With climate change getting worse and the Iran war threatening fuel supplies, Shaz Rahman looks at how co-ops can offer energy solutions

In the energy sector, a host of community energy co-ops sprang up and installed solar panels on community buildings, funded by the Feed-in Tariff (a policy mechanism designed to encourage renewable energy adoption by paying producers for the electricity they generated). This initiative offered a guaranteed price for the power generated, giving co-ops the security to fund the capital for the panels.

Last week we saw headlines with food policy expert Professor Tim Lang warning that the UK food system is dangerously vulnerable to shocks. From climate disruption to geopolitical conflict, Lang argues that the country is not adequately prepared to ensure its population can be fed if supply chains are disrupted. It’s a stark assessment, but it’s not a new one - says Amit Dattani, Soil Association Director of Healthy and Sustainable Food:

As war exposes the fragility of global energy supplies, communities are showing how clean power can be local, affordable and owned by the people who use it

If you’d not met the man, and I asked you to picture a ‘Reg Platt’, what would spring to mind? A retired gas fitter? A dogged constable in a Hercule Poirot drama? Almost certainly not a buzzing entrepreneur, with grizzled rock star good looks, who’s driving a revolution in solar power across the rooftops of east London.
So much for nominative determinism.

Spain spent the last six years investing heavily in wind and solar energy, leading to some of the cheapest power prices in Europe.
But one European country is well placed to weather these shocks thanks to its investment in renewable energy.
Since 2019, Spain has doubled its wind and solar capacity, adding over 40 GW - more than any other EU country except Germany, whose power market is twice the size of Spain’s.

Achieving the UK’s net zero target by 2050 will cost less than a single oil shock and bring health and economic benefits while insulating the country against future costs, the government’s climate advisers have forecast.
Eliminating the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels by adopting renewable energy and green technologies, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps, would be the best and most cost-effective option for the future economy, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) found.

Transitioning to renewable energy does, in itself, require energy. But how much? A new model finds that phasing out all fossil fuels in EU by 2035 would require up to 39% of the current total energy supply.

The ILHO (Investigation Logement Huisvesting Onderzoek) housing investigation system in Schaerbeek (BE) mobilises a multidisciplinary team, including municipal departments (urban planning, population, debt recovery, etc.) and external partners (police, neighbourhood associations, etc.) to combat inadequate housing and exploitative landlords. The system prevents landlords enriching themselves at the expense of vulnerable tenants.
The system also enhances knowledge of local buildings, and better connects administrative data in a territory, to identify who lives in each home. By connecting house owners with organisations that help renovate buildings and support tenants, the ILHO aims to improve housing quality and tenants’ well-being.

Ah, les champs ! Cette commune des Alpes-Maritimes a engagé une transition alimentaire écologique depuis maintenant quinze ans. Elle incite les habitant·es à cultiver, attribue de nouvelles terres à l’agriculture… Des pratiques qu’elle voudrait voir se développer ailleurs, y compris au-delà des frontières.

A new vision for urban living is taking shape, driven by an urgent need to make our cities more liveable, sustainable and resilient. Here’s what the metropolitan areas of tomorrow will look like
Wooden towers rise above the tree canopy, their facades alive with plants and shimmering solar cladding. The hum of traffic is gone. Instead, a quiet feet of autonomous robovans glides along dedicated lanes, linking neighbourhoods in smooth, predictable loops.

Europe banished much of its industry, but we continue to enjoy its fruits: globalised manufacturing chains provide us with cheap goods that arrive in neat packages. And while our cities are beautified with good intentions, they are being reduced to markets for the consumption of that beauty: streetscapes fill Instagram feeds, as surely as homes become Airbnbs. Meanwhile the average resident, faced with dwindling employment outside the tourism industry, is increasingly priced out of their own home town. When heavy industry was offshored, so was its labour.

En pleine préparation du budget UE 2028-2034, Plan4Climate publie un rapport clé : comment financer efficacement la décarbonation et protéger les ménages et territoires vulnérables dans 12 États-membres ? 

Rappel utile : selon l’Agence Environnementale européenne, il manque actuellement €742  milliards d’investissements publics et privés pour réussir le Green Deal. Les financements européens représentent environ un tiers des financements publics climatiques qui permettront de le combler, ce qui rend ce budget indispensable pour répondre à la demande croissante de financements climatiques et verts.

Chris Vrettos, Senior Policy Advisor and Sara Tachelet, HR Director of REScoop, a EUSEW partner organisation, explore how the EU Citizens Energy Package will deliver community energy projects and promote clean power across the continent.

Led by LCP Delta and the Centre for Energy Equality on behalf of Northern Powergrid, the project will explore how to improve access to energy flexibility for households and SMEs across the North East of England who may otherwise be unable to participate. The initiative ultimately aims to provide free or low‑cost batteries to households, helping them store energy and use it during peak times to reduce bills through time‑of‑day tariffs

Europe’s vision of a citizen led energy revolution is falling short of expectations with legal confusion and technical barriers slowing progress, according to new auditors.
A report from the European Court of Auditors warns that energy communities were supposed to transform how people generate and share power across the bloc but the rollout has been far slower than planned.

Community Energy England and a coalition of 250 organisations have delivered an open letter to the government urging urgent action to unlock the full potential of community energy.

The signatories span climate, poverty reduction, community development and local enterprise, and include public figures and businesses from across the UK.

What if saving money, creating jobs and tackling climate change all went hand in hand?
In this episode, we leave the policy talk behind and meet the people making the circular economy happen, from repair café volunteers and reuse hubs to engineers refurbishing tools and fashion workers giving textiles a second life.
Their stories reveal five simple reasons people love the circular economy.
This isn’t a distant ambition. It’s already here and people want more of it.