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Businesses will have to commit to the UK’s 2050 net-zero target before they can bid for major government contracts, under new rules announced on World Environment Day.Firms will also have to publish “credible” carbon reduction plans setting out their existing greenhouse gas emissions such as fuel usage, power consumption and staff travel.The Cabinet Office said the measures would be put in place by September for contracts worth more than £5m, making the UK government the first in the world to require such commitments.It comes as the UK prepares to host the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as Cop26, in Glasgow in November.“The government spends more than £290bn on procurement every year, so it’s important we use this purchasing power to help transform our economy to net-zero,” said the minister for efficiency and transformation, Lord Agnew of Oulton, in a statement.“Requiring companies to report and commit to reducing their carbon emissions before bidding for public work is a key part of our world leading approach. These measures will help green our economy, while not overly burdening businesses.”Carbon emissions will be reported using an internationally-recognised standard which categorises them under three groups or “scopes”.Scope 1 includes direct emissions from activities controlled by the business, such as fuel combustion in furnaces and vehicles or chemical production.Scope 2 relates to indirect emissions from consumption of purchased electricity, heat, steam or cooling, while scope 3 includes other indirect emissions from business travel, employee commuting, transportation, distribution and waste disposal.While some large companies already report scope 1 and 2 emissions, the new rules will also require some scope 3 emissions to be included as well.Firms failing to meet the requirements will be excluded from bidding for contracts worth more than £5m per year.The government said that the £5m cut-off was designed to “not overly burden and potentially exclude small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) from bidding for government work”.The measures were welcomed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which represents 190,000 firms employing nearly 7 million people.Tom Thackray, director of infrastructure and energy at the CBI said: “As the world looks towards the UK and Cop26 for leadership on decarbonisation, business is already playing a vital role in driving progress towards a greener future.”The CBI has long supported using procurement policy to ensure government spending supports the UK’s environmental objectives and these changes will encourage more firms across the country to demonstrate their own commitment to net zero when bidding for government contracts.”Partnership between the public and private sectors can make the UK a global role-model, not only in delivering vital public services but working together to tackle climate change.”The Business Services Association, which contributed to drawing up the new rules, said it was “another important step on the road to net zero”. More

The government will this week unveil plans to treble tree-planting rates in England by the end of this parliament.The initiative is part of a an effort to demonstrate commitment to restoring the national environment ahead of the United Nations COP26 conference being hosted by the UK in Glasgow in November.Setting out plans in a speech on Tuesday, the environment secretary, George Eustice, will point to February’s Dasgupta Review, which set out the role of biodiversity in economic growth.He is expected to say: “We are putting plans in place to treble woodland creation rates by the end of this parliament, reflecting England’s contribution to meeting the UK’s overall target of planting 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this parliament.“We will make sure that the right trees are planted in the right places and that more green jobs are created in the forestry sector.”Looking back over the coronavirus pandemic of the past year, Mr Eustice will say: “The events of the last 12 months have led people to appreciate the difference that nature makes to our lives more than ever before.“There is an increased awareness of the link between our own health, and economic prosperity, and that of the planet – as highlighted by the recent Dasgupta Review of the economics of biodiversity.”In a speech outlining the government’s ambitions to create more woodlands, protect peatlands and boost biodiversity, Mr Eustice will say that increased tree-planting will form a central pillar in the UK’s efforts to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.Under the new target, approximately 7,000 hectares of woodlands will be planted per year by May 2024, alongside new initiatives to improve the health of our trees, create more woodlands in cities, and deliver thousands of green jobs.An England Trees Action Plan will set out the ambition of continuing current planting trends for woodlands made up of mostly native broadleaf trees. More

The lone climate activist unfurled a banner reading “Climate Assembly, be bold” as part of a call for a more radical approach from Scotland’s Climate Assembly on Thursday morning.Police officers were waiting at the entrance of the Scottish Parliament and arrested the 61-year-old protester upon descent. The Climate Assembly, which was created as part of the 2019 Climate Change Act, has been accused of being “frightened of rocking the boat”. Extinction Rebellion, the radical climate activism group, said they were part of the assembly’s stewarding group but had pulled out. Justin Kenrick, a former member of the stewarding group, said: “There was never any evaluation of the seriousness of the climate emergency.“There was a lot of focus on being fair to different sectors in Scotland but not fairness to those elsewhere in the world suffering now or to future generations. To be fair in that fundamental way you have to first assess how serious the emergency is, and the assembly never collectively had the opportunity to do that.” More

