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China has published a new five-year plan for coal, the latest in a slew of important policy documents for the country’s energy transition.

The 15th five-year plan for the development of the coal industry was published by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) on 10 August, covering the period 2026-2030. 

This is a key period, covering the years building up to China’s pledge to peak its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions “before 2030”.

Government-affiliated organisations had previously mooted the possibility of coal consumption peaking before 2027.

However, the new plan does not set a specific, government-endorsed year for peaking coal consumption, instead including a broader goal to peak use of the fuel in this five-year period.

It also discusses the “green and low-carbon transition” of the coal industry, coal-related methane emissions and the “clean and efficient use” of the fuel.

But, in general, the plan emphasises the importance of coal in China’s energy system and focuses on the systems underpinning its production.

Analysts tell Carbon Brief that the plan confirms a “broader trend” – driven by the conflict in the Middle East – in which coal’s role in China as a “cheap and secure” source of energy is reinforced – instead of plotting a phase-down or transition for the industry. 

Nevertheless, as the deadline for peaking CO2 emissions looms, the plan does warn the sector of the need to diversify into other industries – including clean energy and chemicals – as coal consumption peaks.

Below, Carbon Brief looks closer at what the plan means for China’s use of coal over the next five years and how it relates to wider climate targets.

• What does the plan say about peaking coal?
• What does the plan say about China’s coal production?
• What does the plan say about coal’s greenhouse gas emissions?
• How does the plan tell coal companies to evolve?

Article Contents Expand menu

• What does the plan say about peaking coal?
• What does the plan say about China’s coal production?
• What does the plan say about coal’s greenhouse gas emissions?
• How does the plan tell coal companies to evolve?

What does the plan say about peaking coal?

Five-year plans are a key tool in Chinese governance, used to guide economic and social development across the economy.

The plan for coal is the latest topic-specific document to address climate and energy matters within the 15th five-year plan period of 2026-30. It is subordinate to the overarching 15th five-year plan, which covers China’s broad socio-economic strategy. 

Other topic-specific plans for the period cover climate change, developing a “new-type energy system” and renewable energy, among other topics.

The coal plan opens by stating that coal is a “foundational [source of] energy” for China:

“[Coal is] vital to the national economy, people’s livelihoods and national energy security, and plays a crucial role in providing foundational support and systemic regulation within the energy supply system.”

However, the plan also covers the 15th five-year plan period (2026-2030), the final five-year period before China is expected to have peaked its carbon emissions.

The 15th five-year plan period marks a time of “significant transformation” for the coal industry, the plan says.

Policy documents issued in April 2026 called for the “strict control” of fossil fuels and created a framework for local governments to be graded on coal use in their region. 

Coal has traditionally been the largest source of energy in China and is responsible for around 80% of its emissions. 

But its role is gradually being superseded by non-fossil energy, which accounted for more than half of the country’s power mix in 2025. In the first half of 2026, coal supplied less than 50% of power generation, while its share of total energy consumption fell to 51.4%, as shown below.

The five-year plan for coal signals “continuity” of China’s aim of “safeguarding energy security while advancing the low-carbon transition”, says Kevin Tu, non-resident fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. 

Another key factor behind the plan is concerns from policymakers around energy security, exacerbated by the conflict in the Middle East.

In an article published in early August, the Communist party-affiliated People’s Daily noted the “severe volatility” the war has created in energy markets, adding that “China’s energy system has withstood these shocks”.

It quoted NEA head Wang Hongzhi stating in a press conference that “coal is [China’s] greatest source of confidence in ensuring a stable energy supply”. 

The conflict will “reinforce coal’s role in China’s energy system”, both as a source of energy and as a feedstock for commodities, Li Shuo, China climate hub director at the Asia Society Policy Institute, tells Carbon Brief.

The plan outlines a number of aims to be achieved by 2030, starting with a goal to “further strengthen” the coal industry’s “ability to be a ‘bottom-line guarantee’”.

The other targets in the plan, to be achieved by 2030, include:

• Peaking coal consumption;
• “Basically establishing” a modern coal-industrial system;
• Optimising the “layout” of coal production and development;
• Increasing the proportion of “high-quality, advanced” coal-production capacity;
• “Clearly improving” levels of “safe, green development” and “clean, efficient use” of coal;
• Increasing the share of coal produced by “large-scale, modernised coal mines” to 87%;
• Developing a diversified coal-based industrial structure;
• Improving mechanisms to ensure a “dynamic balance” between supply and demand.

The large share of China’s CO2 emissions that come from coal and China’s carbon-peaking and neutrality targets are not the main focus of the five-year plan.

“This is clearly neither a coal phase-out nor phase-down plan,” Tu tells Carbon Brief. He adds that it grants China “considerable flexibility…over the pace of the transition”. 

A pledge to peak coal consumption during the five-year plan period is reiterated several times in the document. Notably, the plan says that China will “promote coal consumption successfully reaching a peak”. 

This, it says, is “guided” by China’s “dual-carbon” goals for peaking and neutrality, but is also based on the premise of “guaranteeing the secure supply of energy” 

However, the plan does not provide a government-endorsed target year for peaking consumption. 

State-affiliated organisations, such as Xinhua, have suggested that coal consumption is “expected to peak around 2027”. Independent analysis has stated that emissions from coal consumption may have already peaked.

“The absence of a 2027 deadline is significant, but I would be careful not to over-interpret it,” Tu tells Carbon Brief.

While a 2027 peak for coal remains possible, in his view, it is dependent on factors such as “electricity-demand growth, renewable generation, industrial activity, weather conditions and coal demand from the chemical sector”.

