A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), a body representing countries that make up 80% of global energy consumption, offers hope in the fight to reduce emissions and keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F). The report finds that while the path to net-zero has narrowed, record-setting clean energy deployment around the world means it’s still feasible. Currently, about 12% of global electricity generation comes from wind and solar power, and that figure needs to jump to 40% by 2030. WRI experts call out eight countries making significant headway in the clean energy transition, and how they are doing it. Read more.

Between years of a global pandemic, recession, and worsening droughts, floods and storms, many developing countries face increasingly tight economic conditions. Smaller budgets and rising debt are already preventing some nations from reducing emissions and preparing for climate impacts — and yet without these investments, vulnerable countries will inevitably find themselves in even more dire financial straits. This vicious cycle is known as the climate debt trap, and countries are increasingly getting stuck in it. Read more.

Pope Francis issued a new papal statement on the protection of nature this week, as a follow up to his 2015 encyclical on the climate crisis. He calls for an end to “the senseless war on our common home.” The Pope’s letter is just one of many instances of faith-based organizations playing a role in protecting the environment. For example, from Ethiopia’s highlands to India’s villages, religious groups are playing a vital role in restoring forests and degraded landscape. Read more.