Author: Archie Burkinshaw

The UK government has announced an independent 3-month review into the delivery of its net zero climate commitments, led by former Energy Minister Chris Skidmore MP. The review will assess whether meeting the goal will provide energy security and remain ‘affordable for businesses and households’. The review comes as the UK seeks to bolster its energy security through the use of fossil fuels by confirming its support for a new oil and gas licensing round, and lifting the ban on onshore fracking for gas production following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Despite this, the government insists the UK’s target to reach…

EY global vice chair of sustainability Steve Varley has said ESG investments are “definitely at a crossroads” amid concerns of greenwashing at some of the world’s largest funds. The United Nations (UN) first laid out principles for environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing in 2006. Secretary General Kofi Annan hailed the considerations as critical to underpinning “responsible investing” in the financial markets. Sixteen years later, global assets held in ESG funds have ballooned to roughly $35 trillion. However, recently, ESG has faced a backlash, including from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who tweeted ”ESG is a scam” to his nearly…

Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero, Edward Miliband, has announced Labour’s plans to make Britain the first major country in the world to “set and achieve the target of zero-carbon power by 2030”. Speaking at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool, Miliband pledged under a Labour Government to double on-shore wind, treble solar power, quadruple off-shore wind and invest £60 billion into insulating 19 million UK homes over a ten-year period. “The climate and nature crisis is caused by our burning of fossil fuels,” said Miliband. “The energy bills crisis is caused by the fact we…

Analysis by non-profit disclosure platform CDP and global management consultancy Oliver Wyman has shown companies in the Group of Seven (G7) economies are falling short of meeting their Paris Climate Agreement objectives, based on current corporate pledges to cut emissions. Under the terms of the global 2015 Paris Agreement, countries had agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (°C) and aim to keep the rise below 1.5 °C, which scientists say would avert some of its worst effects. The difference between 1.5 °C and 2 °C, for example, includes a 10x…

Amazon has secured an agreement with Plug Power to supply 10,950 tons per year of green hydrogen for its transportation and building operations starting in 2025. The agreement will see Plug Power provide enough hydrogen annually to power 30,000 forklifts or 800 heavy-duty trucks, contributing to Amazon’s Climate Pledge goals, alongside other initiatives, including the rollout of its fully electric delivery fleet. As Amazon aims to hit its net-zero carbon target by 2040, 10 years earlier than the date set forth in the Paris Agreement, it plans to use the more climate friendly green hydrogen to replace grey hydrogen,…