Similarly, Li believes that it will be “market and technological progress”, rather than state directives, that determine exactly when coal consumption and emissions will peak.

“Beijing’s regulatory interventions, if any, will be limited to making sure the peaking timelines do not blow past 2030,” he says.

What does the plan say about China’s coal production?

The plan does not set a concrete target for coal production during the five-year plan period. In contrast, total coal production targets for 2015 and 2020 had been set in the 12th and 13th five-year plans.

The plan also reduces a target for “reserve production” capacity, which was first announced in 2024.

The plan reiterates that, by 2030, China should “establish a coal reserve-production capacity of 100m metric tonnes or more per year”. This was first mentioned in the 15th five-year plan for building a “new-type energy system”, published in June.

Despite China’s rapid buildout of renewable energy, reserve coal capacity is necessary, argues state news agency Xinhua. It says that, to balance the variability of renewable energy, coal will shift to “playing a supporting and regulating role to safeguard energy supply”. 

Nevertheless, the new reserve goal is lower than the target of 300m tonnes of coal set when China first announced the establishment of the system in 2024. 

“Overall, this five-year plan is targeted at the coal industry, not the energy transition”, says Yang Biqing, energy analyst at Ember, although the energy transition and the peaking of coal consumption form the overarching context for the plan.

Provinces in northern China will continue to provide the majority of China’s coal, according to the plan.

It reiterates a pledge from the new-type energy five-year plan that China will continue building “coal-supply security bases” in the provinces of Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and Xinjiang. It says these bases will supply more than 80% of China’s coal by 2030.

This does not indicate a change in direction, as coal production is already increasingly concentrated in northern China. In 2025, 82% of China’s coal came from these four provinces.

New or expanded coal mines in these provinces – with the exception of southern Xinjiang – must have a minimum annual production capacity of 1.2m tonnes, says the plan.

This is an “important signal”, Tu tells Carbon Brief. He notes that the plans suggest that “China’s coal transition is not simply about reducing the quantity consumed”, but also about creating a “more concentrated, efficient, flexible and resilient” coal system.

The plan also calls for a more centralised approach to managing coal. It states that in 2026-2030, any new production capacity must be “included in the single ledger” – essentially meaning that it must be approved by the central government – before it can be implemented. 

Yang tells Carbon Brief that this could indicate that the government is trying to prevent a potential “rush” to get new capacity approved as coal consumption starts to plateau and fall.

What does the plan say about coal’s greenhouse gas emissions?

The plan includes sections on the need to “accelerate” the low-carbon transition of the industry, as well as the “clean and efficient use” of coal.

The former section largely focuses on the production and processing of coal, while the latter addresses emissions associated with its consumption. 

Suggested policies include promoting energy efficiency, water conservancy and electrification, coupled with greater use of renewable-energy sources at coal mines.

In addition to promoting a successful peaking of coal consumption, the plan also re-affirms existing policies around promoting energy efficiency and carbon-emission reduction.

It calls for “accelerate energy conservation and consumption reduction in key coal-consuming industries”, largely through methods already established by existing policies.

This includes phasing out inefficient coal-fired equipment, replacing coal-fired equipment with “clean energy” alternatives, reducing use of “dispersed coal” and promoting clean heating sources such as distributed solar heating and waste heat utilisation.

Tom Wang, executive director of People of Asia for Climate Solutions, describes the plan as “more of a coal exploration plan, rather than a coal transition plan”. He tells Carbon Brief that while several policies call for “green” or “smart” development, the plan does not address the greenhouse gas emissions underpinning each step of coal extraction, processing and combustion.

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Another major focus is on utilisation of coalbed methane, a significant source of China’s methane emissions.

China will “implement work plans to increase coalbed-methane reserves and production”, the plan says, including a “rapid ramp-up” of production in deep coalbed-methane sites.

Affixed to the main five-year plan is an appendix further detailing plans for coalbed methane.

It notes that utilising coalbed methane has “multiple benefits”, such as improving safety, “increasing the supply of clean energy” and reducing emissions. [Methane is a fossil fuel.]

The government is targeting 26bn cubic metres of coalbed-methane production and 6.5bn cubic metres of mine-gas utilisation by 2030, it says.

At least 18bn cubic metres will be sourced from the Ordos Basin, a region spanning several northern provinces, according to an action plan published by the NEA.

In its coverage of the Ordos action plan, the state-run newspaper China Daily said that developing coalbed methane is a “vital strategic move to optimise [China’s] energy mix and ensure domestic gas supply”.

Reporting by Xinhua and economic news outlet Jiemian said that coalbed methane could help China become an “energy powerhouse” and “secure [its] energy self-sufficiency”, respectively. 

In addition, the coal industry will “steadily advance methane-emission control” and “actively participate in the reduction of non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions”, according to the appendix.

However, Sun Xiaopu, senior China counsel at the thinktank Institute For Governance and Sustainable Development, tells Carbon Brief, the plan “does not establish an absolute methane-emissions reduction target”. 

She notes that the implications for emissions may only become clear as implementation frameworks for meeting the utilisation targets are released.

How does the plan tell coal companies to evolve?

Despite reaffirming the importance of coal, the plan emphasises that the overall role of the fuel in China will change. It adds that the coal industry must adapt to this changing reality.

As the coal industry “modernises”, coal companies must “strengthen management” of mine closures and exit plans. They must also plan for a “smooth transition” and “prudently handle” workforce relocation, debt resolution and ecological restoration, it says.

Companies should also be supported in expanding into industries such as “power, new energy and chemicals”, according to the plan.

A number of major coal producers, as well as at least one oil giant, have already established wings focused on “new energy”.

