What mattered this week

US withdraws from UN climate body - just as China tightens climate rules

World dividing? As always. Trump dumped the IPCC (body coordinating climate research and action) - just as China pushes their companies to green up with new rules.
Why it matters? Regulations are splitting along power blocs - not emissions targets.
The underlying story: China was the climate bad guy. Will that change?
Read more: Petrostates vs Electrostates in a world divided (The National Interest)

Africa: Solar up staggering 60% in a year

How big? Big. 33x growth in Algeria. 8x in Zambia, etc. 2GWe in November alone.
Why it matters: Africa can’t reach Western living standards with fossils - there aren’t enough and what we have, they can’t afford.
Strip the PR: Fossil pushers think renewables is rich-country luxury. Ain’t so.
Read more: For latest stats, @CleanPowerDave; Ember “First Evidence of a Solar Take Off in Africa”

The Scoreboard

Combustion cars peaked in 2016. And ain’t coming back. Ever.

For more: Our World in Data.

One thing to worry about

2025 was the third hottest year in the last 120,000.

Behind, well, 2023 and 2024.

Um. Yeah. About that.

One thing to be optimistic about

This chart of solar deployed vs experts forecasts gets better each year.

Will this be the biggest energy tech of all time? (@AssaadRazzouk)

If you’ve got more time, read this…

“Elon Musk is America’s China” - a cryptic phrase from super-blogger Noah Smith, in his new piece America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind.

• The question is whether the US cedes the entire tech stack (batteries, motors, power electronics) to China

• EVs are sadly a victim in the US culture wars. Sentiment/policy is pushing automakers out of the very stack that underpins cars, drones, robots, data centres, and industrial kit

• Lose leadership in EVs and you don’t just lose autos - you lose cost position across a huge swath of hardware

• China treats ESG not as morality but as industrial policy, using shared components and scale economics to make “a smartphone with wheels/propellers/arms” across sectors

Trump is doubling down on fossils. So handing China leverage over AI infrastructure, military kit, and a big slice of manufacturing.

The Bottom Line

America is remaining a petrostate. China is building an electrostate.

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