Tag Archives: carbon emissions

The government has changed gear on transport policy, now it’s time for more clean air zones

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intext-bikeThe way we travel has transformed in recent months. The number of people using public transport has plummeted, bus use has fallen by 85 per cent and rail use has dropped by 95 per cent, according to the Committee on Climate Change’s recent report. And people want change. A study in major European cities by Transport and Environment found that almost three quarters of respondents do not want to return to pre-coronavirus levels of pollution. Read more

Why isn’t cutting demand at the heart of our energy policy?

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intext-blogThis post is by Nick Eyre, director of the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS).

The government frequently boasts that the UK has broken the link between carbon emissions and economic growth. Since 1970, the economy has trebled in size, whilst emissions have fallen by about a third. Read more

The secret to warmer, greener homes lies in going Dutch

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energiesprong smallReinventing Retrofit was published yesterday by Green Alliance, with support from the Zero Energy Buildings Catalyst (ZEBCat) programme, supported by the European Regional Development Fund. 

This blog was first posted by Business Green. 

In 2017, buildings were responsible for 22 per cent of the UK’s total carbon emissions, compared to just 19 per cent from electricity supply. With declining coal power generation and the rise in electric vehicles, the climate impact of buildings is becoming increasingly important in the effort to cut carbon emissions. The current housing stock represents 80 per cent of the houses that will be standing in 2050 and retrofitting them to be low carbon will be a major challenge for the future. Read more

It’s time to include land use in climate policy

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land use smallThis post is by Sir Graham Wynne, Green Alliance trustee and chief executive of the RSPB from 1998 to 2010. 

As Professor Jim Skea said at a recent Green Alliance event, it is no longer a choice between doing big things or little things to address climate change, we have to do everything. The IPCC says we have twelve years to contain global warming to 1.5 degrees and every sector has to play a full part. Read more