Climate

Liz Truss presided over cuts to Environment Agency funding which “doubled sewage discharge”, it has been claimed.According to Labour Party analysis, raw sewage discharge has more than doubled since 2016, when the Tory leadership hopeful was environment secretary.This rose from 1.47 per overflow six years ago to 29.3 in 2021, according to the analysis of official figures. More

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email The energy crisis is undermining the UK’s net zero climate plans as firms slam the brakes on vital CO2-cutting investments to pay soaring bills, business leaders are warning. Bosses are preparing to halt switching to […] More

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email The UK government introduced a new grant scheme in March 2022 to incentivise people to replace their old gas boilers with low-carbon heating options, including heat pumps. Boris Johnson’s administration made £5,000 grants available to […] More

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are being urged not to “sideline” the climate crisis in their Tory leadership race, amid growing alarm that this issue is being forgotten. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says […] More

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email A final decision on whether a hugely controversial new coal mine in Cumbria should get the go ahead has been delayed again. The government had been due to rule next week on whether planning permission […] More

Britain is likely to face more wildfires because of climate change and “must learn to live with extreme events”, said Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse.But he admitted that a plan to make the country more resilience to the climate crisis and other emergencies would be delayed until the new prime minister is installed at No 10.Labour claimed the government had gone “missing while Britain burns” during the recent heatwave which saw record temperatures and dozens of homes destroyed in wildfires.Deputy leader Angela Rayner accused ministers of dragging their feet – pointing out that they were yet to produce a national resilience strategy despite a consultation finishing in September.“It’s already been 10 months – why should British people be forced to wait a whole year?” said Ms Rayner. “It’s the primary duty of any government to keep the country safe.”RecommendedThe Labour frontbencher added: “It has literally taken the country to go up in flames for the minister to turn his focus on this emergency … Isn’t it the truth that the prime minister and his entire government have gone missing while Britain burned?”Mr Malthouse denied failing to prepare for the crisis. He told the Commons the government recognised that “we are likely to experience more of these incidents and that we should not under-estimate their speed, scope and severity”.He added: “Britain may be unaccustomed to such high temperatures but the UK, along with our European neighbours, must learn to live with extreme events such as these … We will continue to face acute events driven by climate change.”But the Cabinet Office minister said the national resilience strategy would have to wait until the autumn – promising it would be launched at “earliest possible opportunity by the incoming administration”.Mr Malthouse said the government was “at the forefront of international efforts to reach net zero” – and pointed out that the environment department has a national adaptation programme to help manage climate change.He also defended Boris Johnson, who was accused “clocking off” after it was confirmed he will miss a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee at the weekend.Ms Rayner said the was “no Churchill – he has been missing in action. Where was he when Cobra was called last weekend?”But Mr Malthouse said the prime minister had “monitored our work and has been specifically briefed on a number of occasions”.The Labour deputy leader also warned that the Tory leadership contenders vying to succeed Mr Johnson “will leave us vulnerable” to climate change-caused disasters.Rishi Sunak, who vowed to uphold the ban on onshore wind farms on Wednesday, has warned that if progress on the plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 is “too hard and too fast” it would lose public support.Foreign secretary Liz Truss has suggested she wanted to look again at policies aimed at achieving net zero, vowing to stop the green levies which help pay for investment in renewable energy.Meanwhile, Labour MP Ian Lavery criticised the “paltry” 2 per cent pay increase proposed for firefighters, adding: “It is time we stopped clapping the great members of fire and rescue services, and start paying.”But Mr Malthouse said the pay review was “not within control of the government”, and involved local authorities who administered fire services – including councils run by Labour.RecommendedEarlier on Wednesday, Mr Johnson appeared to reject a call by Tory MP Caroline Nokes to help firefighters with a ban on disposable barbeques and Chinese sky lanterns.London’s Fire Commissioner Andy Roe had called for an urgent ban on disposable barbecues, as firefighters continue to feel the effects of unprecedented heatwave.“The key thing is for people to behave responsibly with these things,” the prime minister said at PMQs. “It’s clearly insane to take a disposable barbeque onto dry grass.” More

