Only transparency about emissions will stop the angry shouts of climate protesters May 10, 2022 What do ABBA, top hats and champagne all have in common? For starters, they all made an appearance at HSBC’s recent annual general meeting of shareholders. A vocal group of climate activists upended the global bank’s proceedings when they descended on Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall wearing top hats, sipping from champagne flutes and even breaking [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Finally putting Net Zero into action May 9, 2022 The Queen’s Speech, taking place tomorrow, will set out the government’s agenda for the next year. It will include an energy bill focused on speeding up the path towards net zero. Proposals are expected to include measures to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030. The bill should also include the creation of a system operator [...]
We must design tech legislation fit for free markets and open trade rules May 9, 2022 Late last month we saw a grand statement of principles by a global coalition of economic powers. The United States, the 27 member states of the EU, the United Kingdom and 32 other countries around the world signed the Declaration for the Future of the Internet, a rather ornately presented summary of the philosophical approach [...]
We weathered the pandemic, but London must be ready for the trials of the future May 9, 2022 What will the Square Mile look like in five years’ time? Unfortunately, I do not possess a crystal ball but – as I start my term as Policy Chairman at the City of London Corporation – I do know that we are facing a critical inflection point after a period of unprecedented economic turbulence and [...]
London cabbies need to give up an antiquated system holding our economy back May 9, 2022 Have you tried to get an Uber in central London recently, and, upon seeing the price just thought “may as well get a black cab”? At least that way, you skip the hassle of trying to find your designated Toyota Prius and can simply hail a driver from the street. But the cost and expense [...]
Letters: What’s wrong with renting? May 9, 2022 [Re: We should be creating a Right to Build not reviving more Thatcherite dreams, May 5] Elena Siniscalco is right to criticise the right-to-buy policy, and not just because it reduced both rented housing stock and increased house prices across-the-board: the policy was also one of the main underlying causes of the 2008 crash. The [...]
Forget a windfall tax, our pension funds need to give up their fossil fuel addiction May 6, 2022 Yesterday, Shell reported their highest ever quarterly profits after raking in $9.13bn. Only days before, BP had similar results, with the largest earnings in more than a decade. Even if you didn’t know much about the industry, with the surging price of oil and gas, you could have easily predicted this. Indeed, many politicians did, [...]
Letters: Investment for the many, not the few May 6, 2022 [Re: Bringing retail investors into the fold creates equality of opportunity from our wealth, May 3] It was both refreshing and encouraging to read Roger Clarke’s call for more effective integration of retail investors into the IPO book-building process (and the financial ecosystem more generally). He compellingly argued the moral case for better inclusion of [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Why won’t Germany just go nuclear? May 6, 2022 Germany pushes ahead with plans to decommission all nuclear plants
America’s Roe v Wade reckoning could be ours too if we don’t defend choice May 6, 2022 In America, the right to choose – to keep or end a pregnancy – is under threat. On Monday night, a leaked opinion from the US Supreme Court showed the judges were prepared to strike down its famous Roe v Wade ruling, in opposition to the 69 per cent of Americans who want it to [...]