environmental news & information about the UK electricity supply industry
David Toke writes: Jonathon Porritt is, in my opinion, the most influential British green political thinker. Here I’m interviewing him about his new book ‘Hope in Hell – A decade to confront the climate emergency’, published by Simon and Shuster.
100% Renewables 1st July 2020 read more »
The British government should prioritise spending on green projects to create jobs and kickstart the economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis, the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist has said. Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s economic counsellor, said that mounting unemployment triggered by the Covid-19 crisis would require swift action to prevent lasting damage, and that spending on low-carbon projects could be used in response. Speaking to MPs on the commons Treasury committee, she said countries such as the UK had an opportunity to “do public investment that also addresses the need for a greener planet, and at the same time as a jobs-rich recovery”.
Guardian 2nd July 2020 read more »
Of all the bad news stories this week – and there are many such as the Prime Minister’s boneheaded brainless, bulldozer strategy of ‘Build, Build, Build’- I found this one below in the Independent, the worst. It is terribly depressing that the new Labour Party leader is not committed to arguing the case for the full Green New Deal, which is the only eco-economic strategy that can at once regenerate the economy, create millions of new jobs, and make the environment and living conditions better for tens of millions of British residents. What not to like, Sir Keir?
David Lowry’s Blog 1st July 2020 read more »
The fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic is set to significantly reduce global long-term energy demand, according to new research by DNV GL. The energy risk management firm’s new Energy Transition Outlook claims the behavioural and economic ramifications of the virus will see a decline in demand of 8% worldwide. It also forecasts that CO2 emissions have “likely” already peaked in 2019 as a result of the outbreak. But the report adds that the energy transition is still “nowhere near fast enough” to meet the Paris agreement of net-zero emissions by 2050. Remi Eriksen, group president and chief executive of DNV GL, said: “We are still at a critical junction.
Energy Voice 1st July 2020 read more »
In Scotland, we are seeing real change being delivered on our streets too. Spaces for People is a new, temporary infrastructure programme in Scotland which offers funding and support to local authorities to make it safer for people who choose to walk, cycle or wheel for essential trips and exercise during Covid-19. Funded by the Scottish Government and managed by Sustrans Scotland, this £30m programme has awarded funding to local authorities right across Scotland. The guiding principles are ones of protecting public health, responding to local need, being temporary while ensuring that measures are inclusive and work for everyone.
Herald 29th June 2020 read more »
‘Missed opportunity’: Green groups left disappointed by lack of net zero cash in Boris Johnson’s coronavirus recovery plan. Campaigners welcomed warm words on cycling, tree planting and electric planes, but say his spending commitments are nowhere near enough. Despite focusing heavily on house building, the speech held no mention of Mr Johnson’s election promise of £9.2bn in energy efficiency spending. The Government’s climate advisers insisted last week it should be a top priority for the country. “This is the biggest and most important building challenge we face as we seek to tackle the threat of catastrophic climate change,” commented Ed Matthew, COP 26 Director for The Climate Coalition. “Its absence is a gaping chasm in the PM’s vision.” Greenpeace’s John Sauven added: “The hackneyed idea that ‘newt counting’ environmental regulations are blocking new homes has failed to survive repeated examination but it’s a zombie idea that never seems to die.”
iNews 30th June 2020 read more »
‘A false start’: Green groups express disappointment in Boris Johnson’s ‘New Deal’ recovery package. Key members of the UK’s green economy have been offering their thoughts on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Covid-19 recovery package, the fundamentals of which have now been unveiled. The general feeling is one of dismay, following months of campaigning.
Edie 30th June 2020 read more »
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce a multi-billion-pound “New Deal for Britain” that prioritises jobs and infrastructure growth to respond to the economic crash caused by Covid-19, but following months of calls for a “green recovery,” the environment is largely absent from the plan.
Edie 30th June 2020 read more »
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set out the first steps in the strategy to rebuild Britain and fuel economic recovery across the UK.
