UN forum: over half the world's population now has some form of social protection, a first
The UN's High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, meeting in New York through July 15, highlighted a milestone in the ILO's World Social Protection Report: 52.4% of people worldwide were covered by at least one cash social protection benefit, such as a pension, child benefit or unemployment support, as of 2023 — up from 42.8% in 2015 and the first time coverage has passed the halfway mark. The forum closed with a ministerial declaration renewing member states' commitment to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Officials cautioned that 3.8 billion people remain entirely unprotected, but the reversal of decades of stagnant coverage was cited as evidence that expanding social protection systems, especially in lower-income countries, is achievable within a generation.
Read more →UN forum: over half the world's population now has some form of social protection, a first
The UN's High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, meeting in New York through July 15, highlighted a milestone in the ILO's World Social Protection Report: 52.4% of people worldwide were covered by at least one cash social protection benefit, such as a pension, child benefit or unemployment support, as of 2023 — up from 42.8% in 2015 and the first time coverage has passed the halfway mark. The forum closed with a ministerial declaration renewing member states' commitment to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Officials cautioned that 3.8 billion people remain entirely unprotected, but the reversal of decades of stagnant coverage was cited as evidence that expanding social protection systems, especially in lower-income countries, is achievable within a generation.
California's grid shatters back-to-back solar and battery records as clean energy surges
California's power grid operator CAISO logged two records within 24 hours in early July: on July 9 the state's battery fleet discharged a record 12.99 gigawatts in the evening, more electricity than New York City draws on a hot summer day, and on July 10 solar generation hit a record 23 gigawatts, supplying 72% of regional demand at its peak — the third time California broke its own solar record since June 1. The milestones cap a record-setting first half of 2026 for US clean energy, in which solar and storage supplied 91% of all new grid capacity added in the first quarter and solar generated more electricity than coal nationwide for the first time in US history in May.
Read more →California's grid shatters back-to-back solar and battery records as clean energy surges
California's power grid operator CAISO logged two records within 24 hours in early July: on July 9 the state's battery fleet discharged a record 12.99 gigawatts in the evening, more electricity than New York City draws on a hot summer day, and on July 10 solar generation hit a record 23 gigawatts, supplying 72% of regional demand at its peak — the third time California broke its own solar record since June 1. The milestones cap a record-setting first half of 2026 for US clean energy, in which solar and storage supplied 91% of all new grid capacity added in the first quarter and solar generated more electricity than coal nationwide for the first time in US history in May.