But the focus on the use of coal to make chemicals is one of the “most consequential parts of the plan”, says Tu.

China must promote the shift to coal being used “equally” as a fuel and a feedstock, the plan says.

The plan urges policymakers to push through “construction of strategic coal-to-oil and gas bases”

The chemicals sector is China’s fastest source of emissions growth, although it remains well behind power and other industries in terms of total emissions. 

Tu notes that the plan calls on the coal-chemicals industry to decarbonise production, such as through low-carbon power, green hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage.

As such, he says, the policy signal is “not to exit coal chemicals, but to make them more efficient, higher-value and potentially less carbon-intensive”.  

Li echoes this, telling Carbon Brief that the sector is “likely to receive a major boost from the conflict in Iran”. He adds: 

“We will probably see further capacity expansion in the sector and I doubt environmental arguments will convince Chinese authorities to take a different approach.”

related Q&A: What is in China’s new five-year plan for climate change? 06.08.2026 China policy Q&A: What does China’s 15th ‘five-year plan’ for renewables mean for climate change? 29.07.2026 China policy Interview: Dr Sun Yixian on his new database tracking Chinese climate ‘leadership’ 09.07.2026 China policy Q&A: What do China’s provincial five-year plans say about climate and energy? 18.06.2026 China policy

The post Q&A: What does China’s 15th five-year plan for coal mean for climate action? appeared first on Carbon Brief.

A little more than one year ago, Australia rolled out a program to heavily subsidize home batteries, part of a larger effort to make use of the huge volumes of solar energy that were going to waste. On Friday, officials announced that more than 500,000 batteries had been installed under the plan, helping to slash wholesale power prices roughly in half.

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A self-assembling coating made from seaweed and zinc can keep fruit fresher and lasting longer than even the cool interior of a fridge. This invention, described in a new paper from a team of Canadian scientists, enabled even delicate strawberries to survive at room temperature for four days without molding. It strikes two sustainability targets at once: reducing food waste, and limiting dependence on carbon-intensive cold chains. 

The main seaweed ingredient in this invention sounds unusual but is actually a widely-used food additive and vegan gelatin-substitute called agar that is produced from red algae. This made up the bulk of the new fruit coating, but when combined with the micronutrient zinc and tannic acid it did something interesting that the researchers are still trying to understand, swiftly self-organizing into a thin layer of microparticles that evenly coated any fruit dipped into it. For this, the researchers tested out fresh strawberries, apple slices, and whole grapes. 

Next, they trialled their new coating both inside and outside a fridge, comparing dipped fruit with fruit that remained untreated. This led to the most striking discovery, that coated strawberries at room temperature outperformed uncoated strawberries placed in the fridge. The treated, uncooled fruit held out for at least four days or more before becoming moldy, while the untreated but refrigerated fruits started molding on day four. Meanwhile, coated strawberries that were kept in the fridge were even more robust, lasting a full six days.

At room temperature the untreated strawberries stayed mold-free for just two days, compared to the four-day staying power of treated strawberries. Cut apple slices stayed fresh for roughly 24 hours while the untreated controls began to show visible signs of decay at about 12 hours. The treated grapes, meanwhile, lasted almost 14 days, taking a full week longer to show signs of wrinkling and shrinkage than the untreated fruit. 

 

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Overall, the novel agar dip extended fruits’ shelf life by at least twofold, and reduced weight loss at the four day mark from 30% to 13%. The researchers say the coating has antibacterial qualities which can explain its preserving features, is safe for human consumption, maintains the nutritional quality of the treated fruit, and can easily be washed off when food is ready to eat.

A lifecycle analysis also revealed that the coating had a lower or equivalent emissions impact to refrigeration. And although these reductions were relatively modest, the researchers say the benefits would become much more significant when extrapolated to a whole cold chain system, where small gains can add up to big savings.  

In Canada where the research was based, food waste is a huge problem, with some reports estimating that 46% of fresh produce is lost or wasted in the country each year, valued at $58 billion.

Upgraded with commercially-available agar and used on a wider range of fruits, the researchers believe their invention could make a real dent in this problem, becoming a “practical, sustainable strategy to mitigate food loss and build resilient fresh produce supply chains,” they write.

Yang et. al. “Self-Assembled Metal−Phenolic−Agar Microparticle-Derived Coatings Enable Scalable and Sustainable Fresh Produce Preservation.” Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2026.

Image: Slashio Photography for UnSplash

Headline News:

• “Solar Helps ‘Stabilize’ Europe’s Grids As Heatwaves Spike Power Demand” • Solar has done some “heavy lifting” to help Europe meet its energy needs in a string of blistering heatwaves. An analysis by Ember found that solar generating in European countries rose by up to 17% on days during heatwaves in June and July, helping the grid meet demand. [Euronews]

Solar panels (American Public Power Association, Unsplash)

• “Bilfinger To Support Ocean Winds At Polish Offshore Site” • Bilfinger has been selected to provide technical advisory services during the execution phase of the 390-MW BC-Wind project in the Polish Baltic Sea for Ocean Winds. Bilfinger said that it will oversee key offshore construction activities, supporting Ocean Winds in its activities. [reNews]
• “Millions Across Europe Swelter Through A New Wave Of Extreme Temperatures” • Millions of Europeans, particularly in France, Italy, Spain, and the UK, sweltered through a new wave of extreme temperatures as the continent’s latest heatwave picked up. Parts of France went past 42°C and the UK marked the hottest day so far this year. [Euronews]
• “Solar Surpasses Wind In Global Electricity Generation For The First Time” • The latest Statistical Review of World Energy shows how dramatically the renewable landscape has changed. Solar generation has surpassed wind as a source of electricity worldwide. Hydropower remains the largest renewable source overall, but solar is growing fast. [OilPrice.com]
• “Joby Buys Defense Company For Half A Billion Dollars” • The electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft startup Joby seems to have been here for ages. Like other eVTOL aircraft companies, it has been hard to know if it is going anywhere. Now, however, it turns out that Joby has enough money to buy Resonant Sciences for half a billion dollars. [CleanTechnica]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

The world saw the lowest amount of new coal mine capacity brought online for at least 10 years in 2025, according to a new report, as clean energy displaces coal for electricity generation in East Asia.

