Reaching net zero: Can the government afford it?

In October, the government announced its long-awaited net zero strategy, a complex and wide-ranging pathway to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The government hopes the new plans will provide a clear roadmap for the economy to reorientate around a new green mission: To reduce emissions over the next three decades and to help limit global warming […]

A nuclear-sized mistake? The debate over Sizewell C

The government are in talks with EDF over a new nuclear power station at Sizewell C.

Dan Jarvis on the National Tree Strategy

Labour’s MP for Barnsley Central, Dan Jarvis, led a debate on the National Tree Strategy in Westminster Hall on Wednesday morning. Mr Jarvis said that “the benefit that trees bring to our natural environment, our economy, and our society, cannot be overlooked or understated.” Here is a clip of Mr Jarvis talking about the importance […]

Carbon rationing ‘by 2012’

By Liz Stephens The UK may need to introduce carbon rationing within three years if cuts in carbon emissions are not achieved, an influential think tank has warned. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is calling for the government to consider the concept of rationing as a “plan B”. It has also recommended that […]

Govt may have to buy carbon credits from private sector

By Liz Stephens The proportion of renewable energy used by government departments has actually dropped in the last year, according to the environmental audit committee (EAC). The news could not have come at a worse time for ministers, who are currently attempting to position themselves as leaders on the world stage prior to the Copenhagen […]

MPs want deadline for coal-powered energy

Coal-fired power stations must face a deadline to adopt carbon capture and storage (CCS), MPs believe. In its report on CCS, the environmental audit committee (EAC) says stations that do not meet this deadline should no longer be allowed to operate. CCS is a technique that could prevent up to 90 per cent of damaging […]

Govt computers going carbon neutral

The government hopes to make its computer systems carbon neutral within four years. Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson revealed plans to make the energy savings through a range of measures including switching off desktops outside working hours, reusing equipment as much as possible and auditing data centres and server use. With information and communications technology […]

Govt cheating on emission figures, committee warns

Government claims to have cut its carbon emissions are based on rearranging balance sheets, an environmental committee has said. The Ministry of Defence claimed a big cut in emissions after it sold off defence agency QinetiQ, but the emissions were in fact just moved off the balance sheet to the private sector. The government has […]

Govt ‘still failing’ on sustainable development

Government departments across Whitehall are failing to meet their carbon emission reduction targets, a report finds. The Sustainable Development Commission’s annual assessment of the government’s progress notes emissions are down four per cent on 1999/2000 levels. But it warns individual departments are “still not on track” to meet the 12.5 per cent target by 2010/11. […]

Benn champions personal action against climate change

The government is hoping to capitalise on the publicity generated by Live Earth with a new campaign urging people to act on climate change. The latest initiative from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) encourages people to make small changes to reduce their individual carbon footprint. A series of newspaper and […]