Central Europe / bneGREEN
Hungary’s green loan stock surpasses €2.8bn as energy storage gains ground
Green financing now accounts for nearly 8% of total corporate and municipal lending.
Danube hits record 31cm low as drought idles central European reactors
The Danube has dropped to a record low of 31 cm in Budapest, idling nuclear reactors in Romania and Hungary as a fierce drought parches central Europe.
Hungarian PM says ex-government failed to prepare energy system for climate change
Peter Magyar says the former government was aware for years that Hungary's electricity system was under strain but failed to address the risks.
UK's GBP21.7bn carbon-capture bet faces a credibility gap - Carbon Brief
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) - technology that catches CO2 from a factory or power plant and injects it underground - is central to most official net-zero roadmaps, but remains marginal in practice and mired in controversy.
Europe's worst wildfire season in years flags a global El Nino already moving commodity markets
Several European countries are having their worst wildfire year in more than a decade and worst than last year’s record wildfires that burnt over one million hectares, according to data from the EU's Global Wildfire Information System.
Europe enters the Pyrocene age of fire that makes its own weather
"The Pyrocene is here," climate researcher Peter Dynes wrote on X on July 28, as wildfires near Bordeaux began generating huge pyrocumulus clouds intense enough to create their own weather.
EIB lends €260mn for Poland’s second-largest onshore wind farm
Tauron’s 190MW Miejska Górka wind farm in western Poland will generate enough electricity to supply nearly 200,000 households.
Wildfires ravage Southern Europe – Statista
Southern Europe’s wildfire season used to typically run from July to September, but now data shows that it is getting longer and more intense.
Hungary commissions Central Europe’s largest battery storage complex
Hungary is rapidly expanding grid-scale energy storage to support its fast-growing renewable energy sector.
Hungary to offer larger-than-planned wind capacity after strong investor interest
Hungary’s government has launched a major wind power expansion programme aimed at increasing installed wind capacity more than tenfold by 2030.
Poland builds EU coalition to push ETS reform
Poland has assembled a 10-country coalition to press Brussels to slow the tightening of the bloc’s emissions trading system and reconsider a carbon market for buildings and road transport.
Poland records third-warmest June since 1951 as scientists urge climate action
Polish scientists have urged lawmakers to hold an urgent parliamentary debate on the climate crisis and accelerate both emissions reductions and adaptation measures.
Hungarian government unveils major wind power expansion plan after decade-long pause
The Tisza-government has introduced new regulations aimed at accelerating wind power development by easing long-standing restrictions on new projects financed from the EU's RRF scheme.
Heat mortality surges in Europe – Statista
Heat-related mortality in Europe has surged over the last couple of decades. This is according to the latest available data published by the Lancet Countdown 2025 Report, Statista reports.
Europe braces for Super El Niño as scientists warn extreme weather could intensify
Europe is enduring its most intense early summer heatwave on record, with temperatures exceeding 40°C in several countries and breaking local June records across southern and western Europe. Next up is a super El Nino that is appearning now.
Europe's June heat wave is most severe ever recorded — and the new normal
The heatwave that seared much of Europe in late June is officially the most severe ever recorded in the region, according to a rapid-attribution study published on June 26.
Coal’s unexpected comeback on Middle East conflict energy security fears
The disruption to global energy markets caused by the conflict in the Middle East has triggered an unexpected resurgence in coal demand, as energy security fears outweigh Climate Crisis commitments.
The geothermal revolution beneath the streets of Szeged
Hungary's Szeged has become a laboratory for one of Europe’s most ambitious urban geothermal transitions.
Poland braces for potentially record-breaking heat as temperatures near 40C
Forecasters expect the heatwave to peak on June 28, with temperatures in the west and parts of central Poland likely to reach 38-40C and possibly challenge the country’s all-time heat record.