I haven’t seen this reported in media anywhere yet, but... it seems the UK pledged at the #ClimateActionSummit to improve energy efficiency at 3% per year wri.org/news/2019/09/r…. Well: strictly speaking...
... governments commit 'to use the best levers available to put the world on a path of 3% annual efficiency improvement. This includes incorporating specific efficiency actions and commitments in national plans or providing financial and technical support to other countries'
Into which I read two things: a) the UK must step up in some ways on domestic policy; and b) the more it does that, the less it would be expected to pay for improvements in other countries
The commitment can cover any sectors where energy is used. In appliances, obvs, EU product standards have been a major driver, so... (insert #Brexit cliché of your choice). Vehicle efficiency also largely EU-based. Homes and industry currently stalled theccc.org.uk/publication/re…
I've been looking for a reference for the UK's all-sector rate of improvement now, but can't turn one up. @Twitter - can you?
Any road, it's an interesting one. You'd think that as host of the 2020 @UNFCCC summit, UK would be looking to follow through on commitments made here and showcase national action. So... expecting further announcements in due course from @mhclg, @transportgovuk, @beisgovuk etc
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THREAD: Seen a bit of chat recently implying that the UK shouldn't put pedal to the metal on decarbonisation as it's so far gone faster than US - which is true, it has
The implication is that somehow this speed has been bad for the UK economy. The data say otherwise
Since 1990, UK GDP has increased 3.45-fold, according to the World Bank. The US, 3.42-fold. Basically, identical data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.G…
THREAD: With all the talk #cop28 centring on #fossilfuelphaseout or not – abated, unabated, etc – what actually is the logical role of CCS in the energy transition?
In a new paper for @thesmithschool @uniofoxford, Dr Andrea Bacilieri, Dr Rupert Way and I analyse the relative costs of taking a high-CCS vs a low-CCS route to #netzero and the 1.5°C temperature goal – a question that as far as we can see hasn’t been properly asked before
Hilarious to see @NetZeroWatch plugging this 'dangers of woke banking' line... here's their chairman's own company's sustainability page 😂😂😂 recordfg.com/sustainability/
I have deep reservations about this 'people who live near wind farms should get cheap electricity' thing, which has reached a new depth today with a recommendation that they should get free electricity
It would only make sense if people were opposed to having wind farms nearby, and there's a welter of evidence in a range of countries showing that the majority of people aren't opposed (eg sciencedirect.com/science/articl…)
THREAD: Climate change causes conflict, you say? Well: it's a bit more complex than that
Climate change and other facets of the global environmental crisis raise the risks of conflict and other forms of insecurity. But so do many other things - competition for resources, ethnic tensions, prior conflicts, pandemics...
And there is already a growing security crisis. Over the last 10 years (well before #Covid and Putin's war) the number of state-based armed conflicts, the number of people killed in them and the number of people displaced all roughly doubled
This is also a nod to all those lining up to pontificate that '1.5°C is dead', particularly scientists who make no attempt to clarify that that what they're saying is just their opinion, not fact
Firstly let's look at the #ParisAgreement's wording - to 'hold' warming 'well below 2°C' while 'making efforts' to keep it to 1.5°C. There is no time limit on that 'making efforts'. Governments did not pledge to make efforts until warming exceeds 1.5°C and then stop