Hungary's former leader Viktor Orban called the European Union's climate policy a 'utopian fantasy' and effectively banned wind turbines. Yet, despite this, the country has quietly become Europe's solar leader, with 25% of its electricity now being generated from solar power.
This figure surpasses sunnier countries like Spain and Greece. The solar boom was driven not by climate concern but by self-sufficiency politics and cheap subsidies. A 450-megawatt solar park east of Budapest is expected to come online by September 2026, powering around 106,000 households.
When US federal funding dried up, researchers from UCLA and the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory got creative. They launched OnlyMarms, a free platform posting videos of yellow-bellied marmots eating, digging, and scampering in the wild, where fans can donate to support the science.
The team has tracked individually marked marmots in Colorado since 1962, building six decades of data on family lives, social behavior, and responses to environmental change. They say studying marmot hibernation could even hold clues about human aging.
Corviale, a kilometer-long brutalist housing complex outside Rome nicknamed 'the big snake,' was completed in the 1980s and has since fallen into decay. With summers in some parts of Italy now averaging around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), life inside has become tough for its more than 4,000 residents.
But upgrades are coming: a new library doubling as a cooling shelter, more trees, and energy efficiency improvements, all aimed at helping Corviale stay cool as temperatures keep rising.
Berlin-based designer Mame Khady Badji transforms discarded clothing into bold garments inspired by her Senegalese heritage, combining traditional Ndiakhass techniques with contemporary streetwear. Her creations have drawn musicians, performers, and creatives, and recently appeared at Berlin Fashion Week 2026.
After moving to Germany in 2017, Badji built her label with support from Berlin's textile community. Now she's pursuing an ambitious goal: proving that recycled fashion can be both culturally rooted and commercially viable.
Source: www.dw.com