To solve the plastic conundrum, we have to make it a problem for finance March 30, 2021 Plastic is the much-maligned detritus of modern living. It is the broken toy, the used carrier bag and the surgical face mask polluting our streets, streams and oceans, which countless recycling schemes and beach cleans have failed to tackle. With the right backing, plastic can become a force for good as a valuable re-usable commodity. [...]
COP26: Good fortune and lofty statements won’t tackle climate change, but business can March 30, 2021 It is the lines of the hapless but heroic Ted Hastings, in Line of Duty, which so often steal the show. Hastings’ common refrain “now we’re sucking diesel” should set the scene for COP 26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this year. Taken literally, it is an outcome we badly need [...]
Shell suggests linking director’s pay with climate performance March 29, 2021 British-Dutch energy giant Shell has suggested linking its director’s pay with the groups’ climate performance today, as climate resolution edges to the top of industry discussion. The move would signal a shift in priorities in the energy sector, as directors currently receive bonuses that are tied to natural gas production volumes. Shareholders are set to vote [...]
Joe Biden invites Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to climate talks March 26, 2021 President Joe Biden is including rivals Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China among the people he has invited to the first big climate talks of his administration. The US hopes the event will help shape, speed up and deepen global efforts to cut climate-wrecking fossil fuel pollution, administration officials said this evening. [...]
Decarbonisation could create 1.7m jobs in emissions-heavy regions March 25, 2021 The UK’s transition to low-carbon and renewable energy sources could create 1.7m jobs, but only if the government takes steps to decarbonise the country’s 12 most carbon-intensive industries. Half of the new jobs could be created in the north, Midlands and Scotland, the areas of the UK where such heavily emitting industries are based. The [...]
Green investment surges as UK bosses sound alarm on climate change March 25, 2021 The majority of UK bosses intend to increase their long-term investments in sustainability initiatives as they grow concerned about the impact of climate change. A PwC survey of UK chief executives reveals 70 per cent are concerned about the impact of climate change, with almost a third “extremely concerned” about the issue. But climate change [...]
UK greenhouse gas emissions fell nearly a tenth in 2020 March 25, 2021 The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell nearly 10 per cent in 2020 as the pandemic saw energy usage from transport use tumble. Overall emissions fell 8.9 per cent over the course of the year, one of the largest falls on record. It is the eighth straight year in which total emissions have fallen. As a [...]
Crown Estate to launch new large-scale floating wind farm leasing round March 24, 2021 The Crown Estate has today announced that it is beginning work on a new leasing round for floating wind power projects in the Celtic Sea. Floating turbines are still an emerging technology, but if successful could enable wind farms to be built much further offshore. In December the UK announced that it would seek to [...]
Government agrees £16bn North Sea transition deal for oil industry March 24, 2021 The government and private sector will pour £16bn into the North Sea oil industry over the next decade in a bid to reduce carbon emissions, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced today. Under the new “North Sea Transition Deal”, ministers will be able to block future oil and gas exploration on the continental shelf if it [...]
Banking giants pour $3.8 trillion into fossil fuels since Paris agreement March 24, 2021 Since 2016, the world’s 60 largest banks have poured more than $3.8 trillion into the fossil fuel industry, a new report released today has shown. Despite the signing of the Paris climate accords in 2015, lenders have continued to provide hundreds of billions in financing for polluting industries such as tar sands oil, coal, and [...]