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A Tory-linked lobby group campaigning against net zero climate action has received hundreds of thousands of pounds from an oil-rich foundation with large investments in energy firms, it has been revealed.The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) – which has close links to Tory MP Steve Baker – refuses to disclose its donors in the UK and says it does not take money from fossil fuel interests.But US tax documents identified by investigative journalists at the OpenDemocracy website show the lobbyists, who also use the brand “Net Zero Watch”, have a donor with $30 million (£24.2 million) shares in 22 companies working across coal, oil and gas.It has also received half a million dollars through a fund linked to the controversial oil billionaire Koch brothers.Labour said the revelations showed US right-wing groups with links to big oil were “desperate to stop action against the climate crisis” and influence UK debate.The group’s US arm, the American Friends of the GWPF, received more than $1.3m from US donors, with at least $864,884 (£679,000) forwarded to the British group over the last four years.Of the £1.45m in charitable donations received by the UK-based group since 2017 at least 45 per cent has come from the US – raising questions about the influence of the American right in Westminster.The donations include $620,259 from the Donors Trust, a secretive organisation that has given hundreds of millions of pounds to more than 100 groups working to cast doubt on the scientific consensus on climate change.That group has received millions from the Koch brothers, who inherited their father’s oil empire. The GWPF claims the Donors Trust is “middleman, matching donors to those seeking funding” and that it was “able to vet [donors with which it was matched] in line with our funding policy”.The UK anti-climate action lobby group also received $210,525 in 2018 and 2020 from the Sarah Scaife Foundation – an organisation set up by the billionaire libertarian heir to an oil and banking dynasty. Greenpeace UK characterises the Global Warming Policy Foundation as an organisation which has “spent the last twenty years campaigning to preserve our addiction to fossil fuels”.Conservative MP Steve Baker is a trustee of the foundation, as is Labour MP Graham Stringer also sits on its board and has questioned the scientific consensus on the climate emergency.Through Mr Baker the group has links 20 Tory MPs and peers, who form the backbench Net Zero Scrutiny Group, which campaigns against net zero plans. Mr Baker and another Tory MP Craig Mackinlay are regularly quoted in press releases from Net Zero Watch – often repeating its talking points.Labour’s shadow secretary Ed Miliband said: “US right-wing groups with links to big oil are desperate to stop action against the climate crisis. Now they are trying to extend their reach into UK political debate.”The Global Warming Policy Foundation rejects the claim that the Sarah Scaife Foundation represented oil interests, telling openDemocracy: “The wealth that ultimately created the Scaife Foundation was created at the end of the nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth. It would be ludicrous to suggest that three generations on, it represents an oil company interest.”Tory MP Steve Baker said: “I understand the GWPF has already given a response to these allegations, which appear to be ridiculous.”It is an extraordinary fact that the same newspapers and commentators who would usually be the first to protest any kind of poverty are wasting the public’s time with these attempts to distract from the real issues at hand. “It would be better if the political world focused their attention on how our current energy strategy has driven up energy prices and contributed to the terrible cost-of-living crisis that so many are experiencing.”The Independent has contacted Mr Baker, the Global Warming Policy Foundation, and Net Zero Watch to offer the opportunity for further comment on this story. More

Households living in nearly 1 million homes built since 2015 have been hit by an additional “energy bill bombshell” totalling £1.8bn because of the government’s decision to scrap net-zero targets, Liberal Democrats have said.And the average £200-a-year cost for each household is due to soar higher over the coming year, following the massive hike in the energy price cap in April, which is expected to be repeated in the autumn.Laws passed under the coalition government to require every new-build home to have zero carbon emissions were scrapped by David Cameron’s administration soon after Conservatives took sole control in 2015.Since this time, almost 1m homes which do not meet zero-carbon standards have been built.Lib Dem climate emergency spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said that the “abysmally short-sighted” decision will have pushed many families towards fuel poverty as the price of gas and electricity increased by an average £700 earlier this month.The party is putting cost-of-living concerns at the heart of its campaign for local elections across Britain on 5 May.Figures from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) suggest that measures to make homes zero-carbon typically save households around £200 a year on their energy bills, thanks to factors like better insulation.Over the seven years since the policy was scrapped, the total extra cost in bills is estimated to have reached £1.8bn and the figure is climbing ever-faster.