Sustainability Briefing — 5 August 2026
Today's briefing spans the widening gap between climate-adaptation needs and funding in Europe, Nordic efforts to map shared energy-security risks, and a global milestone as renewables overtook coal in 2025, alongside a broadening industry focus on software's water and waste footprint beyond carbon.
EEA: climate-proofing key sectors delivers a 'triple dividend'
A new EEA briefing finds that making agriculture, energy and transport climate resilient could deliver a triple dividend of avoided losses, saved lives and unlocked economic potential. It estimates required investments of EUR 53–137 billion annually by 2050, against current committed funding of just EUR 15–16 billion per year for these sectors, while extreme weather already costs Europe an estimated EUR 40–50 billion per year.
New Nordic report maps energy-security cooperation across eight jurisdictions
A 2026 Nordic Energy Research report maps the state of Nordic energy security cooperation across all eight Nordic jurisdictions, including the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland. It assesses regional energy systems, existing cooperation, the Baltic and Arctic threat picture, and carrier-specific vulnerabilities in electricity, oil and natural gas, applying the security–affordability–sustainability 'energy trilemma' as its lens.
Ember: renewables overtook coal worldwide in 2025
In its Global Electricity Review 2026, Ember reports that renewables overtook coal power in 2025, with solar, wind, hydropower and other renewables together supplying more than a third of global electricity for the first time. Solar rose by a record 636 TWh to 2,778 TWh, a 30% increase on 2024, and overtook wind globally for the first time.
Green Software Foundation marks five years with expanded 'beyond carbon' vision
Marking its fifth anniversary, the Green Software Foundation launched a Software Water Intensity (SWI) specification and released a new vision for green software covering water, energy and waste beyond carbon. The Foundation, now a consortium of nearly 70 organisations, also noted leadership changes, with Navveen Balani joining as new Executive Director.