Month: June 2022

New report says that the government must do more to reach net zero target

Barry White

The government must drive down energy bills and reduce climate-warming emissions by insulating more homes, a report to parliament by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) says (https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/2022-progress-report-to-parliament/). They report that the government’s current insulation programme is “shocking” saying that consumers are paying £40 extra a year on bills because of previous cuts to the home renovation programme. The committee also says government must harness the Ukraine fuel crisis to push ahead with renewables. To be fair to poorer families the report says that the portion of electricity bills that pays back historic renewables should be taken off bills and absorbed by the Treasury.

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Livestock, methane, and climate change: The politics of global assessments.

Ian Scoones (submitted by Melanie Fryer)

The relationship between livestock production and climate change is the subject of hot debate, with arguments for major shifts in diets and a reduction in livestock production. This Perspective examines how global assessments of livestock-derived methane emissions are framed, identifying assumptions and data gaps that influence standard life-cycle analysis approaches. These include inadequate data due to a focus on industrial not extensive systems; errors arising due to inappropriate emission factors being applied; questions of how global warming potentials are derived for different greenhouse gases and debates about what baselines are appropriate.

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Consultation on new energy windfall tax rushed through

Barry White

On 21 June the Government  launched a little publicised consultation into a new windfall tax, which only runs for 7 days, closing on 28 June (see: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/draft-legislation-energy-oil-and-gas-profits-levy-bill). The windfall tax on oil and gas companies, who’ve made massive profits as our energy bills have soared (see: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/05/40bn-profits-for-bp-and-shell-fuel-calls-for-windfall-tax-on-energy-firms), only happened because of public and political pressure.

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Is the government about to approve the Cumbia coal mine?

Barry White

The week prime minister Johnson suggested that Britain should start mining and burning its own coal again, despite the climate emergency. He said it “makes no sense” for Britain to be importing coal from abroad for use in steelmaking “when we have our own domestic resources”.

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