Signals of Change – February 2026
We Mean Business Coalition
Signals of an accelerated transition from fossil fuels to clean, electrified solutions
Energy
Recent data shows record-breaking deployment of clean energy solutions across four continents in 2025 – driving economic growth and lowering costs for communities.
Australia passed a major clean power milestone in late 2025, with renewables and storage supplying over 50% of grid electricity for a full quarter. The shift helped drive a 40%+ year-on-year fall in wholesale electricity prices.
Africa’s solar capacity grew 54% in 2025, adding around 4.5 GW, the fastest annual expansion on record for the continent. In the EU, wind and solar generated 30% of electricity in 2025, overtaking fossil fuels for the first time.
China’s clean energy boom is now a core driver of its economic growth and global capacity build-out, contributing more than one-third of China’s GDP growth in 2025. Over the past four years Beijing’s energy build-out has been unprecedented, adding around 543 GW of new electricity capacity in 2025, more than the entire U.S. power grid’s existing capacity.
India’s electrification is outpacing China’s historical pace at similar development levels, with cheap solar, batteries and EV tech driving rapid adoption. The country hit ~51.5% non-fossil power capacity in 2025, five years ahead of target.
Deep dive: How clean electrification can build energy security for business
Electrification reshapes energy security risks for businesses. With the right policy and investment, electrified systems can enhance resilience while supporting competitiveness and economic stability.
Buildings
First to London, where a new district heating plan will use river-source electric heat pumps to draw warmth from the River Thames to provide low-carbon heating to landmark buildings including the National Theatre.
Next to Scotland, where the world’s largest Passivhaus school cut energy use by 48% in its first year, saving roughly £433,000 in energy bills.
In New Mexico, a major developer has phased out natural gas on new housing lots in favour of all-electric heating and appliances, cutting construction costs by roughly $3,000 per home. Across the U.S., heat pumps are now cheaper to run this winter than fossil fuel heating across cold States, underscoring the growing economic case for electrified buildings.
Meanwhile, a U.S. start-up has unveiled a new heat battery capable of storing renewable energy as high temperature heat, enabling almost any factory to electrify fossil fuel intensive technologies including boilers, furnaces and kilns.
Industry
In green steel news, power utility Vattenfall will build its Clashindarroch II wind farm with low-carbon steel turbine towers, cutting the towers’ embodied carbon by around 36% against conventional steel.
Transport
In California, fast-charging joint venture Ionna, backed by BMW, General Motors, Hyundai-Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, has announced a $250 million investment to expand its EV fast-charging infrastructure over the next three years. The move builds on a 30% increase in U.S. fast-charging capacity in 2025, easing one of the biggest barriers for EV drivers.
Meanwhile, in the EU, fully electric vehicles outsold petrol-only cars for the first time in December 2025, capturing 22.6% of new registrations. With hybrids included, electrified vehicles made up 61% of new EU car sales in 2025.
Policy and incentives
Around the world, governments are creating the conditions through policy, regulations and funding to create the good news stories of the future.
In the UK, government action is accelerating the shift to clean technologies with range of measure including; a nationwide EV campaign, a £15 billion package for solar and low-carbon home upgrades and a National Wealth Fund prioritising clean energy and green steel.
In Europe, the European Investment Bank is unlocking €3 billion in funding to limit price volatility as the new EU carbon market rolls out, while the European Commission has earmarked a further €3 billion to accelerate decarbonization in buildings and road transport.
Meanwhile, a new UK–EU agreement will coordinate an historic scale-up of North Sea offshore wind power, with nations jointly committing to deliver up to 100GW of capacity by 2050, as part of a new Clean Energy Security Pact.
Next to India, where planned incentives for lithium and nickel processing are set to boost domestic EV supply chains, helping secure critical minerals as electric vehicle production accelerates.
Across Africa, governments are stepping up clean-energy policy, with Kenya introducing tax breaks for EV parts and charging stations, and Nigeria launching a $2 billion energy-transition fund to scale renewables and grid infrastructure.
Regulation and reporting
Globally, the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) has launched a World Bank-backed climate reporting standard for governments and public sector bodies, effective for annual reports from 1 January 2028, with early adoption allowed.
Scaling finance through market mechanisms
First to the U.S., where Grassroots Carbon says its regenerative ranching projects have removed and stored 1.9 million tonnes of CO₂, with more than 1.5 million tonnes already claimed by companies.
Meanwhile, Microsoft and Salesforce are ramping up demand for carbon removal, with Microsoft signing a 12-year deal for 2.85 million tonnes of removals and Salesforce backing $5 million in early-stage purchases across 19 suppliers.
Latest from the Coalition
•At Davos, our CEO Maria Mendiluce spoke to Al Jazeera about lessons China’s energy transition
•Read InfluenceMap and the Coalition’s briefing on responsible policy engagement
•Rebecca Russell (BCG) highlights signals shaping Asia-Pacific’s transition
•SME Climate Hub publishes guide for SMEs to engage policymakers
•How Unilever reduced costs and emissions with clean electricity in India (case study)
•How Danfoss is embedding electrification and efficiency in Poland (case study)
•Pilita Clark cites our thinking on multilateral climate bodies in the Financial Times
•Our CEO Maria Mendiluce asks, “Why has the reaction from oil markets been so muted?” in Forbes
Companies taking action
Globally, the Science Based Targets initiative has now validated climate targets for 10,000 companies, showing corporate climate action continuing to scale and taking the total number of companies taking action through coalition partner initiatives to 22,495
Meanwhile companies of all sizes continue to take credible and ambitious climate action through Coalition and partner initiatives. See a snapshot of this action below.
See all companies who committed in the past month on the We Mean Business Coalition website. Companies setting their ambition for net zero include:
•12,777 companies working to cut their emissions in line with science through SBTi
•9,976 small and medium-sized enterprises working to cut emissions with the SME Climate Hub
•633 companies who have now signed the Climate Pledge, to reach net zero by 2040
Meanwhile, companies are driving down emissions through the following demand-side initiatives:
•116 companies are accelerating the transition to electric vehicles through EV100
•107 companies are committed to improving their energy efficiency through the Smart Energy Coalition
•445 companies have committed to 100% renewable energy with RE100
•36 companies have joined ConcreteZero to create a market for net zero concrete
•43 companies have committed to SteelZero to create a market for net zero steel
Events
- Mumbai Climate Week: 17–19 February
- Green Biz ‘26: 17-19 February
- Edie 26: 25-26 March
- First International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels: 28-29 April
- EU Sustainable Energy Week: 9-11 June
- G7 Summit: 14-16 June
- London Climate Action Week: 20–28 June
- COP31, Antalya, Türkiye: 9-20 November
Careers
- See careers at BSR
- See careers at CDP
- See careers at Ceres
- See careers at CLG Europe (CISL)
- See careers at Climate Group
- See careers at WBCSD
- See careers at SBTi