REMARKS BY TOM BURKE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE WORLD NUCLEAR INDUSTRY REPORT 2019 – CHATHAM HOUSE

At a time when truth is under systematic political attack and digital technologies are collapsing the public attention span, the publication of long data series such as the Nuclear Industry Status Report becomes increasingly important. The real world is not a headline; it does not have a half-life of 24 […]

More power in Britain came from renewables than fossil fuels in 2019 – Sky News

Here are some excerpts of the interview I did for Sky News about the announcement from the National Grid that more power came from renewable sources than from fossil fuels for the first time in Britain in 2019. I think that it is a very important milestone. It means that […]

Will the climate summit fall far short of what is required? – Al Jazeera

I think that what they have got to do at this round of the Summit is to agree the last bits of the rule book by which they are going to implement the agreement, and they are hung up on a couple of fairly technical points to do with the […]

Greta Thunberg is not being overly pessimistic about the urgency of climate change – Sky News

Here are some excerpts of the interview with Sky News about whether Greta Thurnberg’s speech about climate change was overly pessimistic: The reality is that climate change is nastier, and is happening faster than we thought it would, the dangers that everybody on the planet are facing are worse than […]

Climate change is happening faster that we thought – Al Jazeera

Here are some excerpts from the interview with Al Jazeera, about the record temperatures that we have experienced over the last five years, and the fact that climate change is happening faster that we thought: What the WMO are saying publicly, is what climate scientists have been saying privately for […]

Do we understand the magnitude of the threat we face from extreme weather? – Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera: Do we understand the magnitude of the threat of forest fires? Tom Burke: I think that we do in the headlines, but not in the real world. I think the picture is coming through pretty clearly, and it’s not just fires, there are also hurricanes and floods as […]

Do we need some base provision from nuclear power if we are to keep the lights on? – Sky News

We don’t need nuclear power to keep the lights on, which is fortunate as nuclear power stations are unplanned offline about 25% of the time. They are also intermittent, as indeed is all generation, so it is fortunate that we don’t actually need base load power. It’s about five years […]

Are Dominic Raab’s green ambitions ‘all just stuffing’? – Ends Report

By Jocelyn Timperley Hardline brexiteer Dominic Raab, currently fourth of the seven remaining contenders to become the UK’s next prime minister, this week attempted to position himself as a pro-environment candidate. In an apparent attempt to broaden his appeal, the former Brexit secretary on Monday stated his plans to make […]

LONDON CLIMATE ACTION WEEK

The Mayor of London and Greater London Authority will hold the first-ever London Climate Action Week (LCAW) from 1-8 July 2019. The week aims to highlight London’s unique role as the leading international hub for organisations working globally to tackle climate change. LCAW will also mobilise London-based organisations and local […]

Is the UK emissions target for 2050 achievable? – BBC World News

. . Climate change is a bit like diabetes, it’s a progressive disease. The earlier you do something about it, the better your chances are. I think that if we are still burning a lot of fossil fuels after 2050, then we are in very serious trouble. The prosperity and […]