A report by Global Energy Monitor (GEM) found that new coal mine capacity declined by nearly 40% from 2024, the second consecutive year new mine capacity has hit a decade low. This represents an acceleration of a steady decline that began in 2019.

The slowdown in new coal mine openings was driven by China and Australia, where new additions fell by 44% and 96%, respectively. In China, the report said this was partly due to solar and wind displacing coal for electricity generation – although coal rebounded in the first half of 2026 – and the National Energy Administration implementing new rules to curb new mine openings.

In Australia, a 96% reduction in new coal mine capacity was driven by shrinking demand from the countries that import Australian coal for electricity, like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, the report said.

This trend is likely to continue, according to GEM, as the Australian state of New South Wales recently banned new coal mines on undeveloped greenfield land. South Korea has promised to stop building coal-fired power plants that cannot capture and store the emissions produced. Meanwhile, Japan is pushing for a post-Fukushima nuclear revival to displace coal.

This Australian coal community is co-designing its own green future

Globally, growth in coal demand has slowed over the last few years and the International Energy Agency expects it to plateau through to 2030 because of the growth of renewable energy, nuclear and fossil gas.

Openings down, pipeline up

But while new coal mine openings fell, the amount of global coal mine capacity proposed increased by 11%. This was almost entirely driven by a spate of projects in the eastern Indian states of Jharkhand and Odisha.

“If built,” the GEM report says, “the projects would commit India – a country with no formal coal phaseout timeline – to years of coal expansion and would put a 1.5C-aligned transition away from fossil fuels farther out of reach”.

The Indian government says it needs to increase coal production to meet growing electricity demand from economic growth and from dealing with heatwaves. It plans to open more than 20 new coal mines to meet its coal production targets.

Because of energy security concerns, India is also aiming to produce chemicals with Indian coal rather than imported gas. China is also pursuing this strategy, although the Global Energy Monitor report said that Indian coal’s high ash content means the South Asian nation will find it harder to make chemicals from coal.

• Jun 22, 2026 Comment China’s coal-chemicals boom risks repeating the mistakes of the past By reviving the problematic industry in the name of energy security, China runs the risk of higher emissions, stranded assets and setting back its ambitions as a clean energy leader Read more
• Aug 11, 2026 Oceans South Africa’s offshore oil push meets grassroots resistance in court Two court cases against oil majors TotalEnergies and Shell could derail South Africa’s plan to expand offshore fossil fuels Read more
• Aug 6, 2026 News Quarter of countries still missing UN climate plans 18 months after deadline Egypt, Vietnam, Argentina and the Philippines are among the 45 nations that have breached the Paris Agreement by not submitting a new NDC to the UN Read more

Nations agreed at COP26 five years ago to “phase down” coal power – a commitment that China and India successfully pushed to weaken from “phase out”. At COP28 in 2023, governments agreed to transition away from all fossil fuels in energy systems.

Since then, wealthy nations have partnered with coal-producing countries like South Africa, Vietnam and Indonesia on plans to transition from coal to clean energy. But, after preliminary talks, India and these governments did not agree a JETP.

The post New coal mine openings slow as East Asian demand plateaus appeared first on Climate Home News.

By Desmond Alugnoa and Ama Asiedu

For nearly a decade, the GAIA Africa team has been providing technical expertise and supporting movements across the continent, helping communities advance practical, just and people‑centred zero waste solutions. In 2025, we hosted the first-ever GAIA Africa Zero Waste Academy, with a simple but ambitious goal: to build the capacity of a new generation of African zero waste champions and create a growing platform for the practical implementation of zero waste solutions across the continent. One year later, that journey continues!

In 2026, the GAIA Africa Zero Waste Academy returned for its second edition, co-hosted withthe Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO), in Ghana, a vibrant hub for youth‑led zero waste organising. This year’s Academy brought together 50 emerging and experienced climate and waste management practitioners from across Africa for a holistic journey of learning, exchange, movement building and action. More than 1,200 people applied to be part of the programme, reflecting the growing interest in locally led solutions to Africa’s waste and climate challenges.

A Movement That Keeps Growing

The Academy was created on the belief that Africa does not lack solutions to its waste crisis. Across the continent, communities are already composting, reusing materials, recovering recyclables, organising waste workers and developing alternatives to the extractive linear waste systems that perpetuate pollution and climate change. What is needed is to connect these experiences, strengthen the people leading them and create opportunities for learning across borders.

The 2026 Academy began with a five-week virtual programme, where participants explored movement building, waste characterisation, monitoring frameworks, climate and environmental justice, waste picker integration, community collection systems, composting, plastic pollution and methane. The learning was designed to go beyond theory. Participants were encouraged to examine the waste systems around them, understand the realities faced by waste workers and identify practical approaches they could adapt to their own communities, through hands-on weekly assignments to put their learning into practice.

As one participant, Bathseba Ratemo from Kenya, shared, the Academy offered an opportunity for “learning and unlearning, networking and sharing” a reflection that captures the spirit of the programme.