Savers who want to invest in protecting the environment are to be offered the opportunity to purchase the world’s first green savings bonds. The bonds, to be launched in Rishi Sunak’s Budget on Wednesday, will raise funds to invest in projects such as renewable energy and clean transport to support the government’s goal of the UK reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.The announcement will come alongside Mr Sunak unveiling in the 3 March statement reforms to the visa system to encourage high-skilled workers including researchers, engineers, scientists and tech experts to come to the UK.The new “elite” points-based routes will guarantee a visa for winners of international awards like the Nobel prizes and will allow highly-skilled migrants with a job offer from a fast-growth firm to qualify without the need for sponsorship or third-party endorsement.Mr Sunak said that the green savings bonds would help drive innovation in the technologies needed to reduce the UK’s reliance on greenhouse gas-producing fossil fuels.“The UK is a global leader on tackling climate change, with a clear target to reach net zero by 2050 and a 10-point plan to create green jobs as we transition to a greener future,” he said.“In a world first, we’re launching a new green savings bond which will give people across the UK the opportunity to contribute to the collective effort to tackle climate change. More

Court proceedings have been launched against a climate charity lawyer for leaking a decision to expand Heathrow Airport.In December, shortly before the Supreme Court’s judgment was delivered giving the go-ahead to a third runway, Mr Crosland deliberately broke an embargo on the decision, making it public.He was referred to the attorney general for contempt of court, and now the solicitor general Michael Ellis has launched proceedings that could lead to his being sent to prison.Mr Crosland said he had no choice but to protest against “the deep immorality of the court’s ruling” when he broke the embargo. The Court of Appeal had initially blocked any Heathrow expansion, ruling that the government had acted unlawfully in failing to take into account the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep global temperature rises to no more than 2C by limiting greenhouse gas emissions.But the Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal decision.The government says the Supreme Court’s draft judgement was circulated to those involved on a confidential basis, and it was made clear that breaching the embargo might be treated as a contempt of court.Mr Crosland, a barrister, said he broke the court’s embargo as “an act of civil disobedience”.In an article forThe Independent, he wrote that had he not revealed the Heathrow decision early, he believed he would have been complicit in a “cover-up”. He claimed the Supreme Court ruling “concealed” that when the government approved Heathrow’s expansion, it relied on a “dangerous and discredited” climate target.But Mr Ellis said: “After careful consideration, I have concluded that in order that the rule of law be upheld, contempt of court proceedings should be brought against Tim Crosland.“Irrespective of any personal views on any issue, there is no excuse for knowingly undermining court processes and proceedings.”Mr Crosland has also accused the government of hypocrisy in approving Heathrow expansion while hosting climate talks, Cop26, later this year, when it will urge other countries to limit their carbon output.He said: “The government is doing three things. It’s claiming to be a climate leader ahead of Cop26.“It’s supervising the opening of a new coal mine, continuing to spend billions of taxpayer money on fossil-fuel developments overseas and progressing carbon-intensive projects such as investment in the roads, expansion of Heathrow and HS2; meanwhile it’s suggesting that those who call out this treasonous hypocrisy and stand up for the future of our young people, our country and vulnerable communities everywhere, should be treated as organised criminals.”The government and supporters of Heathrow expansion say it would create thousands of new jobs.“It’s the government’s primary responsibility to safeguard the lives of its citizens from threats too complex for us to address as individuals,” Mr Crosland said.Supreme Court judges are due to consider the contempt of court case. More

Conservative MPs from the so-called “red wall” seats won from Labour at the last election have declared their support for a controversial new coal mine in Cumbria. The Northern Research Group MPs accused Labour of turning its back on northern communities by opposing the development at Whitehaven.In a letter to Cumbria County Council’s Labour leader, the 31 NRG MPs – joined by civic leaders from the north of England and a further 12 Tory MPs from elsewhere in the country – warned that threats to block the mine represent a “serious risk” to the area’s economy and jobs.But Labour’s business spokesperson Lucy Powell accused them of “ trying to con people with a false promise”, insisting the mine was not the answer to provide a long-term future for industry.The West Cumbria Mining plans to dig coking coal for use in the UK steel industry were initially approved in 2019, but have split the county, with some welcoming the prospect of skilled jobs and others fighting the proposal on environmental grounds.Formal planning consent is yet to be granted, and on 9 February the council announced it would reconsider the initial approval in the light of the recommendations of the government’s Committee for Climate Change on planned cuts to greenhouse gas emissions after 2033.The rethink came amid reports that that the UK president of November’s United Nations Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Alok Sharma, was “apoplectic” at cabinet colleague Robert Jenrick’s failure to “call in” the plan.It was welcomed by Labour’s shadow business