Current political and economic issues succinctly explained. Alice C. Hill is the is the David M. Rubenstein senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations. Mia Beams is a research associate for climate and energy at CFR.

Many nations surge ahead with clean energy and electric vehicles, thanks to increasingly inexpensive clean technology. In the U.S., President Trump, traditional energy interests and their business allies try to reverse climate measures and support fossil fuels.

In what will probably be the warmest year in recorded history, in a month in which all but two U.S. states are in a drought, and on a day when yet another hurricane was forming in the Caribbean, Donald Trump, a climate denier with a thirst for oil drilling ...

AMONG THE words mentioned most often by Li Qiang in his “work report”—a sort of state-of-the-nation address—on March 5th was “green”. His predecessor as prime minister used it nine times in last year’s speech; Mr Li nearly doubled that (see ...

While climate policy in major industrialized democracies is increasingly treated as part of a culture war, China is treating it as an economic strategy. Beijing’s new pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions 7–10% below its peak by 2035 looks modest ...

U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry wrapped up U.S.-China climate talks in Beijing on Wednesday, the first such visit since last August, when the country iced him out after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which China regards as a breakaway province.

From left: Then-United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and then-U.S. President Barack Obama greet each other at a climate event in Hangzhou, China, Sep. 3, 2016. Credit: Official White House photo by Pete Souza On ...

The aims of China's climate actions are underpinned by a desire for political and economic stability — driving its investment in green transitions while still heavily depending on fossil fuels and raw materials. This has made China both a leader in ...

Global inaction on fossil fuel and plastic treaties, the dismantling of federal agencies and regulations and the rapid rise of data centers were just a few of the consequential stories that Inside Climate News tracked in 2025.