No.10 Downing Street 30th June 2020 read more »
MPs from across the political spectrum will today take part in over 100 digital meetings with constituents to discuss plans for a green recovery, as part of the world’s biggest virtual lobby. The Time is Now campaign, which last year organised a mass lobby event that saw constituents from across the UK travel to Westminster to lobby their MPs on the need to step up the UK’s response to the ‘climate emergency’, has co-ordinated a virtual update to the 2019 event that allows constituents to talk to MPs without jeopardising social distancing guidelines. It comes on the same day as a major new report from Greenpeace estimated that an ambitious green stimulus package could create 1.8 million new jobs while reviving the economy. More than 11,000 people from across the UK signed up to take part in the virtual meetings, which have been organised by the The Climate Coalition group of leading green NGOs. Hundreds of constituents are now set to engage with MPs and call on them to back proposals for a recovery package that “unleashes investment in climate and nature-friendly infrastructure, creating green jobs and supporting millions out of the recession”.
Business Green 30th June 2020 read more »
On the environmental front, Johnson is expected to announce up to £1m each for areas eligible for the government’s Towns Fund to enhance parks, high streets, and transport links, and he is set to re-affirm plans to plant trees on more than 75,000 acres a year by 2025. The goal is backed by £40m for local conservation projects that is expected to create 3,000 jobs and safeguard a further 2,000. Separately, the government today confirmed that companies that applied to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) tariff guarantee scheme before June 29 will have an extra 14 months to get their low-carbon heat generators up and running. The government said the move would bring vital clarity to companies in danger of missing the start-dates for their projects, protect investment in the renewable heat industry, and help give certainty to thousands of people working in specialised UK supply chains. However, while welcoming the confirmation of funding for promised tree-planting programmes and the boost for renewable heat technologies, green groups were left largely underwhelmed by the trailed announcements.
Business Green 30th June 2020 read more »
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has announced an £80 million investment to help reduce carbon emissions from industry and homes. Energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng said the investment would be used for a range of projects, including “pioneering” heat networks and a programme to reduce the cost of retrofitting homes with energy efficiency technologies.
Current 30th June 2020 read more »
George Eustice’s address at the COP26 Business Leaders Event hosted the Council for Sustainable Business. I think it’s crucial as we start to consider how we can deliver green recovery in the wake of the coronavirus. It is climate change that is sadly driving the loss of much of our nature and much of our biodiversity. It is climate change that is contributing most to the extinction of species. We’re very interested at the moment in driving forward some of the nature based solutions and the role that they can have in tackling climate change and in restoring biodiversity – whether that is a massive expansion of tree planting, both in our farm environment and in some of our upland areas to peatland restoration, which can be a major source of carbon capture, to a new emphasis in our agriculture policy on soil health and the biodiversity that can be contained within that.
DEFRA 30th June 2020 read more »
The chairs of the BEIS select committee and the Environmental Audit Committee – Darren Jones and Philip Dunne – have written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to stress the need for a green economic recovery. The letter was sent ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s speech today (30 June) that promised to “build back greener” but lacked in detail on any policy commitments for energy or heat. The letter comes as the Environmental Audit Committee launches a new inquiry to monitor the government’s economic recovery packages and identify opportunities to underpin initiatives with environmental safeguarding.
Current 30th June 2020 read more »
Labour could drop the ambitious 2030 climate crisis target it adopted under Jeremy Corbyn, the party’s new leadership has said. A spokesperson for Keir Starmer said that he had supported the plans included in Labour’s last manifesto, but that the party had lost the election. The Green New Deal policy adopted under the previous leadership included the aim of a path to net zero carbon by the year 2030, based largely on massive public investment in green technology. The suggestion that the commitment could be dropped has prompted an outcry from MPs on the left of the party and concern among activists.
Independent 27th June 2020 read more »
The reopening of up to 50 disused railway lines or stations will be considered as part of a reversal of the infamous Beeching cuts, it was announced yesterday. At present many of the disused lines are used as cycle or walking tracks while some remain as heritage lines staffed by volunteers, or as dedicated freight routes. A government panel will assess the viability of reintroducing passenger services to lines in England and Wales for the first time in half a century.
