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Boris Johnson joked that feeding people to animals could help solve the biodiversity crisis facing the planet during a climate press conference with children on Monday.The prime minister was discussing the challenges facing the natural world with conservation charity WWF UK’s chief executive Tanya Steele.“I think we need to bring nature back,” she said. “Our planet, 97 per cent of the mass of mammals on this planet is humans and our animals, our domestic animals.“Just 3 per cent is left for the wild.”The prime minister responded that it was “so sad” before adding: “We could feed some of the human beings to the animals, that would, that would be…”Ms Steele jokingly replied: “We could have a vote later and ask if there’s any candidates.“ The off-script remark came after Mr Johnson surprised environmental campaigners by claiming recycling plastic “doesn’t work”.During the press conference at No 10 he said: “Recycling isn’t the answer. Recycling… it doesn’t begin to address the problem.”Ms Steele said: “We have to reduce, we have to reuse – I do think we need to do a little bit of recycling, PM, and have some system to do so.”But Mr Johnson replied: “It doesn’t work.”Responding to those comments, the Recycling Association said the prime minister had “completely lost the plastic plot”.Chief executive Simon Ellin told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “Wow, I think is the first answer. It’s very disappointing. I think he has completely lost the plastic plot here, if I’m honest.“We need to reduce and I would completely agree with him on that but his own government has just invested in the resources and waste strategy, which is the most ground-breaking recycling legislation and plan that we’ve ever seen, with recycling right at the front of it.“So he seems to be completely conflicting with his own government’s policy.” More

Nicola Sturgeon has said Cop26 needs to see “significant uplift” in the ambition to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s most polluting countries, and also said the conference must recognise growing levels of anger at inaction, particularly from younger generations.She also suggested the controversial Cambo oilfield in the North Sea, which has been backed by the UK government, should be reviewed.Speaking in front of an audience of students and young people in Glasgow a week before the UN’s climate summit begins, Ms Sturgeon called on world leaders to take “credible action” to achieve net zero.She also warned that without the conference resulting in more determined action from governments, such events could serve to further inflame tensions over politicians’ handling of the climate crisis.Speaking about recognising the “fundamental issues of fairness and justice that lie at the heard of the climate crisis”, she said young people “will live their lives with the climate that my, and preceding generations have created”.“All leaders at Cop26 must truly understand the concern, the entirely justified anger, that so many young people across the world feel.”“I know that in some ways, what Cop26 represents – rich countries coming together to haggle and negotiate over the future of the planet – might intensify rather than alleviate your anger.”“On the need for climate action there is no doubt at all that your generation is far ahead of mine.“I know that some of the most challenging interactions I’ve had on climate policy have been with young activists – I’ve been pushed to go much further and faster, and quite rightly so.”She said one key measure of whether the conference could be considered a success was how it was regarded by young people.She said: “For all of us in positions of leadership today, there is a really important standard that we must hold ourselves to: Can we look you and your peers across the world in the eye and say we’re doing enough? Right now the simple answer to that question is no, we’re not.“So a fundamental test of Cop26 is that it starts to turn that no into yes.”Speaking more widely about what was required to get to this point, Ms sturgeon focused on the countries with the biggest greenhouse gas emissions, which she said must “step up the most”, and urged them to sign up to emissions cuts by 2030.Countries must “be clear in their ambition to reach net zero”, she said.“To be credible their pledges must be backed by action.”“The hard fact is this: keeping 1.5 alive – which has become the strapline almost, for Cop26 – is vital, but it mustn’t just become a face-saving slogan, it must be real.” More