From the Virtual Classroom to Community Driven Action 

The in-person phase brought the cohort together in Ghana, creating space to deepen the learning through expert-led sessions, practical activities, field visits and conversations with people working directly within the waste sector.

Ghana provided a particularly fitting setting for this year’s Academy. In March 2026, Accra was recognised by the United Nations as one of 20 Cities Towards Zero Waste, highlighting the growing recognition of locally driven approaches to transforming urban waste systems. GAYO’s Zero Waste Accra Project has demonstrated how waste diversion, community action and the integration of informal waste workers can contribute to reducing pollution and methane emissions.

For Academy participants, visiting zero waste initiatives in Accra offered an opportunity to see these approaches in practice and consider how similar ideas could be adapted to their own contexts. But some of the most powerful learning came from witnessing movement building beyond the formal Academy sessions.

During the Academy week, participants attended the launch of the Federation of Informal Sector Waste Workers Associations of Ghana (FISWWAG). The launch marked an important step towards giving informal waste workers a stronger collective voice and advancing recognition, safer working conditions, fair pay and dignified livelihoods.

For participants, being present at this historic moment connected the Academy’s lessons on justice, organising and waste picker inclusion with a movement unfolding in real time. It was a powerful reminder that a just Zero Waste transition is not only about changing how we manage materials; it is also about ensuring that the people who collect, sort and recover those materials have a voice in shaping the systems they are part of.

Zero Waste Is About People

One of the strongest lessons from this year’s Academy was that zero waste cannot be separated from justice. Waste is not simply a technical issue. It is about livelihoods, health, dignity, climate and human rights.

Across Africa, waste pickers and informal waste workers recover valuable materials, reduce the amount of waste sent to dumpsites and landfills, and make important contributions to circular economies. Yet many continue to work without adequate recognition, protection or inclusion in formal waste systems.

This year’s Academy placed these realities at the centre of the conversation. Participants explored how waste systems can be designed to protect workers, recognise their knowledge and contributions, and ensure that the transition to zero waste does not leave anyone behind.

As GAIA Africa’s Zero Waste and Climate Programme Associate, Ama Asiedu, noted during the Academy, the programme is about more than managing waste better; it is about rethinking systems for climate resilience, green jobs and community health.

More Than a Training Programme

Perhaps the most valuable outcome of the Academy is the community that emerged from it. Participants did not simply leave with notes, presentations and certificates. They left with relationships, new ideas and a network of people working towards a common vision across the continent. The diversity of the cohort was one of its greatest strengths. Participants brought experiences from different countries, sectors and communities, but found common ground in the challenges facing Africa’s waste systems and the possibilities for change.

For us, this is what makes the Academy more than a training programme. It is a space where practitioners can learn from one another, challenge existing approaches, build solidarity and return home better equipped to act. The real test begins after the Academy.

From Ghana to the Continent

The second Africa Zero Waste Academy has shown us that the movement is growing and becoming more connected.

From Ghana to Uganda, Kenya to Nigeria, Senegal to The Gambia and beyond, people are already developing solutions rooted in their own communities. They are organising waste workers, building grassroots movements, advocating for stronger policies, reducing waste and demonstrating that our systems can work differently.

The role of the Academy is to connect these efforts, strengthen their capacity and create a community where knowledge can move freely across borders. We are grateful to GAYO Ghana for co-hosting this year’s Academy and helping create a learning experience rooted in African realities. We are equally grateful to the facilitators, partners, funders and everyone who contributed their time, knowledge and energy.

Most importantly, we are grateful to the 2026 cohort. You came from different places, carrying different experiences and facing different waste challenges. But you showed what becomes possible when people commit to change and learn together.

The Academy may have ended, but the work has only begun. The next chapter will be written in communities, cities and countries across Africa  through the projects participants implement, the policies they influence, the movements they strengthen and the people they bring along. Africa does not need to wait for a zero waste future. We are already building it.

Ends. 

The post From Online Learning to On-the-Ground Action: Africa’s Zero Waste Movement Grows Stronger first appeared on GAIA.

Darya Minovi was mapping pollution from medical sterilization plants across the country when many of the communities she was speaking to began asking the same question. The facilities emit ethylene oxide, a potent carcinogen, and those who lived nearby wanted to know how much the emissions were increasing their cancer risk. She turned to data compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency to find out.

The resulting maps, published in 2023 by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit where Minovi is a researcher, revealed that more than 14 million people lived in a 5-mile radius of ethylene oxide-emitting facilities. Crucially, the map highlighted 23 sterilization facilities that the EPA had found emit ethylene oxide at levels that definitively contribute to elevated cancer risk. The project helped raise awareness and was used to push the government to tighten limits on ethylene oxide emissions.

But now, the cancer risk data that made Minovi’s analysis possible has quietly gone offline. After more than two decades of sharing this information with the public, the Environmental Protection Agency has omitted cancer risk estimates from its latest update to national air pollution data. The agency is continuing to release raw pollution figures, but it is no longer providing information on the additional cancer risk that the emissions cause. It has also not updated its searchable U.S. map of cancer risk from air pollution with the most recent data.

The risk assessments are routinely used by communities to understand the effects of the pollution in their neighborhoods, as well as by journalists and nonprofits to inform the public and hold polluters accountable. Withholding this information would shift the burden of interpreting pollution data — a technically demanding task requiring specialized experience and an understanding of EPA protocols — onto the public, Minovi said, making it harder for communities to access this vital public health information. 

“At the end of the day, the people who are living in communities with concentrated sources of pollution are frankly the ones to lose,” she said. “They end up caught in a bureaucratic and political tug of war, and they’re not being protected as they should be.”