The UK government has given the go-ahead for the new Sizewell C nuclear power station to be built. The business secretary has approved the application for the development of the new plant in Suffolk. It has been estimated the nuclear power station will generate enough low-carbon electricity to power six million homes. The Planning Inspectorate said it would help the UK along the way to achieving net-zero emissions. The approval comes nearly two years after the application for Sizewell C to be built was submitted to the government agency. RecommendedThe Planning Inspectorate had recommended its approval only if the water supply strategy was resolved and more information provided to reassure ministers it was in line with habitats regulations. The business secretary approved the project on Wednesday. Campaigners against the site hit out at the decision, vowing to keep fighting against its development. “The government has been forced to ram through a damaging project to shore up its energy strategy but the fact that the Planning Inspectorate recommended Sizewell C be refused consent is a huge victory for all of us,” campaign group Stop Sizewell C said. “The wrong decision has been made but it’s not the end of our campaign to Stop Sizewell C.”RecommendedHundreds marched against the plant back in May, which has faced backlash from campaigners worried about the potential impact on water supply, biodiversity and coastal erosion. Mr Kwarteng said the move was part of a “big week of energy security” in a tweet on Wednesday. More

Conservative leadership contender Rishi Sunak has promised to “scrap” Boris Johnson’s plan to relax a ban on onshore wind farms in an appeal to the Tory right on climate.The former chancellor said he would uphold the ban if he wins the contest and becomes prime minister – citing the “distress and disruption” that onshore wind farms can cause.David Cameron’s government introduced a de facto ban on new onshore wind farm construction in 2016 when development was excluded from any green electricity subsidies.And under current government plans, local communities in England would be asked to consent to host new turbines in return for discounted electricity bills.But Mr Sunak said on Wednesday: “I want to reassure communities that as prime minister I would scrap plans to relax the ban on onshore wind in England, instead focusing on building more turbines offshore.”A YouGov poll from September found that 62 per cent of Tory voters would support an offshore wind farm being built in their area, while on 28 per cent would be opposed.RecommendedEd Miliband, Labour’s shadow climate change secretary, said it was “economic illiteracy and unilateral economic disarmament in the fight against the climate crisis that Rishi Sunak wants to keep the ban on onshore wind”.Wera Hobhouse, the Lib Dems’ energy spokesperson, said Mr Sunak’s promise showed “he is completely out of touch with reality”.She added: “Any supposed energy security strategy without onshore wind simply makes no sense … Onshore wind sites can be up and running, providing low-cost clean power for bill payers, in around a year.”The frontrunner – just one vote short of becoming one of the final two candidates – also pledged to make UK self-sufficient in energy production by 2045.Under Mr Sunak’s plan a new “energy sovereignty” target for 2045 would be written in to law, and an energy security committee would co-ordinate action to keep power stations online, protect gas reserves and reform markets to cut consumers’ bills.A dedicated energy ministry would be formed by breaking up the current Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).Mr Sunak said: “As energy bills skyrocket in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has never been more important that our country achieves energy sovereignty, so that we’re no longer reliant on the volatility of the global energy supply.”It comes after Mr Sunak warned that if progress on the plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 is “too hard and too fast” it would lose public support.Climate campaigns and Tory supporters of the net zero commitment fear Mr Johnson’s successor will backslide on policies aimed at achieving the landmark 2050 pledge.Foreign secretary Liz Truss suggested she wanted to look again at policies aimed at achieving net zero, vowing to stop the levies which help pay for investment in renewable energy. Rival Penny Mordaunt said the 2050 target “mustn’t clobber people” financially.Chris Skidmore – chair of the Net Zero Support Group of Tory MPs keen to uphold the target – welcomed Mr Sunak’s latest announcements.“A dedicated Department for Energy gives better focus on net zero, while an energy security target highlights that renewable energy provides energy sovereignty – ending foreign fossil fuel dependence,” he tweeted.Tory MP Robert Jenrick also defended Mr Sunak’s green credentials, describing him as “in favour of a sensible and credible plan to net zero”.The former minister told Sky News: “What he has said is that this is a big and expensive and logistically difficult journey for the country, and we’ve got to make sure we keep the public with us on that path.”Mr Jenrick added: “When we’re thinking of new pledges – whether that’s the introduction of electric vehicles, or mandating that homes have to have ground-source heat pumps – we’ve got to think about the pound in people’s pocket.“Because if the public lose faith in this, then we’re only going to set back our path to net zero.”RecommendedA final vote of Tory MPs on Wednesday will select the two candidates to be put to the party’s membership in the race for No 10.Ms Truss and Ms Mordaunt are battling to win over Kemi Badenoch’s supporters after she was knocked out of the contest. More