“Families up and down the country are being driven into fuel poverty, having to make agonising choices between heating and eating because of the Conservatives’ cost of living crisis,” said Ms Hobhouse. “This pain and misery for millions had been coming down the track for a long time. Scrapping zero carbon homes has proven to be an abysmally short-sighted move from a government that has failed with all hands to protect people from sky-high energy bills.“New homeowners can send the Conservatives a message in May by voting for your local Liberal Democrat champion. They have failed families struggling with their energy bills and it’s time to send them a message.”Ms Hobhouse’s party is calling for a windfall tax on energy firms to pay for measures to reduce energy poverty and insulate homes. More

Boris Johnson has signalled he is ready to fight to defend green levies on energy bills, amid growing pressure for them to be scrapped.The prime minister lashed out at “prejudice” against the levies, which fund renewable energy schemes at an average cost of £153 a year to households.Backbench Tories are pushing for them to be stripped out of domestic gas and electricity bills to help consumers facing soaring costs.Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng this week faced criticism after failing to deny reports that their removal is being considered as part of the government’s response to the cost of living crisis. More

A new natural history GCSE focusing on how to protect the planet is set to be announced by the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, on Thursday.The new qualification – set to be available from September 2025 – will focus on topics such as climate change and biodiversity.Environmentalists have welcomed it as a means of helping teenagers with mental health issues.Mary Colwell, who led the campaign for the subject, said it will be “very nurturing and life-enhancing” by connecting secondary school students with the natural world.She also said understanding nature will help students recognise impacts of climate change as they happen.“But it’s not just about problem solving and tackling climate change,” she said. “I think that the natural world provides people with a lot of solace and inspiration and we are in challenging times, being surrounded by things that nurture us. The study of natural history is very nurturing and life-enhancing.”The lack of engagement with nature among the youth population is a growing concern for policymakers. Spending time in nature is known to have a positive effect on mental health but research has found that three-quarters of children spend less time outdoors each day than prisoners. Ms Colwell said the new GCSE “could help young people with mental health issues and I think that was one of the reasons why [former environment secretary] Michael Gove was very keen – he was very supportive of the idea when we went to see him back in 2018 and he kept raising the idea that I can see the connections between this and a mental health crisis in young people.“There is a connection between connecting with nature and better mental health.” More

Tory ministers are being urged to put British clocks forward an extra hour to help alleviate the pressures caused by the cost of living crisis.The Liberal Democrat peer John Lee said moving to Central European Time would help reduce household bills as it would maximise daylight in the evenings. Inflation has reached the highest level in 30 years and energy bills continue to rise.“It’s a serious, long-term issue for a sizeable proportion of the population and I think the government should look very seriously at it,” he said.“Double summer time would be relatively cheap, it wouldn’t really cost the government anything of significance as far as I’m aware.”Lord Lee said he would call on the government to consider its position on double summer time when the House of Lords returns from recess later this month.Extending daylight hours would save households 152 hours’ worth of electricity annually, it is claimed. A 1993 study by the Policy Studies Institute estimated that the change would save more than £260m in electricity bills, but according to the government, the effects were “likely to be small in magnitude” and potentially “uncertain in direction”.The potential change would adjust British clocks two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time during the summer and one hour ahead in winter. This means people would enjoy an extra hour of light for an additional 11 months of the year, but there would be an extra hour of darkness during the winter months.Clocks were last changed to save energy during the Second World War but went back to normal after the war.British Summer Time first came about in 1916 after a campaign led by William Willett, who after riding his horse in the early hours of one summer morning noticed that many people slept through a large proportion of a summer’s day. More

