Is the government's levelling up plan any good?
Sandra Bell10 May 2022
The UK government has made levelling up a priority. Senior Sustainability Analyst Sandra Bell sets out 5 tests to assess the strength of the government’s approach and whether it will help the poorest communities. As the government's programme progresses, including draft legislation following the Queen’s Speech, Friends of the Earth will use these tests to report on progress.
Justice moves centre-stage in IPCC climate report
Mike Childs24 Mar 2022
Latest IPCC report shows equity and justice are essential to successful climate action
The future of heating
Mike Childs21 Feb 2022
Meeting climate targets through electric heating backed by renewably-produced hydrogen.
Is flooding in Northern Ireland getting worse?
Mike Childs11 Jan 2022
This briefing examines why so many more homes are threatened by flood water, where they are and what we can do to manage flood risk.
New UK law won’t halt deforestation or protect human rights
Clare Oxborrow06 Jan 2022
Commodity supply chains are trashing forests and trampling human rights. Clare Oxborrow explains why the government’s new Environment Act will fail to protect communities and why it must take effective action to regulate UK companies.
Is flooding in Wales getting worse?
Mike Childs04 Jan 2022
This briefing examines why so many more homes are threatened by flood water, where they are and what we can do to manage flood risk.
Is flooding in England getting worse?
Mike Childs14 Dec 2021
This briefing examines why so many more homes are threatened by flood water, where they are and what we can do to manage flood risk.
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.
Failing to insulate – a double threat of fuel poverty and climate harm
Mike Childs22 Nov 2021
There’s a price to pay for decades of underfunding energy efficiency improvements to the UK’s older and badly insulated houses. And the price is causing harm to the poorest in society, pensioners, people of colour, young people and people with health and disability challenges. These communities suffer disproportionately from fuel poverty and the impact of climate breakdown, which is exacerbated by inefficient, energy-hungry homes.
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?
Why 2020-30 is a make-or-break decade for climate and nature
Paul de Zylva04 Oct 2021
We face a climate emergency and nature is in crisis – what will it take for our leaders to do the right thing?
Reducing greenhouse gases: our position
Mike Childs14 Jul 2021
Why we need to reduce global warming greenhouse gases rapidly: Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland's position.