Two in three voters in the UK support tax rises to pay for measures to mitigate the climate crisis, exclusive new polling for The Independent has found.Chancellor Rishi Sunak is under pressure to avoid tax hikes from Conservative MPs sceptical of the government’s net zero plans as he prepares to deliver his Budget on Wednesday.But the idea of raising taxes to deal with the climate emergency has widespread support from the British public, a survey by Savanta ComRes has revealed.Some 67 per cent of voters said tax rises at the Budget would be “acceptable” if revenue was spent on action to reduce the impact of climate change. Only 22 per cent said they found the idea “unacceptable”.It comes as Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for a windfall tax on gas producers to help pay for the transition to a green economy and provide more support for families struggling with fuel bills.“Fossil fuel companies are raking it in hand over fist through this gas crisis. The least they can do is pay a little more in tax to help struggling families get through the winter,” Sir Ed told The Independent – estimating a windfall tax could raise up to £10bn.He added: “This windfall tax would raise vital funding to insulate people’s homes, slash energy bills and protect skilled jobs. If Rishi Sunak is serious about tackling both the climate emergency and the cost of living crisis, he would introduce this one-off tax.”Boris Johnson claimed Britain could meet its target of net zero emissions by 2050 “without so much as a hair shirt in sight” as he revealed the government’s net zero strategy earlier this week.But a separate Treasury report warned that the country faces new taxes or cuts to public spending to pay for the transition to net zero.Income from fuel duty and vehicle excise duty will all-but disappear as the UK goes green, Mr Sunak’s department conceded – blowing a £37bn black hole in its budget unless “new sources” of revenue are found.Kate Blagojevic, head of climate at Greenpeace UK, said the Savanta ComRes poll for The Independent showed that the government “now has a clear public mandate to fix our tax system in order the help cut emissions”.She added: “Our current tax system isn’t fit for delivering action on the climate emergency. It gives very mixed signals on green growth, innovation and, in the case of energy levies, keeps us hooked on climate-wrecking gas … Voters clearly understand this and want change.”Greenpeace has calculated that an extra £73bn of public investment is needed over the next three years in the push for energy-efficient homes and clean transport. But the campaign group said the extra investment would help create up to 1.8million jobs.Ahead of the next week’s Budget, the campaign group called for Mr Sunak to impose green levies on gas and scrap VAT on green goods such as heat pumps and solar panels.Currently, green levies are imposed on electricity bills but not gas, which is more polluting form of energy. The government is thought to be considering moving the surcharges from electricity to gas.Chris Hopkins, associate director at Savanta ComRes, said voters may support spending on action to tackle climate change in principle, but still need to know how exactly the extra money will be raised.“The public will often tell us they are favour of tax rises to pay for noble causes, but when it comes to paying more tax themselves, support usually wanes,” he said. “The big question for the government, and the opposition calling for it, is what should be taxed more to pay for this?”Labour has said it would spend an extra £28bn each year on helping Britain tackle the climate crisis, saying the money would come from government borrowing. Conservative MP David Davis said fellow backbench Tories are “sick of tax hikes and green spending”. He claimed: “The government’s hell for leather pursuit of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 threatens a huge drop in living standards for our children and grandchildren.”Meanwhile, the Savanta ComRes survey also found high levels of support for tax rises to boost spending on the NHS and social care, raising the minimum wage and investment to “level up” disadvantaged parts of the country.Some 76 per cent of voters are willing to see taxes increase if means more money for the health and social care sector. Some 75 per cent will accept tax hikes for action on low pay, while 65 per cent back higher taxes if money goes to disadvantaged areas. More

Gordon Brown has hit out at governments’ efforts to raise $100 billion to tackle the climate crisis, likening it to being treated as “organising a whip-round at a charity fundraiser” – just weeks before a crucial summit.In an article for The Independent, the former Labour prime minister argued the success of Cop26 depends on the world’s richest countries honouring the “yet unrealised” 12-year-old pledge to transfer the funds to low-income countries.He added that governments must also ratchet up shorter-term carbon reduction targets for 2025 and 2030 – recognising the urgency of the situation – and urged companies to disclose their carbon footprint.Mr Brown’s intervention comes just 11 days before world leaders meet in Glasgow for the UN climate summit, where Boris Johnson hopes to seal a deal to keep global warming below 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.Another of the government’s key targets is to urge developed counties to “make good on their promise to mobilise at least $100bn in climate finance per year” – a goal that was first initiated at a climate summit in 2009.Mr Brown, who was prime minister at the time, said: “We knew that, as Artic and Antarctic ice disappears, floods and fires increase, and threats to biodiversity multiply, the poorest people in the poorest countries will be hit hardest.”But he added: “Instead of countries agreeing an equitable sharing of the burden, we have treated the business of raising $100bn like organising a whip-round at a charity fundraiser.