Category: 3. Business

• Electro Cables is a Canadian player in low-voltage cable systems, delivering high-performance and service-focused solutions.
• Strong strategic complement to Nexans’ Canadian portfolio, offering attractive growth perspectives and a robust profitability profile.

Nexans announces the signature of an agreement to acquire 100% of the share capital of Electro Cables Inc. (“Electro Cables”).

Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Trenton, Ontario, Canada, Electro Cables is a family-owned business specializing in low-voltage cables. The company is recognized for its strong expertise in high added value solutions in adjacent to cable businesses and is supported by a robust technology platform that fully complements Nexans’ positioning in Canada. Operating through its two industrial sites,  with potential for future expansion, Electro Cables serves fast growing markets such as (i) specialized projects linked to infrastructure, data centers, gigafactories, powered transportation infrastructure, renewables and (ii) critical buildings, particularly in healthcare. With approximately c.€125 million current sales for the last twelve months ending July 2025 and a team of around 200 employees, Electro Cables has demonstrated attractive growth and robust profitability.

This acquisition allows Nexans to further strengthen and complement its activity portfolio in Canada, enhancing its position in a very dynamic market while optimizing local supply chain efficiency. It also paves the way for valuable synergies driven by Nexans’ expanded local presence and the rollout of its proven proprietary SHIFT program while enhancing innovation. The acquisition will be fully financed in cash, leveraging Nexans’ strong balance sheet and is expected to be EPS accretive from year one.

Yinson GreenTech, a leading green technology solutions provider, has unveiled the Hydromover 2.0 through its marine electrification solutions business, marinEV. The all-new vessel boasts longer range, faster charging time and larger cargo capacity, while integrating the next wave of digitalisation and electrification technology in maritime operations, setting a new benchmark for zero-emissions cargo transfers in ports worldwide.

 

Building on the success of the Hydromover prototype, Singapore’s first fully electric cargo vessel launched in November 2023, the latest Hydromover 2.0 introduces multiple key features, including increased energy storage capacity, an advanced hull form that minimises drag, and a redesigned electrical architecture to reduce power loss. These improvements translate into a threefold increase in range that can cover all anchorages within Singapore’s port limits. Fully charged in under two hours, the vessel ensures high uptime and reliability for daily operations. The Hydromover 2.0 also boasts 25% more cargo capacity and a 75% larger deck space, supporting greater cargo consolidation, efficiency, and flexibility in port operations. 

 

The Hydromover 2.0 also represents a major step forward in Yinson GreenTech’s vision to combine electrification and digitalisation in maritime operations. Beyond its zero-emission propulsion, the vessel fully integrates marinEV’s Marine Digital Platform, enabling real-time analytics, route optimisation, automated vessel management, and data-driven decision-making. This powerful combination of clean energy and smart technology positions the Hydromover 2.0 as a catalyst for transforming traditional port operations into connected, efficient, and intelligent ecosystems – setting a new benchmark for sustainable maritime logistics in Singapore and globally. See Annex A for detailed specifications.

 

At the launch event, Yinson GreenTech signed its first bareboat charter agreements with Yacht International UAE, marking a significant milestone in the vessel’s entry into the maritime market. Deliveries of the Hydromover 2.0 vessels to United Arab Emirates (UAE) are expected to be completed by mid-2026. Additionally, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was executed between Yinson GreenTech, Yacht International UAE, and Wilhelmsen Port Services to grow the adoption of electric vessels in ports throughout the UAE.

 

Jan-Viggo Johansen, Managing Director of marinEV, said:

“The all-new Hydromover 2.0 sets unprecedented standards for the modern maritime industry. At the same time, the signing of new agreements in the UAE marks a pivotal step forward for marinEV and Yinson GreenTech. Together, these milestones demonstrate our ability to move beyond innovation and into real-world deployment – taking proven electric vessel technology, connected IoT systems, and integrated digital platforms from Singapore to new markets. They reinforce our commitment to transforming port operations through the combined power of electrification and digitalisation, and to shaping a smarter, cleaner, and more connected maritime future.”

 

Prakash Vakkayil Bhaskaran, Chief Executive Officer of Yacht International LLC, commented:

“The launch of the Hydromover 2.0 marks a defining moment for the UAE maritime sector and for Yacht International. As operator of a fleet of 15 offshore support vessels & now one of the first operators to deploy fully electric vessels in the region, we are proud to contribute directly to the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 vision and Green Mobility initiatives. This project demonstrates that sustainable innovation and commercial efficiency can move hand in hand, setting a new benchmark for clean, smart, and responsible marine operations in our waters. This is more than a vessel launch — it is a statement of intent. The Hydromover 2.0 represents our commitment to shaping the next generation of marine logistics, powered by technology, data, and responsibility to our environment.”

