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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

The government’s long-awaited plan to overhaul how Britain heats its homes for the climate emergency has been branded “inadequate” and “not a very good start” by environmentalists. Just 90,000 of the UK’s 22 million gas-heated households will benefit from £5,000 grants to replace their boilers with green heat pumps – assistance which will not even cover the costs of the 0.4 per cent of households who benefit. And ministers have ignored the advice of their scientific advisors and failed to bring forward the phase-out date for the sale of new gas boilers, with sales to continue as late as 2035 despite looming climate targets.Under the plans released by the government overnight a £450m boiler upgrade fund would be spread over three years until 2024, with grants provided to help replace just 30,000 boilers each year. Boris Johnson has previously set a target of installing 600,000 heat pumps a year across homes and public buildings by 2028 – which campaigners say he is now unlikely to meet.The government is betting on the price of heat pumps and other green heating systems coming down rapidly, and is providing a £60m “innovation fund” to encourage that process.But campaigners say households need more help if climate targets are to be met. Just 67,000 heat pumps were sold in the UK in 2021 according to industry figures, compared to around a million and a half new gas boilers. “£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,” said Mike Childs, head of science, policy and research at Friends of the Earth, who described the government’s plan as “quite modest”.”Investment will drive down the cost of heat pumps, and technical innovation plus skills training is a part of this, but so is scale. These grants will only incentivise the best-off households.”Greenpeace UK’s climate campaigner, Caroline Jones, said: “Sadly the government has stopped short of what’s required to transform our housing into the clean, affordable, energy efficient homes that we all want and need to be living in. “Housing is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise but the government is making it all the more difficult by leaving half its tools in the toolbox, with unambitious policies and inadequate funding.”She added: “More money must be provided to rapidly increase the number of homeowners switching to heat pumps over the next few years, with full costs covered for families on low incomes. A clearer signal would have been a phase-out of new boilers before 2035. And all of this must be delivered with a fully funded, nationwide programme to insulate our homes at a scale and speed that the government hasn’t fully grasped.”The government’s committee on climate change, a statutory body which advises ministers on how to meet net zero, had also recommended bringing forward the phase-out date for gas boilers to 2032.But this recommendation was nowhere to be found in the government’s strategy, with the date staying at 2035, potentially baking in millions of new gas boilers in the intervening years. The government has a legally binding target to hit net zero by 2050, though some scientists argue the date needs to be brought forward to avoid catastrophic climate change.The committee says that in order to meet climate targets, by 2030 at least 80 per cent of all new heat installations need to be low-carbon systems like heat pumps – around 1 million installations a year. Announcing the new policy, Boris Johnson said: “As we clean up the way we heat our homes over the next decade, we are backing our brilliant innovators to make clean technology like heat pumps as cheap to buy and run as gas boilers – supporting thousands of green jobs. “Our new grants will help homeowners make the switch sooner, without costing them extra, so that going green is the better choice when their boiler needs an upgrade.”But Labour’s shadow business secretary Ed Miliband branded the plan a “meagre, unambitious and wholly inadequate response”.“Families up and down the country desperately needed Labour’s 10-year plan investing £6bn a year for home insulation and zero carbon heating to cut bills by £400 per year, improve our energy security, create jobs and reduce carbon emissions,” he said.“People can’t warm their homes with yet more of Boris Johnson’s hot air but that is all that is on offer.”Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse described the policy as “a kick in the teeth for families across the country facing soaring energy bills this winter”.“These proposals will do nothing to lift people out of fuel poverty and hardly make a dent in the emissions produced from homes. And they will help around just 1 in 300 homes, whilst millions of households face record high bills due to rising gas prices,” she said.“We urgently need an emergency programme of investment to better insulate our homes, cut emissions and end fuel poverty. Instead the government is delaying the inevitable while condemning millions to eye-watering bills for years to come.” More

