Green Anger As Boris Johnson's 'New Deal' Lacks Net Zero Commitment
In this newsletter:
1) Boris Johnson’s Chief Adviser Accused Of Being A 'Net Zero' Sceptic
GWPF, 29 June 2020
2) Environmentalists Dismayed By Boris Johnson's Not-So-Green New Deal
The Guardian, 30 June 2020
3) Green Anger As Boris Johnson's 'New Deal' Lacks Net Zero Commitment
The Independent, 30 June 2020
4) EU 'Not On Track' To Meet 2030 Climate Goals Despite Trade Threat
Sydney Morning Herald, 1 July 2020
5) African News Agencies Cover GWPF's Energy For Africa Week
6) Energy For Africa Week: Sustainability = Sustaining Poverty
GWPF TV, 1 July 2020
7) Climate Science Is Not Settled Anymore Than Pandemic Science Is
Sky News, 1 July 2020
8) Reformed Climate Activist Condemns ‘Terrorising School Children’ With False Science
Sky News, 1 July 2020
Full details:
1) Boris Johnson’s Chief Adviser Accused Of Being A 'Net Zero' Sceptic
GWPF, 29 June 2020
According to the Financial Times, several Whitehall sources are blaming Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings for a policy shift away from a green pledge of insulating old houses to building new ones.
One source said the chief adviser saw the green project as “boring old housing insulation” while another said Cummings was actually rather sceptical about the 2050 Net-Zero target.
GWPF, 29 June 2020
According to the Financial Times, several Whitehall sources are blaming Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings for a policy shift away from a green pledge of insulating old houses to building new ones.
One source said the chief adviser saw the green project as “boring old housing insulation” while another said Cummings was actually rather sceptical about the 2050 Net-Zero target.
Boris Johnson is urged to fulfil £9bn UK household insulation pledge
Boris Johnson has been urged to fulfil his manifesto promise to spend £9bn on a huge household insulation programme as his chief adviser tries to shift the spending on to other priorities.
The UK prime minister delighted green groups in November when he committed the Conservative party to “invest £9.2bn in the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals”.
But the policy has been snarled up in a Whitehall turf war after Downing Street chief adviser Dominic Cummings sought to water down the policy.
Mr Cummings has privately argued that the cash should be spent on building homes instead — with insulation a priority for later on.
Now the House of Commons’ environmental audit committee is launching an inquiry into home insulation, warning that without any immediate action the UK will miss its target to meet net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. [...]
Full story (£)
2) Environmentalists Dismayed By Boris Johnson's Not-So-Green New Deal
The Guardian, 30 June 2020
His promise to “build back greener” was greeted with dismay by environmental experts, who were concerned that the climate crisis receives scant attention.
Boris Johnson has been urged to fulfil his manifesto promise to spend £9bn on a huge household insulation programme as his chief adviser tries to shift the spending on to other priorities.
The UK prime minister delighted green groups in November when he committed the Conservative party to “invest £9.2bn in the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals”.
But the policy has been snarled up in a Whitehall turf war after Downing Street chief adviser Dominic Cummings sought to water down the policy.
Mr Cummings has privately argued that the cash should be spent on building homes instead — with insulation a priority for later on.
Now the House of Commons’ environmental audit committee is launching an inquiry into home insulation, warning that without any immediate action the UK will miss its target to meet net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. [...]
Full story (£)
2) Environmentalists Dismayed By Boris Johnson's Not-So-Green New Deal
The Guardian, 30 June 2020
His promise to “build back greener” was greeted with dismay by environmental experts, who were concerned that the climate crisis receives scant attention.
Boris Johnson is to set out a “new deal” for jobs and infrastructure on Tuesday, painting himself as a “Rooseveltian” prime minister lifting Britain out of the biggest recession in centuries, and a pledge to use the coronavirus crisis to tackle unresolved challenges such as health, education and regional inequalities.
“To that end, we will build build build,” he is expected to say. “Build back better, build back greener, build back faster, and to do that at the pace that this moment requires.
However, his promise to “build back greener” was greeted with dismay by environmental experts, who were concerned that the climate crisis receives scant attention in what the government is revealing so far of its plans.