BBC

Over the past four years, we have repositioned Sodexo as a pure-play food and services company. We have streamlined our portfolio, sharpened our focus on core activities, whilst continuing the transformation of our operating model. These efforts have set a strong foundation for sustainable performance.

Our Fiscal 2025 results reflect both the progress achieved and the operational challenges we faced, particularly in the U.S. For Fiscal 2026, we remain laser-focused on addressing these challenges, with clear action plans already underway.

The appointment of Thierry Delaporte as Chief Executive Officer marks the opening of a new chapter for Sodexo, with commercial acceleration and rigorous execution being our key priorities. I am confident that our new governance structure will support the Group’s next stage of development and long-term success.

I want to sincerely thank all Sodexo teams for their dedication and commitment. Their engagement has been essential in driving change and positioning the Group strongly for the future.
 

“In a highly challenging environment, we continue to capitalize on our compelling and competitive line-up – spanning electric, ICE, and hybrid vehicles – driving a 6.8% increase in Group revenue this quarter. We also benefited from the strong performance of Mobilize Financial Services, our financial captive, which remains a strategic asset for both current operations and the Group’s long-term ambitions. With the target to be the best in what we can control, we remain fully committed to our value over volume strategy, while maintaining strong focus on executing our cost-reduction roadmap. We confirm our full-year guidance, targeting a Group operating margin around 6.5% and free cash flow between €1.0bn and €1.5bn. In parallel, we are actively shaping our next mid-term plan, designed to accelerate the Group’s transformation and unlock future opportunities.” said Duncan Minto, Chief Financial Officer of Renault Group.

Boulogne-Billancourt, France, October 23, 2025

Commercial results highlights

In 2025 Q3, Renault Group achieved a 9.8% increase in registrations compared to the same period in 2024, with a total of 529,486 vehicles sold. Both international and European sales contributed to this performance, up 14.9% and 7.5% respectively. In Europe^[4], passenger cars sales grew by 10.9%, outperforming a market up 7.5%, while LCV sales have shown improvement sequentially, yet remaining 7.1% below 2024 Q3. All brands were up (PC, Europe): Renault +5.5%, Dacia +16.1%, Alpine +306.4%.

During the first nine months of 2025, Group sales were up 3.8% reaching 1,698,964 vehicles, with the three brands growing. In Europe, PC sales were up 6.9% for a total of 1,003,085 vehicles sold. In the international market, Renault brand sales (PC+LCV) were up in Latam (+17.3%), South Korea (+213.7%) and Morocco (+46.3%), confirming the success of its International Game Plan.

Renault Group maintained its strategy:

• Value over volume commercial policy:
  • retail sales accounted for 58.4% of total sales in the five^[5] main European countries (nearly 17 points above the market), with sequential improvement in Q3 at 63.8% of total sales (20 points above the market). 3 vehicles were in the top 10 retail sales in Europe: Sandero, Duster, and Clio.
  • residual values remained globally stable for both Renault and Dacia brands at the end of September 2025 compared to last year, being 5 to 11 points^[6] above main competitors in the five main European countries.
• Electrification^[7] acceleration: 

In the first nine months, Renault Group electrified vehicle sales rose by 58.6%, now representing 43.9% of total sales.
In 2025 Q3, Renault Group’s electrified vehicle mix reached 44.0% of the total sales up 10.8 points compared to 2024 Q3.

• • EV: Over the first nine months, Renault Group EV share increased by more than 5 points to reach 12.7%.  Renault 5 E-Tech was the B-segment EV leader in Europe.
    In 2025 Q3, Renault Group EV sales grew by 122.1% compared to 2024 Q3, reaching 13.5% of sales.
  • Hybrid (HEV): Over the first nine months, Renault Group HEV share increased by more than
    8 points to reach 30.4%. This increase is due to Renault and Dacia brands’ successful hybrid line-up. Renault Group remained second for hybrid (HEV) vehicles in Europe.
    In 2025 Q3, Renault Group HEV sales grew by 25.0% compared to 2024 Q3.