Keir Starmer has been confronted by a youth climate activist after his party called on the government to ban fossil fuel protests across Britain.The opposition leader looked uncomfortable when Lauren MacDonald, a 21-year-old Scottish climate activist, asked him: “Why do you think that people like me deserve to go to prison?”Labour on Monday called for a nationwide injunction banning demonstrations outside oil infrastructure or on roads. The policy announcement came after activists from Just Stop Oil blockaded depots while calling for an end to new investment in fossil fuels.In a video of the exchange shared by the Green New Deal Rising group Sir Keir appears visibly flustered and flees the scene without addressing the topic of the injunction. “I just wanted to ask, whose side are you on when it comes to the climate crisis? Currently, it seems like you’re siding the UK Government,” Ms MacDonald can be heard to ask the Labour leader.”Currently it seems like you think that young people like me, who are so, so terrified about the future deserve to go to prison?”When the activist says she is suffering from stress-induced hair loss from worrying about the climate emergency, Sir Keir tells her: “I agree with you the climate crisis is the number one priority.”But she replies: “Why do you think that people like me deserve to go to prison? You said that the UK Government should should use a UK-wide injunction on protesters.”The Labour leader replies that the party has pledges “huge” sums to address the climate – but would not discuss Monday’s call for an authoritarian crackdown.Civil liberties campaign group Liberty was among those to criticise Labour’s call for a ban on demonstrations.”Both Labour and the government calling for a ban on protest should ring alarm bells,” a spokesperson for the group said this week.”Stifling dissent and restricting protest only pushes people to new and more urgent ways to make their voices heard. The government and opposition should be engaging with concerns, not banning entire protests.”After the exchange Ms MacDonald said: “I confronted Keir Starmer today because his actions on climate change simply are not good enough. We are on a trajectory for 3.2ºC of warming by the end of the century – this means extinction. “In the face of our futures being taken away from us, Mr Starmer is siding with Boris Johnson’s crackdown on climate protests. He is advocating for young people like me, who are kept up at night terrified of the future, to be arrested or worse go to prison for taking action to defend our lives. It’s unthinkable really.” She added that Sir Keir’s response was characterised by “apathy and defensiveness”.Keir Starmer’s office declined to comment on the episode when approached by The Independent.Fatima Ibrahim from Green New Deal Rising said: “We feel betrayed by Keir Starmer and the Labour Party for calling for more police powers to prevent young people worried about their future from peacefully protesting.“At a time when the country is desperate for a different vision of the future, the Labour Party could be calling for a massive shift towards renewables to bring down energy bills and deliver new jobs. Instead, they’ve relegated themselves to government cheerleaders.“If political leaders think they can betray an entire generation and comfortably get on with their jobs, they are wrong. Young people up and down this country are at a breaking point, and politicians should expect to be more regularly challenged by them on the street, and eventually at the ballot boxes.”The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) this month warned that greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025 to stave off catastrophic global warming. More

