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Flipping the switch on power.
Renewable energy overtakes coal as the world's leading source of electricity.
We're heading to Zimbabwe and Nigeria for that one on today's World Business Express from the BBC World Service.
Hello, I'm Sarah Rogers.
Also today the business of phone theft as UK police track criminal gangs.
And we'll also check in on the continuing political turmoil in France.
So the act of turning a light on or plugging a phone in is second nature to most of us, isn't it?
But do you ever think about where your power comes from?
Well, in a historic first, solar and wind has overtaken coal as the leading source of electricity.
China is leading the renewables charge but, it's important to point out, it's still heavily reliant on its coal industry.
Let's hear more from our climate editor, Justin Rolat.
Coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, has been the main source of energy for electricity generation literally since the dawn of the electric era, and still held that crown as recently as last year 2024, which is why EMBA, which is the global energy think tank, that published today's report, describes this as a crucial turning point.
China is overwhelmingly dominant in this industry.
It added more wind and solar than the rest of the world combined, which helped reduce its fossil fuel generation for electricity by 2 percent.
Well, we heard there about China, but developing nations are also picking up the pace.
Africa upped its imports of solar panels from China by 60 over the last year, according to recent data.
So who's using it?
Well, in Nigeria, there is a severe power crisis.
These crop farmers already made the switch.
Solar is not just cheaper, it is smarter.
I can scale up farming without scaling my stress.
It was just last year that we started using 15 sets of solar-powered water pumps.
Before we were using pipe-petrol-powered pumps that consumed 200 litres of fuel and three cartons of engine oil every week.
So demand is growing, but so is competition.
Nyasha Chasakara is the CEO at SolarPro in Zimbabwe, which designs and installs panels.
The demand is driven purely by need, especially given the power crises that have, sort of like, started to mushroom up.
Need but also cost as well.
Is that a factor?
Yes, definitely.
I think we did see a significant, almost dramatic drop in solar panel prices, in inverter prices, in battery prices.
Some of the prices you know.
One can't really understand the drop because you are talking about almost half.
We are seeing a lot of Chinese companies actually coming up to set up shop.
There's a lot of competition that we have to deal with.
Is that damaging for you then?
Where do you get your solar panels from?
We do get some of our solar panels or even batteries and inventors from China, but it's increasingly looking easier for us to actually work with the suppliers locally.
Who are your biggest customers?
Is it business?
Is it homes?
Generally speaking, a lot of our customers have been home users.
They end up seeing the benefit of going solar and taking back to their bosses.
So we are seeing that a lot of businesses now are actually warming up to solar as opposed to generators, because generators do cost a lot of money to maintain.
Nyasha Chasakara from SolarPro.
Well, this is all in contrast to what's happening in the US and EU, which both saw an increase in reliance on fossil fuels.
Let's bring in our guest for today, Fiona Sincotta, Senior Markets Analyst for Citi Index.
Are we seeing some companies moving away from green initiatives?
Yes, we are.
And I think particularly in the US, as we're seeing the Trump administration turn its back on renewables.
Some US companies have followed suit.
In particular, oil and gas giants like ExxonMobil and manufacturers have actually scaled back investment in renewables, focusing more on near-term gains over longer-term visions, as renewable projects are often expensive and without immediate returns.
OK, thank you, Fiona.
We'll be back with you later.
Next though, we're going to head to the UK and police raids over a crackdown on mobile phone thieves.
Police officers!
Yes, police say they've carried out the country's biggest operation, dismantling an international gang suspected of smuggling up to 40000 phones to China, where they can then be sold for more than 5000 each.
Our senior UK correspondent Seema Kotecha joined police on a raid.
It started with a stolen phone in a box in a warehouse near Heathrow.
With it were more than 800 phones.
Police intercepted more shipments and forensic tests led to the identification of two men.
Both Afghan nationals arrested on suspicion of running an international smuggling gang trading phones.
In the back of their car, iPhones, some wrapped in tinfoil to avoid detection.
They've since been charged with conspiring to receive stolen goods.
80,000 phones were stolen in the capital last year.
Most are thought to be shipped to China because they can bypass censorship, unlike those sold there.
As part of the same investigation, police raided multiple properties.
Moments later, the arrest of a Bulgarian national.
We've identified and arrested an individual linked to mobile phone offences, namely targeting pickpockets that are operating currently within central part of London.
One more place downstairs.
As the light creeps in, another arrest.
In total, 15 were made across 28 properties.
Seat done.
For many of us, this is how the nightmare begins.
One minute it's in your hand, the next it's gone.
They were dressed as a delivery rider, gloves on, they had a balaclava on as well as a mask.
In London, a mobile is taken every eight minutes.
With the explosion in phone theft and more than 1000 fewer police officers since last year, the question is can they keep pace with the gangs?
Well, that was Seema Kotecha reporting.
The political crisis continues in France, amid efforts to get a government together following the resignation of the third prime minister in a year.
President Macron has asked the outgoing PM, Sébastien Lecornu, to hold talks with political parties and given him until tomorrow.
One of the key issues is how to rein in government spending and get a budget for next year through.
The far left and far right have been calling for new elections.
Well, still here with us today, we've got Fiona Sincotta, Senior Markets Analyst for Citi Index.
So Fiona, the UK's biggest carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover, has had this huge cyber attack, and it's given some indication as to how financially damaging that's been, hasn't it?
Yes, that's right.
So, this month-long worldwide shutdown is expected to have cost around £50 million a week.
And whilst operations will resume, hopefully tomorrow, they're going to be slow and carefully controlled.
So, it could be another month before output returns to normal.
Yes, and it's said that retail sales think for its second quarter were down just over 17%.
And we'll have a look at Tesla now.
They said they're launching a cheaper EV.
I'm not quite sure how much cheaper it's going to be, but that's impacted its share price in a way that it'll be quite happy about.
Yes.
Yes, this is good news.
I mean the share price is up today on the news of the cheaper version of the Model Y.
So whilst it will lack certain features and use less premium materials, it does open the market to a much broader client base, which is great news as far as the share price is concerned.
Thank you, Fiona Sincotta from City Index.
And finally, the Airbus A320 plane has cruised past Boeing 737 to become the most popular jet of all time.
More than 12,000 A320s have been delivered since it began service in 1988.
Well, that's it from World Business Express with me, Sarah Rogers.
Thanks for your company.
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