Renault Brand

In the first nine months of 2025, Renault sold 1,169,806 vehicles worldwide, marking a +3.8% increase, compared to the same period last year. In Europe^[8], Renault PC recorded a +7.5% increase, the second-highest growth among top fifteen automotive brands, with 546,314 vehicles sold. The brand’s PC market share rose by +0.3 points reaching 5.5%. Renault International Game Plan continues to deliver strong results, with +15.6% growth (PC+LCV) in the international market compared to last year.

In 2025 Q3, Renault delivered a strong performance, with 361,575 vehicles sold, a 6.6% growth compared to 2024 Q3. 

Internationally^[9], Renault grew in its strategic regions, posting a +14.2% increase overall. In Latin America, the brand rose by 6.8% thanks to Kardian with further momentum expected from the upcoming launch of Boreal in Brazil this November. In South Korea, Grand Koleos made the brand grow by 54.7% compared to 2024 Q3. In Morocco, Renault achieved a +42.6% growth, with 9,258 vehicles sold, again supported by Kardian’s success.

In Europe, the brand grew by 1.8% (PC+LCV) thanks to a 5.5% PC growth and a LCV performance (-7.0%) showing signs of recovery following a challenging first half^[10] of the year. Growth was especially high in Germany (+27.9%) and in Spain (+11.9%).

Renault electrified^[11] vehicles accounted for 60.0% of the brand sales (+9.6 points vs. 2024 Q3). Renault EV sales surged by +84.7%, to reach more than 20% of Q3 sales (+8.7 points vs. 2024 Q3) thanks to Renault 5 E-Tech, the B-segment EV leader in Europe, and Scenic E-Tech, the C-segment EV leader in France. Hybrid sales rose by +4.4%, thanks to Symbioz, the best-selling Renault hybrid, to reach 37.9% of the brand sales. Renault was the second brand for hybrid vehicles in Europe.

Over the first nine months, Renault EV sales were up 65.8% compared to the same period in 2024. Renault EV mix reached 17.4%, up 6.1 points compared to the same period in 2024.

Dacia Brand

In the first 9 months of 2025, Dacia brand sold 521,387 vehicles worldwide, up 4.1% compared to the same period in 2024. In Europe, with 449,634 passenger cars sold (+5.3%), the brand maintained its 9^th position in the passenger cars market. It gained one place and was ranked 2^nd on the European podium for passenger cars sold to retail customers, the brand’s core customer base.

2025 Q3 marked an acceleration for Dacia with 165,451 vehicles sold (+16.2%), a strong increase compared to the first two quarters of 2025. The brand posted a solid growth in the majority of European markets, with remarkable performances in Germany (+23.6%), Spain (+19.3%) and Belgium–Luxembourg (+37.5%). This momentum was largely driven by the success of Bigster, the second best-selling C-SUV since June in Europe on the retail market, which recorded 22,353 registrations during Q3 and more than 39,700 since the beginning of the year. It also registered more than 55,000 orders since its launch. Dacia Sandero confirms its success by being the best-selling vehicle in Europe, all distribution channels combined, with 66,233 units sold in Q3 and 218,089 units since January.

With Duster and Bigster, Dacia is accelerating the pace of its electrification^[11]. Hybrid sales more than doubled, now accounting for 20.9% of the brand’s Q3 sales (+9.1 points vs. 2024 Q3). Over the first nine months, Dacia’s hybrid sales jumped by 170.0%.

Alpine Brand

In the first 9 months of 2025, Alpine sales more than doubled compared to the same period in 2024, to reach 7,394 vehicles.

In 2025 Q3, Alpine recorded 2,344 registrations, compared to 625 registrations in 2024 Q3. The A290, the recently launched electric sports city car, is now available in almost all of the brand’s countries, totaling 1,845 registrations over the period. The United Kingdom becomes the second largest market for the A290 after France. In addition, Alpine will soon open orders for the A390, its new electric sport fastback. The A110 maintained a solid momentum even if the orders of the current generation of A110   will close in the coming months before the arrival of the next generation 100% electric.

Third quarter revenue

Group revenue for 2025 Q3 amounted to €11,426 million, up 6.8% compared to 2024 Q3. At constant exchange rates^[12], Group revenue was up 8.5%.

