Kemi Badenoch: Net Zero by 2050 is “impossible” March 18, 2025 Kemi Badenoch is set to launch a party “policy renewal” process starting with net zero and energy as she is expected to claim net zero by 2050 is “impossible”. The Conservative leader will say her party would “confront the real problems” but that she is not making a “moral judgement” on net zero or debating [...]
What do Conservatives really think about climate change? March 12, 2025 The public is clear that it wants action on climate change, but don’t want to pay more for it – and Conservatives are particularly opposed to higher taxes. The future of the centre-right depends on resolving this tension, says Simon Clarke What do the public think about the environment and the UK’s commitment to climate [...]
Net Zero: weak economic growth, high energy prices and stagnant productivity? March 5, 2025 How many times have we heard the argument that there is no trade-off between pursuing Net Zero and economic growth? The argument lies at the heat of the country’s economic, climate and environmental policy debate. The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, repeats the mantra at every opportunity – “clean energy and Net Zero equals good jobs [...]
Ed Miliband’s net zero obsession is harming the green energy transition February 27, 2025 Every industry expert agrees that Ed Miliband’s target for a 95 per cent clean energy grid is unattainable and the sacrifices required will alienate the public. There is a better way, says Simon Clarke It is a deep irony that Ed Miliband, who as energy secretary gave us the Climate Change Act in 2008, risks [...]
Just over half of Brits in favour of green taxes on households February 18, 2025 According to new research, just over half of Brits are in favour of introducing taxes to encourage a reduction in households’ carbon footprint. According to a survey from EPC and energy efficiency platform epIMS, the most-favoured tax of those surveyed was a waste management levy, with a quarter of respondents supportive of a tax on [...]
The Week in Business: Is Net Zero going out of fashion? February 14, 2025 Just a few short years ago BP proudly told us they were embarking on a journey – and I quote – “in support of our purpose to reimagine energy for people and our planet, and our ambition to become a Net Zero company by 2050 or sooner and help the world get to Net Zero.” [...]
Elliott takes up £3.8bn stake in BP February 13, 2025 Notorious activist investor Elliott Management has taken up a £3.8bn stake in BP, becoming the ailing oil major’s third-largest shareholder, according to reports. The US fund’s investment in the London-listed petrochemical giant emerged last weekend, shortly before BP reported an anaemic set of full-year results that saw its profit slump to $8.9bn (£7.9bn). The earnings [...]
Reform UK call for windfall tax on renewable energy in anti-net zero push February 12, 2025 Reform UK has said they would introduce a windfall tax on renewable energy as they announced they were “serving notice” on the industry. The party has detailed a set of “policies to undo the effects of net zero”, in the wake of a series of polls and voting intention surveys that saw it beat Labour [...]
Small modular reactors will help growth and clean energy go nuclear February 12, 2025 While France generates most of its energy from nuclear, Britain has the highest industrial electricity costs in the world. The upfront costs of small modular reactors are high, but so is the return on investment, says John Caudwell Last month was the hottest January on record globally. It was unexpected because the natural weather phenomena [...]
BP’s Net Zero push has crashed into reality February 12, 2025 I remember when I first encountered a hard copy FTSE 100 annual report. I was a first year undergraduate and my achingly left-wing lecturer in Business and Politics dropped copies in front of us in a seminar room, and asked us to rank the directors “on a fat cat scale.” I can still recall the [...]