Global Climate News

The United States hosted a technical program on Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) from March 3-5, 2025, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX. The event featured presentations and discussions on various themes including subsurface storage, site selection, injectivity challenges, and global CCUS implementation. Companies like Net Power, ExxonMobil, and Chevron participated, highlighting advancements in CO2 storage and utilization technologies. The program also included discussions on policy innovations for CCUS in India and a model for developing oil and gas regions globally, such as the Niger Delta.

Switzerland-based Climeworks has shared its 2024 milestones including the inauguration of Mammoth (world's largest Direct Air Capture plant), Project Cypress development in Louisiana, launch of Climeworks Solutions portfolio offering, certification under Puro Standard, and unveiling of Generation 3 technology. The company's Project Cypress, awarded USD 50 million by U.S. DOE, aims to capture 1 million tons of CO₂ annually when complete. The new Generation 3 technology promises to reduce carbon removal costs by up to 50% compared to current costs.

The UK government launched a new Design for Life Roadmap to cut NHS waste, significantly influenced by the Exeter-led Circular Economy Hub's research. The roadmap aims to reduce single-use medical devices and promote sustainable products. A new £1.8 million project, the DECHI Research Programme, will use digital technologies to accelerate circular innovation in the healthcare sector, uniting researchers from the Universities of Exeter, Sheffield, and Cambridge.

Switzerland-based Primeo Energie is installing a 65-megawatt-hour battery storage system in Kappel, Switzerland. This large-scale battery, built by INTILION, will help stabilize the power grid by storing excess renewable energy and releasing it when needed, improving grid reliability and reducing CO2 emissions by more than 4000 tons annually in the first years. The project is supported by the German government's Renewable-Energy-Solutions program.

The UK government has announced plans to completely ban the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides (clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam) in England, aiming to protect pollinators crucial to the agricultural economy (£500 million annual benefit). The ban follows years of emergency authorisations and builds on wider government action to recover nature, including investments in sustainable food production and nature recovery (£5 billion over two years).

The UK has launched a project to develop a British strain of Douglas fir trees, using 200 visually superior trees and 40 genetically superior trees as breeding stock. The project, led by the Conifer Breeding Cooperative and Forest Research, aims to improve the resilience of the nation's trees and bolster the domestic timber industry, contributing to the UK's goal of becoming a clean energy superpower. DNA fingerprinting was used for quality control, marking the first time this technique has been used at such an early stage of a tree breeding programme in Great Britain.

The UK has expressed concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in West Africa, exacerbated by extreme flooding affecting over 3.7 million people and contributing to food insecurity. This is further worsened by conflict, displacement, and climate change. The UK aid has supported over 16 million people in the Sahel since 2019, but access is increasingly restricted. The UK calls on all actors to ensure safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance, urging that armed escorts should only be a last resort.

Globally, the space industry is generating increasing amounts of debris, posing a significant threat to various sectors. Astroscale, along with other aerospace companies, space agencies, and researchers, is working to address space debris and promote sustainable space practices. Initiatives like \"Space Trash Signs\" aim to raise public awareness of space pollution's consequences.

The UK's King Charles III appointed Nilesh Sachdev as a Non-Executive Commissioner to the Forestry Commission for a three-year term starting December 1, 2024. This appointment aims to establish a strong, sustainable future for the Forestry Commission.