Headlines: January 2026

We’re just two weeks into 2026 and we can already call it the Year of the Unravelling with a solid dose of confidence. Trump is buying Greenland, Merz says destroying Germany’s nuclear power industry was a mistake and Kaja Kallas says it’s time to start drinking. The last thing I expected from 2026 was that I could agree with Kallas on anything but here I am, agreeing that some people need to start drinking. We, on the other hand, will be reading. It might be advisable to put the beverages down.

#1. Climate policy suffers blistering setbacks in 2025 despite clean energy boom

A blistering rollback of climate policies led by the US in 2025 with knock-on effects in Europe and other western economies has heightened concerns about rising greenhouse gases, even as a clean energy boom takes hold.

Well, if the “clean energy boom” is taking hold there’s nothing to worry about, is there? If that “boom” has proven to be profitable companies would keep investing in it, wouldn’t they? Questions, questions and not an answer in sight. And speaking of the “clean energy boom”,

#2. Sweden’s Once-Pioneering Green Ambitions Are Unravelling

Six years ago, the cobbled square outside Sweden’s parliament buzzed with energy as Greta Thunberg and her “Fridays for Future” demonstrators urged passing lawmakers to act on climate change through loudhailers and whistles.

On a recent Friday, it was far different. Two protesters, a small cardboard sign and a quiet vigil.

The energy that’s drained out of the campaign mirrors a broader deflation of green ambitions in Sweden and across the continent. Populist groups are pushing back against environmental initiatives, spurred on in part by Donald Trump’s anti-green agenda, and there’s been a weakening of near-term emission-reduction measures, especially where climate and cost-of-living policies have clashed.

Truly heartbreaking, what has happened to “Fridays for Future”. What’s even more heartbreaking, though, is the last part about the clash between climate and the cost of living. It’s almost as if climate action and cost of living are inversely related but whisper it lest those two poor vigil-holders hear you. Alas, Big Oil has already heard the bust of the green balloon.

#3. BP flags up to $5 billion in energy transition impairments, weak oil trading

Oil major BP expects to book $4 billion to $5 billion in fourth-quarter impairments, mainly tied to its low-carbon energy businesses, as it redirects spending to oil and gas to boost returns under new leadership including Chair Albert Manifold.

How very unfortunate that BP wants to make money instead of saving the planet from itself. And it’s not the only one, either. Ford is looking at $20 billion in losses from its EV gamble. Worse still, even green-first companies are having a bit of trouble in the money department as

#4. Octopus Energy swings to a loss as it hits 10mn customers globally

Octopus Energy has swung back to an annual loss and saw its financial performance sharply deteriorate as it spent heavily on its rapid expansion. The company — which said on Monday that it had raised $850mn from selling a slice of Kraken, its software business — blamed much of its financial deterioration on exceptional factors.

The exceptional factors? “Its staff numbers rising 34 per cent to 11,400, its staff and contractor costs increasing 53 per cent to £469mn, its administrative expenses rising 23 per cent to £1.5bn, and its sales and marketing costs more than doubling to £190mn.” Sounds like it takes a lot of marketing to get to 10 million customers. I see nothing exceptional about that. Now, the EU’s next bright idea about energy storage, on the other hand, is another matter.

#5. Bricks and sand are the next big thing in Europe’s energy transition

The Turks have long known that sand can store and transfer heat, and they used it to make coffee. And no bourgeois central European home was complete in Mozart’s day without an ornate brick-and-tile stove, keeping the salon warm long after the fire had gone out.

Now these simple ideas and materials are coming back into fashion – offering a way to help save the world from climate change, and rescue Europeans from stubbornly high energy bills.

Yes, that is correct. “Sand batteries” will save the world from climate change and Europeans from electricity inflation. There’s just one, um, little problem. “You get about 30% of the electricity you put in, which is well below the 80% that utility-scale lithium-ion batteries offer.” As is only fitting, the little problem of efficiency is mentioned briefly at the end of the story. Too bad some of us read until that end. If you think that’s peak asylum worthiness I have news for you:

#6. EV shift repaints Britain’s car market green, industry body says

British drivers turning to EVs are leading a change in colour preferences, as green-tinted cars sold in 2025 reached their highest volume in 20 years, industry body SMMT said on Friday.

British motorists, associating the colour green with the country's decarbonisation drive, bought 99,793 green cars in the year, 46.3% more than in 2024 and reaching almost 5% of total cars sold, the SMMT said on Friday.

There can only be one possible conclusion to be drawn from this piece of news. The way to unleash the EV revolution, the only way to truly unlock all the benefits of the energy transition is to mandate that all electric cars are hitherto painted green to appeal to what passes for adult mentality in certain parts of the world that are very important for the EV revolution. To end on a high note and since we’re speaking of battery-powered moving machines,

#7. Talk About Range Anxiety—Could Giant Cargo Ships Run on Batteries?

How much of the shipping industry could run on batteries is debated, but the fact there is a debate shows how rapidly batteries have improved. Until the past few years, the kind used in electric cars were viewed as too expensive, heavy and bulky for ships. Now they are powering ferries in Norway’s fjords and container ships on China’s rivers.

Fleetzero doesn’t manufacture the battery cells itself. It buys those from companies in China and elsewhere, and packages them in fridge-size units that are designed to minimize fire risk without using too much space.

I think we can all agree that the recent past has provided us with ample evidence that the fact of there being debate on a topic does not invariably mean that one — or more — of the positions expressed in the debate are anything other than a) wishful thinking, b) a demonstration of derangement, c) a revelation of ignorance on the topic, or d) all of the above.

This is going to be a highly entertaining year where entertainment can mean so many things, not all of them, alas, entertaining.