UK Climate news/2021

• Just 124 people own most of England's deep peat – its largest carbon store, Nov 15.^[1]
• Electric boilers: a green alternative to heat pumps that no one is talking about, Oct 28.^[2]
• The next chapter of Britain's climate policy story will take place in the kitchen, Max Wakefield, Oct 25^[3]

• Government is holding local areas back in quest for net zero, New Local (Oct 20, 2021)
• There’s a climate emergency, and the planning system is not helping, CPRE (Oct 18, 2021) — The climate emergency is the most pressing challenge of our times. With the UK keen to trumpet its climate action credentials, our planning system is sending out very mixed messages
• Gen Z on how to save the world: young climate activists speak out, The Guardian (Oct 17, 2021) — Features activists from Philippines, Australia, India, US, Uganda, Pakistan, Peru, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Kenya and Canada

• If the UK assumed a "fair carbon budget", net zero by 2050 would bust it completely. We have to go "down the slide", Oct 13^[4]
• 'Overwhelming' backing for strong climate action, UK study shows, Oct 12^[5]

References

• Earth's tipping points could be closer than we think. Our current plans won't work, George Monbiot, Sep 9^[1]
• UK's top climate adviser says criticism of net zero goal is 'defeatist', Sep 2^[2]
• Why we built a Place-Based Carbon Calculator, Aug 25^[3]

• Wales set to build 20,000 low-carbon social homes, BBC News (Aug 04, 2021)

• UK already undergoing disruptive climate change, Jul 29^[4]

References

Kendal underlines the importance of community-led climate action, Jun 25.^[1]

• Time is running out for realistic climate commitments, Climate Change Committee, Jun 24^[2]

Sustained reductions in emissions require sustained Government leadership, underpinned by a strong Net Zero Strategy:

• A Net Zero Test would ensure that all Government policy, including planning decisions, is compatible with UK climate targets.
• An ambitious Heat and Buildings Strategy, that works for consumers, is urgently needed.
• Delayed plans on surface transport, aviation, hydrogen, biomass and food must be delivered.
• Plans for the power sector, industrial decarbonisation, the North Sea, peat and energy from waste must be strengthened.
• The big cross-cutting challenges of public engagement, fair funding and local delivery must be tackled.

References

NGOs must join the dots and back local action to create a decade of progress, Harriet Lamb, May 26^[1]

• Net zero will mean breaking bad habits - more bluntly, "behaviour change". But can we break them in time? May 22^[2]
• 'Love our bogs': UK should harness all its landscapes in fight for climate – report, May 12.^[3]
• Finally, a proper battle for the future of our countryside, Joss Garman, May 6.^[4]

References

• UK to speed up target to cut carbon emissions, Apr 20.^[1] The UK's sixth Carbon Budget, 2033 to 2037, will incorporate the UK's share of international aviation and shipping emissions for the first time.^[2]

World's wealthiest 'at heart of climate problem', Apr 13^[3]

• Government has no climate change plan say MPs, Mar 5^[4]
• Future generations bill sounds 'namby pamby' but it's start, says Lord Bird, Feb 20^[5]
• Bringing Warwickshire's rural communities together to take action on climate change, Feb 18.^[6]
• New Global Coalition launched to address impacts of Climate Change, Jan 25.^[7] Developed by the UK in partnership with Egypt, Bangladesh, Malawi, the Netherlands, Saint Lucia and the United Nations, this new Coalition will work to turn international political commitments made through the United Nations Call for Action on Adaptation and Resilience into on-the-ground support for vulnerable communities.
• "There is no Planet B" has been updated, ready for the moment. And there may be some movement towards climate hope, Jan 22^[8]

References