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.
“Immediately halt any new extraction projects” in the UK, authors of landmark study reveal
Steve Pye, Dan Welsby, James Price, Paul Ekins and Danny Gross15 Oct 2021
Friends of the Earth interview the authors of the milestone academic study that estimates how much oil, fossil methane gas and coal needs to remain in the ground. They reveal that new fossil fuel extraction projects in the UK are incompatible with limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees.
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?
U-turn on planning reform opens opportunity for progress on climate and nature
Rebecca Murray10 Sep 2021
With the government abandoning its attempt to write communities out of planning decisions, forthcoming legislation later this year may be the chance to finally align the planning system with the climate and nature emergencies. But, as Senior Planner Rebecca Murray explains, the most recent policy documents released by government do anything but that.
Why a hasty trade deal may not be good for us – or for the environment
Kierra Box, Trade Campaigner19 Aug 2021
What precedent might be set by the new Australia trade deal and what could it tell us about the future for UK environmental standards?
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.
An emergency plan on green jobs for young people
01 Mar 20211.36 MB PDF file
There are over 500,000 young people aged 16-24 out of work, and numbers are expected to grow substantially with the end of the furlough scheme. This is a youth unemployment emergency. Friends of the Earth commissioned consultancy Transition Economics to identify how to create green jobs quickly, with a focus on green apprenticeships, and to identify the scale of funding needed. And to put the level of funding into context, we also asked them to estimate the economic scarring impact from periods of unemployment. Read the report.
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.