Stories to watch in the weeks ahead

• Nuclear energy law advances – On 4 June, the Italian parliament began debating a government framework law paving the way for a return to nuclear energy, aiming to establish a legal basis for investment in modern reactors, particularly small modular reactors (SMRs). Environment minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said reactors could come online from around 2033, while the next months will determine whether the coalition can secure parliamentary approval before the year ends. The proposal is still facing criticism, including from environmental NGO WWF Italia, which argues that current nuclear technologies offer no major improvement on the past and remain unproven at commercial scale despite decades of development. The debate about nuclear’s role intensified in the ongoing European heatwave, which has revived concerns over nuclear resilience, as some French reactors faced operational constraints due to overheated rivers and reduced cooling water availability. Italian analysts warned that more frequent droughts and extreme heat could turn access to water into a structural constraint for future nuclear capacity. 
• Mattei Plan moves into financing phase – As part of Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa, a series of agreements signed in Rome between the Africa Finance Corporation and Italian institutions aim to mobilise investment in African infrastructure projects across energy, transport, digital and industrial sectors. The initiative strengthens financial cooperation tools such as guarantees, co-financing and project preparation mechanisms, with a focus on strategic infrastructure projects including the Lobito Corridor, which connects the copper-rich regions of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Atlantic port of Lobito in Angola. At a public event in Rome on 24 June, climate think tank ECCO argued that the Mattei Plan should place the energy transition at its core as a driver of long-term cooperation with African countries. 

Last month in recap

• €23bn EU-backed renewables scheme – The European Commission has approved a 23-billion euro Italian state aid scheme to support renewable electricity generation, paving the way for the deployment of around 37.15 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity, including solar, wind and hydropower projects. The programme, implemented through long-term contracts for difference, is designed to stabilise investment conditions by guaranteeing revenues for producers while exposing them to market-based price signals over a 20-year horizon. The measure has now been translated into the government’s FER X framework. This is expected to accelerate auctions and unlock large volumes of stalled or delayed projects, marking one of the largest industrial policy interventions in Italy’s energy transition to date. 
• Heatwaves becoming stress test for Italy's electricity grid – The heatwave at the end of June has exposed growing pressure on Italy's electricity system, with air conditioning driving demand close to seasonal peaks and localised blackouts affecting several cities. While transmission operator Terna has maintained overall system stability, repeated disruptions have highlighted the vulnerability of local distribution networks during periods of extreme heat. Rail services have also suffered delays linked to high temperatures, reinforcing concerns that infrastructure designed for a milder climate is struggling to cope with more frequent extremes. With heatwaves expected to become longer and more intense, the coming summers will test whether investments in grid modernisation, storage and network resilience can keep pace with rising electricity demand driven by global warming. 
• Industry turns up pressure on renewables – High electricity prices are reshaping Italy’s political debate on energy. Business lobby group Confindustria is urging the government to accelerate renewables deployment by unblocking thousands of stalled projects and cutting permitting delays, warning that high energy costs are undermining industrial competitiveness. At the same time, at Confindustria’s annual assembly, prime minister Giorgia Meloni and the association’s president Emanuele Orsini signalled a broader alignment on energy policy, combining faster renewables rollout with a long-term role for nuclear power as part of Italy’s future energy mix. In his speech, Orsini called on political forces to “unblock suitable areas for large-scale solar and wind plants”, while also stressing that “we must accelerate the return to nuclear power”. 

Rudi's picks – Highlights from upcoming events and top reads

• Book recommendation – Italy's debate over nuclear power is far from settled, making this newly published book by Giovanni Ludovico Montagnani and Matteo De Piccoli particularly timely. Rather than taking a clear pro- or anti-nuclear stance, Avete rotto l'atomo revisits Italy's unfinished nuclear history and examines both today's fission technologies and future reactor concepts through their technical, economic and regulatory dimensions. I appreciated its attempt to move the discussion beyond slogans and entrenched positions, offering readers the tools to engage with one of the country's most polarising energy debates. 