“In no year since 2009 has the fund every yielded more than $40bn of the promised $100bn. It is only when multilateral bank disbursements and private funding – mainly in loans for renewable projects – are added that the annual sum finally reached $80bn in 2019, still well below what was promised.”The former prime minister warned that current commitments, including both the UK and US, “still falls far short of what they should be contributing.”“Until developed countries outline a credible path to making good their promise, vulnerable countries will not trust any pledges made on future emissions reductions and they could decide to bring Cop26 down,” he said. “So it is imperative that in the days between now and the start of Cop26 the $100bn a year is finally achieved.”It comes after controversy surrounding the UK’s commitment, with billions pledged being taken from the overseas aid budget, which has already been dramatically scaled back by the Treasury.On Tuesday, the UK government also published long-delayed documents setting out its strategy to reach the legally binding target of net zero by 2050, but faced criticism from climate campaigners arguing ministers should be going “further and faster”.While proposals to replace polluting gas boilers, support the switch to electric cars and plant millions of trees were welcomed, critics warned the package was over-cautious, with one expert saying it was more in tune with limiting global warming to 2.5-3C, rather than the 1.5C maximum which is the goal of next month’s crucial UN Cop26 summit in Glasgow. More

Boris Johnson’s government has been urged to change course over its support for new oil drilling in Surrey or risk “hypocrisy” at the crucial Cop26 climate conference.The government is set to defend in court a decision by Surrey council to grant planning permission for six oil wells only a few days after the crucial international summit in Glasgow end next month.Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has written to climate minister Alok Sharma – president of the Cop26 summit – urging him to push for the drilling application to be called in and refused.In a letter shared with The Independent, Davey wrote: “This new oil field is the equivalent to ministerial colleagues breaking your cricket bat just as you walk out to the crease at Cop26.”The Lib Dem leader added: “Your job is to hold China to account for their new oil infrastructure – how can you do that when your government is building its own?”Davey also told Sharma: “As the minister responsible for Cop26, you must put party allegiances aside, and call for the government to oppose this new oil field and immediately call in the planning application.”In 2019 Surrey County Council approved an application from Horse Hill Developments – a subsidiary of UK Oil and Gas – to drill for an estimated three million tonnes of oil outside the town of Horley, near Gatwick airport.Although the High Court has upheld the decision after a challenged by resident and campaigner Sarah Finch, a further appeal case will be heard at the Court of Appeal on 16 November.Both the Lib Dems and Friends of the Earth are urging the government not to support the local authority’s case next month, and instead call in the original application.Dave Timms, head of political affairs at Friends of the Earth, said: “It’s the height of hypocrisy for the government to claim to be a climate leader on the global stage while piling into court to defend a decision to allow millions of barrels of oil to be drilled out of the Surrey countryside.”The climate campaigner added: “They need to withdraw from this case now.”The communities department, now headed up by Michael Gove, remains involved in the case since the drilling application relates to national planning policy.On Tuesday the government published its long-awaited net zero strategy document, detailing plans for Britain to be entirely powered entirely by clean electricity by 2035.But Greenpeace said the plan was only “half hearted” and condemned the failure to make a firm commitment to ending new oil and gas licences.Kate Blagojevic, head of climate at Greenpeace UK, told The Independent: “Oil drilling, a new coal mine, airport expansions – all are completely incompatible with our plans to slash emissions, yet these projects are being signed off and the government seems reluctant to intervene.”The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “This decision by Surrey council is subject to a legal challenge, we do not comment about ongoing cases.” More

