Last week’s Spring Budget was widely criticised for missed opportunities on energy efficiency and growing low-carbon industries. Key points from the useful summary by Carbon Brief UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt failed to mention the term “climate change” at all when setting out the government’s spring budget – the first since it was confirmed that 2023 was […]

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The government has announced funding awards to improve lowland peat soils, including over £1.3 million to projects across the North. Peatlands are the country’s largest terrestrial carbon store, however, as a result of centuries of drainage for agriculture, just 1% of England’s lowland peatlands remain in a near-natural state, and these drained peatlands account for […]

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A new study has revealed how much carbon bottom trawling releases into the atmosphere. Much of the damage done by dragging across the bottom of the sea to catch fish has been known for many years. However, new research shows that it is also an unaccounted source of carbon emissions that is “too big to […]

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Interesting blog by Gill Wrigley, Sphagnum project officer, Calderdale Council Sphagnum moss holds twenty times its weight in water.   Once it was the most abundant plant on the hill tops of Calderdale, soaking up the water as soon as it falls, keeping the peat wet and slowing the flow of water into our steep sided […]

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The government has said that a pilot project to replace gas with hydrogen in home heating in the village of Redcar in Yorkshire, will not go ahead as there is not enough adequate low carbon hydrogen available. The “hydrogen village” scheme had been expected to start in 2025, but the decision followed months of protests […]

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The fortnight-long talks in Dubai have concluded with limited progress, the headline being a deal that for the first time calls on all nations to transition away from fossil fuels to avert the worst effects of climate change. The agreement did not include an explicit commitment to phase out or even phase down fossil fuels. […]

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The UNFCCC COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates runs until 12 December. Governments, civil society, businesses and financial institutions are continuing to discuss the implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. It started with a pledge from governments around the world to provide over £300 million for a loss and damage fund. This is designed to […]

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The government has published its response to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) 2023 progress report. The CCC’s report was scathing, saying progress was slow and the publication of the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan (CBDP), setting out how the government plans to get to Net Zero, raised further concerns, with reduced confidence in the UK […]

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