Most of the spending announcements will focus on the NHS, education and improvements for town centres. There will be £100m for roads and £10m for rail in Manchester, as well as £900m on unspecified “shovel-ready” local growth projects in England.
Tree-planting is set for a boost, with Johnson re-affirming plans to plant more than 75,000 acres a year by 2025, with £40m for local conservation projects creating 3,000 jobs and safeguarding 2,000.
Ed Matthew, of the Climate Coalition, said: “The only thing Rooseveltian about this plan is that it belongs in the fossil fuel age. There is very little announced today which will do anything to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon economy....”
Full story
3) Green Anger As Boris Johnson's 'New Deal' Lacks Net Zero Commitment
The Independent, 30 June 2020
Cash for hospital maintenance, court upgrades, high street rescues and road upgrades – but not to meet net zero commitment, critics protest
“To that end, we will build build build,” he is expected to say. “Build back better, build back greener, build back faster, and to do that at the pace that this moment requires.
However, his promise to “build back greener” was greeted with dismay by environmental experts, who were concerned that the climate crisis receives scant attention in what the government is revealing so far of its plans.
Most of the spending announcements will focus on the NHS, education and improvements for town centres. There will be £100m for roads and £10m for rail in Manchester, as well as £900m on unspecified “shovel-ready” local growth projects in England.
Tree-planting is set for a boost, with Johnson re-affirming plans to plant more than 75,000 acres a year by 2025, with £40m for local conservation projects creating 3,000 jobs and safeguarding 2,000.
Ed Matthew, of the Climate Coalition, said: “The only thing Rooseveltian about this plan is that it belongs in the fossil fuel age. There is very little announced today which will do anything to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon economy....”
Full story
3) Green Anger As Boris Johnson's 'New Deal' Lacks Net Zero Commitment
The Independent, 30 June 2020
Cash for hospital maintenance, court upgrades, high street rescues and road upgrades – but not to meet net zero commitment, critics protest
Boris Johnson has angered green campaigners after a £5bn infrastructure spending boost lacked new measures to achieve his legal duty of [ net zero carbon emissions.
Vowing to “build back better” as the UK emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, the prime minister will announce cash for hospital maintenance, court upgrades, high street rescues and – controversially – road upgrades.
But he had been urged to seize the moment to ensure the UK is not “locked further into the climate crisis” – with the commitment of net zero emissions by 2050 in deep trouble.
Instead, the only fresh environmental measure is a hint of a future £40m to boost local conservation projects that would recruit new “conservation rangers”.
“The prime minister won’t build back greener by investing in roads, which will only lock us further into the climate crisis,” said Friends of the Earth ’s Muna Suleiman.
Watch more
“The country is crying out for a green economic action plan with bold energy-efficiency programmes, safer walking and cycling, and world-class public transport.”
And Caroline Lucas , the Green MP, said: “Boris Johnson had the chance to show some real leadership and he’s blown it.
“The only ‘bounce’ these plans give us is a bounce is straight into an accelerating climate crisis which he does next to nothing to address.
The green gap in the plans comes despite the independent Committee on Climate Change calling for gas boilers to be phased out and new infrastructure to make cycling and walking easier.
Full story
4) EU 'Not On Track' To Meet 2030 Climate Goals Despite Trade Threat
Sydney Morning Herald, 1 July 2020
London: The European Union's bid to make a free trade agreement with Australia conditional on Canberra taking tough action on climate change has been undermined by a new report which warns the bloc is "not on track" to meet its own emissions reduction commitments.
Fresh analysis by the EU's statistics agency found the 27-nation group might not achieve its target of cutting pollution by 40 per cent by 2030 unless extra measures are enacted to accelerate the pace of progress.
The conclusion is particularly significant because it underscores the scale of the transformation needed over the next decade if the European Parliament pushes ahead with plans to revise the target from 40 to 55 per cent.
The EU has sought to position itself as a global leader on the environment by pledging to make the continent carbon neutral by 2050 and refusing to sign trade deals if the other party does not "respect" the Paris climate accord.
The Morrison government's plan to meet its cuts by using "carry-over credits" earned through the Kyoto Protocol is unpopular with progressive members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who see it as a way for Australia to circumvent its obligations under the Paris agreement.
