Huge quantities of captured carbon can be saved if buildings are not demolished, explains a booklet newly translated into English by the Norwegian Green Building Council. More than 22,000 buildings are demolished each year in Norway. Buildings can be seen as materials banks, says the report. Refurbishment is the first step towards closing the flow of materials and adapting to a circular economy. The EU – of which Norway is not a member – stipulates that starting in 2020, 70% of all construction waste must be recycled.

The number of new renewable installations is set for its first annual decline this year, as the Covid-19 pandemic slows projects globally. Net additions are poised to drop 13% year-on-year – but still see an overall increase in renewable energy installed capacity of 6%. The bulk of new additions this year are solar and wind (86%). Projects delayed in 2020 are forecast to come online next year, which will see the rate of new installations return to 2019 levels. However, the IEA predicts longer-term issues around the availability of financing for new projects out to 2025.

The World Economic Forum’s annual energy transition index (ETI) finds that 94 of the 115 countries monitored have improved their ETI score during the past six years. They represent more than 70% of the global population and 70% of global CO2 emissions from fuel combustion. The likes of Argentina, Bulgaria, China, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, India, Ireland, Italy, Slovakia, Sri Lanka and Ukraine, have made steady progress since 2014. Emerging demand centres like India and China show strong improvement, while Brazil, Canada, Iran and the United States are either stagnant or declining.