An aerial view of Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” an 85-mile stretch of land along the Mississippi River with hundreds of industrial facilities that pose a higher risk of cancer for local residents. Giles Clarke / Getty Images

The Trump administration has made it significantly more difficult to access environmental data. So far, the administration has modified or removed nearly 2,000 webpages and datasets on science, climate, and environmental topics. Last year, the EPA discontinued a tool that allowed the public to search its inventory of facilities that handle large volumes of hazardous substances by ZIP code. It also shut down an environmental justice screening tool known as EJScreen, which was the EPA’s flagship tool for tracking environmental hazards across the United States and mapped industrial pollution hot spots alongside demographic data, revealing which communities face the greatest health risks. And some of the agency’s webpages about pollutants, like ethylene oxide, have been modified to remove information about cancer risks and emphasize their industrial usefulness.

Inyang Uwak, a research and policy director for Air Alliance Houston, a nonprofit advocacy group in Texas, said that the administration’s cuts tend to prioritize industries at the expense of public health. 

“It’s unfortunate because this data is highly useful to organizations such as ours that use it,” she said, adding that scientists and policymakers also need the data to make informed decisions. “It’s a disservice to public health in general.”

Left: The Environmental Protection Agency’s webpage on ethylene oxide in 2024. Right: The updated page in 2026, which removes mentions of health risks and emphasizes the carcinogen’s industrial usefulness. Grist / EPA.gov

The EPA has been publishing the cancer risk data periodically since 2002 as part of a program called the Air Toxics Screening Assessment, which details the concentrations of dozens of toxic pollutants across the country down to the census block level. The agency began releasing the data on an annual basis in 2022, but the information is typically several years out of date because of the time required to compile the information. As factories and other polluting facilities are built, shut down, or expand, local pollution levels can change dramatically. The yearly updates to the cancer risk data provided communities with the most current information available about those changes. 

Had the updates arrived on schedule this year, the agency would have released data on the cancer risk from emissions in 2022. Instead, the most recent update was published a year late and represents emissions data from 2021. 

It was only made available on a public-facing webpage this summer after Tai Lung, a senior advisor for federal data policy at the Federation for American Scientists, reached out to the agency. Lung had previously worked at the agency for more than a decade as the lead of EJScreen, which also used the data, before the Trump administration suspended him alongside 170 colleagues.

Carolyn Holran, an EPA spokesperson, told Grist that the agency “will continue posting the annual nationwide air toxics emissions and concentrations data when it becomes available,” but did not address the missing cancer risk data. Holran also did not answer Grist’s questions about why it did not release the cancer data this year and whether the agency is still making this calculation internally.  

“EPA is committed to fulfilling our core mission of protecting human health and the environment and ensuring clean air for all Americans, while following gold standard science,” she said.

Lung said the agency’s decision will make it harder for the public to understand how pollution affects their health. “So now we’re just sharing this raw data, which really means nothing to anybody,” he said. 

Read more about ethylene oxide Breast cancer, dizziness, headaches: El Paso residents ask if a warehouse’s toxic emissions are to blame Naveena Sadasivam & Diego Mendoza-Moyers

The United States has one of the highest cancer incidence rates in the world. Nearly 40 percent of all Americans will receive a cancer diagnosis at some point in their life, and more than 2 million new cases are diagnosed each year. Living near industrial sources of certain pollutants, like benzene, formaldehyde, and ethylene oxide, can increase a person’s chances of developing cancer. Louisiana’s so-called “Cancer Alley,” neighborhoods near the Houston Ship Channel, and the southeast side of Chicago are all home to a concentration of industrial operations and have become cancer hotspots.

Cancer risk assessments are at the core of the regulatory work that the EPA does. The EPA has long set “acceptable thresholds” for how much exposure to industrial pollution is allowed in an area. The agency’s generally follows limits of one additional cancer case per 10,000 people exposed over their lifetime. (The agency has also said that cancer exposure would ideally be far lower, at one in a million.) When a new polluting facility applies for a permit or when the agency considers new rulemaking, it assesses whether the change will raise the cancer risk in the area above this threshold. 

Many of the administration’s regulatory changes fall into one of two patterns, said Denice Ross, director of the Data Policy Institute at the Federation of American Scientists and a former U.S. chief data scientist during the Biden administration.

An Earth Day rally outside the EPA offices in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2025.
Jeff Kowalsky / AFP via Getty Images Protesters rally against a global energy conference in Houston earlier this year. Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP via Getty Images

The first is the deliberate removal of data that conflicts with the administration’s priorities, or casts its policies in an unfavorable light. Information and projects that focused on diversity, social justice, gender, and climate issues were among the first to disappear, she said. 

The second trend is data being lost as a consequence of the sweeping funding and staffing cuts to scientific research at agencies and institutions. There is now more red tape and political approval needed to accomplish tasks that were once routine, she said. 

The services that agencies provide “have historically been invisible infrastructure,” Ross said. “There’re so many things that we take for granted about federal data in our lives, and the people aren’t taking that for granted anymore.”

Some of these cuts contradict President Donald Trump’s own policies. In 2019, during his first term in office, Trump signed the OPEN Government Data Act, a law that established government-wide requirements to make federal data more useful and accessible to the public. Federal law also requires agencies to provide adequate notice when substantially changing or ending significant sources of information, such as the Air Toxics Assessment. But many of the recent changes are “just sort of quietly happening behind the scenes,” Ross said. “And if you don’t know where to look, you won’t find it.”

