Britain needs to walk its talk if we are going to lead at COP26 – Channel 4 News

I think the issue is that there was a feeling beginning to emerge, both more broadly within Whitehall, but also amongst other governments that we weren’t putting enough oomph into it. And that it needed somebody in charge of the process, leading it, who was seen to have the ear […]

UK’s nuclear future hangs on electricity tax

by Paul Brown The new British prime minister, Boris Johnson, must soon decide whether to save the UK’s nuclear future with an unpopular electricity tax. LONDON, 21 January, 2020 ? Pressure is mounting on the UK’s new Conservative government to rescue its nuclear programme through an electricity tax, to throw […]

What motivates people to act on climate change? – LBC

People really are beginning to get the message that this is serious, and for real, and it will need them to think about how to change. What individuals do will help, but it’s not where the solution lies. Individuals have got to do their bit, and actually, by and large, […]

The Politics of Climate Change

This article was first published by the Oracle Partnership as one of a series of essays on climate change. 2019 is the year the global conversation on the climate changed. The children’s climate strikes, the arrival of Extinction Rebellion, the EU’s Green New Deal and the importance of climate change […]

To tackle climate change we need to focus on opportunity not blame – LBC

Attenborough is right about how important China is, but he doesn’t seem to be very conscious of what China is already doing to tackle climate change. China is the world leader in the production of solar panels. It is the world leader on the production of electric vehicles. It is […]

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 […]

THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE

Today marks the start of a momentous decade. Over its course we will decide together the future of our civilisation for better or for worse. I cannot think of a better way to face this prospect than to read this article: https://gen.medium.com/my-semester-with-the-snowflakes-888285f0e662?. As I read it I found myself weeping. […]

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 […]

Will the conservative government act on Climate Change? – Sky News

Boris Johnson has already come out, since he got back to Downing Street, and said that this is going to be the greenest government ever. He has recommitted himself to the goal of being carbon neutral by the middle of the century. He has promised a green industrial revolution. So, […]