What does Brexit mean for Environmental Legislation in the UK – Guardian Podcast

    One of the things that you get out of our membership of the EU is an enormous amount of regulatory stability. It takes a very long time to create environmental legislation, but then it is very difficult for governments, in a whimsical way, to change it. Now from […]

An Unsquared Circle

                        In her Easter message, the Prime Minister spoke of ‘the opportunities that lie ahead’ for post-EU Britain. Neither she nor any of her Ministers have ever set out exactly what these opportunities are. Nor have they ever explained […]

Britain’s first 24 hours without coal for 135 years – Sky News

        It was a real birthday present for the earth yesterday that we saw the first day in 135 years when Britain wasn’t producing any electricity from coal. I think that is a pretty remarkable day, and it really does point to the future, which is a really […]

Discussing government failure in controlling air pollution – Radio 4 – 2 Feb 17

                  This is the consequence of complete failure by the government to tackle a problem that it has known about for a long time. It is now in breach of our own laws about controlling air pollution, and it has known about […]

Can we really fix climate change? – LBC Radio – 07 Dec 15

          LBC: Let’s talk first to Tom Burke, environmentalist and former government advisor on the environment. Tom, good evening to you. Tell is about this summit. There are lots of important people there, it’s a big deal. There is also quite a lot of scepticism. Are […]

Remarks by Mr Tom Burke CBE at the ‘Climate Change And The Courts’ Seminar – London – 1 December 2015

  Remarks by Mr Tom Burke CBE at the ‘Climate Change And The Courts’ Seminar, 70 Kingsway, London on December 1st 2015.                     I want to thank Ukela for inviting me to talk to you today though I must admit I […]

Revealed: BP’s close ties with the UK government – The Guardian

  I was quoted extensively in a piece The Guardian wrote on the extent of BP’s influence on government policy and how their intimate relationship is at odds with UK commitments to reduce carbon emissions.     “About 1.5% of UK pension industry money was invested in BP shares, which […]

TROUBLE AHEAD

  This piece first appeared in BusinessGreen       #         The political argument for trade liberalisation has always been that it is good for the economy. This argument was losing traction even when what was good for the economy was good for your wallet. Now that […]

OF NIGHTMARES AND PARROTS

  This piece was first published in BusinessGreen       Let me introduce you to the mysterious world of triads. This is not, however, an article about the exotic world of Hong Kong’s ill-famed criminal gangs. This is about the much more prosaic world of managing electricity bills. Triads […]

THE FUTURE IS COMING READY OR NOT

  The following speech talks about the looming collision between $6 trillion of investment in oil and gas over the next ten years and the agreement by governments to keep the rise in global temperature below 2°C. This collision will transform the human prospect. It poses a dilemma for governments […]