Automotive revenue reached €9,816 million, up 5.0% compared to 2024 Q3. It included -1.8 points of negative exchange rates effect (-€167 million) mainly related to the devaluation of the Argentinean peso, the Turkish lira, the Brazilian real and the Korean won. At constant exchange rates¹, it increased by 6.8%. This evolution was mainly explained by the following:

• A positive volume effect of +3.2 points. The 9.8% increase in registrations was partly offset by a higher destocking of the independent dealer network over the quarter compared to 2024 Q3 (destocking by 72k units in 2024 Q3 vs. 98k units in 2025 Q3).
• A positive geographic mix of +1.0 point, notably explained by lower sales in Brazil in 2025 Q3 due to a focus on the most profitable channels combined with a high comparison base in 2024 Q3.
• A positive product mix effect of +0.9 points explained by the performance of both Renault and Dacia models mostly Bigster and Renault 5 E-Tech. The lower product mix effect compared to the previous quarters is mostly explained by the annualization impact of the launches from the previous year. Product mix in Q4 should be higher, benefiting from a stronger contribution of Bigster and Renault 5 E-Tech, and the ramp-up of Renault 4 E-Tech.
• A negative price effect of -0.8 points mainly due to the market conditions in Europe that remain challenging with commercial pressure. Some of the negative currency impacts were offset by price increases. As part of its value over volume policy, the Group maintains, in its pricing approach, a strong focus on residual values, which is a key competitive factor for the Group’s long-term performance.
• A positive sales to partners effect of +1.6 points, notably driven by programs with our partners and the impact of the integration of RNAIPL (Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd) into the consolidation perimeter. On August 1^st, 2025, Renault Group completed the acquisition of the 51% stake in the Chennai plant (RNAIPL), previously held by Nissan.
• A positive ”Other” effect of +0.9 points, primarily related to the performance of Retail Renault Group (RRG) activity.

Mobility Services contributed €23 million to 2025 Q3 Group revenue compared to €14 million in 2024 Q3.

Mobilize Financial Services posted revenue of €1,587 million in 2025 Q3, up 18.4% compared to 2024 Q3, due to higher interest rates and to the increase of average performing assets (at €59.5 billion) which improved by 5.3% compared to 2024 Q3.

As of September 30, 2025, total inventories (including the independent network) represented 538,000 vehicles, a level in line with the normal seasonal evolution:

• Group inventories at 219,000 vehicles
• Independent dealer inventories at 319,000 vehicles

Looking forward into Q4, the Group expects the restocking at independent dealers to be well below the one recorded in 2024 Q4.

The high single-digit growth of the order intake in 2025 Q3 year-on-year is fueling the orderbook in Europe, which stood at 1.6 months at the end of September given the strong forward sales expected in Q4.  

2025 FY financial outlook

Renault Group confirms its 2025 financial outlook, updated on July 15, 2025:

• Group operating margin around 6.5%
• Free cash flow between €1.0 billion and €1.5 billion

Renault Group’s consolidated revenue

Total Renault Group PC + LCV¹ sales by brand 

Renault Group’s top 15 markets at the end of September 2025

It was designed to be clean and clear, but the Bureau of Meteorology’s new website has come in for criticism for being confusing, clunky and “really, really bad”.

After years of development, the government site, which has 2.6bn page views a year, was relaunched on Wednesday, its homepage giving users a snapshot of weather in capital cities around the country and latest news updates from the bureau.

Rain radars, weather maps, MetEye, industry pages, specialised forecasts and historical data can be found via tabs and buttons on the main page, some of which link back to the former site while pages are still being migrated across.

The first redesign in 12 years, according to the bureau’s senior meteorologist, Andrea Peace, has raised the ire of some users, who quickly took to social media to tell the bureau just what they thought of the change.

One Facebook user commented on a BoM post, saying: “Give us our site back. We don’t want this new one.”

A member of the Whingers Forster Tuncurry group said: “Hate it with a capital ‘H’ … what the hell were they thinking?”

Another user said: “I think I will go back to the old fashioned weather … look out the window and then wear a coat, take an umbrella and hope for the best … much better than this ‘new’ forecast page.”

_{Sign up: AU Breaking News email}

Thomas Hinterdorfer: Extreme Weather Chaser wrote to the bureau via a social media post: “Your new website sucks … The website is clunky, extremely difficult to navigate.”

A Reddit user who accessed the site’s beta page before the launch said the site had been “dumbed down”.

A farm owner from Glen Innes in New South Wales, who asked for her name to be withheld, told Guardian Australia the change was a “step backwards”.

“What the new site says to me is, if you live in the city and want to find out what temperature it is, it’s dead easy,” she said.

“But we are weather nuts and we like to be able to see more in-depth information. This site is really, really bad.”

Perhaps her biggest gripe was that it now takes three clicks to access water and land data that is crucial to farmers – with the last click redirecting her to the “excellent” agriculture and natural resources management page within the old site.

“If they change that, too, it will really be a retrograde step,” she said.

