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A new study led by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and published in Nature Communications highlights that the soil organic carbon pool is at high risk across 43 to 83 million hectares of agricultural land in the EU and UK. This figure represents approximately 23% to 44% of all agricultural land in the region, with the most vulnerable areas located in cool and humid climates. Conversely, between 26 and 50 million hectares show no immediate risk and offer strong potential for additional carbon storage, being far from saturation and capable of protecting new carbon inputs effectively.

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Recycling is second nature for many Europeans, but some products remain stubbornly difficult to process, highlighting persistent EU recycling challenges. In 2023, municipalities collected half a tonne of waste per person across the EU, but only around 48% was recycled. With new rules mandating 55% of municipal waste and 65% of packaging waste to be recycled by year-end, pressure is mounting. However, estimates suggest two-thirds of EU countries will miss at least one target, with ten nations, including Greece, Hungary, and Poland, at risk of missing both.

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President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policy has upended the global trading system and triggered a seismic shift in international trade flows. While Canadians have focused on the bilateral fallout between the U.S. and Canada, the broader consequences are global in scope. Billions of dollars in goods that once flowed into the American market are now being rerouted, threatening to overwhelm other economies. This historic redirection is known as the global trade diversion, a phenomenon now testing the resilience of free trade systems worldwide.

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President Donald Trump’s second term is ushering in a dramatic shift in the United States’ approach to cryptocurrency, with a strong emphasis on regulation overhaul, tax reform, and the creation of a Trump Bitcoin Reserve. This initiative aims to position the U.S. as the first G7 country to fully embrace digital assets at a national level. Drawing inspiration from smaller nations like El Salvador, which established its own strategic bitcoin reserve, Trump’s administration is pursuing a similar path, but on a much larger geopolitical scale.

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A new study from Tsinghua University highlights a major environmental crisis: global plastic recycling has stagnated despite a surge in plastic production. Published in Communications Earth & Environment, the research coincides with renewed international negotiations to establish a treaty targeting plastic pollution, following a failed previous round of talks.

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The European Union has unveiled a bold €20 billion initiative aimed at transforming the continent into a global leader in artificial intelligence, forming the cornerstone of the European AI strategy. This ambitious plan centers on the development of massive AI “gigafactories” across Europe—state-of-the-art sites outfitted with supercomputers exceeding 100,000 AI processors. These facilities are intended to fast-track innovation in key sectors such as healthcare, biotech, robotics, and advanced manufacturing, in a bid to close the competitive gap with the United States and China.

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The European Union is intensifying its focus on upgrading its ageing electricity grid, recognizing it as a critical element in the shift away from fossil fuels and the pursuit of lower energy costs. However, recent geopolitical developments, particularly Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the sabotage of undersea infrastructure, have exposed a growing vulnerability. As a result, EU energy security is now taking center stage in policy discussions, with the dual goals of boosting electrification and defending critical infrastructure.

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Efforts to create intercontinental energy grids are gaining momentum as countries seek to accelerate the global green transition by connecting regions rich in renewable resources with those lacking sufficient clean energy capacity. A prime example is the Morocco-U.K. Power Project, where a 4,000 km subsea cable will transmit solar and wind power from Morocco—an area with double the solar intensity of the U.K.—to millions of British homes. The project, spearheaded by Xlinks, involves a vast solar, wind, and battery farm in Morocco’s Tan-Tan Province and is slated to begin operations in the 2030s.

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In November 2024, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected Amazon’s request to directly purchase 180 megawatts of power from the Susquehanna nuclear plant for a nearby data center. The decision underscored concerns about fair grid usage as data centers increasingly drive electricity demand. After two decades of flat electricity demand, power consumption forecasts are now rising sharply, fueled in large part by AI-driven computing needs.

Continue reading “Can we make AI less power-hungry?”

The latest deadline for countries to submit their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement climate goals has passed, with only 15 of the 194 signatories complying. These plans outline how each country intends to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, ideally no more than 2°C. Despite the agreement’s intent to strengthen climate efforts every five years, the low submission rate highlights a concerning lack of urgency.

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