Business

Oct 9th 2025

The Net-Zero Banking Alliance made it official and decided to disband. The alliance was created with great fanfare four years ago to align the banking industry with climate-change targets and counted some of the biggest

American and European lenders among its members. But many of the firms eventually withdrew amid a backlash against environmental, social andgovernance (ESG) policies.

The price of gold rose above $4,000 an ounce for the first time. With little economic data being released in America because of the government shutdown to inform their decisions, investors are piling into the traditional haven amid speculation that the Federal Reserve will make more cuts tointerest rates. Worries about fiscal policy in America, Britain, France and Japan are also making gold more attractive

The International Energy Agency forecast that the world’s global renewable power capacity will more than double by 2030, increasing by 4,600 gigawatts. That is roughly the equivalent of adding the combined power generation capacity of China, the European Union and Japan. Solar will account for 80% of the increase. America is now expected to add 250GW of renewable capacity, 50% less than in the IEA’s previous forecast.

Launched in the 1980s, Airbus’s A320 has become the world’s most delivered aeroplane, according to reports based on data from Cirium, an aviation-data firm. Boeing’s 737, which debuted in the 1960s, had held the record for decades. Between them Airbus and Boeing have delivered 25,000 of both narrow-bodied jets.

Industrial production in Germany shrank by 4.3% in August compared with July, driven by an 18.5% contraction in car manufacturing. That was in part because of factories’ holiday dates, though the industry faces many challenges, including tariffs. Car production in Germany is now at its lowest level in more than 20 years, bar the financial crisis in 2007-09 and covid-19