Simon Evans Profile picture
Jun 20 5 tweets 3 min read
This #WorldRefugeeDay I am thankful – and deeply ashamed

Thankful for the New Zealanders who welcomed my German Jewish refugee grandparents (pic) after they fled the Nazis

Ashamed of a British govt that abdicates our moral duty, to help refugees in their moment of need

1/
My maternal grandparents had been made stateless and yet, with the help of friends of friends, they obtained visas for NZ, travelling via Calais, Southampton and Columbo, before landing in Wellington just weeks before the outbreak of war

2/
Most of their family was not so lucky

My grandfather's parents: murdered in the forests outside Riga

My grandmother's father: committed suicide under weight of Nazi oppression

bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch

3/
PS their route to New Zealand was legal. It was very hard to navigate and they were fortunate to be accepted – and grudgingly so. But there was a legal route.

Per @AmnestyUK "there are no safe and legal routes [into the UK] for people seeking asylum"

4/

amnesty.org.uk/files/2021-01/…
PPS My grandparents were told, even as they were accepted by NZ govt, that they would not integrate

This idea was, of course, total rubbish then – and remains total rubbish now

5/

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More from @DrSimEvans

Jun 20
NEW research from China's National Climate Center, described for @CarbonBrief by its director:

China has enough wind & solar potential to generate 95,837TWh, an almost unimaginably large figure 13x China's electricity use in 2020 & 4x global demand

1/

carbonbrief.org/guest-post-chi…
China's current wind and solar capacity is around 600GW combined, with a target of 1,200GW by 2030 widely expected to be met years early

2/

carbonbrief.org/analysis-what-…
But getting to carbon neutrality by 2060 implies WAY more wind & solar, according to some pathways a total of 6,000GW

The new research shows that's entirely doable, with technical potential for 9x more (56,550GW)

Global wind+solar = 1,674GW in 2021!

3/

carbonbrief.org/guest-post-chi…
Read 4 tweets
Jun 16
Today's Times amusingly reports No 10 officials' idea for an energy efficiency plan called "Insulate Britain"

The real story is less funny

💷Trying to raid green ££ to pay for it
🙈Failing to extend existing ECO scheme
🏡Ignoring manifesto pledge

1/

getrevue.co/profile/Carbon…
The Times notes that govt has failed to extend existing ECO efficiency scheme, which was already doing what the article says Johnson wants to achieve

ECO ended in March, despite govt consulting last yr (see link) on a £1bn/yr extension to 2026

2/

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
The Times also reports Johnson trying to get ministers to raid other green budgets to pay for his energy efficiency plans, but fails to mention the (unmet) Tory manifesto pledge to spend £9.2bn on efficiency

3/

carbonbrief.org/election-2019-…
Read 7 tweets
Jun 15
THREAD

This week & last, climate negotiators from around the world have been meeting in Bonn #SB56 ahead of the next UN climate talks COP27 in Egypt

We'll be publishing a full @CarbonBrief summary

But meanwhile, what have they been talking about?

1/n

unfccc.int/SB56
COP26 last year finalised the Paris Agreement, but it also gave climate diplomats a lengthy to-do list

✅A "dialogue" on loss & damage finance
✅A "work programme" on adaptation targets
✅A "work programme" on faster emissions cuts
✅…and much more!

2/

carbonbrief.org/cop26-key-outc…
If you're brave, you can see these to-do list items reflected in the *provisional* agendas of the meetings (yes, meetings plural) in Bonn…

SBSTA, the UNFCCC technical body
unfccc.int/event/sbsta-56

SBI, its implementation arm
unfccc.int/event/sbi-56

3/
Read 15 tweets
Jun 15
In all seriousness, the lack of transparency around UK govt decisionmaking on new nuclear plants is a major issue – it allows no opportunity for informed public or political scrutiny over tens of billions of investment
Exactly the same issues came up around Hinkley C, with sparse value for money justification published well after the deal had been signed

(the deal was signed in 2016 and the detailed VfM doc published only a year later)

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
The @instituteforgov described the situation in Oct 2016 as "simply not good enough", concluding:

"Is Hinkley good value? We can’t say"

instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/hinkley-d…
Read 4 tweets
Jun 14
UK, host of COP26, is extending the life of a coal fired power station, West Burton, by 6mths

Does it matter for climate?

TL;DR only symbolically

1/4
In recent yrs, the 2GW West Burton site has run at around 5% of capacity. Only 1GW remains.

At a conservative 10% for that extra six months, I estimate it'd emit 0.5MtCO2 - roughly 0.1% of UK annual GHG total

2/4
Generating the same electricity with gas would emit roughly half that amount, so the saving of not running West Burton would be even smaller, 0.25MtCO2 / 0.05%

(Given timeline to this winter it's unlikely more wind/solar could be built in addition to current plans)

3/4
Read 4 tweets
Jun 14
ANALYSIS/FACTCHECK

EV drivers in the UK could save more than £1,500 a year vs driving the same distance in a petrol car

I estimate yr1 savings of £1,063 (avg mileage, home energy price cap) or £1,501 on Octopus "Go" with cheap overnight charging

More if you drive further

1/ Image
UK govt is ending the £1,500 plug-in car grant, arguing running cost savings "can often exceed" this amount

Based on my analysis above…

FACTCHECK: True

(But there are caveats)

2/

gov.uk/government/new… Image
This all reinforces the point I made last week:

EV drivers enjoy significant running cost savings vs petrol car drivers, particularly given currently inflated oil/petrol prices

Biggest caveat is you need ££ to buy an EV, which was point of the grant

3/

Read 7 tweets

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