secretary Ed Miliband, who said: “The UK cannot claim to be a climate leader whilst opening a new coal mine.”The application is likely to be considered at a council planning meeting in April, but a final decision is not expected until after the local council elections in May.Today’s letter to council leader Stewart Young is signed by Cumbria Tory MPs Trudy Harrison (Copeland), Mark Jenkinson (Workington), Simon Fell (Barrow in Furness) and John Stevenson (Carlisle), as well as others from newly-won seats in the north of England and Conservative mayors of Copeland and Tees Valley.They warned the council might be open to legal challenge for taking into account recommendations which have not yet been adopted by the government, and called on Mr Young to publish internal legal and planning advice to show that the decision to reconsider was not “political”.Mr Stevenson described Labour opposition to the plan as “a direct attack on industry and job creation”, denying Cumbria of more than 500 well-paid jobs at the mine and 2,000 more in the supply chain.And Mr Fell said: “Steel underpins every single renewable technology that we need to employ to hit our net zero target and we cannot make that steel without coking coal. “The choice we face is whether to offshore the carbon debt of mining coking coal to countries like Russia and accept the huge environmental and humanitarian cost of doing so, or to allow this mine to proceed and wrap our own high environmental standards around it. “We simply can’t pretend that this is all someone else’s problem and pat ourselves on the back for hitting net zero 2050 while outsourcing the problem elsewhere. By opposing it, Labour is showing once again that they are out of touch with working class communities in the north of England.” But Ms Powell said: “Not for the first time, Tory MPs are trying to con people with a false promise. “The Cumbria coal mine is not an answer to the issues facing our steel industry. Eighty-five per cent of its production is due for export, and this plant will not address the financial challenges facing the industry going forward or provide it with a long-term future.“We won’t take lectures from the Conservative Party about standing up for UK steel making and the communities which support it, as they’ve failed to tackle the issue of high energy prices steelmakers are facing.“We need investment to help the steel industry to get through the worst economic crisis of any major economy, safeguard primary steel-making, and support the transition to a decarbonised future, protecting jobs and livelihoods. “That’s why Labour has called for a £30bn green recovery to turbocharge our economic recovery and deliver a secure, long-term future for our steel industry.”Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Tony Bosworth said the letter’s signatories “should be listening to climate experts about this mine”.Mr Bosworth said: “Last month the government’s official climate advisers warned that a new mine in Cumbria would increase global emissions and have a negative impact on the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets. “It will also put a massive dent in the UK government’s credibility ahead of crucial climate talks in Glasgow later this year.“West Cumbria, like other parts of the country, desperately needs new jobs – but these should be green jobs created by investing in a cleaner, safer economy, rather than extracting more fossil fuels that help accelerate the climate crisis.”Cumbria County Council declined to comment on the letter. 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A veil of secrecy could be drawn over government failures on the environment and climate goals because of new restrictions set to be made law in Boris Johnson’s environment bill.Campaigners have sounded the alarm over a “secrecy clause” in the bill that will prohibit the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) from revealing evidence and key discussions with the government and other public bodies.The watchdog is being established by ministers to carry out oversight previously the responsibility EU agencies before Brexit, and will be tasked with holding the government to laws on tackling pollution, meeting climate goals, and conserving the environment.But under paragraph 42 of the bill the office will be banned from revealing any information provided to it by public authorities, including the government  – and will not be allowed to reveal correspondence with ministers without their say-so.Other information like unpublished specifics on whether the government and public authorities are meeting their climate crisis goals could also be kept from public view.The government says the secrecy clause is necessary to provide a “safe space for dialogue” with the watchdog, but freedom of information campaigners say the law will destroy public transparency on environmental decisions.The prohibition also appears to interfere with the longstanding Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), which give every citizen freedom of information-like powers to access information and documents relating to the environment.Despite the bill having a list of exemptions to the disclosure prohibition, none of them protect the EIR freedom of information rules, though the government claims they will not be affected.But Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, told The Independent: “The bill either prohibits disclosure of information by the OEP or increases the chances of it being withheld under an expanded exemption, or both.“At first sight it’s not clear why new restrictions should be needed, given that the Environmental Information Regulations already allow information to be withheld if disclosure would be harmful and not in the public interest. “The answer may be to protect ministerial lobbying. The OEP may need to take enforcement action against ministers if they fail to comply with environmental legislation. Even when it acts against other authorities it must keep ministers informed.