France has publicly tied Australia's domestic climate change policies to a proposed free trade agreement with the EU, earning a sharp rebuke from Trade Minister Simon Birmingham who has previously declared the tactic "unprecedented".
But in a newly released report, Eurostat — the European Commission's statistics agency — said while the bloc had achieved its goal of a 20 per cent cut to emissions by 2020, it was "not on track" to secure a 40 per cent reduction by 2030.
Full story
5) African News Agencies Cover GWPF's Energy For Africa Week
African Press Association (Wire agency)
https://www.africanpress.co.za/donors-condemned-for-colonial-approach-to-africa
CAJ News Africa (Wire agency)
https://www.cajnews.co.za/2020/06/30/donors-condemned-for-colonial-approach-to-africa
Energy News Africa:
http://energynewsafrica.co.za/?p=1322
Fin News Africa:
http://finnewsafrica.com/2020/06/donors-condemned-for-colonial-approach-to-africa
6) Energy For Africa Week: Sustainability = Sustaining Poverty
GWPF TV, 1 July 2020
The sustainability agenda is denying the world’s poorest people what populations elsewhere take for granted.
At the Millennium Summit of 2000, the United Nations agreed eight goals that the world should achieve by 2015. One of these goals was environmental sustainability.
click on image above to watch short video
It was not until 15 years later that the UN decided that universal access to energy should be a development goal – but only if it is “sustainable”.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, less than half of the population have access to electricity.
By stressing the need for ‘sustainable’ energy supply, development agencies risk forcing African countries to find a path to industrialisation that no developed economy has achieved.
African countries added just 8.4 gigawatts of new coal-fired generating capacity between 2006 and 2019.
Meanwhile, EU28 countries added 23 GW over the same period — despite having less than half of the population of Africa.
Germany, with a population a twelfth the size of sub Saharan Africa but with twice the GDP added nearly 10 GW of coal-fired generating capacity.
If the world’s wealthiest, most advanced economies cannot dismantle their own energy infrastructure, to replace it with renewables, how can the least wealthy economies start from scratch?
The problem is not simply that without access to electricity, people lack cooking, heating and lighting in their homes. It is that without reliable and cheap energy, factories, hospitals, schools, businesses and transport cannot function, and economies cannot develop.
In South Africa, which has the highest GDP in the region, 60% of total electricity produced was consumed by manufacturing and mining, enabling the country’s industrial sectors to participate in global markets.
Unreliable power supply, caused by underinvestment and preoccupation with sustainability is dangerous to industries, economy and people. Without vital energy infrastructure, new enterprises can not begin, much less thrive.
The sustainability agenda, which not even wealthy countries seem able to adopt, is toxic to emerging economies.
It is denying the world’s poorest people what populations elsewhere take for granted.
7) Climate Science Is Not Settled Anymore Than Pandemic Science Is
Sky News, 1 July 2020
Climate activists are so sure they’re right but are still afraid of scrutiny, and of being judged on trust cost impacts, according to Sky News host Peta Credlin.
Vowing to “build back better” as the UK emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, the prime minister will announce cash for hospital maintenance, court upgrades, high street rescues and – controversially – road upgrades.
But he had been urged to seize the moment to ensure the UK is not “locked further into the climate crisis” – with the commitment of net zero emissions by 2050 in deep trouble.
Instead, the only fresh environmental measure is a hint of a future £40m to boost local conservation projects that would recruit new “conservation rangers”.
“The prime minister won’t build back greener by investing in roads, which will only lock us further into the climate crisis,” said Friends of the Earth ’s Muna Suleiman.
Watch more
“The country is crying out for a green economic action plan with bold energy-efficiency programmes, safer walking and cycling, and world-class public transport.”
And Caroline Lucas , the Green MP, said: “Boris Johnson had the chance to show some real leadership and he’s blown it.
“The only ‘bounce’ these plans give us is a bounce is straight into an accelerating climate crisis which he does next to nothing to address.
The green gap in the plans comes despite the independent Committee on Climate Change calling for gas boilers to be phased out and new infrastructure to make cycling and walking easier.
