesel and petrol consumption this year, respectively, already before the start of the war on Iran. Actual sales fell 9% in the first half of the year.

Transportation levels show a slowdown in growth, but no outright decline. Cross-regional passenger trips were 0.1% higher year-on-year in the second quarter, while urban passenger trips were 2.9% higher. Commercial freight tonnage increased 2.4%.

The exception is air travel, where passenger numbers fell 7% in May-June, after 7% growth in the first quarter. However, this sector plays a minor role in overall transport oil consumption in China.

The stable or growing transportation levels show that the shift to electric vehicles, rail, public transport and other clean transportation, rather than a fall in mobility, played the key role in reducing oil consumption.

The rise in fuel prices that accompanied the Hormuz crisis only accelerated the structural shifts in transportation that were already underway.

Electric heavy-truck sales rose about 77% in the second quarter, year-on-year, with June sales more than doubling and the market share of electric trucks exceeding 45% of all new sales.

The total number of EVs on the road at the end of the quarter grew 33% year-on-year. Some 12.1m EVs were added, of which 8.1m were electric-only battery EVs.

EV usage saw even more of a shift. Charging volumes increased 60% in the second quarter, indicating that EVs already on the road were utilised much more than before, at the expense of petrol and diesel vehicles, with plug-in hybrid drivers likely favouring electricity over fuel. 

One factor enabling EV utilisation to grow was the increased use of electric taxis. Intense competition in the sector has pushed prices down at the same time as the use of private petrol vehicles has become more expensive.

Stronger subway and rail use also made a contribution. Rail-passenger traffic increased 5% in the first half of the year.

The fall in diesel demand has been particularly pronounced in the construction and mining sectors. The heavy machinery in the sectors is well-suited for electrification, in addition to which construction levels are also falling.

Based on reported growth in charging volumes, EVs helped avoid an estimated 19m tonnes of oil consumption (Mtoe) in the second quarter, up 50% year-on-year.

This took the total amount of oil displaced by EVs to 36 Mtoe in the first half of the year, as shown in the figure below, well exceeding, say, the total oil consumption of the UK over six months. Notably, trucks are the fastest-growing source of oil displacement, with avoided fuel use up 90% year-on-year in the first half of 2026. 

For further details see: About the data. 

The increase in avoided oil consumption due to EVs is equal to 4.5% of China’s oil imports in the same period in 2025. If EV sales and charging volumes continue their growth at the same rates in the second half of the year, avoided oil consumption will reach 80 mn tonnes, equal to the consumption of Mexico.

Estimated emissions avoided are 35 MtCO2, or 1.3% of China’s total CO2 emissions in the second quarter, after taking into account emissions from power generation for vehicle charging.

While the amount of oil displaced by the shift to EVs is significant – and is rising fast – the year-on-year increase in displaced oil still only accounts for a third of the drop in China’s oil consumption in the first half of the year, with the fall in consumption only accounting for half of the drop in imports. The remaining reduction is due to the shift from building to drawing down stockpiles, slower growth in chemical industry output, as well as behavioral adaptations by consumers and operational adaptations by businesses.

Coal power continued to rise despite clean-capacity growth

China saw record increases in solar and wind capacity over the past year. In addition, hydropower generation increased 9% in the second quarter of the year, compared with the same period in 2025, and there was a small 2% increase in nuclear-power output.

At the same time, the rate of power demand growth slowed down from 5.9% in the second quarter of 2025 to 5.2% in the same period in 2026.

Yet, power-sector emissions increased 3.0% in the first half of 2026, after falling 3.2% in the first half of 2025. Power generation from fossil fuels rose because of an increase in the amount of potential solar and wind generation that was wasted, as well as exceptionally poor wind conditions. Without those factors, coal-fired power generation and power-sector emissions would also have fallen in 2026.

Wind-power capacity has continued strong growth in 2026, with capacity additions in both the first and the second quarter of the year comfortably exceeding those in any year other than the record-setting 2025.

Solar power additions have slowed sharply from the rates seen in 2025, even falling behind 2024. Yet, they are in line with 2023, when more than 200 gigawatts (GW) was added by year-end.

