The future of Drax: old, inefficient, damaging and expensive
09 Dec 2021
Drax power station in Selby, Yorkshire is old, inefficient, environmentally damaging and will need £billions of subsidies to survive. We argue it should start preparing for closure and its workers retrained for decent jobs elsewhere.
Tackling climate breakdown – how do government strategies measure up?
Mike Childs16 Nov 2021
In the run-up to and at the climate talks at COP26, there was an avalanche of pledges, promises and strategies – but do they add up? Mike Childs, Head of Science, Policy & Research, gives his verdict.
Tip of the iceberg: The future of fossil fuel extraction
26 Oct 2021
This report explores how the UK government supports fossil fuel extraction at home and abroad. It reveals the 40 new UK oil, gas and coal extraction projects that are in the pipeline for approval in the next few years.
A dangerous distraction – the offsetting con
Mike Childs and Paul de Zylva22 Oct 2021
Carbon offsetting and nature offsetting are both worsening the climate and nature emergencies. They can’t be made to work, at least not at scale, and trying to do so is dangerous distraction from the real job at hand, cutting carbon emissions and restoring nature.
Global Britain? 6 ways the UK can protect and restore nature
Paul de Zylva04 Oct 2021
What can the government do to restore nature here and overseas?
20 actions parish and town councils can take on the climate and nature emergency
Mike Childs24 Jun 2021
Parish and town councils may not be as powerful as local authorities but they can be a force for change in addressing the climate and nature emergency.
2021 - A big year for climate, nature and poverty
Paul de Zylva03 Jun 2021
Will government and business leaders act on the triple emergency? Or will government and business-as-usual win?
Are England’s new plans for trees and peat fit for purpose?
Paul de Zylva20 May 2021
The government’s Peat and Trees Action Plans were expected, but are they worth the wait? Paul de Zylva picks the highs, the lows, and points to what comes next.
The climate crisis - how international trade must change
Kierra Box08 Feb 2021
Trade campaigner Kierra Box starts a conversation about which trade policy levers could deliver positive change and where politics needs to shift.
Faster, deeper and fairer carbon pollution cuts needed
Mike Childs27 Jan 2021
Faster, deeper and fairer cuts to carbon emissions than those recommended by the Climate Change Committee are possible and necessary.
Privatising the planning system: just for the few?
Naomi Luhde-Thompson, Senior Planner14 Jan 2021
Why proposed planning reforms are socially unjust and bad for climate change.
Climate emergency - how do local authorities get people out of their cars?
Mike Childs07 Jan 2021
Why making the right decisions about car use now can help local authorities on the pathway to net zero.
Why council action on climate is vital
Sandra Bell08 Dec 2020
Sandra Bell explains why local council action is vital to achieving net zero and why the government must give them greater support as recommended by the Climate Change Committee.
Planning for the future - Friends of the Earth response to the White Paper
Naomi Luhde-Thompson, Kate Gordon12 Nov 2020
The government recently consulted on its proposed radical reforms to the planning system. We outlined our concerns that these will diminish local accountability, erode local democracy by curtailing the right of communities to influence planning and development in their area and fail to tackle the urgent climate and ecological emergencies.
How can government help English councils act on climate breakdown?
Sandra Bell28 Aug 2020
Local authorities can take some action on climate change but they could do so much more if the government empowered and enabled them.