EU lawmakers have agreed to increase the ambition of the bloc’s energy efficiency directive, making energy savings of 11.7% by 2030 mandatory in a bid to further the bloc’s climate and energy independence goals.

Top energy news: China accelerates wind power capacity; Latin America looks to solar; Kenya deploys renewable mini-grids in remote areas.

China is recognized as the undisputable global leader in renewable energy expansion, adding new projects to the grid almost as fast as the rest of the world combined last year. A massive wave of permits for new coal-fired capacity poses a significant challenge to the country’s climate goals, with Beijing seen as “the glaring exception to the ongoing global decline in coal plant development.”

The energy and transport sectors will face important challenges in the next years as decarbonisation and pollution reductions are no longer optional

European Union countries intend to push for a global phasing out of fossil fuels among their climate diplomacy priorities this year, which the bloc hopes to approve this week after rewriting a contentious section on nuclear energy.

Top energy news: The EU faces costly race to refill gas storage; The US looks to floating wind power; Heat pump sales hit record high in Europe.