Nuclear power development continues at pace, with eight new reactors approved in July and five reactors with 4.5GW total capacity expected to enter commercial operation this year. This includes China’s second commercial small modular reactor, Linglong One, with new policies paving the way for further development.

Reactor commissioning will pick up further next year: the government has approved 10 new reactor projects every year since 2022 and those projects will begin to come online. Meanwhile, 3GW of conventional hydropower was added, with a total of 6GW of projects targeting operation in 2026.

Taken together, this clean-energy growth puts China on track to add enough non-fossil generating capacity in 2026 to cover electricity demand growth of up to 5%, despite the slowdown in solar.

Power demand grew 5.3% in the first six months of 2026 and the energy regulator projects 5-6% for the whole year. This means that the increase in power-sector emissions seen in the first half would be reversed, once the obstacles to solar and wind sending their output to the grid are addressed – and once wind conditions revert to average levels.

Moreover, total energy demand growth has slowed down much more sharply than electricity demand, making it more feasible for clean-power generation growth to significantly exceed the increase in total energy consumption and to drive down fossil-fuel consumption.

For further details see: About the data.

The key reason for solar and wind curtailment in China is that neither the power-grid operating model nor the electricity market model require – or encourage – the flexible operation of coal-power plants, hydropower plants and inter-provincial transmission lines. 

This situation has been exacerbated by a wave of new coal-power plants entering operation, with newly added capacity reaching 30GW in the first half of 2026, the highest level since 2016. Another 25GW started construction, while less than 3GW was retired.

The electricity prices paid to coal-fired generators are fixed months in advance, as are the volumes of electricity that will be transmitted through long-distance power lines.

This removes the incentive for plants to adjust their output in response to conditions. This could include variations in solar and wind supply, or changes in power demand.

As a result, there is limited ability for the grid to absorb variable renewable power. Furthermore, coal plants are entitled to “capacity payments”, which require them to be available to generate, but do not reward them for operating flexibly.

One solution to integrate more solar and wind into the grid is increasing energy storage capacity. Battery storage capacity continued to grow, with 17GW added in the first half of 2026, bringing total installed capacity to 153GW. This represents a slowdown in storage additions, however, down from 23GW in the first half of 2025.

Outlook for China’s CO2 emissions

The key developments affecting the outlook for China’s emissions in the second quarter include the effects of the Hormuz oil-and-gas crisis, the release of a long list of sectoral five-year plans and a slowdown in energy consumption growth.

The rise in oil prices has caused a stronger shift in China’s transportation sector than anyone anticipated, with EV deployment and use accelerating from an already high base. This trend is unlikely to be reversed. It has also proven the value of electrification to China’s energy security strategy. 

The government is targeting a slight acceleration in the pace of electrification, aiming for electricity to make up 35% of energy end-use by 2030, up from 30% in 2025. This is a larger increase than achieved over the past five years, when the share of electricity rose from 26.5% in 2020 to 30% by 2025. The transportation sector plays a significant role in this, with a target for EVs to make up 30% of the vehicle fleet, up from 12% in 2025, and 25% of commercial vehicles.

Electrification both reduces emissions immediately and sets different sectors up for deep decarbonisation as electricity is much easier to produce without CO2 emissions than fuels. Faster transport sector electrification lowers the outlook for oil demand, increases the role of the sector in peaking and reducing emissions, plus means that more of China’s clean energy growth ends up displacing oil.

While transport emissions fell, power-sector emissions continued to rebound for the second quarter in a row. The increased coal-fired power generation and emissions can be attributed to increased solar and wind curtailment. Curtailment has emerged as the key obstacle to both continued rapid solar and wind capacity growth and full utilisation of existing capacity.

Several sectoral five-year plans published in recent months have laid out measures to improve solar and wind utilisation.

Long-distance transmission will continue to expand, helping to move wind and solar generation from remote “energy bases” to centres of demand. There is also a growing emphasis on local consumption of clean power. The power sector five-year plan, published in August, promotes direct purchases of clean electricity, smart microgrids, zero-carbon industrial parks and closer coordination between renewable resources and AI computing infrastructure

Yet the same plan further loosened the limits on the amount of wind and solar that can be curtailed.