Read more about ethylene oxide Trump EPA moves to repeal regulation of cancer-linked chemical ethylene oxide Naveena Sadasivam

Recently, some organizations have begun preserving lost EPA tools, like EJScreen, by recreating them or releasing unofficial copies. But these versions still rely on updates to federal data and do not carry the same authority as government assessments. Many communities also don’t have access to the expertise or training necessary to interpret raw EPA data, said Elizabeth Bechard, a public health manager at Moms Clean Air Force, a nonprofit advocacy organization. The group often uses EPA data to equip families fighting against polluting industries in their communities with the data they need. Ending the cancer risk assessment, Bechard said, will make it harder for people to get involved.

“The public deserves to have that information about that risk so that they can be equipped to push back,” she said. “We’re trying to protect people. It’s not just a math equation.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The EPA’s data on cancer risk from air pollution has gone dark on Aug 14, 2026.

July was the hottest month on record in the United States, with three heat domes — slow-moving, high-pressure systems that trap heat and humidity in place — afflicting large swaths of the country. The most recent of these contributed to an 18-day extreme heat warning in Phoenix, Arizona, the state’s second-longest stretch on record. Yet, in the face of these extreme heat events, representatives in Congress last month advanced a bill that would block the nation’s workplace regulator from finalizing a rule to protect workers from heat stress. What gives?

H.R. 6213 was introduced last year by Representative Mark Messmer from Indiana, who celebrated the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s recent vote in support of the legislation. The bill seeks to undermine a proposed federal rule that has been languishing under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA. The rule — which would ensure workers have access to rest, shade, and water on the job — was drafted under the Biden administration. Messmer has described the proposed rule as “unnecessary,” saying it would present a burden to employers. 

In response to a request for comment, the communications director for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Audra McGeorge, did not share a timeline for a full vote on the bill. “The Committee doesn’t control the Floor schedule,” she said. But labor advocates are nevertheless alarmed by the progress H.R. 6213 has made, especially at a time of record-breaking summer temperatures.

“The passage of this bill would set a terrible precedent,” said Juanita Constible, a senior advocate on environmental health at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It signals a shift away from our current deliberate, data-driven process to kind of a Wild West, where Congress decides whether workers are at risk or not. And I don’t think that’s its role.”

Since OSHA first went public with its proposed rule on preventing heat illness and injury in 2024, the agency has been through multiple comment periods, including public hearings. Experts say the proposed rule’s requirements are relatively straightforward and commonsense. Objections tend to come from pro-business groups, which argue that such regulation would be onerous, stifle growth, and cost too much money. But advocates like Charlotte Brody, vice president of health initiatives at the BlueGreen Alliance, insist that “the OSHA rule, like most OSHA rules, is based on good science.”

For example, the proposed rule would require employers to develop safety plans for workers that would kick in when the heat index reaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the point beyond which the vast majority of heat deaths in the workplace occur. (The heat index, which takes into account humidity as well as air temperature, is sometimes referred to as the “feels like” temperature.) When the heat index surpasses 90 degrees, additional measures would then be required. The rule would also instruct employers to create plans to acclimatize workers to laboring under extreme heat. As Brody noted, 3 out of 4 occupational heat deaths happen within the first week of work. 

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The vote in the Republican-controlled committee fell along party lines. In a statement to Grist, Representative Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona, argued that H.R 6213 erases “the progress we’ve made to establish one, uniform national heat standard,” she added. Before being elected to Congress last year, Grijalva spearheaded a heat safety ordinance for Pima County, Arizona — a first of its kind in the state — while serving on the Pima County Board of Supervisors. Representative Mark DeSaulnier, a Democrat from California, referred to the outcome of the vote as “just another example of how the balance of power between capital and labor has become dangerously skewed in this country, increasingly favoring the interests of big corporations over the safety of workers.”

In a press release, Messmer stated a federal rule as “rigid” and “one-size-fits-all” as the Biden-era standard is redundant when states can pass and enforce their own workplace safety regulations. But that isn’t necessarily true. Texas and Florida, for example, have preempted municipalities within their states to create standards that would keep workers safe from heat illness and injury. Representatives for Representative Messmer did not respond to a request for comment. 

Texas and Florida notwithstanding, Constible says, the fight to ensure worker safety during extreme heat has shifted to the state level. Virginia, for example, recently kicked off its own rule-making process on this issue. Unions and labor groups also have an important role to play, she added. 

“At the state level, they’re hearing loud and clear from workers that it’s dangerous and scary out there and that they should be doing something about it,” Constible said. “Certainly the hot weather we’ve had the last two years has helped, I think, change hearts and minds on this issue.”

Legal experts say it is surprising that Congress would move to prohibit OSHA from enacting a rule that hasn’t even been finalized yet. In fact, OSHA had already indicated the agency was pivoting away from the Biden-era heat rule and would publish a supplemental proposal toward the end of this year. As Jordan Barab, a former OSHA deputy assistant secretary, noted on his blog, a supplemental proposed rule is used when OSHA seeks to make “significant substantive changes” to an original proposal. Representatives for OSHA did not respond to a request for comment. 

“It’s unusual, I would say,” said Romany M. Webb, deputy director at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. “It would not be beyond the Congress’ authority to do something like this. It just doesn’t normally do this.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Congress may kill the federal heat rule before OSHA can on Aug 14, 2026.

Unions demand laws on maximum work temperatures Channel News brendan 14th August 2026 Teaser Media

Malam itu, layar ponsel Raka dipenuhi deretan judul permainan yang sedang ramai diperbincangkan. Istilah “slot gacor”, “maxwin”, hingga “jackpot” muncul bergantian di berbagai forum dan media komunitas. Ia sempat mengira ada permainan tertentu yang sedang berada dalam kondisi istimewa dan tinggal menunggu waktu untuk memberikan kemenangan besar.

