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Clean energy tax credits seen as last climate chance in US budget package
*Manager, Asia-Pacific Policy and Markets , Verra – Remote from Asia-Pacific
Scott Morrison's deal with the Nationals must not ignore land stewardship – an attractive, low-hanging fruit
The Guardian view on Rishi Sunak’s budget: more politics than economics | Editorial
The chancellor’s speech was all about the next election, stupid
Rishi Sunak’s budget and spending plans were about politics rather than economics. His Commons statement was designed to frame the arguments in the run-up to an election rather than dealing in a substantial way with a post-Covid, post-Brexit, transition to a net zero economy. However Mr Sunak knows that voters want a break with the recent past. The chancellor sought to insulate the government from politically toxic claims it is enacting austerity, by spending money to reduce waiting times for NHS patients and bringing up per-pupil education spending in England to levels last seen under a Labour government. He also signalled to “blue wall” voters that he has a heart, not just a head – by vowing eventually to restore the UK overseas aid budget to 0.7% of GDP. The hidden economics of the budget can be found in the small print: most of the extra money for public services disappears in two years’ time.
Increasing government expenditure is necessary, but this temporary hike won’t be enough. Local councils will see a sharp rise in funding next year, but this is inexplicably frozen in the following two years. Mr Sunak spoke to his own tribe by confidently cutting taxes for domestic flights, freezing fuel duty and splurging on roads – in breezy defiance of the prime minister’s green messaging ahead of climate talks at Cop26. Mr Sunak spent twice as much in tax cuts for bankers than Covid catch-up lessons for schoolchildren. While the economy has made a recovery from the pandemic, the Office for Budget Responsibility warned that the UK’s supply crisis has been made worse by post-Brexit immigration rules and trade barriers.
Continue reading...Pennsylvania Democratic attorney general signals opposition to RGGI in gubernatorial bid
Host countries can do more to leverage finance flows from the VCM -report
EU banking capital proposal eases fears over carbon trading, says trade group
Neutrino result heralds new chapter in physics
Insulate Britain: hundreds of arrests since action started – video
Forty-nine members of Insulate Britain have been arrested after the climate activist group blocked three major junctions in defiance of a series of injunctions banning them from protesting anywhere on England’s strategic road network.
The group is calling on the government to commit to insulating all Britain’s homes by 2030 as a first step to tackling the climate crisis.
According to the group’s estimates, 146 members have been arrested 690 times since 13 September
Continue reading...Government pledges £1.7bn of public money to new nuclear plant
The Guardian understands the funding is likely to be used to back the planned £20bn Sizewell C
The government will make its first direct investment in a large-scale nuclear reactor since 1995 after pledging to plough up to £1.7bn of taxpayers’ money into a new power plant.
Treasury documents published alongside the autumn statement did not name which nuclear project would be in line for the public funds, but the Guardian understands it is most likely to be the planned £20bn Sizewell C plant in Suffolk.
Continue reading...UK keeps carbon price floor in place for another year
Autumn Budget 2021: Boost for science is less than promised
Government offset announcement stuns China’s carbon market
Insulate Britain protests: 49 arrests as group defies injunctions
Members stage roadblock protests near M25 Dartford Crossing in Kent and on A40 in west London
Forty-nine members of Insulate Britain have been arrested after the climate activist group blocked three major junctions in defiance of a series of injunctions banning them from protesting anywhere on England’s strategic road network.
In their 15th day of action since starting their campaign in mid-September, members of the group staged roadblock protests near the M25 Dartford crossing in Kent and another on the A40 in West London.
Continue reading...Cutting sewage spills may be far cheaper than UK ministers predict, say experts
Figure of £150-660bn to cut raw sewage discharges into rivers was quoted by Tory MPs and environment minister
Government claims that cutting the millions of hours a year of raw sewage being discharged into rivers by water companies would cost up to £660bn have been challenged by experts.
On Tuesday night, peers kept the pressure on the government to enshrine a duty in law on water companies to reduce the dumping of raw sewage into rivers and seas.
Continue reading...Insulate Britain won’t be stopped by people who think you can grow concrete | Cameron Ford
Despite the government’s injunction against us, we’re pressing on with our campaign to insulate all UK homes by 2030
- Cameron Ford is an Insulate Britain campaigner
I was lost for words when a radio presenter, someone responsible for informing the public, recently told me that you can grow concrete. I had been invited on to talkRadio to speak about being a part of Insulate Britain, and was instead asked about my job (I’m a carpenter), and whether cutting down trees is “sustainable” (I pointed out that, unlike concrete, trees grow back). The internet has erupted in laughter at the one-minute clip, but what’s not funny is the government’s pitiful support for home insulation.
Insulating homes is an essential part of our transition to net zero. This is why Insulate Britain is going ahead with protests despite the government’s nationwide injunction against our campaign. Today, campaigners blocked major roads connecting the M25. We have a simple demand: insulate all UK homes by 2030 to cut carbon emissions and end fuel poverty.
Cameron Ford is a carpenter and Insulate Britain campaigner
Continue reading...Euro Markets: Midday Update
What the world can learn from Rachel Carson as we fight for our planet | Kim Heacox
With her brave book Silent Spring, Carson changed the course of US environmental history. We would do well to study her example
“Glasgow is our last chance” has become a climate crisis mantra.
World leaders scheduled to meet soon at the United Nations Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow to discuss – and act upon – our global climate crisis face a huge task, as do those here in the US as they fine-tune the climate measures in the Biden administration’s Build Back Better plan. All political measures up to now have been insufficient. The latest UN report on climate change issued a “code red for humanity”. And it’s only going to get worse and probably irreversible – larger fires, extended droughts, more intense storms, and more environmental refugees, destabilized regimes and unlivable parts of our planet – if our carbon-based economy continues unabated.
A frequent contributor to the Guardian, Kim Heacox is the author of many books, including The Only Kayak, a memoir, and Jimmy Bluefeather, a novel, both winners of the National Outdoor Book Award. He lives in Alaska
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