The limit for curtailment was 5%, until it was relaxed to 10% in 2024 in provinces with good wind and solar resources. The new plan allows the limit to be increased further to 15% for some provinces, while keeping it at 5% and 10% for others. 

Looking at the 2025 data on reported curtailment, very few provinces had higher rates than 15% – only Tibet for wind and Qinghai and Tibet for solar.

Unless the most lenient limit is only applied to those two provinces, it means the plan would allow for higher levels of curtailment.

This is also true of the national average target of “around” 10% curtailment, given reported rates in 2025 were 94% and 95% for wind and solar, respectively.

Notably, monthly data on curtailment has not been published in recent months, raising the possibility that the indicator is being revised. Reported data has understated actual curtailment by a wide margin, compared to implied curtailment.

If the curtailment indicator is revised, such that it captures more of the actual curtailment, then this could make the headline targets stronger than they appear, in comparison to previously reported numbers.

The new five-year plans also lowered the overall level of ambition on coal use. Chinese president Xi Jinping announced in 2021 that China would “gradually reduce coal consumption during the 15th five-year period”, covering 2026-30. However, the target now is for coal consumption to “enter a plateau” during those five years.

The five-year plans call for “reasonably controlling coal-power capacity and generation”, signaling a higher bar for the approval for new coal-power projects, after the government’s active promotion of new coal power in recent years. This could also imply more retirements of older coal plants. However, there is 204GW of coal-power capacity under construction, even after the wave of new coal-power plants starting operation in 2025 and in the first half of 2026, making the implementation of the “reasonable control” more challenging.

It is the first time that the government has vowed to control “coal-power generation” and not just “generation growth”, as the energy regulator did in 2021, but the significance of that distinction is unclear.

The renewable energy five-year plan also broadens the concept of system reliability, which was a key justification for new coal power during the previous five years. Rather than relying primarily on coal-fired power for system stability, it increasingly looks to other options.

Alternatives include storage, flexible demand, EVs, “virtual power plants” and smarter system operation to provide balancing services. The plan also puts an emphasis on increasing the contribution of renewable energy to meeting demand peaks.

Therefore, while coal remains an important backup resource in the plan, reliability is no longer framed as something that can only be provided by coal.

The Chinese government has published numerous other sectoral five-year plans since its overarching plan came out in March. These include plans for the energy sector (“new-type energy system”), power system, renewable energy, carbon peaking, coal, climate-change mitigation, and the environment (“Beautiful China”). Some clear priorities emerge from these plans: electrification, electric vehicles, energy storage, offshore wind and “green”” fuels.

The energy plan also substantially increased ambition on the development of conventional hydropower, despite ecological and social risks and potential for tensions with neighbouring countries. The capacity additions will largely only materialise after 2030, however.

At the same time, energy consumption growth has slowed down markedly after the surge during and immediately after the “zero-Covid” period, making it more feasible for clean energy to meet all incremental demand.

If this trend continues, then total CO2 emissions will begin to fall even as power-sector emissions continue to plateau.

About the data

Data for the analysis was compiled from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, National Energy Administration of China, China Electricity Council and China Customs official data releases, as well as from industry data provider WIND Information and from Sinopec, China’s largest oil refiner.

Electricity generation from wind and solar, along with thermal power breakdown by fuel, was calculated by multiplying power generating capacity at the end of each month by monthly utilisation, using data reported by China Electricity Council through Wind Financial Terminal.

Total generation from thermal power and generation from hydropower and nuclear power were taken from National Bureau of Statistics monthly releases.

Total primary energy consumption is converted to the electricity equivalent using the substitution method.

Monthly utilisation data was not available for biomass, so the annual average of 52% for 2023 was applied. Power-sector coal consumption was estimated based on power generation from coal and the average heat rate of coal-fired power plants during each month, to avoid the issue with official coal consumption numbers affecting recent data.

CO2 emissions estimates are based on National Bureau of Statistics default calorific values of fuels and emissions factors from China’s latest national greenhouse gas emissions inventory, for the year 2021. The CO2 emissions factor for cement is based on annual estimates up to 2024.