Cabinet minister Grant Shapps has denied that the Queen’s irritation over a lack of action in tackling the climate crisis was partly directed at Boris Johnson’s government.Elizabeth II was captured talking about next month’s crucial Cop26 summit in Glasgow – expressing her concern about still not knowing “who’s coming” to the talks.The monarch was also heard to say she found it “irritating” when “they talk, but they don’t do” as she was filmed chatting at the opening of the Welsh Senedd in Cardiff.Asked by Sky News whether the Queen was referring to lack of action from the UK government, Shapps said: “Well she specifically referred to who was coming [to the summit], actually – so I don’t think it was intended in that sense.”Shapps also insisted that the comments were made “not intending it to be overheard”, rather than an attempt to offer a pointed message to world leaders.The transport secretary added: “I think comments made in private should stay private, but we all share the desire to see progress made and we know there will be hundreds of leaders coming to Glasgow for Cop,” he told Sky News.“We will wait to see whether it lives up to – whether they all live up to – expectation, it’s very important we get this job done,” Shapps added.It comes as reports indicate China’s president Xi Jinping is set to snub talks in Glasgow, in what would be a major blow to hopes of a successful summit.Boris Johnson has been warned that Xi will not attend next month, according to The Times, with one Whitehall source saying new emission reduction commitments from China were “now looking less likely”.Shapps said he wanted the Chinese president to attend Cop26, but added: “Let’s wait and see actually what happens in a couple of weeks’ time. I would rather see it officially actually,” he told Times Radio.The cabinet minister also said that a “huge” number of world leaders were expected to join the UK-hosted summit, describing world leaders who decide not to attend as “outliers”.Australian prime minister Scott Morrison said on Friday he would attend the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, as his conservative government faces global pressure to take further action to cut carbon emissions.“I confirmed my attendance at the Glasgow summit which I’m looking forward to attending,” Morrison said. “The government will be finalising its position to take to the summit. We’re working through those issues.”Meanwhile, US climate envoy John Kerry has said the summit could end without all nations agreeing to the carbon emissions cuts needed to stave off devastating levels of climate change.Kerry declined to single out China, but said some countries would fall short and leave “gaps” in the cuts needed to achieve the target of keeping global warming within 1.5C once the conference was over in mid-November. More

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will come to Scotland next month to hold an “alternative Cop26” aimed at pushing for radical action on the climate crisis.The left-wing MP said a series of events would challenge the “weak politicians” who will be discussing targets to cut carbon emissions at the UN summit in Glasgow.Among the programme organised through his Peace and Justice Project is a “climate justice cabaret” as well as a panel with trade union leaders and two in conversation-style events.Corbyn said he wanted to “raise up the voices of others” during the happenings in Glasgow and Edinburgh between 8 and 11 November.“We need radical and rapid change to our dangerously broken and destructive political and economic system,” said the Islington MP. “Our future is being stolen from under us by a coalition of big polluters and big banks, propped up by weak politicians too scared to take them on.”The former Labour leader added: “That change must be environmental but also social and economic. Our crises of inequality, climate, Covid-19 and democracy are all linked.“The climate is a class issue at home and an international justice for the world. Those who have done the least harm suffer the most and the first. That’s why the demands of workers and the global south need to be at the centre of our campaign for climate justice.”“I can’t wait to be in Scotland during Cop26 to add my voice – and more importantly raise up the voices of others – to propose radical and rapid change.”Corbyn remains suspended as a Labour MP over his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)’s report into antisemitism in the party.The MP used an event at the fringes of last month’s Labour conference to accuse his successor Sir Keir Starmer of giving the Tory government a “free pass time and again”.On climate change, Starmer has reaffirmed Labour’s to the ambitious target of achieving the “substantial majority” of greenhouse gas emission cuts by 2030 – a commitment made under Corbyn’s leadership.Labour has also committed to invest an extra £28bn every year until 2030 to tackle the climate crisis, a plan outlined during the party conference at Brighton last month.Last month former Unite union boss Len McClusky claimed Starmer had agreed a backroom deal to lift Corbyn’s suspension, but then rowed back on it following a backlash. More

