Yesterday the Prime Minister was forced to react to a leak and bring forward a speech about his more ‘pragmatic’ approach to Net Zero. A lot of ink has been spilled over the speech and there are extensive minute by minute reports of the speech and this morning’s R4 Today programme interview in the Guardian…
Tag: net zero

Sadly, as feared, the Government has decided to back the wrong horse…(updated on 1/8/23).
Despite all the evidence that the world can’t remain below 1.5C of global warming if new oil and gas exploitation continues, yesterday the UK Government gave the go ahead for exploration and production in the North Sea. The Government argues that it is essential for energy security, will ensure prices can be lessened and that…


Climate experts decry government claims to be world leaders in reducing emissions as the heat goes on……..
Yesterday Professor Sir Bob Watson, (among other roles former Chair of the IPCC), told the Radio 4 Today programme that the world was heading in the wrong direction to keep to the 1.5C global warming target agreed at the Paris COP in 2015…..”I think most people fear that if we give up on the 1.5C…


On the same day that Pope Francis says ‘Enough with fossil fuels’ Graham Stuart says ours are Net Zero compatible…..
Pope Francis released a message on the 25th May in advance of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (September 1st). He said that COP28 …‘must listen to science and institute a rapid and equitable transition to end the era of fossil fuel…..According to the commitments undertaken in the Paris Agreement to…
As readers will know we at CCL UK are affiliates of a worldwide organisation, Citizens’ Climate International, which endorses building the political will for a liveable world through five levers of political will. This type of people power has had notable results, most famously in Canada. The current Bretton Woods project has also given the…
The Government’s revised energy stategy has had extensive coverage since its release yesterday. One piece of good news is that the need for Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is now back on the agenda. Sadly though, the Government has not taken this opportunity to reconsider the decision to continue to maximise the exploitation of the…


Are oil companies really doing the best for their shareholders, let alone the earth?
This last week brought news of record profits for oil and gas companies. The current crisis has led to a situation where companies also feel able to slow down progress on their self declared commitments to reaching Net Zero by 2050. BP has cut its 2030 emissions reduction target from 35-40% to 20%-30% of 2019…


Net Zero consultation report acknowledges the government needs to do more and emphasises the benefits of doing so…
The report on the Net Zero consultation, Mission Zero-Independent Review of Net Zero authored by Chris Skidmore, has been published. The consultation received about 1800 responses including a formal response from CCL UK and 31 responses from individual members. Possibly contrary to the expectations of the commissioners of the consultation, participants felt that moving to…


Outgoing UN High-Level Climate Action Champion argues that Net Zero could be reached by the early 2040’s if progress made by the business community isn’t thwarted by governments.
The outgoing UN High-Level Climate Action champion, Nigel Topping, has stated that the world could reach Net Zero by the early 2040s, reiterating what other bodies, including Citizens’ Climate International, have been saying. During the two years he was in office he working on encouraging businesses to join the UN Race to Zero initiative which…


How many more institutions and politicians, let alone protesters, have to say we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground?
On October 25th the Lancet published its annual Countdown on Health and Climate Change report in which it stated that world governments are “putting the health of all people alive today and future generations at risk” by locking in dependence on fossil fuels. On the same day a Unicef report warned that funding has to…