Times 1st July 2020 read more »
Environmental experts dismayed by details of Johnson’s ‘New Deal’. Critics say PMs promise to ‘build back greener’ is not delivered by plans revealed so far. His promise to “build back greener” was greeted with dismay by environmental experts, who were concerned that the climate crisis receives scant attention in what the government is revealing so far of its plans. Most of the spending announcements will focus on the NHS, education and improvements for town centres. There will be £100m for roads and £10m for rail in Manchester, as well as £900m on unspecified “shovel-ready” local growth projects in England. Tree-planting is set for a boost, with Johnson re-affirming plans to plant more than 75,000 acres a year by 2025, with £40m for local conservation projects creating 3,000 jobs and safeguarding 2,000. Ed Matthew, of the Climate Coalition, said: “The only thing Rooseveltian about this plan is that it belongs in the fossil fuel age. There is very little announced today which will do anything to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon economy. The prime minister has to back up his rhetoric on a green recovery with action to prioritise green investment. Future generations will not forgive a government that fails to use this opportunity to build a safer climate for us all.” Tanya Steele, chief executive of conservation group WWF, added: “We are in the midst of a climate and nature crisis, and these lukewarm plans address only part of our nation’s much-needed recovery. The prime minister is out of touch with the scale of the challenges.”
Guardian 30th June 2020 read more »
The US is to join with other major powers including China, India and the EU in formulating plans for a global green recovery from the coronavirus crisis, in the only major international summit on the climate emergency this year. The idea of a green recovery to prevent a dangerous rebound in greenhouse gas emissions to above pre-Covid-19 levels has been gathering steam, but few governments have yet committed to plans. If they fail to do so in the next few months, the economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis risks locking in high carbon emissions that would lead to climate catastrophe.
Guardian 29th March 2020 read more »
Boris Johnson will promise today to lead Britain out of the coronavirus crisis with an economic recovery plan as bold as Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal. The prime minister is announcing a £5 billion programme of accelerated capital spending on hospitals, roads, rail, prisons, courts, schools and high streets to help to sustain a job market ravaged by the pandemic.
Times 30th June 2020 read more »
Today, the prime minister is expected to make a series of announcements on the “green recovery”. I am sure it will be optimistic but it will not be sufficient. Major investment from the government is absolutely necessary, but it must be backed up in the coming weeks and months by a clear roadmap to net zero by 2050, which tells the public and businesses what to expect, when, and who is going to pay for it. There must also be clear, greener alternatives available, and households need help with the upfront costs of switching their energy supply or improving the energy efficiency of their home. This week, the Zero Carbon Commission published its interim recommendations on carbon pricing for every sector in the economy, between now and 2030. They offer a phased roadmap that creates mechanisms to protect British industry, and gives advance warning of charges to households so they can shift their behaviour. The proposals would raise the funds for innovations such as hydrogen and carbon capture to decarbonise our existing energy supply.
Times 30th June 2020 read more »
After weeks of speculation, Boris Johnson is set to outline the fundamentals of the UK’s Covid-19 recovery plan on Tuesday (30 June). Here, we round up eight of the specific measures which green economy experts are urging for inclusion.
Edie 29th June 2020 read more »
More than 11,000 people have signed up to take part in a virtual lobbying of MPs to call for a green-focused recovery to the coronavirus pandemic that tackles the climate and nature crises. The mass lobby, co-ordinated by the Climate Coalition whose members include the National Trust, WWF, the Women’s Institute and Oxfam, comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to set out plans for boosting the economy as the lockdown eases further. As constituents head online to lobby their MPs on Tuesday about action on climate change, polling for the coalition found 73% agree the “time is now” to call for the Government to invest in a healthier, fairer and greener world.
Energy Voice 30th June 2020 read more »
The government must spend an extra £14bn a year to meet its climate targets while simultaneously reducing support for initiatives which increase greenhouse gas emissions, a think tank report warns. Investment is urgently required for low-carbon transport, more efficient buildings, conservation and restoration of nature, and for industrial infrastructure, according to Green Alliance. The biggest investment gap, of £8.7bn per year, is in low carbon transport, the organisation said. “If the government were to reallocate the average annual investment committed to new road building towards low carbon transport infrastructure, it could already close 60 per cent of that gap,” the report’s authors said.