For oil, total oil consumption is calculated based on energy mix data for the first quarter and first half of the year released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Consumption of transport fuels – diesel, petrol and jet fuel – is estimated based on the sales growth reported by Sinopec for the first quarter and the first half of the year, with monthly disaggregation based on production minus net exports. The consumption of these three fuels is labeled as oil product consumption in transportation, as it is the dominant sector for their use. Apparent consumption of other oil products is calculated as the residual.

Estimated non-energy use of fossil fuels is subtracted from total chemical industry fossil fuel consumption, and process emissions are calculated based on fossil fuel consumption with carbon retained in products subtracted. Emissions from the incineration of plastics are based on a peer-reviewed estimate of plastics incineration in 2022, combined with growth rates in the overall power generation from waste-to-energy plants. Metals industry process emissions are calculated using industrial output data and IPCC default emission factors.

Oil consumption displaced by EVs is estimated using China Association of Automobile Manufacturers’ sales data, via Wind Financial Terminal. The data breaks down vehicle sales by type and powertrain: passenger cars, buses, vans, semis and trucks of different sizes, each split into battery-electric and plug-in hybrid, with assumptions about how far each vehicle type is driven per year and the fuel economy of the conventional vehicle it replaces. 

Annual mileage and fuel-consumption assumptions are compiled from different sources, including the International Council on Clean Transportation. Each electric vehicle sold is credited with avoiding the fuel a comparable internal-combustion vehicle would have burned; plug-in hybrids are credited only with the portion of driving done on electricity (a utility factor of 64%).

The electricity and oil figures are calibrated to figures from China’s National Energy Administration, which put new-energy-vehicle charging at 142.3 TWh in 2025 and reported 56.9% year-on-year growth in the first half of 2026. The second half of 2026 is a projection: each vehicle segment’s actual second-half-2025 displacement is grown by its first-half-2026 year-on-year rate.

CREA data scientist Hubert Thieriot contributed to implementing and reviewing the CO2 emission methodology.

related Q&A: What does China’s 15th five-year plan for coal mean for climate action? 14.08.2026 China policy Analysis: China’s CO2 climbs 2% in early 2026 due to ‘wasted’ wind and solar 04.06.2026 Coal Analysis: China’s new carbon metric leaves Germany-sized gap in its emissions 26.05.2026 China policy New coal plants hit ‘10-year’ global high in 2025 – but power output still fell 21.05.2026 Coal

The post Analysis: China’s CO2 emissions fall in Q2 2026 due to plummeting oil use appeared first on Carbon Brief.

SEATTLE (September 2, 2026) – Today, the National Audubon Society announced the winners of the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards. Now in its seventeenth year, the awards celebrate stunning photos...

Last Saturday, August 29th, 350PDX and Friends of PCEF biked to the Jade Night Market and learned about the climate investments revitalizing 82nd Ave along the way! Along our route, we used new bike and pedestrian infrastructure that is helping make the neighborhood more accessible. These green investments are possible because of the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) and the Jade Multimodal Project. This event showed us how PCEF funds have revitalized 82nd Ave and how important it is for us to protect them for the future. See photos below!

The post Going Green to the Jade: A Bike Tour of Climate Investments to the Jade Night Market appeared first on 350PDX: Climate Justice.

Audubon Great Lakes and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), recently brought conservation partners together for a boat tour and luncheon at Allouez Bay near Superior...

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk

It’s been a rough summer for outdoor sports. July was the hottest month ever recorded in the contiguous U.S., and wildfire smoke has repeatedly reached unhealthy levels across large areas of the country.

Soccer players competing in the World Cup had to grapple with potentially dangerous heat and humidity, two ski areas suffered major damage from wildfires this summer, trout streams in the Rockies were closed to fishing in the afternoons due to warm water, and the list goes on. Many people who love the outdoors are left with choosing between not recreating at all or doing so in marginal conditions.

But athletes, fans, and outdoor enthusiasts can all be part of the solution. Outdoor recreation is a potentially powerful constituency – it engages millions of people across many age groups, demographics, and geographies. Outdoor recreation is also a substantial contributor to the U.S. economy, with a lot on the line as a warming climate threatens outdoor activities.