A former MEP has called for Iran’s president to be banned from attending the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow and criminally investigated over claims that he was responsible for “mass murder”.Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi is believed to be considering attending the UN climate change conference, which starts later this month, as his first overseas visit.Struan Stevenson, a former Conservative MEP, is calling on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, foreign secretary Liz Truss and home secretary Priti Patel to ban him from attending.Speaking at a press conference in Glasgow today, Mr Stevenson said he has sent a formal request to the head of Police Scotland, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, calling for the force to launch a criminal investigation into Mr Raisi under universal jurisdiction into accusations of alleged genocide and crimes against humanity.A parallel action has been raised with the Metropolitan Police.Mr Stevenson said: “This man must not be allowed to set foot in Scotland.“Scotland does not take well to mass murderers coming here.“If this man dares to attend Cop26 he should be immediately arrested by the police.“I would urge the First Minister and Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, and the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, to get their heads together and discuss this matter and ensure there is a political initiative taken that there is no way this man must be allowed to come to the United Kingdom, or indeed set foot in any other civilised nation.”The letter to Mr Livingstone was submitted with a letter from five people who are former political prisoners in Iran and their relatives, as well as a dossier of more than 100 pages of evidence – Mr Stevenson added.Among those speaking at the press conference, organised by the UK Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), were signatories to the letter, who told of witnessing a massacre of political prisoners more than 30 years ago.The NCRI said the Iranian president was a member of the “Death Commission” of Tehran, a group in 1988 set up as a result of a fatwa by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of the Iranian regime.The fatwa – a formal ruling or interpretation of Islamic law – had called for the annihilation of about 30,000 political prisoners belonging to, or supporting, the left-wing revolutionary group People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI).PMOI was declared a proscribed terrorist group by the European Union, Canada, the United States, and Japan – but the designation was lifted by all the countries between 2009 and 2013. It is still declared a terrorist group in Iran and Iraq.Police Scotland has assigned Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham to the case, Mr Stevenson said, but when he contacted the force last week to enquire when the witnesses would be interviewed he was told the case is being “reviewed”.Mr Stevenson added: “We trust that the police will now accelerate their activities and ensure a full investigation is carried out.”A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We have received information which is being assessed.”A Scottish Government spokesman said: “As organisers of Cop26, the UK Government and UNFCCC are responsible for inviting state delegations. The Scottish Government has no plans to meet with representatives from Iran during Cop26.“We wholeheartedly condemn human rights abuses and call on all states to uphold fundamental international standards – including the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.” More

US climate envoy John Kerry has conceded that the Cop26 summit will likely will end without nations agreeing to the carbon emissions cuts needed to stave off devastating levels of climate change.Boris Johnson is hoping the UK – as host nation of next month’s crucial talks in Glasgow – can encourage countries to sign up to reductions that would keep global warming within 1.5C.But in gloomy assessment, Kerry suggested some countries would fall short and leave “gaps” in meeting the 1.5C target once the UN conference was complete in mid-November.“By the time Glasgow’s over, we’re going to know who is doing their fair share, and who isn’t,” president Joe Biden’s envoy told the Associated Press.Asked about efforts to closing the divide between the emissions cuts pledged by countries and the cuts actually needed, Kerry said: “We will hopefully be moving very close to that.”The US climate envoy added: “Though there will be a gap and … we’ve got to be honest about the gap, and we have to use the gap as further motivation to continue to accelerate as fast as we can.”Kerry declined to single out China by name as one reason why Glasgow might not be as a success – although surprise announcements by Beijing are thought to remain a possibility.“It would be wonderful if everybody came and everybody hit the 1.5 degrees mark now,” he said. “That would be terrific. But some countries just don’t have the energy mix yet that allows them to do that.”Kerry also warned the US Congress to pass the Biden’s administration’s legislation for faster action on climate. Some Democrats are blocking measures aimed at making good on a US pledge to slash its emissions at least in half by 2030.Asked how the administration’s troubles delivering on its own promises affect his work rallying other countries, Kerry said: “Well, it hurts. I’m not going to pretend it’s the best way to send the best message. I mean, we need to do these things.”Johnson, meanwhile, has been accused of failing to show the kind of “statesmanship” required to push countries to go further on cutting their emissions at Cop26.Labour said the Conservative PM had failed to take the summit seriously enough or be “candid” enough about the scale of action needed to address the climate emergency.In an attack on Johnson’s holiday in the run-up to the talks, the opposition said: “It’s time for the prime minister to get off his sun lounger, be a statesman and make Glasgow the success we need it to be.”But Johnson’s Cop26 spokesperson Allegra Stratton insisted he was focused on the summit, saying the success of talks would be judged on “getting to the end and feeling that 1.5 has been kept alive”.Tory minister Alok Sharma, president of Cop26, has also called “keeping 1.5 alive” the primary objective of the November conference.Speaking in Paris earlier this week, Sharma said pledges made by the G20 countries in could be “make or break” for limiting global temperature rises.Mr Sharma has said the summit must have a negotiated outcome that outlines increased ambitions up to 2030, as well as delivering a long-promised 100 billion US dollars a year in finance for poorer countries. More