• Press tour opportunity – If you are interested in covering one of Italy’s leading trade fairs dedicated to the ecological transition, applications are now open for an international press tour linked to Ecomondo, one of Europe’s main hubs for the green and circular economy held annually in Rimini. The initiative offers selected journalists and communicators access to the fair’s international programme, including institutions, companies and researchers working across energy, climate and sustainability transitions. You can apply here by 30 July, and find more information here. 

Italy has taken significant steps in its green transition over the past decade, but the current government under prime minister Giorgia Meloni is also determined to make the country a "gas hub" in the Mediterranean Sea, illustrating ongoing deep ties to fossil fuels. Researchers and NGOs have criticised the country's draft plan to reach EU 2030 climate targets for being vague about key topics such as phasing out oil, coal and gas, and expanding alternative energy sources like wind or solar power. This regularly updated guide provides an overview of how far Italy has come in its move to climate neutrality. [UPDATES information on nuclear energy, renewables support and Mattei Plan]

The stakes are particularly high for Los Angeles as the FIFA World Cup unfolds. The city is testing heat and transport plans against an influx of global sports fans, which should both inform Olympic decisions and help it cope with growing climate risks. The reality on the ground shows a complex web of challenges and missed opportunities to increase ambition, yet LA still has two years before the Olympic torch arrives.

*** Please note: this article is part of CLEW’s reporting on climate resilience in the sporting world. You can find the full package here. This project was made possible by a grant from the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation. Follow CLEW for more from this series. ***

A pungent smell clouds the stadium where the US men’s football team is set to play its first World Cup match. With 30 days to go before kick-off, the venue’s operation team is busy transforming the playing field into a world-class “soccer” stadium, the freshly-laid soil covered in fertilisers ahead of the arrival of refrigerated trucks with special grass the following day.

Tending to the playing surface is one small task in the job of delivering a seamless event in Los Angeles, one of 16 cities hosting the most popular sporting event in the world this summer. 

Compared to other host cities, the stakes are particularly high in LA, which hopes to use this year’s World Cup – and next year’s Super Bowl – as a dry run for the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, coming to the city two years later.

This is the start of LA’s mega-sporting-event era, and while the eight World Cup matches unfolding at the SoFi Stadium pale in comparison to the size of the Olympics, they provide a good starting point to stress-test security strategies, mobility protocols, and heatwave response plans. The traffic-laden city, with its stressed budget, wants to know what an influx of fans does to its infrastructure, and hopes its mega-event preparations somehow pay long-term dividends.

Contents

• What is the EU ETS?
• Why is the EU reforming the system?
• What is the European Commission expected to propose?
• What are the main demands of stakeholders?
• What is the timeline of the process?
• What is the political backdrop?

  What is the EU ETS?

  Launched in 2005, the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is considered the bloc's main climate policy tool. It currently sets an overall cap on greenhouse gas emissions from power generation, energy-intensive industry, and parts of aviation and maritime transport, which together account for about 40 percent of the EU's total emissions. Companies must surrender one allowance for every tonne of CO2 they emit, while the cap falls over time to drive emissions down and encourage investment in cleaner technologies. It is the world’s first and largest carbon market.

  Why is the EU reforming the system?

  For three reasons: a review is required under the scheme's legal mandate, emissions must keep falling after 2030, and a potential connection with UN carbon mechanisms requires more scrutiny.

  The ETS Directive obliges the European Commission to report on progress by July 2026, and to accompany the report, “where appropriate, by a legislative proposal and impact assessment”.

  The current ETS was designed to help deliver the EU's goal of reducing its net emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. Following the latest revision in 2023, the cap was tightened to bring emissions down by 62 percent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. It must now be updated for the decade after, in line with the new EU target of cutting emissions by 90 percent by 2040, compared to 1990 levels. The next reform will therefore determine how quickly emissions should continue to fall between 2031 and 2040, while ensuring the carbon market continues to provide a predictable investment signal for low-carbon technologies.

