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The Federal Council of Switzerland (the Swiss federal government) has decided to accelerate Switzerland’s decarbonisation trajectory, with a target of zero net carbon emissions by 2050. The objective is to meet the internationally agreed goal of limiting global warming to a maximum of 1.5°C when compared with the pre-industrial era.

Previously, under the Paris Agreement, Switzerland pledged to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, and to lessen its carbon emissions by 70–85% by 2050. This target was set according to findings by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that global warming should be reduced by 2100 to less than 2°C in order to avoid serious consequences for humankind and biodiversity. Since the IPCC reported in 2018 that global warming of 1.5°C could also lead to serious changes in ecosystems, the Federal Council decided in consequence that Switzerland should not produce more greenhouse gases than can be absorbed naturally or by technical means by 2050.

This climate target, which ensures that Switzerland will contribute to limit global warming to less than 1.5°C, lays the foundations for its 2050 climate strategy. Switzerland also aims to reduce CO2 emissions from transport, buildings and industry by up to 95% by 2050 through existing technologies and the use of renewable energies.

The Indian government has relaxed its investment rules to open coal mining to foreign players. The new regulation authorises 100% foreign direct investments (FDIs) in coal mining and all related processing activities, without approval from the government or from the Reserve Bank of India (“direct route”). …

The province of Ontario (Canada) has lodged an appeal against the federal carbon tax at the Supreme Court, claiming that the new contribution was unconstitutional. In June 2019, the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected Ontario’s claim, prompting the province to file an appeal to a higher court. …

The government of India aims to reach 100% of electrification of railways, i.e. nearly 120,000 km of track, in the next ten years, as part of its strategy to reduce its CO2 emissions. It aims to make Indian Railways 100% electrified and 100% renewable energy driven by 2030. In 2018-2019, the company consumed around 20 TWh of electricity and 3.1 billion litres of high-speed diesel (HSD).. …

According to Eurostat, the average oil import dependency rate of the European Union (ratio of net imports to gross inland energy consumption) remained stable in 2017 at 87%, 2 percentage points below the 89% peak posted in 2015.

The Natural Gas Public Company of Cyprus (DEFA) has selected a consortium led by China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering (with Aktor, Metron, Wilhelmsen Ship Management, and Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding) to build a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to import and regasify LNG in Cyprus.

Thüga Erneuerbare Energien (THEE) and the CEE Group have decided to join forces to develop large-scale solar PV plants with a cumulated capacity of 500 MW in Germany. These projects would be built and operated without any subsidy and partners bet on the very low production costs to make the projects economically viable.

The government of Ecuador has signed a decree allowing the design, construction and operation of a new 300,000 bbl/d (15 Mt/year) refinery on its coast, which would not involve state-owned companies. Consequently, the government is seeking private investors to build and operate the project, estimated to require US$6bn in investment.