What Is a Smart City, and Who Is It Built For?
A smart city uses data and AI to run services. A new UN toolbox sets rules to keep residents in charge, drawing on Helsinki, eThekwini and Rotterdam.
What Is a Smart City, and Who Is It Built For?
Examining the way that we have made the world work for us. Covering topics such as energy, natural resources, mobility and the development of the built environment.
One Year After Belém, What Do COP Summits Leave Their Hosts?
One Year After Belém, What Do COP Summits Leave Their Hosts?
One year after COP30, Brazilian cities have 200 electric buses on order. What COP summits leave their hosts, from Paris to Baku, as COP31 opens in Antalya.
Grid Queues Now Exceed Peak Demand From Texas to the UK
Grid Queues Now Exceed Peak Demand From Texas to the UK
An IEA report for the G7 finds grid queues exceed peak demand in Texas, Virginia, Finland and the UK, as homes and factories compete with data centres.
A Blackout Cut Card Spending 41%. Europe Plans Offline Payments
A Blackout Cut Card Spending 41%. Europe Plans Offline Payments
Every new Mastercard in Europe must support offline card payments from 2027, as central banks and regulators prepare for blackouts and IT outages.
World Bank Mobilises $112bn of Private Capital for Poorer Nations
World Bank Mobilises $112bn of Private Capital for Poorer Nations
The World Bank Group mobilised a record $112 billion in private capital during its 2026 fiscal year. The lender says more of that money now reaches lower-income economies and job-rich sectors.
California Has More EV Chargers Than Petrol Pumps
California Has More EV Chargers Than Petrol Pumps
California boasts 48% more EV chargers than gas pumps, reflecting a major shift towards electric vehicle adoption and infrastructure.
The UK Shuts Down its Last Coal-fired Power Station
The UK Shuts Down its Last Coal-fired Power Station
Ratcliffe-on-Soar, the UK's last coal-fired power station, is shutting down, signalling the UK's shift to decarbonisation and clean energy.
China Invests in Energy Transition and Reduces Coal
China Invests in Energy Transition and Reduces Coal
China's renewable energy revolution: fewer new coal projects and a surge in solar and wind power signify a commitment to a cleaner future.
How To Reduce Cement Emissions
How To Reduce Cement Emissions
Three technologies could deliver huge reductions in emissions from cement manufacturing by 2030. Cement creates 8% of all emissions.
Mobile Broadband Coverage Reaches 95% Of World
Mobile Broadband Coverage Reaches 95% Of World
Warning: if you want some time out from annoying work calls, the excuse ‘I didn’t have any signal’ is increasingly implausible. It’s been announced by the GSMA, the body that unifies the global mobile ecosystem, that 95 per cent of the world’s population now has...
Sci-Fi City Planned in Saudi Arabia
Sci-Fi City Planned in Saudi Arabia
Opinion is split whether THE LINE, a 170km-long, 200m wide city unveiled this week by Saudi Arabia is a vision of a perfect future for civilisation, or an indication that dystopian science fiction is coming true.The announcement of the project by Mohammed bin...
SPOTLIGHT: EV Charge Point Boom
SPOTLIGHT: EV Charge Point Boom
With just 400 weeks until 2030 - the date most governments and businesses are targeting for substantive climate measures to be in place - the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is picking up pace. That’s creating huge potential growth in the EV charging market....
In My Opinion: Nuclear Waste Debate Fuelled By War In Ukraine
In My Opinion: Nuclear Waste Debate Fuelled By War In Ukraine
As Putin’s army unleashes unimaginable misery on the people of Ukraine, it seems trite to talk about the war’s impact on the world’s programmes to geologically dispose of our most harmful radioactive wastes. But the invasion is changing our world, including how...