  Moreover, EU heads of state have agreed to allow UN-approved international carbon credits (issued under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement) to cover up to five percentage points of the 2040 goal. Although the Commission has ruled out using those credits for ETS compliance, the decision ultimately will lie in the hands of the European Parliament and the Council of EU member states, acting as co-legislators.
  
  In cooperation with Carbon Pulse.

This text is part of our package about frontier climate technologies. If you want more details on direct air capture, check out our in-depth Q&A with scientific background and links to further material.

Clean Energy Wire: The German government has said it wants to make Germany a world market leader in carbon removal technologies, such as direct air capture (DAC). Is this realistic?

Malte Feucht: I believe it is realistic, but it requires consistency. Will we build very large-scale DAC facilities in Germany? I don’t know. But we can certainly develop the technologies and become the technology leader and supplier for Europe and beyond. There are many hidden champions in Germany whose businesses – for example in measuring or sensor technology – are not solely domestic, but global. We need to adopt this mindset. 

Where do you see the main competitors?

We stay very focused on our own strategy and don't spend much time watching the competition. Of course, there are other companies in the space, like Swiss Climeworks and Oxy in Texas. Worldwide, there are nine companies with significant offtake agreements, eight of which are using thermal approaches that require a lot of energy for baseload operations. We are the only electrochemical DAC company with significant offtakes and enjoy the trust of customers like JPMorgan and Google.

What sets your technology apart?

DAC encompasses a range of technology combinations. Fundamentally, every process involves a CO2 absorption agent, which can be solid or liquid. But the energy intensive step is CO2 desorption, the release of the captured CO2 as a gas for downstream use. We have developed a proprietary “Hydrolyzer”, that runs fully on electricity and uses less energy than conventional DAC approaches. Unlike other technologies, it can be ramped up and down depending on the availability of clean and cheap electricity. The fact that we enjoy the trust of customers like JPMorgan and Google, I see as a vote of confidence in our differentiated approach – leveraging intermittent electricity can fundamentally change the cost economics of DAC.

A major heatwave across much of Europe has pushed temperatures in Germany to all-time highs and reignited a debate about how the country can ensure sufficient funding for climate change adaptation. André Berghegger, managing director of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB), told news network Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) that climate protection and adaptation are a task for society as a whole, making federal and state funding indispensable.

He renewed a long-time demand for the introduction of a so-called “joint task” for climate adaptation in Germany's constitution, which would ensure the federal government and states contribute to financing for the task on a permanent basis.

Renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass covered 58 percent of Germany’s electricity consumption from January to June 2026, according to preliminary figures by energy industry association BDEW and research institute ZSW. This is up three percentage points compared to the same period last year, and a new record for the first six months of a year. In total, renewable energy facilities generated 152.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity between January and June.

Renewables are key for Germany’s move to climate neutrality. The country aims to bring the renewables share in electricity consumption to 80 percent by 2030. After the completion of the coal phase-out, Germany aims to establish a greenhouse gas neutral electricity supply.

The German government has introduced environmentally harmful subsidies worth 11 billion euros so far this year, including a higher commuter allowance, industry electricity price support and petrol and diesel fuel rebates, according to calculations by Green Budget Germany (FÖS). 

Greenpeace, which commissioned the factsheet, said the government was “wasting billions of euros” on the subsidies while the energy crisis caused by the war in Iran made clean alternatives more attractive. “This is a huge opportunity to reduce our dependence on oil and gas,” said spokesperson Lena Donat. “The German government must build on this momentum with a sensible combination of financial incentives and targeted support for those hit hardest, rather than artificially driving down the price of oil and gas.”

8 July: Webinar New policy and demand incentives to accelerate hydrogen deployment in Europe, Franco-German Office for the Energy Transition, ONLINE.

9 July: Vote in federal parliament on law to introduce auctions for new gas-fired power plants, BERLIN.

9 July: ECJ ruling on German state aid for combined heat and power generation, LUXEMBOURG.

11 July - 6 September: Parliamentary summer recess, BERLIN.

23 July: Press conference on wind power expansion in Germany in H1/2026, German Wind Energy Federation, ONLINE.