“I think there is a role for outdoor recreation to step up more, be more vocal,” said John Burrows, the energy and climate policy director of the Wyoming Outdoors Council. “I think it's a really important constituency.”

Here are ideas for getting started. 

1. Recognize that sports and recreation have more influence than you might think

Athletes, teams, and recreational organizations have a powerful tool that the fossil fuel industry lacks: popular goodwill. Participation in sports can be an important part of people’s identities, so a brand or a team can have an outsize impact compared to its size or financial might.

2. Don’t be afraid to share your climate values 

Climate change is a polarizing topic, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t embrace it. “It's OK to say something and have people disagree,” said Chris Miller, senior vice president of sustainability at Aspen One, which owns four ski areas. 

“I get that it feels scary,” Miller said, “but being led by something real and authentic and rooted in values is an incredible competitive advantage.”

The clothing company Patagonia is known for its commitment to environmental activism. 

“Why is Patagonia constantly mentioned as one of the most authentic brands in the world?” Miller asked. “It isn't because they're a jacket company. Because there are a lot of jacket companies.”

The middle of the road may feel safe, but having noncommittal values can do lasting damage to a brand’s reputation. Miller described recent high-profile examples of companies that backtracked on their support for diversity, equity, and inclusion, which angered customers on both sides of the political spectrum.

“When someone disagrees with your point of view, the most important thing is not to say, ‘Oh, whoops, we made a mistake, we didn't really believe that,’” Miller said. “It's to lean in and say why you believe it and why it's important.”

“Have a bit of courage, stand for something. And people will respect you for it,” he added.

Read more: The ski industry is oddly quiet on climate change 

3. Consider making climate an integral part of your team or brand’s identity 

The Vermont Green soccer club in Burlington, Vermont, has made addressing climate change part of the team’s mission since its founding. The team promotes activism, social justice, and climate action at every game. 

Read: A champion soccer team is taking on climate change, too

“We're gonna not miss that. We're not going to let that opportunity go to waste and just watch soccer,” said Patrick Infurna, a cofounder of the team.

At home matches, nonprofit organizations set up tables and educate fans about actions they can take. Halftime includes a 15-minute talk about pressing issues in front of sold-out crowds, Infurna said.

Infurna said that the team’s stance on climate has helped it become more popular. 

“You might find a whole new audience of people that are more attracted to your thing, your products, your event, because you are showing not just a compassionate approach to things, but maybe a backbone as well,” Infurna said. “We've been fortunate to have a pretty cool fan base, and we sell out all of our games.”

Vermont Green’s men’s team had an undefeated season in 2025 and won the national championship.

“We're taking care of the planet, and we're winning as we do it,” Infurna said.   

4. Identify the ways that climate is affecting your sport

Outdoor sports are subject to all sorts of weather conditions, and you can use recent research and free tools to help identify the role of climate change.

After some extreme weather events, the researchers at World Weather Attribution rapidly analyze the influence of climate change on the event. For example, the group found that a heat wave that caused dozens of ski resorts to close in the Western U.S. in 2026 was virtually impossible without climate change.

Climate Central, a nonprofit research organization, offers several tools that can help you determine how climate change is affecting your sport, including a marathon tool that shows how warm race-day temperatures are slowing running performance, a database of billion-dollar climate disasters that adds up the costs in each state, and the Climate Shift Index, which shows how much the temperature in your area has been affected by climate change on a given day. 

Meanwhile, NOAA’s Climate at a Glance tool makes it easy to look up temperatures, precipitation, drought, and other climate indicators over time. The data is available at the national, state, county, and city level and is easily customizable. 

A soccer player cools off during a match. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

5. Leverage the economic impact of outdoor sports

Miller sees climate change as not just an environmental issue: “It's an economic issue. It's a jobs issue. It's a tax issue,” he said.

In fact, outdoor recreation is a powerful economic engine, generating $1.3 trillion dollars in economic output in 2024.

You can make that case to elected officials using a dashboard that shows the economic impact of outdoor recreation in all 50 states, including jobs, wages, and the contribution to each state’s GDP. This tool was compiled by nonpartisan researchers at Headwaters Economics. 