Among the less common positive comments was praise for the site’s simplicity and its consolidated location data.

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

“I had 2 bookmarks for the radar map and my local forecast, now it’s all on the one page and I can delete one of my bookmarks,” one user wrote.

Peace said the new interface was “very much about trying to make it clean and simple”, as well as being customisable and more secure, accessible and stable than the old – and would continue to be developed with community input.

“The legacy site had over 72,000 pages. It had limited search functionality, there was no way to customise it,” she said.

“It is going to take some time for people to get used to the new website … most things are there, it’s just about finding the new way.”

Some of the old site’s pages are yet to be mapped on to the new site, she said, while others will not be brought across. One popular feature on the app, its predicted rain radar, will be integrated to the new site “in time”.

“We know that people are very passionate about the weather,” she said. “People feel real ownership of the bureau’s website – and so we did expect that there would be some challenges for people to adapt to this change. We just hope that each time someone uses it, they’ll find something new.”

The overhaul has been a long time coming. The bureau’s annual report of 2018-19 referred to a new website being built for the agency. In its 2022-23 annual report, the agency said it would complete public beta testing of its new website the following year.

In 2022, the bureau caused a storm of controversy online when it said it should no longer be referred to by its acronym but by its full name in the first instance and “the Bureau” thereafter.

Additional reporting by Graham Readfearn

TOKYO – Nikon Corporation (Nikon) will begin accepting orders for Gen 8 plate (2,290 mm × 2,620 mm) FPD lithography systems FX-88SL and FX-88SLD^*1 in November 2025. These are the first FPD lithography systems that employ a UV-LED (ultraviolet LED) light source^*2, reducing environmental impact while also providing high resolution and productivity.

• *1The FX-88SL and FX-88SLD are equipped with UV-LED light sources that differ in wavelength. For details, see “Key Performance.”
• *2Among FPD lithography systems released as of October 23, 2025, according to Nikon’s survey.

Product Name and Time Schedule

Product name	FPD lithography system FX-88SL and FPD lithography system FX-88SLD
Start of acceptance of orders	In November 2025
Sales launch	In April 2026

Development Background

As the demand for high-definition panels continues to grow, from smart devices to large high-end monitors, there is an increasing need to achieve both high productivity and reduced power consumption in panel manufacturing. In response to this trend, Nikon has proactively developed FPD lithography systems that employ a UV-LED light source. The UV-LED light source enables high productivity, saves energy, and reduces running costs with their high illumination power. Additionally, it contributes to environmental impact reduction by being mercury-free. Through such efforts, Nikon will continue to promote the realization of a sustainable society, as well as ongoing growth as a company, by promoting the reduction of environmental impact and other initiatives.

Key Features

1. Combination of high resolution and high productivity

The FX-88SL and FX-88SLD can expose the Gen 8 plate in 4-scan while providing excellent C.D.(Critical dimension) uniformity over the entire surface of the plate by using a high-accuracy focus correction system. The FX-88SL, equipped with a UV-LED light source equivalent to i-line, has achieved a resolution of 1.5 µm^*3 L/S^*4. The takt time is 39 seconds per plate, a 17% improvement over the conventional FX-88S^*5. The FX-88SLD, equipped with a UV-LED light source with two wavelengths^*6, further improves productivity in manufacturing processes that require high illumination power.

• *31 µm (micrometer) is one-millionth of a meter (one-thousandth of a millimeter).
• *4Abbreviation for Line and Space. Refers to the width of the wiring and the space between adjacent wiring.
• *5Conditions: 2,290 mm × 2,620 mm, 4-scan, i-line, 30 mJ/cm²
• *6Equivalent to i-line and h-line

2. Realization of overlay accuracy of ±0.3 µm

An overlay accuracy of ±0.3 µm has been achieved through high-accuracy alignment technology. By Nikon’s proprietary multi-lens system^*7, each individual lens can be controlled precisely. This technology is effective in correcting deformations in large plates, enabling highly accurate overlay. As a result, it contributes to high-yield mass production.

• *7Nikon’s proprietary technology for FPD lithography systems arranges multiple projection lenses in an array and precisely controls them to achieve the same effect as using a single giant lens. This enables patterning over a wider area in a single scan.

3. Employment of a UV-LED light source to pursue performance and environmental impact reduction

UV-LED, which features low power consumption and is mercury-free, is employed as the light source. Its high level of illumination power not only improves productivity but also reduces running costs. In addition, Nikon has established a recycling scheme for UV-LED light source components, advancing toward the realization of a sustainable society.