Full story
4) EU 'Not On Track' To Meet 2030 Climate Goals Despite Trade Threat
Sydney Morning Herald, 1 July 2020
London: The European Union's bid to make a free trade agreement with Australia conditional on Canberra taking tough action on climate change has been undermined by a new report which warns the bloc is "not on track" to meet its own emissions reduction commitments.
Fresh analysis by the EU's statistics agency found the 27-nation group might not achieve its target of cutting pollution by 40 per cent by 2030 unless extra measures are enacted to accelerate the pace of progress.
The conclusion is particularly significant because it underscores the scale of the transformation needed over the next decade if the European Parliament pushes ahead with plans to revise the target from 40 to 55 per cent.
The EU has sought to position itself as a global leader on the environment by pledging to make the continent carbon neutral by 2050 and refusing to sign trade deals if the other party does not "respect" the Paris climate accord.
The Morrison government's plan to meet its cuts by using "carry-over credits" earned through the Kyoto Protocol is unpopular with progressive members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who see it as a way for Australia to circumvent its obligations under the Paris agreement.
France has publicly tied Australia's domestic climate change policies to a proposed free trade agreement with the EU, earning a sharp rebuke from Trade Minister Simon Birmingham who has previously declared the tactic "unprecedented".
But in a newly released report, Eurostat — the European Commission's statistics agency — said while the bloc had achieved its goal of a 20 per cent cut to emissions by 2020, it was "not on track" to secure a 40 per cent reduction by 2030.
Full story
5) African News Agencies Cover GWPF's Energy For Africa Week
African Press Association (Wire agency)
https://www.africanpress.co.za/donors-condemned-for-colonial-approach-to-africa
CAJ News Africa (Wire agency)
https://www.cajnews.co.za/2020/06/30/donors-condemned-for-colonial-approach-to-africa
Energy News Africa:
http://energynewsafrica.co.za/?p=1322
Fin News Africa:
http://finnewsafrica.com/2020/06/donors-condemned-for-colonial-approach-to-africa
6) Energy For Africa Week: Sustainability = Sustaining Poverty
GWPF TV, 1 July 2020
The sustainability agenda is denying the world’s poorest people what populations elsewhere take for granted.
At the Millennium Summit of 2000, the United Nations agreed eight goals that the world should achieve by 2015. One of these goals was environmental sustainability.
click on image above to watch short video
It was not until 15 years later that the UN decided that universal access to energy should be a development goal – but only if it is “sustainable”.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, less than half of the population have access to electricity.
By stressing the need for ‘sustainable’ energy supply, development agencies risk forcing African countries to find a path to industrialisation that no developed economy has achieved.
African countries added just 8.4 gigawatts of new coal-fired generating capacity between 2006 and 2019.
Meanwhile, EU28 countries added 23 GW over the same period — despite having less than half of the population of Africa.
Germany, with a population a twelfth the size of sub Saharan Africa but with twice the GDP added nearly 10 GW of coal-fired generating capacity.
If the world’s wealthiest, most advanced economies cannot dismantle their own energy infrastructure, to replace it with renewables, how can the least wealthy economies start from scratch?
The problem is not simply that without access to electricity, people lack cooking, heating and lighting in their homes. It is that without reliable and cheap energy, factories, hospitals, schools, businesses and transport cannot function, and economies cannot develop.
In South Africa, which has the highest GDP in the region, 60% of total electricity produced was consumed by manufacturing and mining, enabling the country’s industrial sectors to participate in global markets.
Unreliable power supply, caused by underinvestment and preoccupation with sustainability is dangerous to industries, economy and people. Without vital energy infrastructure, new enterprises can not begin, much less thrive.
The sustainability agenda, which not even wealthy countries seem able to adopt, is toxic to emerging economies.
It is denying the world’s poorest people what populations elsewhere take for granted.
7) Climate Science Is Not Settled Anymore Than Pandemic Science Is
Sky News, 1 July 2020
Climate activists are so sure they’re right but are still afraid of scrutiny, and of being judged on trust cost impacts, according to Sky News host Peta Credlin.
“For years people like me have been saying that climate science is not settled as activists like to say, anymore than pandemic science is settled”.
“All of us want to do the right thing by the environment, but there’s just no way we should be damaging our economy in an endless quest to reduce emissions,” Ms Credlin said.