6. Participate in climate and energy policy

The Wyoming Outdoor Council works with groups around the state to address environmental challenges for public land, air quality, water quality, and wildlife.

“But in the last 10 years, the intersection with climate has just been so obvious,” said Burrows, the energy and climate policy director. “It impacts all these other things. And so I think that's how we justify working on it, even in one of the most heavily dependent states on fossil fuels in the country.”

During the last legislative session, the group worked at the state level to push for plug-in solar, which allows households to shave 10 to 20% off their electricity bills.

Burrows offered this suggestion for individuals or groups working on climate solutions: “Narrow it down to a few things that you and your group, or you and your friends, or you and your sports team can really digest and are passionate about, and focus on that.” 

“That's how you're going to make a meaningful impact,” he added. 

7. Become a watchdog of your energy provider

Ski resorts, stadiums, and other outdoor recreation amenities need electricity. And you can influence the climate footprint of that electricity by getting involved with your public utility commission, which makes decisions about energy sources, power plants, energy prices, and more. 

Public utility commissions offer regular opportunities for public input, including during the selection or election of commissioners. Canary Media wrote a beginner’s guide to public utility commissions, and Earthjustice has a detailed explainer that describes how and where action can make a difference.

8. Step up to the mic and give public comments

It’s not too often that you can speak your mind directly to policymakers, and opportunities to do so can be especially valuable. A powerful example of this is the relentless public pushback on data center proposals, which are often reviewed by county commissioners.

The Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation at Harvard Law School wrote a short guide for giving effective public comments. This is a great time to make use of what you learned from the fourth item in this list: Show the ways climate change is affecting your sport.

Winter Olympians speak about the negative impact climate change is having on winter sports. (Image credit: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

9. Coordinate with other teams and groups

Many sports have organizing bodies and networks of guides, coaches, or athletes. These groups can be useful for communicating to larger groups, pooling resources, and building coalitions. For example, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation published a Climate Action Plan for Member Federations, which outlines steps for getting started. 

That said, many sports organizations position themselves in a safe, middle-of-the-road stance or nibble at the edges of climate policy with less controversial topics like access to public lands. For more assertive climate action, look for organizations that are unapologetically working to reduce fossil fuel development and burning, such as the Surfrider Foundation and Protect Our Winters.

Another option is to join nearby efforts to advance climate action. In many locations, you can find advocacy groups working to expand climate solutions and improve public policy. Joining an existing group is easier than trying to launch a new initiative from scratch.

“Look at groups that are doing that good work,” Burrows said, “and support them, however you can.”

10. Work to end fossil fuel sponsorships

Sponsorships of events, teams, and athletes can create a positive brand image and build consumer trust. Fossil fuel companies use sports sponsorships to boost their image – which has been termed “sportswashing” – even as the actions of these companies put athletes in jeopardy.

There are many efforts underway to remove fossil fuel advertising from sports teams and events, and this is an action that a team of any scale can tackle.

The Ski Fossil Free campaign is circulating a petition demanding sports organizing bodies publish a report that evaluates whether fossil fuel marketing is acceptable in organized winter sports. Over 25,000 people have signed the petition, and winter sports brands and organizations can sign up to join the campaign.

A similar effort is underway for soccer, prompted in part by Saudi Aramco’s sponsorship of the World Cup. A Dutch advocacy group is calling for Fossil Free Football.

Another group, called Cool Down, is advocating to end fossil fuel advertising across multiple sports and countries.

Most of all, show up

Burrows acknowledged it can be hard to know where to start with a new climate advocacy effort.

“I do think we kind of have this decision paralysis, like, ‘It's too big of an issue. I don't know how to even get started,’” he said. “We gotta get past that.”

Burrows advised new advocates to find an angle that they find especially motivating, and dig in to become a bit of an expert.

If only a small fraction of people did that, Burrows said, “I think it would really move the needle in good ways.”

This article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

 

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Female birds have long flown under the radar. In birding, a focus on often flashier males has often skewed our perceptions of the avian world, and in science, little was known about the females until...

In July, when President Trump illegally decimated Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, SUWA said we would fight his actions in every way we can, using every tool in our toolbox, for as long as necessary. I’m writing today with an important update on that fight.