Johnson announces ‘Energy Security Strategy’ to bring cleaner, affordable power to UKBoris Johnson has promised “clean, affordable, secure power” and to keep drilling for fossil fuels in the North Sea in plans to bolster UK energy independence and security. The strategy – released on Thursday afternoon – pledges to boost production across a host of energy sources in the UK, including wind, solar, nuclear and hydrogen. It also vows to give North Sea oil and gas fields a “new lease of life”. Ahead of its full release, the government faced criticism for failing to slash energy demand in the first place, as well as household bills in the immediate term. Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK business secretary, admitted it would do little to alleviate soaring fuels bills now, saying the strategy was more a “three-, four- or five-year answer”.The strategy aims to bolster domestic energy security as rising international gas prices send UK household bills soaring, while the country is moving away from Russian fuel in light of the invasion of Ukraine. Show latest update

1649342422Energy strategy ‘disappointing’ and ‘risky’, say activistsThe government’s newly-released energy strategy is “disappointing” and “risky”, activist groups and NGOs said.Stop Cambo, a group campaigning against the Cambo oil field off the coast of Shetland, said the strategy would result in more fossil fuel use, is “weak on wind energy”, relies on “risky nuclear power” and lacks measures for insulating homes.In another tweet, it said: “The expansion of North Sea oil & gas is especially disappointing to see. “Scientists and economists have made clear time and time again, even recently in the IPCC report, that we need to stop digging for oil & gas NOW. This just delays the energy transition that we urgently need”.The expansion of North Sea oil & gas is especially disappointing to see. Scientists and economists have made clear time and time again, even recently in the IPCC report, that we need to stop digging for oil & gas NOW. This just delays the energy transition that we urgently need— StopCambo (@StopCambo) April 7, 2022 Friends of the Earth Scotland said that the government’s plan was “unbelieveably reckless”, telling The Herald that the focus on oil and gas drilling is “speeding us towards further climate devastation”.Greenpeace UK suggested that the energy strategy would not be fully effective for decades, saying that “oil and gas from new drilling won’t be available for up to 28 years”.The NGO also called for households with heavy energy use to have their homes insulated, as the UK has the “least energy-efficient housing in Western Europe.”Lamiat Sabin7 April 2022 15:401649341063No plans to ‘impose’ new nuclear stations in Scotland, minister saysKwasi Kwarteng says the UK government has no plans to “impose” new nuclear power stations on Scotland as part of its energy strategy.“It is a devolved affair, that is up to people in Edinburgh to decide what their nuclear policy is,” the told BBC Radio Scotland. Zoe Tidman7 April 2022 15:171649340043Claims over Treasury and insulationA business minister has blamed the Treasury for a lack of extra funding for home insulation schemes.Lord Callanan told peers it would have been “good to go further but the Treasury wouldn’t support it” after he highlighted a previous £6.6bn commitment in the current parliament.Earlier today, Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, denied the Treasury vetoed his plan to subside household insulation to reduce energy demand.Zoe Tidman7 April 2022 15:001649339529What about net zero?The energy security strategy argues more fossil fuel drilling in North Sea will not necessarily derail the UK’s committment to get to net-zero emissions by 2050. “Net zero is a smooth transition, not an immediate extinction, for oil and gas.”Last year, a leading international energy body said there was no place for new fossil fuels if the world wanted to reach net zero by 2050. We reported on this warning at the time:Zoe Tidman7 April 2022 14:521649339116Why is the UK launching the strategy?Energy prices had already been soaring in the UK as a result of a volatile gas market. And then, Russia – where the UK imports oil and gas from – invaded Ukraine. All this has played into the UK’s push for greater domestic energy security. As the strategy says: “As the global economy reopened in the aftermath of the pandemic, the sudden surge in demand for everything from new cars to foreign holidays drove a massive spike in demand for oil and gas, dramatically increasing the price of these essential fuels.“This has been compounded by Russia’s abhorrent and illegal invasion of Ukraine. As we are part of a global market, the price we pay for gas is set internationally. And President Putin has used this against us by restricting the supply of Russian gas to the European market, further pushing up prices.”The UK has also vowed to phase out Russian oil by the end of the year in response to the invasion:Zoe Tidman7 April 2022 14:451649338816‘Clean energy independent’ – KwartengThe UK’s business secretary says the strategy is a “long-term plan” to become “clean energy independent”.Zoe Tidman7 April 2022 14:401649338313Key points from strategyEnergy efficiency:Zero-rate VAT for next 5 years on the installation of energy saving materialsPreviously announced Boiler Upgrade Scheme – grants for low-carbon heating systems – launching next monthOil and gasNew licensing round for North Sea projects in autumnNew organisation to offer support to ensure rapid development of projects Offshore windAction to slash time it takes to develop and deploy of offshore wind farms – currently up to 13 yearsAiming to bring forward up to 5GW of floating offshore wind by 2030Onshore windNo changes to planning regulations Launch consultation on partnerships with “limited number of supportive communities” who want local onshore windConsultations on planning rulesIncreasing plans for up to 24GW capacity by 2050 – three times current levelsPotentially eight new reactors in next series of projectsDoubling ambition to up to 10GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030Aim for annual allocation rounds for electrolytic hydrogenZoe Tidman7 April 2022 14:311649336585BREAKING: UK energy strategy released in full with pledge to give North Sea oil and gas ‘new lease of life’Zoe Tidman7 April 2022 14:031649335919Prime minister’s foreword: more clean power and more fossil fuel drillingIf you don’t have time to read the full thing, I’ll be providing a breakdown of the key points here. Starting with the prime minister’s opening comments:“If we’re going to get prices down and keep them there for the long term, we need a flow of energy that is affordable, clean and above all secure.”“We need a power supply that’s made in Britain, for Britain – and that’s what this plan is all about.“He vows to take advantage of renewable sources of energy, such as wind and sunshine, and also embrace hydrogen and nuclear energy. But he also says:“We’re going to make better use of the oil and gas in our own backyard by giving the energy fields of the North Sea a new lease of life.”Zoe Tidman7 April 2022 13:511649335545Energy Security Strategy releasedThe full strategy is finally out:Zoe Tidman7 April 2022 13:45 More

A revival of nuclear power and a drive to exploit hydrogen will be unveiled in a controversial new energy strategy – but calls to end the block on onshore wind turbines will be rejected. Boris Johnson will argue the long-delayed plan – held up by rows with the Treasury over its cost – will reduce the UK’s vulnerability to “volatile international prices”, following Russia’s assault on Ukraine.It will set the ambition to build eight new nuclear stations, to improve energy self-sufficiency, although doubts about their funding and affordability will remain.And it will unveil a target to double hydrogen production, with the aim of using it to heat one third of UK homes by 2050.But it will say as little as half will come from “green” hydrogen, from renewable sources, with the rest from “blue” hydrogen, made using natural gas – and therefore carbon emitting.And the prime minister has bowed to Conservative pressure not to lift the effective ban on onshore wind farms, after a fierce backlash from his MPs, including some ministers.Labour is offering to help the government pass legislation to lift the ban, arguing it would save households up to £200 a year, but the proposal will be spurned.A “limited’ number of places could be offered lower energy bills in return for agreeing to host nearby turbines, but the idea will only be consulted on at this stage.The strategy will also pave the way for new North Sea oil and gas licences – despite a promise that any future explorations must pass a “climate compatibility” test.The focus on long-term investments is likely to heighten the concerns of many Tory MPs that not enough will be done to ease the immediate pain from soaring energy bills this winter.Unveiling the strategy, Mr Johnson will claim it “could” allow 95 per cent of Britain’s electricity to be low carbon by 2030 and create 40,000 more jobs in clean industries.“This will reduce our dependence on power sources exposed to volatile international prices we cannot control, so we can enjoy greater energy self-sufficiency with cheaper bills,” he said, ahead of its release. A new body, called Great British Nuclear, will be set up to deliver eight planned new nuclear reactors, to provide 25 per cent of the UK’s electricity, but no details of how they will be funded have been provided.The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has warned that nuclear plants are “incredibly difficult to deliver on short timescales” and may not come online until the mid-2040s.The government will also “consult” on looser rules to put solar panels on rooftops, which “could” boost solar power by up to five times by 2035.Ministers have left the door ajar to fracking, by asking the British Geological Survey (BGS) to investigate whether the risk of earthquakes has reduced since a moratorium was imposed in 2019.But the business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has made clear that the difficulties of drilling for shale gas mean it cannot be the solution to the energy crisis, even if the rules are eased. More