Ms Credlin said rather than having proper and meaningful debate, climate activists instead have pushed to just shut people down.
“A good part of the reason why they want this debate shut down is to limit information to voters”.
8) Reformed Climate Activist Condemns ‘Terrorising School Children’ With False Science
Sky News, 1 July 2020
Former climate activist Michael Shellenberger has condemned alarmists for “terrorising school children” with false claims that the world is about to end.
“All of us want to do the right thing by the environment, but there’s just no way we should be damaging our economy in an endless quest to reduce emissions,” Ms Credlin said.
Ms Credlin said rather than having proper and meaningful debate, climate activists instead have pushed to just shut people down.
“A good part of the reason why they want this debate shut down is to limit information to voters”.
8) Reformed Climate Activist Condemns ‘Terrorising School Children’ With False Science
Sky News, 1 July 2020
Former climate activist Michael Shellenberger has condemned alarmists for “terrorising school children” with false claims that the world is about to end.
The life-long environmentalist has given Sky News host Chris Kenny a lengthy interview about his decision to speak out against the alarmist rhetoric which he says is creating anxiety in young people.
“I have a 14-year-old daughter and she is fine because I’ve explained the science to her (but) her friends are very alarmed,” he said.
“Adolescents these days have a lot to worry about, anxiety and depression are rising among everyone really, certainly adolescents, and I thought it was not right to be terrorising school children and giving them false information.”
Shellenberger - who has been invited to be an expert reviewer to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - maintains that climate change is occurring but says it is not a “catastrophic threat”.
He says the science has been hijacked by a “handful” of activist scientists who are spreading “science fiction”.
“The majority of scientists are not activists, there are actually only a handful of scientists who feel the need to terrify people,” he said.
“I don’t think this is really that complicated, we need to lift everybody out of poverty, and we need to do our best to preserve natural places and things have just spiralled out of control.
“This climate change thing has just got too crazy.” Shellenberger said he had noticed a “dark tradition” of anti-human rhetoric spilling from climate change activists, including views that humans were a “cancer” or a virus.
In the second half of the interview – which will air on Sky News Australia on the Kenny Report at 5pm on Tuesday night – Shellenberger also weighs into whether climate change was a significant cause of the Australian bushfires.
“Yes there is evidence of that,” he said. “However, It is massively outweighed by two factors; the accumulation of wood fuel in the forests and the development of new houses near forests.
“Is there some contributing role of climate change? Yes. Is it very significant? No”.
“I have a 14-year-old daughter and she is fine because I’ve explained the science to her (but) her friends are very alarmed,” he said.
“Adolescents these days have a lot to worry about, anxiety and depression are rising among everyone really, certainly adolescents, and I thought it was not right to be terrorising school children and giving them false information.”
Shellenberger - who has been invited to be an expert reviewer to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - maintains that climate change is occurring but says it is not a “catastrophic threat”.
He says the science has been hijacked by a “handful” of activist scientists who are spreading “science fiction”.
“The majority of scientists are not activists, there are actually only a handful of scientists who feel the need to terrify people,” he said.
“I don’t think this is really that complicated, we need to lift everybody out of poverty, and we need to do our best to preserve natural places and things have just spiralled out of control.
“This climate change thing has just got too crazy.” Shellenberger said he had noticed a “dark tradition” of anti-human rhetoric spilling from climate change activists, including views that humans were a “cancer” or a virus.
In the second half of the interview – which will air on Sky News Australia on the Kenny Report at 5pm on Tuesday night – Shellenberger also weighs into whether climate change was a significant cause of the Australian bushfires.
“Yes there is evidence of that,” he said. “However, It is massively outweighed by two factors; the accumulation of wood fuel in the forests and the development of new houses near forests.
“Is there some contributing role of climate change? Yes. Is it very significant? No”.
The London-based Global Warming Policy Forum is a world leading think tank on global warming policy issues. The GWPF newsletter is prepared by Director Dr Benny Peiser - for more information, please visit the website at www.thegwpf.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for engaging in the debate!
Because this is a public forum, we will only publish comments that are respectful and do NOT contain links to other sites. We appreciate your cooperation.