This morning we sued President Trump in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, to overturn his illegal reductions of the national monuments and see them fully restored. We jointly filed litigation alongside our longtime partners the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Earthjustice (the latter is representing several other conservation groups). We have asked the court to reopen our previous lawsuit against President Trump’s 2017 monument rollbacks (which was put on hold following President Biden’s restorations) and have updated the case to challenge both sets of illegal proclamations.

© Nathan St. Andre

 
© Brandon Garcia

We expect Tribal Nations to file their own litigation against Trump’s unlawful actions soon, and we’re honored to stand alongside them. SUWA continues to work closely with the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalitions, which have spoken in opposition to the reductions. Two additional coalitions of monument supporters also filed to reopen their litigation defending the monuments.

Our goal is full and complete restoration of both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Today was an important step, but the results could be slow to unfold. In the meantime, SUWA will be there to defend the ground. We will track—and fight back against—mining claims, oil and gas leases, off-road vehicle trail proposals, and any other actions that could damage the monuments. We’re already harnessing the national outrage over Trump’s actions and translating that into political momentum to advance America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, which would protect much of the land included in the monuments as wilderness.

Every day, we’re activating our members and activists in Utah and across the nation to step up and Protect Wild Utah; thank you for stepping up, time and time again. We’ll continue to provide opportunities to do so. If you’re able, please consider a donation to our work.

Stay tuned for more updates—good, bad, and otherwise—on the national monuments.

Thanks for all you do!

The post Our Next Step to Defend the National Monuments appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

The federal government has announced it will extend the current holiday on the federal excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel for another 4 months, until January 31, 2027. New research from the Centre for Future Work confirms that extension will not solve the underlying problem of oil-fueled inflation that is hurting all Canadians, not just drivers.

The tax holiday first came into effect on April 20, and was originally set to end on Labour Day. It was intended to offset some of the impact of rising oil prices (resulting from the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz) on Canadian consumers.

While the tax holiday may be appreciated by drivers, it has not addressed the underlying inflationary shock arising from this latest global oil price shock. In fact, Canadian gasoline and diesel prices are higher now than they were before the tax holiday came into effect (and have been higher through most of the 18 weeks since it began). The full value of the tax holiday (to fuel consumers) has thus been more than offset by continued increases in the cost of petroleum products.

New national income data released last week by Statistics Canada confirms Canadian consumers are paying billions of dollars extra for petroleum products despite the cushion from the excise tax holiday. There are also signs that the price shock is spreading into other products beyond petroleum, including air travel, other transportation, and food. This raises the spectre of another spike in broader inflation, sparked by petroleum prices. Statistics Canada data also confirms the petroleum industry in Canada has received record profits as a result of the current oil price shock.

The Centre for Future Work has published a new briefing paper analyzing the latest Statistics Canada data on consumer costs, average prices, and petroleum profits. Highlights include:

• There was a large increase in consumer expenses for petroleum products, despite the tax holiday. This includes $3 billion in extra consumer costs for motor vehicle fuels in just three months April through June).
• There is a growing gap (called the ‘crack spread’) between prices of gasoline and diesel, and underlying prices for crude oil. This has exacerbated the impact of the oil price shock on Canadian consumers.
• There are some early signs of spillover from higher petroleum prices into other prices, and hence into broader inflation – enhancing the risk of future interest rate increases.
• The price shock has produced a dramatic increase in profitability for the Canadian petroleum industry, a direct result of the extra costs paid by consumers. Combined after-tax profit in the upstream and downstream sectors reached $23 billion in the second-quarter, more than double their profits in the first quarter.
• But just 5% of additional profits, and 2% of additional revenues, have been reinvested by the industry in new capital spending.

The paper concludes with several policy recommendations regarding how Canada can better protect itself against repeated cycles of oil-fired inflation, affordability crises, and higher interest rates.

Please see the full briefing paper, Another Band-aid: Extending Gas Tax Holiday Won’t Fix Fossil Fuel Inflation, by Jim Stanford.

The post Extending Gas Tax Holiday Won’t Fix Fossil Fuel Inflation appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

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