Not one of the world’s major banks has yet committed to end funding for fossil-fuel development, says The State of the Banking Transition 2025 report from the London School of Economics and Political Science. The annual assessment also found that only 17 of the 36 financial institutions it looked at had any targets for funding climate solutions. “Given banks’ central role in the economy and their far-reaching influence on climate…the objectives of the Paris agreement are slipping further out of reach,” project lead Algirdas Brochard told The Guardian. Remember, it’s your money these banks are investing, which means moving it elsewhere is one of the great sleeper climate actions. Well, look at that: We have a guide on that very subject.
Not all beef in U.S. cities is created equal from an emissions point-of-view according to a new analysis in the journal Nature Climate Change. The authors looked at the carbon “hoofprint” of 3,531 cities, and found stark differences in beef’s impacts depending on where the person consumes it. The emissions associated with a burger can vary as much as five-fold based on a range of factors, most notably if the meat came from a dairy herd (as is common in the Midwest) or a dedicated beef herd (as is common in Texas). The authors note that these are mostly supply-chain factors that a shopper can’t really influence at the grocery store, but their findings did re-emphasize that measures like reducing waste and shifting meat consumption towards chicken and pork can halve emissions.
A new update from the app Chargeway has made the learning curve for new EV adopters a little less of a climb. While most apps that drivers can use to find nearby public powerup points display charging speeds in terms of kilowatt-hours, Chargeway rates chargers on a scale of 1 to 7—the higher the number, the faster the charge. The app also color codes chargers by plug type, so it’s easy to see if one’s compatible with your car at a glance. Its latest update, InsideEVs notes, adds one final crucial component: real-time pricing.
Startup company Pila Energy just raised $4 million in investment to bring its home battery to market. Existing in the gray space between a massive, grid-connected battery like a Testa Powerwall and a backup generator homeowners can tap into during blackouts or other emergencies, the company’s Mesh Home Battery is about the size of a briefcase, doesn’t require an electrician to install, and holds enough juice to keep an average fridge running for more than a day, reports Canary Media. Homeowners can also program the batteries to sock away electricity when rates dip—like during off-peak midday hours—and use it when prices go up. The $1,300 packs are currently up for pre-order, and the company hopes to ship them out later this year.
A few weeks ago, it seemed that the U.N. agency overseeing shipping was set to agree on rules to decarbonize, but talks were torpedoed late last week. Shipping accounts for about 3% of global emissions, and its planet-warming potential has been forecasted to skyrocket in the coming decades. To gird against this, the agency planned to implement a tax on polluting ships and use those funds to move towards green shipping fuels. Facing vocal opposition from the Trump administration and a push from Saudi Arabia, the negotiating body announced it would adjourn for a year.