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

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/

https://twitter.com/NetZeroWatch/status/1651863207034642432

There's lots more...

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 ...as set out by @Steven_Swinford in @thetimes this morning thetimes.co.uk/article/f69bb1…

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...

THREAD: Sparked by Frans @TimmermansEU's remarks that #COP27 could kill off the #ParisAgreement 1.5 Celsius temperature target

https://twitter.com/TimmermansEU/status/1593871686851518465

, a short thread on some realities of 1.5°C 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

THREAD: The reluctance of some governments to contemplate having language on phasing down all fossil fuels in the #COP27 cover text unfccc.int/sites/default/… is in one sense baffling... because they've already agreed that it's needed The draft text 'reaffirms the fundamental #ParisAgreement temperature goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels'

THREAD: @ECIU_UK report out today asks whether the Big Four emitters - China, the US, the EU and India - are likely to cut emissions faster than their headline targets indicate eciu.net/analysis/repor… TL:DR - the answer, for three of the four, is 'yes'

Those claiming @KemiBadenoch rowed back on the UK 2050 #NetZero target yesterday appear to have missed the main point. Which is, that a target needs a plan, and is useless without. She's not wrong And yesterday's High Court ruling theguardian.com/environment/20… confirms that the next PM will need to develop a better plan than exists right now

THREAD: At last year's UN climate summit #COP26 in Glasgow, governments recognised the paucity of their carbon-cutting plans for this decade and urged each other to make new ones before the end of this year '...requests Parties to revisit and strengthen the 2030 targets in their nationally determined contributions as necessary to align with the Paris Agreement temperature goal by the end of 2022...' is the exact wording unfccc.int/sites/default/…

Seems the 'Russia stopped #fracking in Europe and the UK by funding environmental groups' accusation is edging back into circulation

https://twitter.com/lefoudubaron/status/1499299938190172163

(h/t @afneil) I'm not going to argue that the Russian state or any of its agencies never campaigned against fracking in the West, because I don't know - it's certainly credible that they would have done so

THREAD: More figures on gas imports to and exports from the UK just released by government, this time for December gov.uk/government/sta… Like those for September, October and November, which I highlighted last month

https://twitter.com/_richardblack/status/1486721893277134849

, they show gas flowing out of the UK at an unusually high level for the time of year

Three pieces in @Telegraph today, two in @TheSun, and Jacob Rees-Mogg all cheerleading ‘gas, gas gas’ – during an energy price crisis caused by gas dependence, which increasing gas production cannot solve The short version: gas extracted in British fields doesn't belong to Britain, it's owned by commercial companies who sell to the highest bidder. No way to change that except by export controls or public ownership - good luck with either of those

THREAD: Something curious turns up in the gas statistics released this morning by government Curious because at a time of eye-wateringly high gas prices, with Vladimir Putin at the Ukraine's door, with warnings of dire outcomes everywhere and the oil industry telling us that continuing UK oil and gas extraction is necessary for energy security ogauthority.co.uk/news-publicati…

As we approach the final hours of #COP26, it's worth asking what impact it'll have on the UK Firstly, the UK has finally hosted one of these things, 32 years after then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s call for a UN climate treaty margaretthatcher.org/document/107817. The UK has always had an important role in the process but hosting this summit makes the connection more visceral…

THREAD - initial thoughts on the texts dropped this morning at #COP26 and unfccc.int/sites/default/…
unfccc.int/sites/default/… First thing is, not that much has changed since the previous drafts - science, 'urgency', 'concern', request of Parties for new NDCs in 2022, adaptation finance, all still in - and placeholders still for long-term finance and implementation

New over-arching draft texts just out at #COP26 - unfccc.int/sites/default/… and unfccc.int/sites/default/… More detailed analyses of everything will doubtless follow but on a quick take:

THREAD: The UK government says it wants a successful #COP26. Great. But from the government’s position, the word ‘success’ has two distinct meanings In one, #COP26 is a genuine success, making a meaningful contribution to tackling climate change. In the other, it isn’t a genuine success, but enough happens to allow Boris Johnson to claim that it is

Now #COP26 is upon us it's noticeable how many political journalists are writing and broadcasting about it, which (speaking as a former science and environment hack who spent many hours inside the BBC arguing for climate change coverage across the board) is very welcome But... something is going slightly awry, and I want to highlight it now before the serious stuff begins

To Glasgow, today, for #COP26, with the floods in Cumbria bringing a distinct feeling of déjà vu... Six years ago, just after the last massively important UN climate summit (in Paris) got underway, Cumbria was at the centre of another big flood, caused by Storm Desmond and a couple of close relatives

Very odd story in @thetimes this morning on how a 'new front in the environmental culture war' could be in the offing over meat taxes thetimes.co.uk/article/should… @rhysblakely Odd how? Firstly, because almost no-one is now talking about a meat tax. Why? Because a bunch of research over the last few years has shown how eye-wateringly unpopular it would be - so it's basically off the political menu