The carbon tax cost my company millions – and I’m calling on the chancellor to raise it on Monday October 26, 2018 Normally in the week before a Budget, you would expect businesses like mine to be making last-minute pitches to the chancellor for less regulation and a cut in taxes. Yet here I am about to make a case in favour of the carbon tax – a tax which in the past cost my company millions [...]
A ray of light in these dark days: Living standards have risen far more than we think October 24, 2018 The media seems full of gloom at the moment. Chaos over Brexit, Saudi Arabia, potential nuclear escalation between the US and Russia – you name it, people are worried about it. A ray of light is shone – an apt phrase as you will see – by the work of Bill Nordhaus, a Yale economist [...]
How to capitalise on the electric car revolution October 23, 2018 Electric vehicles have existed since 1828, and yet their prevalence in popular society has remained the stuff of science fiction for more than two centuries. It’s only recently that electric cars have become commonplace, helped partly by government policies – such as the planned ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by [...]
Accountants can save the world (really) October 18, 2018 Last week, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a landmark report due to be presented to governments at the Conference of the Parties in December this year. Its conclusions are stark – global carbon emissions must start to reduce well within 12 years if we are to prevent potentially catastrophic climate change [...]
DEBATE: Should the government set guidelines on meat consumption to combat climate change? October 16, 2018 Should the government set guidelines on meat consumption to combat climate change? Ben Glover, a researcher at Demos, says YES. Last week, the UN’s IPCC warned that to avoid disastrous levels of climate change we must make “unprecedented changes in all aspects of society” – including cutting meat consumption. That’s because livestock counts for about [...]
Sustainable investing is about making bigger profits, say the majority of investors October 9, 2018 | City Talk The majority of investors believe the main reason to invest sustainably is to make bigger profits, a major global study has found. The findings suggest investors increasingly believe that backing sustainable investments, those companies that are most focused on managing environmental, social and governance issues, will deliver better results rather than just be a choice [...]
US duo awarded Nobel Economics Prize for work combining theories on climate change and technology October 8, 2018 Two US economists have won with this year’s prestigious Nobel Economics Prize for work in integrating climate change and technological innovation. William Nordhaus has been recognised for his work on the damaging financial implications of environmental factors such as climate change, while Paul Romer has examined how economists can achieve a healthy rate of economic [...]
Natural disasters halve Lloyd’s of London profits September 21, 2018 Pre-tax profits at Lloyd's of London have halved in the first half of 2018 as the insurance firm struggled under the weight of a series of natural disasters. The figures Profits dropped by 50 per cent to £0.6bn, compared with £1.2bn in the same period the previous year. For the first six months of the [...]
Global league table of ‘caring’ investors: Americans more focused on sustainability than Europeans September 20, 2018 | City Talk The US is the only developed country to make the top 10 of a sustainable investment league table that gauges consumer habits and investing actions. Countries in the developing world dominated the top ten while European countries occupied the middle and lower half of the league table. The results of the Schroders Global Investor Study [...]
The green economy race is heating up – and Britain has the edge September 14, 2018 More than two centuries after our role at the leading edge of the Industrial Revolution, the UK needs a new economic and social transformation. One that sees global carbon emissions reduce dramatically. One that is essential for protecting our planet’s health and improving quality of life for future generations. The government strongly believes that the [...]