Key Performance

Swipe horizontally to view full table.

Share

Isn’t it already too late to do anything about climate change? Aren’t renewables too expensive? Don’t electric cars harm the climate as much as petrol cars?

No, no and no, says Oxford university data scientist Hannah Ritchie, in Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change — in 50 Questions and Answers (Chatto & Windus £20).

This is Ritchie’s second book in two years, following last year’s Not the End of the World, and its answers to 50 common questions about tackling climate change are a powerful guide to this fast-changing topic. 

Take this question beloved of climate action sceptics the world over: if my country only emits 1 per cent of the world’s emissions, isn’t it too small to make a difference?

As Ritchie writes, there are a lot more of these “negligible” countries than you might think. Only six countries emit more than 2 per cent each of the global total: China (by far the biggest), the US, India, Russia, Japan and Indonesia. If you add up the rest, they emit 36 per cent of the world’s CO₂, which is more than China. And as Ritchie says, if each did nothing, the biggest chunk of the world’s emissions wouldn’t budge and “that’s not an option”.

Arguing about climate change is a luxury some industries cannot afford, as Jane Masters and Andrew Neather demonstrate in Rooted in Change: The Stories Behind Sustainable Wine (Académie du Vin Library £20).

As their absorbing book reveals, “climatic challenges” were a major contributor to plummeting levels of wine production that last year saw the global total drop to its lowest level since 1961.

Climate change is “a serious and immediate threat” to wine growers and drinkers, even in places such as England, where rising temperatures have driven the growth of vineyards. Warmer winters there can still lead to earlier buds that can be destroyed by spring frosts.

Masters and Neather outline many ways in which the industry can adapt to, and fight, climate change. That includes using corks, which have a much lower carbon footprint than aluminium screw-tops; but the latter pale beside bottles, the industry’s biggest source of emissions.

About 85 per cent of wine is sold in glass bottles, and because so many people think good wine comes in heavy bottles, some bottles weigh up to 1.2kg — requiring more energy and materials to produce, and more fuel to transport. The authors deem this “an entirely unnecessary and wasteful marketing choice” and highlight producers using bottles as light as 450g or less.

Ani Dasgupta takes a broader look at climate solutions in The New Global Possible: Rebuilding Optimism in the Age of Climate Crisis (Disruption Books $29 hardcover/$16.99 ebook).

Dasgupta is president of the World Resources Institute, one of world’s largest environmental think-tanks, but avoids the common trap of simply listing a series of policy goals and prescriptions. Instead, he makes an admirable effort to show why climate action has been so slow and how it might be sped up in areas he thinks hold the most promise for exponential change.

For businesses, this means recognising the limits of voluntary corporate efforts and instead working to build consistent regulations that allow firms to prosper while taking climate action. For cities, he highlights a plethora of examples, such as the car-free days pioneered by Colombia’s Bogotá that have inspired hundreds of other cities across the world to allow pedestrians and cyclists to reclaim the streets.

When it comes to economic thinking, Dasgupta refers often to one of the leaders in the field, British economist Nicholas Stern, who also has a new book with a hopeful climate message, The Growth Story of the 21st Century: The Economics and Opportunity of Climate Action (LSE Press, open access for digital copies; £35 for the paperback).

It is nearly 20 years since Stern changed the way we think about the costs of climate change in the study he led for the UK government, The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review. His study overturned the idea that cutting greenhouse gas emissions would slow economic growth, showing that the costs of climate inaction far outweighed those of action.

Since then, emissions have continued to rise, albeit at a slower pace, and despite huge advances in green technologies the climate threat is deepening. Stern has blunt words for mainstream economics, which he rightly says has focused too much on just one policy — carbon pricing — and failed to contribute as much as it could have to the great climate challenge. 

He is convinced of the potential for “a much more attractive story of growth and development” if a series of drivers of growth can be harnessed, probably with the help of AI. 

The drivers include green tech innovation and increasing economies of scale, like those India achieved with its large-scale public procurement of LED lightbulbs. Costs of these more energy-efficient bulbs fell by 85 per cent in four years, Stern writes, and India is now aiming to replicate this success with electric buses.

This is Stern’s third climate economics book in 20 years and, as he writes, one measure of its success will be that he won’t need to write a fourth. “I am indeed confident and optimistic about what we can do,” he adds. “I worry very much about what we will do.”

Pilita Clark is an FT business columnist

Join our online book group on Facebook at FT Books Café and follow FT Weekend on Instagram, Bluesky and X