The Green Investment Gap is the first comprehensive audit of UK green investment, launched today by PIRC. The Coalition Government has declared it wishes to be ‘the greenest government ever’. In a time of fiscal retrenchment and huge cuts in public spending, the surest commitment to the green economy will come through policies to stimulateRead more
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Why won’t the Government investigate its carbon omissions?
This piece was originally published on Left Foot Forward. It is the received wisdom that the UK’s emissions are falling. But this is not the case. As academic studies and government briefings show, the UK’s emissions continue to rise, once you factor in the impacts of the goods and services we import from overseas. As we have outsourced industry,Read more
The UK isn't reducing emissions; we’re outsourcing them
This piece by Guy Shrubsole originally appeared on openDemocracy. “One of the easiest ways for the United Kingdom to meet its carbon reduction targets,” stated the Liberal Democract peer Lord Teverson in 2010, “is to send offshore even more of its manufacturing and high-carbon-based industry.” Teverson’s words were intended as a warning rather than aRead more
The UK must own up to the full scale of its emissions problem
This piece by Alex Randall and Guy Shrubsole was originally published on Guardian Comment is Free. Last week the Guardian reported that the UK”s carbon emissions have dropped. In fact they”ve gone up. New material released under the Freedom of Information Act (FoI) reveals that the government knows this, but is actively deciding to do nothing. Recent reports show thatRead more
Holding the 'Greenest Government ever' to its word 2
Remember the Sustainable Development Commission? For ten years it”s been trying to get Government to embed sustainability into its operations and policies – until last July the Coalition pulled the plug on its funding. The SDC is currently sitting on death row, awaiting final termination at the end of the financial year this April. ButRead more
PIRC advises 10:10 on policy – inspires Lighter Later campaign
We were honoured when our Climate Safety report, with its recommendation to cut UK emissions 10% by 2010, helped inspire Franny Armstrong to create the 10:10 campaign. PIRC was asked by 10:10 in autumn 2009 to put together a study of policies that could help reduce UK emissions by 10% in one year – looking beyond individual or companyRead more
What Danny Alexander’s gaffe says on climate spending
Yesterday evening Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander was photographed reading an internal Treasury briefing on Spending Review announcements. When enlarged, the paparazzi shot contained some revelations: most of the coverage has focused on the Government”s acknowledgement that budget cuts could see the loss of 500,000 public sector jobs. But few have picked upRead more
Climate spending: invisible to the naked eye
Information design extraordinaire David McCandless has produced a new bubble graphic looking at Government spending on much-maligned quangos. As with the Guardian”s colourful maps of total Government spending, you”ll have to squint to find the bits dedicated to tackling climate change. In fact, McCandless” beautiful infographic shows only two agencies dedicated to cutting emissions –Read more
40% cuts… in green spending
Cutting by 40%… but these campaigners wanted to cut emissions, not spending I’m at the Labour party conference in Manchester this week, doing the rounds of the climate fringe events and asking whether ‘Red Ed’ will rediscover his previous persona as ‘Green Ed’. Expect a number of posts reporting back over the next few days.Read more
Cutting red tape? More like axing the green economy
Green wood is not meant to burn well. But it appears that the Government is stoking its ‘bonfire of the quangos’ with over 15 environmental bodies, and considering the abolition of many more, blowing another hole in its claim to be ‘the greenest government ever’. At the same time, the confirmed abolition of theRead more
Advertising and bigger-than-self-problems
This piece by Tom Crompton, originally published in the Common Cause report (Sept 2010), presents a possible campaign for a change that could have generic benefits in promoting concern about a range of bigger-than-self problems– for example, environmental challenges, development challenges and inequalities– at a ‘cognitive’ level. It preceded and was the inspiration for theRead more
Sustainable development? So far, it’s mostly been slash-and-burn
The bonfire of the quangos is in full swing, and the Government has started to throw green wood onto the rising flames. Last Thursday, to barely a whisper in the press, not one but two environmental bodies were axed: the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), and the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP). No mere kindling,Read more
Renewable prospects: new reports paint bright picture for clean energy
There are three commonly held misperceptions of renewable energy: that the available resource is too small to be useful; that its inherently variable nature is too difficult to manage; and that it is too costly to develop. A slew of new reports, profiled at a conference organised last Friday by the UK Energy Research CentreRead more
The Offshore Valuation: an overview
The Offshore Valuation is the first comprehensive valuation of the UK’s offshore renewable energy resource over the long-term that explicitly assesses electricity exports to Europe. It is widely acknowledged that within Europe, Britain holds the largest resource of offshore wind, wave and tidal power. Until now the full scale of the economic opportunity this representsRead more
Let the sunshine in: Why permanently changing our clocks is good for tourism, road safety and climate
Good morning! Welcome to the first day of British Summer Time. With luck you’ll have remembered last night to set your clocks forward by one hour: one more hour of sunlight to enjoy each day, as we adjust our hours of activity to fit better with the changing seasons. Today also marks the launch ofRead more