Namun, setelah memperhatikan lebih jauh, Raka menyadari bahwa istilah populer di kalangan pemain tidak selalu sama dengan fakta matematis sebuah permainan.

Di sinilah pembahasan mengenai pilihan slot gacor maxwin untuk berburu jackpot menjadi menarik. Sebab, di balik istilah yang terdengar menjanjikan tersebut terdapat mekanisme permainan, RTP, volatilitas, serta sistem Random Number Generator (RNG) yang justru lebih penting untuk dipahami.

Popularitas Tidak Sama dengan Jaminan Menang

Istilah “gacor” umumnya digunakan komunitas untuk menggambarkan permainan yang dalam pengalaman tertentu dianggap sering memberikan kombinasi kemenangan atau fitur bonus. Sementara “maxwin” biasanya merujuk pada kemenangan dengan nilai besar berdasarkan batas pembayaran yang tersedia dalam sebuah permainan.

Masalahnya, pengalaman beberapa pemain tidak dapat dijadikan bukti bahwa permainan tersebut sedang “wajib” membayar. Pada sistem berbasis RNG, hasil setiap putaran dirancang untuk ditentukan secara acak. Riwayat kekalahan sebelumnya juga tidak membuat putaran berikutnya otomatis memiliki peluang lebih tinggi untuk menang.

Karena itu, label “gacor” lebih tepat dipandang sebagai istilah komunitas, bukan indikator matematis bahwa jackpot akan muncul.

RTP Menjadi Salah Satu Angka Penting

Ketika membandingkan permainan, Raka kemudian menemukan angka RTP atau Return to Player. Angka tersebut sering dianggap sebagai patokan utama, padahal maknanya perlu dibaca secara tepat.

RTP menggambarkan persentase teoritis dari total taruhan yang dikembalikan kepada pemain dalam jangka sangat panjang. Misalnya, permainan dengan RTP 96% secara matematis dirancang mengembalikan sekitar 96 dari setiap 100 unit taruhan dalam sampel yang sangat besar. Itu bukan berarti seseorang yang mempertaruhkan 100 unit akan mendapatkan kembali 96 unit pada satu sesi.

Perbedaan ini penting. RTP merupakan gambaran statistik jangka panjang, bukan prediksi hasil sesi berikutnya.

Volatilitas Menentukan Karakter Permainan

Selain RTP, volatilitas juga layak diperhatikan. Dua permainan dapat memiliki RTP yang relatif sama, tetapi pengalaman bermainnya bisa sangat berbeda.

Permainan dengan volatilitas rendah cenderung menghasilkan kemenangan lebih kecil namun relatif lebih sering. Sebaliknya, volatilitas tinggi biasanya memiliki distribusi kemenangan yang lebih jarang, tetapi sebagian hadiahnya dapat berada pada pembayaran yang jauh lebih besar.

Bagi pemain yang tertarik dengan istilah “maxwin”, aspek ini menjadi relevan. Potensi pembayaran besar tidak boleh diterjemahkan sebagai peluang mendapatkan jackpot yang lebih mudah. Justru volatilitas tinggi dapat menghadirkan periode panjang tanpa kemenangan berarti.

Membaca Fitur Lebih Penting daripada Mengejar Label

Permainan modern biasanya menawarkan berbagai fitur seperti Wild, Scatter, pengganda, putaran gratis, atau mekanisme bonus tertentu. Fitur tersebut memang membuat permainan lebih dinamis, tetapi keberadaannya bukan bukti bahwa kemenangan besar sedang menunggu.

Pendekatan yang lebih rasional adalah membaca tabel pembayaran, aturan permainan, RTP yang tercantum, volatilitas jika tersedia, serta memahami batas taruhan sebelum memutuskan bermain. Informasi tersebut memberikan gambaran yang lebih objektif dibandingkan sekadar mengikuti daftar permainan yang sedang populer.

Pada akhirnya, Raka mengubah cara pandangnya. Ia tidak lagi mencari permainan yang disebut “pasti gacor”. Ia justru mencoba memahami bagaimana sebuah slot bekerja dan menyadari bahwa tidak ada pilihan yang mampu menghilangkan unsur risiko.

Jackpot Tetap Merupakan Hasil Probabilitas

Daya tarik jackpot memang sulit disangkal. Angka kemenangan besar, animasi bonus, dan cerita pemain yang memperoleh hasil fantastis membuat slot terus menarik perhatian. Tetapi satu pengalaman menang tidak mengubah struktur probabilitas sebuah permainan.

Karena itu, pilihan slot gacor maxwin untuk berburu jackpot sebaiknya dipahami sebagai topik analisis mengenai karakter permainan, bukan daftar permainan yang menjamin kemenangan. RNG membuat hasil putaran tidak dapat diprediksi hanya berdasarkan hasil sebelumnya, sedangkan RTP bekerja pada skala jangka panjang.

Bagi pembaca, pemahaman tersebut menjadi fondasi yang lebih sehat. Jackpot boleh menjadi bagian dari daya tarik permainan, tetapi keputusan bermain seharusnya tetap mempertimbangkan risiko, anggaran, dan batas pribadi. Dengan begitu, popularitas sebuah slot tidak membuat penilaian terhadap peluang menjadi kabur.

Pada akhirnya, permainan yang disebut “gacor” mungkin sedang ramai hari ini dan terlupakan besok. Yang tetap berlaku adalah matematika permainan. Memahami fakta tersebut jauh lebih berguna daripada mengejar janji kemenangan yang tidak pernah benar-benar bisa dipastikan.

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