Independent 29th June 2020 read more »
The UK Government could be poised to scrap commitments for a programme of energy efficiency and sidelining programmes being proposed to boost energy efficiency of buildings. In the process innovative recent proposals for energy efficiency will be sidelined and instead the gas lobby will be given full reign. A range of Government departments and agencies are being sidelined by a sinister ‘deep state’. In a report in the Financial Times the Government, advised by Dominic Cummings, is said to be sidelining the 9.2 billion Conservative manifesto commitment for ‘ energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals’ (page 19) because it is ‘boring’. In the process vital measures to achieving the UK’s net zero target is being thwarted. For example, a new report urges ‘minimum energy performance standards’ to be set for existing buildings. The Welsh Government has given the green light for a £1.3 billion scheme to install insulation, heat pumps, batteries and solar panels in new and old buildings. Why cannot these things be done together? The measures can be targeted for the poorest areas and jobs boosted in the process. Energy bills for the pooorest communities can be slashed.
100% Renewables 29th June 2020 read more »
It is reported in the Financial Times by Jim Pickard that Dominic Cummings, a favourite of the Trumpian populists, has blocked implementation of Conservative manifesto promises to spend £9.2 billion on ‘energy efficiency of homes, schools and hosptials’. He is reported to have said that energy efficiency is boring, and he wants to spend the money on new houses. Apparently the Treasury and BEIS want to spend on energy efficiency to fulfill the manifesto commitment, but, it would seem, Cummings’ view of the will of the people is not to be denied. Of course the Steve Bannons of the world claim that it is the career civil servants, closet liberals and socialists, who are the deep state. But how can this be if it is the democratic wish of the nation as expressed through a manifesto which the self styled populists are trying to thwart? The Brexiteers have been keen on announcing that they are defending the will of the EU Referendum Result, but it seems now that it is just that the populists know best even when their views are different from what people voted for in a General Election. This attitude used to be called elitism!
Dave Toke’s Blog 29th June 2020 read more »
The Government is under pressure to deliver on its manifesto commitment to invest billions of pounds in insulating homes as part of a green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The Conservatives promised £9.2 billion to improve the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals as part of their election bid last year. Government advisers the Committee on Climate Change are among those calling for major investment in making homes more energy efficient to boost jobs, cut fuel bills and tackle greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. But a report in the Financial Times suggests Downing Street chief adviser Dominic Cummings is holding up the investment.
Energy Voice 29th June 2020 read more »
Almost £80m of funding to support a range innovative energy efficiency projects has been announced by the government today, as it faces growing pressure to ramp up investment in renovating buildings to support a green recovery from the looming recession. The new investment covers a wide range of programmes, with £30m going towards the first phase of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) aimed at energy intensive manufacturers such as car factories and steel plants; a further £25m earmarked for heat networks, including one project in Gateshead to harness geothermal water sitting in disused mine shafts to heat 1,250 homes; and the remaining £24m focused on new approaches for installing insulation for social housing at scale, rolling out heat pumps, and supporting the development of innovative green home finance products. The moves come amidst an escalating row over the government’s plans to deliver a multi-billion pound building upgrade programme, designed to put the country on track to meet its net zero emissions goals. A report in the Financial Times today indicates plans to fast track a £9.2bn upgrade programme that had been promised in the Conservative Manifesto last year are at risk of being watered down, with the Prime Minister’s controversial advisor Dominic Cummings said to favour shifting the funding towards housebuilding rather than green renovation programmes.
Business Green 29th June 2020 read more »
Boris Johnson is facing fresh pressure to bolster his Government’s plans for making homes more energy efficient amid concerns the Government’s manifesto pledge to invest heavily in green homes has stalled. A coalition of 15 organisations have written to the Prime Minister calling for a mass rollout of insulation and green heating technologies in all UK homes. The UK’s housing stock – the draughtiest housing stock in Western Europe – is responsible for about 20 per cent of UK emissions. Signatories to the letter, which include the National Housing Federation, Citizens Advice, the Centre for Ageing Better and Greenpeace UK, say radical action is needed to change course.
iNews 29th June 2020 read more »
Boris Johnson is being urged to fulfil his 2019 election manifesto pledge to invest £9.2bn in a massive insulation programme to make homes, schools and hospitals more energy efficient. Few details have yet emerged about the policy, but a major national effort to address buildings’ inefficiencies is regarded as a major means of reducing emissions and enabling the UK to hit net zero by 2050. The House of Commons’ environmental audit committee has now announced an inquiry into home insulation, and it has emerged that Downing Street chief adviser Dominic Cummings reportedly sought to water-down the pledge, and instead focus on building more houses.
Independent 30th June 2020 read more »
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