Ministers will be able to intervene in secret, pressing the OEP to tone down, delay or drop any action, interfering with what is meant to be an independent regulatorMaurice Frankel, director, Campaign for Freedom of Information”Where there are major implications for government expenditure or projects ministers will be able to intervene in secret, pressing the OEP to tone down, delay or drop any action, interfering with what is meant to be an independent regulator.“The government should scrap the proposed prohibition on disclosure which fundamentally undermines the public’s rights under the EIR,  and contravenes the Aarhus Convention to which the UK is a signatory.”In 2019 the bill, which is currently in its report stage in parliament, was criticised by 40 leading environmental and transparency organisations for its secrecy clause. Groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the National Union of Journalists and the Open Rights Group warned that the approach amounted to a “damaging and unjustified restriction on the public’s right to environmental information”.
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A senior government minister has admitted that the UK is sending out a “mixed message” by giving the go-ahead to a new coal mine at the same time it is asking other countries to commit to reductions in carbon emissions.Ministers have faced criticism for not “calling in” the decision to green-light the scheme in Whitehaven, Cumbria, which is now being reviewed by the local county council.The move came months ahead of November’s United Nations COP26 summit in Glasgow, at which countries will be asked to improve on carbon reduction promises made in the Paris Agreement of 2015.Speaking to the Institute for Government think tank, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng admitted the arguments were “finely balanced”, but said that producing coking coal in Cumbria could actually cut overall emissions by removing the need for the UK steel industry to transport imported fuel from distant countries.Mr Kwarteng said: “I think it was a difficult issue. I fully understand that it’s a slightly mixed message to some people. “But at the same time we are committed to the steel industry.“The view was that it was a local decision, so it was the local council that decided to give the go-ahead to the coal mine.“The secretary of state didn’t overrule them in the interests of local power, local devolution.”He said that opening a new mine in Britain “made more sense” than importing coal from abroad.“I think it was a finely-balanced argument in terms of the fact that if you don’t produce coking coal and you have blast furnace steel, which we have, they are going to end up importing the coking coal anyway,” said Mr Kwarteng.“In terms of the global reduction of emissions it doesn’t actually make an effect, it actually increases it because you’re essentially shutting down a domestic source of coking coal and importing it from halfway round the world.”Asked whether Boris Johnson accepted that mixed signals had been sent, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The Cumbria coal mine is a planning application, which is a matter for Cumbria County Council. It is right that they take the decision on it.”The spokesman said that Mr Johnson had made his commitment to addressing climate change clear on numerous occasions, adding: “I would point to the Environment Bill and the recent conversation he had with President Biden, where the prime minister discussed climate change, as well as the 10-point plan we have set out on this issue.“The prime minister is fully committed to addressing climate change.”Plans for the UK’s first deep coal mine in 30 years were initially approved by Cumbria councillors in 2019 and environmentalists have said that local government secretary Robert Jenrick’s decision not to call the decision in “drove a coach and horses” through the government’s climate position. More