Boris Johnson’s government should demand that banks and major companies in the UK produce their own climate transition plans, Labour has said.The opposition party is pushing for tighter regulation on big business to make sure their plans align with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C.Labour said the prime minister should “mandate” Britain’s financial institutions and its FTSE100 companies to publish their carbon footprint and adopt a credible plan to reduce emissions.In a speech ahead of next month’s Cop26 summit in Glasgow, Labour’s shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said top companies could make a “profound difference” in the push for net zero emissions.“Many of our leading financial institutions and businesses have been ahead of government when it comes to climate action,” said the senior Labour MP. “But we need all to meet the standards of the best.”Miliband added: “Furthermore, we should be asking in Glasgow that all other major economies follow suit. This proposal would be a game-changer in the fight against climate breakdown, setting a global standard and making the UK the green finance capital of the world.”The investments of firms and financial institutions based in the City of London account for around15 per cent of global emissions, Labour said. The opposition claimed regulation could be used to mobilise trillions of pounds in pursuit of the ambitions of the Paris Agreement.Miliband also used Wednesday’s speech to attack Johnson’s leadership – urging him to “get off the sun lounger and start being a statesman” to prevent Cop26 becoming a failure.The shadow minister also accused the Conservative government of a “decade of inaction” which has stalled progress on renewable energy and has led to Britain’s current fuel crisis.Pointing to Labour’s commitment to invest an extra £28bn every year until 2030 to tackle the climate crisis, he accused the chancellor Rishi Sunak of “positioning himself as the anti-green chancellor” by refusing to commit big enough sums to climate transition plans.He condemned the Tory government for cutting its aid budget at a time when trust between developing and developed countries is key. “The government have been at best bystanders and at worst, contributors to global inaction,” he argued.It comes as Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon used a TED talk to say the country must “be careful” not to leave communities behind as it transitions away from oil and gas.The SNP leader again refused to voice opposition to the Cambo oil field development proposed near Shetland fiercely opposed by climate activists.Ms Sturgeon stressed the supply of oil and gas cannot be turned off in the short term because that may lead to a spike in imports and economic problems caused by mass lay-offs.But she also repeated calls for licences to extract oil and gas from the North Sea to be reassessed by the UK government given the current threat of climate change.“We’ve got to be careful that we don’t leave people and communities behind in that transition,” the first minister said. “We’ve got to be careful we don’t switch domestic production to imports of oil and gas – that would be counter-productive.” More

England must prepare itself for more floods and droughts, rising sea levels and greater pressure on water supplies due to climate change, the Environment Agency has said.In a stark warning ahead of the Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow, the government agency claimed that adaptation measures – making sure the country is resilient to the inescapable effects of climate change – are now just as important as action to cut carbon emissions.More and worse environmental incidents – such as flooding, water shortages and pollution – are now inevitable, since the natural world cannot adapt as fast as the climate is changing, the agency warned.Its chair, Emma Howard Boyd, said it was a case of “adapt or die”, warning that England would face the sort of deadly flooding seen in Germany this summer if the country did not prepare itself.Ms Howard Boyd also said that, despite the UK government’s intention to focus on adaptation at Cop26 next month, the issue was in danger of being “grievously undercooked” by the world at large.In a gloomy report handed to Boris Johnson’s government, the public body said traditional flood defences would not be able to prevent all flooding and coastal erosion across England.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 resilient public water supplies.The agency’s report warns that with 2C of global warming – below the level of warming for which the world is currently on track – England’s winter rainfall will increase by around 6 per cent, but summer rainfall will be down 15 per cent by the 2050s.It also predicts that with 2C of warming, London’s sea level could rise by between 23cm and 29cm by the 2050s, and around 45cm by the 2080s. The sea level could rise by 78cm by the 2080s if global temperatures soar beyond 2C.The Environment Agency said it was working with government, businesses and communities on boosting flood protection, and with watchdog Ofwat on water supplies.The public body said it was also focusing on restoring and creating peatlands, wetlands and other habitats to create resilient places for wildlife, reduce the risk of flooding, improve water quality and boost access to green spaces for people.Ms Howard Boyd said: “The climate crisis is global, but its impacts are in your village, your shop, your home. Adaptation action needs to be integral to government, businesses and communities too, and people will soon question why it isn’t.”She added: “While mitigation might save the planet, it is adaptation, preparing for climate shocks, that will save millions of lives. Choosing one over the other on the basis of a simple either/or calculation is like telling a bird it only needs one wing to fly.”The Environment Agency leader said the country was “running out of time” to bring in effective adaptation measures, adding: “Significant climate impacts are inevitable. We can successfully tackle the climate emergency if we do the right things.”The warnings in the Environment Agency’s third adaptation report come as Labour urged the prime minister to “start being a statesman” or risk failure at Cop26.Mr Johnson has failed to take the summit seriously enough or be “candid” enough with the British public on the scale of action needed to address the climate crisis, the opposition party claims.And in a broadside aimed at Mr Johnson’s decision to take a holiday in the run-up to the talks, Labour’s shadow business secretary Ed Miliband will say, in a speech on Wednesday: “It’s time for the prime minister to get off his sun lounger, be a statesman and make Glasgow the success we need it to be.” More