Boris Johnson’s government has said it will require all vehicles in the UK to be “zero-emissions capable” by 2035, as ministers set out the plan for achieving their 2050 net zero target.The long-awaited Net Zero Strategy document published on Tuesday has detailed the government’s plan for Britain to be entirely powered entirely by clean electricity by 2035.The government also promised to make a final investment decision on the building of a new, large-scale nuclear power plant by the end of the current parliament.But opposition parties and campaigners said the plan was a “massive letdown” which failed to meet the scale of the crisis – accusing the government of coming up with only “half-hearted” policies.“This document is more like a pick and mix than the substantial meal we need to reach net zero,” said Greenpeace UK’s Rebecca Newsom – pointing to “the lack of concrete plans to deliver renewables at scale … or a firm commitment to end new oil and gas licences”.The prime minister claimed his strategy for achieving net zero emissions by 2050 could be achieved without sacrifice, claiming: “We can build back greener without so much as a hair shirt in sight.”Johnson said that by 2050 “our cars will be electric gliding silently around our cities, our planes will be zero emission allowing us to fly guilt-free, and our homes will be heated by cheap reliable power”.The government promised a “a zero-emission vehicle mandate” and committed £620m for zero-emission vehicle grants and more infrastructure for electric vehicles in residential areas.The strategy states: “This will deliver on our 2030 commitment to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, and 2035 commitment that all cars must be fully zero emissions capable.”Ministers pledged to set firm targets for a percentage of manufacturers’ new vehicles to be zero emission each year from 2024.The government also promised to “fully decarbonise” the UK’s power system by 2035, with a pledge to finalise investment in a new nuclear plant and deliver four carbon capture usage and storage clusters by 2030.Ministers will also launch a £120m pound “future nuclear enabling fund” aimed at boosting new technologies, including small modular reactors.Mr Johnson’s government said its aim is to achieve 40GW of offshore wind and deliver 5GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, whilst halving emissions from oil and gas.Business minister Greg Hands said the strategy showed the government’s commitment to take “decisive action” to reach the target ahead of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow.Speaking in the Commons, Mr Hands said the push towards to cleaner sources of energy will help reduce Britain’s reliance on fossil fuels and “bring down costs down the line” for consumers.But Labour said the plan “falls short” of action need to deal with the climate crisis. Ed Miliband, the shadow business secretary, said: “While there is modest short-term investment, there’s nothing like the commitment we believe is required.”Under Heat and Building Strategy plans released overnight, some people will be able to £5,000 grants to replace their boilers with green heat pumps. But just 90,000 of the UK’s 22 million gas-heated households will benefit in a plan branded “inadequate” by environmentalists.Labour accused chancellor Rishi Sunak of thwarting the kind of government spending needed to meet the scale of the climate emergency. “The chancellor’s fingerprints are all over these documents and not in a good way,” said Mr Miliband.Called for a “proper” plan to retrofit home, Miliband said “there is not even a replacement for the ill-fated green home grant for homeowners” in the government’s plan. The senior Labour MP asked: “Where the long-term retrofit plan is?”The government said it is considering ways to require mortgage lenders to disclose details about the energy performance of homes – leading to fears that first-time buyers could find it harder to get on the ladder without committing to upgrades.Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the net zero strategy ignored the “elephant in the room” by failing to include any measures to stop investment in fossil fuel industries through the City of London.The TUC condemned the strategy as a “huge let down, claiming it left a “yawning gap” in the investment needed to help British industry reach net zero.The union’s general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The government has failed to implement many of the main recommendations of its own green jobs taskforce – just two weeks before it hosts the UN climate change conference.”Prof Jim Watson, professor of energy policy at the UCL Institute of Sustainable Resources, said the government’s strategy document was a “step in the right direction” – but predicted more commitments would be needed.“It isn’t enough, of course. Funding for low carbon heating is modest, and there is too little focus on how buildings will be made more efficient, for example,” he said. “So it will need to be followed up by a ratcheting up of ambitions in the coming months and years.”The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the independent body advising the government, said the net zero strategy amounted to a “significant step forward”.Chris Stark, the CCC’s chief executive: “We didn’t have a plan before, now we do … It provides much more clarity about what lies ahead for businesses and individuals and the key actions required in the coming decades.”Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Johnson announced nearly £10bn pounds of private investment commitments in green projects at a summit in London.The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) claimed new regulations and investment plans committed by the private sector would support up to 440,000 new jobs by 2030.The Treasury said new taxes will probably be needed to compensate for the loss of revenues from its shift away from fossil fuels which will hit the government’s income that is currently raised by fuel duty.The government “may need to consider changes to existing taxes and new sources of revenue” rather than relying on increased borrowing, said the Treasury’s net zero review. 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Hotter summers and less predictable rainfall as a result of climate change will create an increased risk of droughts and serious water shortages in the UK, the Environment Agency has said.In a stark warning ahead of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, the government agency said there had to be far greater focus on the threat to water supply as the country begins to feel the impact of the climate crisis.Sir James Bevan, chief executive of Environment Agency, said major investments are needed to avoid the so-called ‘Jaws of Death’ – the point on water companies’ planning charts where demand outstrips supply.“Good water quality is essential – but the right water quantity is existential,” he said. “We need as much emphasis on the latter in the future as we have now on the former.”Sir James added: “We know what to do to avoid those jaws: reduce demand, by using less water more efficiently; and improve supply, including by investing in the right infrastructure. That means we need to think strategically, radically and long term.”The Environment Agency has estimated that summer rainfall is expected to decrease by approximately 15 per cent in England by the 2050s, and by up to 22 per cent by the 2080s.Population growth and climate change will also increase the demand for water – meaning that if no further action is taken between 2025 and 2050, more than 3.4 billion extra litres of water per day will be needed for the UK’s public water supplies.In a gloomy report handed to Boris Johnson’s government last week, the agency said more and worse environmental incidents – such as greater flooding and serious water shortages – are now inevitable in the UK.In an “adapt or die” warning, the non-departmental public body has urged the government to focus on adaptation measures – claiming there are now just as important as action to cut carbon missions.“However successful Cop26 is, it won’t stop the climate changing or all the effects of that change,” Sir James told the Royal Society on Tuesday.“Because human activity to date means that some irrevocable climate change has already happened and that more will continue to happen, even if the world stopped all carbon emissions tonight.”The Environment Agency chief added: “That is why as a nation we need to be climate ready – resilient to the future hazards and potential shocks that we already know will impact on all our lives.” More

Plans have been announced to incentivise people to replace their old gas boilers with low-carbon heating options, including heat pumps. The government said new £5,000 grants will be available to households to help them to install low-carbon technologies from next April. The plans aim to make heat pumps — which run on electricity and work like a fridge in reverse to extract energy from the air or ground — no more expensive to install than a traditional boiler.But environmentalists have criticised the three-year scheme – which would pay for one in 250 boilers to be replaced – as not going far enough.Out of the 22 million gas-heated households in the UK, 90,000 would be able to benefit from £5,000 grants under the £450m plan. While the new incentives aim to make the UK’s homes greener, the government has said homeowners will not be forced to make the low-carbon switch when replacing existing boilers.But for those who want to choose a more environmentally friendly option, the grant will be available to cut the installation costs — which is around £10,000 on average for heat pumps. Instead of forcing people into making an immediate switch, the grants aim to encourage homeowners to make green choices when the time comes to replace old boilers. Octopus Energy, a renewable energy group, said it would install heat pumps for about the same cost as gas boilders when the grant scheme launches next spring. The government’s boiler upgrade scheme – worth £450m in total – is planned to run over three years until 2024. The government says it wants to see households “gradually move away” from fossil fuel boilers “in an affordable, practical and fair way” over the next 14 years. But speaking about the boiler upgrade scheme, Mike Childs from Friends of the Eart said: “£450m pounds delivered via individual £5,000 grants means 90,000 heat pump installations over three years.“That just isn’t very much, and won’t meet the prime minister’s ambition of 600,000 a year by 2028.” More