Dhara Vyas

1 in 3 doctors were born overseas.

1 in 5 university academics were born overseas.

1 in 7 UK business founders were born overseas.

1 in 2 builders were born overseas.

1 in 5 nurses were born overseas.

1 in 4 transport workers were born overseas.

The media, their framing, IS the problem

Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die July 21, 2025 AFP has been working with 1 writer, 3 photographers and 6 videographers, all freelance, in the Gaza Strip since its staff journalists left in 2024. Along with a few others, they are now the only ones left to report what is happening in the Gaza Strip. The international press has been banned from entering the territory for nearly two years. We refuse to watch them die. One of them, Bashar, has been working with AFP since 2010, first as a fixer, then freelance photographer, and since 2024, as lead photographer. On July 19th he managed to post a message on Facebook: “I no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can’t work anymore.” Bashar, 30, works & lives in the same conditions as all Gazans, moving from one refugee camp to another under Israeli bombings. For > a year he’s lived in utter destitution, working at extreme risk to his life. Hygiene is a major issue for him, with recurring bouts of severe intestinal illness. Since Feb, Bashar’s been living in the ruins of his home in Gaza City with his mother, 4 brothers & sisters and the family of one of his brothers. Their house is devoid of any furnishings, except a few cushions. On Sunday morning, he reported that one of his brothers had “fallen, due to hunger.” Even though these journalists receive a monthly salary from AFP, it’s no longer enough to buy food, or they have to pay completely exorbitant prices. The banking system has collapsed, and those who exchange money via online bank accounts charge a commission of up to 40%. AFP no longer has the ability to provide them with a vehicle and there is not enough fuel to allow these journalists to travel for their reporting. Driving a car means becoming a target for Israeli airstrikes. AFP reporters therefore travel on foot or by donkey cart. (alt txt continued in next post)

A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"

Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:

NEW – Factcheck: Why expensive gas – not net-zero – is keeping UK electricity prices so high | @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org‬ @mollylempriere.carbonbrief.org‬ w/ comment from @dharavyas.bsky.social‬ Prof Robert Gross, Paul Drummond, Frank S. Aaskov

Read here: buff.ly/DWsC3sZ

“But what about when the wind doesn’t blow and sun doesn’t shine?”

I’m currently in California, where now, after dark, nearly one-third of electricity is being supplied from batteries. Only 8% is from fossil fuels - natural gas.

@drsimevans.carbonbrief.org reminds people of this on a regular basis.
www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-is...

Solar panel push still won’t cover as much land as golf courses A study shows that Ed Miliband’s 2030 green energy targets are set to require up to 0.4 per cent of the UK, compared with 0.06 per cent today

There's been plenty of hyperventilating in some UK media outlets about solar farm taking over 'productive farm land' and endangering food security

But in fact the ambitious 2030 targets will cover only 0.4% of land, compared with golf courses covering 0.5%

www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Or C switch to an e book/kobo or similar, and live in blissful denial at the number of books in the pile as no physical reminders? (*runs/ducks for cover*)

Whistleblowers warn UK food industry heading for climate disaster Inside Track x Food claims the UK food industry has 'reached a moment of threat to food security like none other we have seen'

An anonymous group of food industry execs published a memo warning about “a threat to food security like none other we have seen” in the UK, citing degrading soil health, water scarcity, heating, and extreme weather.

Mitigation strategies don’t meet level of risk www.thegrocer.co.uk/news/whistle...

The Radio Teleswitch service will be switched off from the end of June. If you have an RTS meter, you will need to get this changed. Please urgently contact your supplier to avoid losing access to energy or constantly pay peak rates.

Inspiring @sussexnrggroup.bsky.social keynote lecture by @dharavyas.bsky.social, CEO of Energy UK this evening. UK has done well to stop coal; #renewables are getting cheaper, UK #emissions are going down. Adding renewables will decouple gas & electricity prices, which will help #energybills too.

Britain’s tax and spend dilemma Some excellent graphical analysis from the FT as part of the wider conundrum facing the country with a rapidly growing ageing population. Accompanying the news that “the UK’s public debt burden has surged faster than that of any other big advanced economy since the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic, helping drive up interest payments and limiting the country’s capacity to spend more on defence and care for an ageing population”. As of last year, more tax revenue was spent on servicing government debt than on education.

Fascinating graph that I’ve never seen before - govt spending vs tax for age groups from the FT

Poster of Sussex Energy Group Keynote Lecture 2025, featuring Dhara Vyas, Chief Executive of Energy UK, on energy policy developments in the UK. 2nd April 17:30-19:00pm. Arts A - A01 Lecture Theatre. University of Sussex. All Welcome - no booking required. Dhara joined Energy UK in 2021 and is an expert in energy consumer issues and the energy transition. She has previously worked at Citizens Advice and local government, and is on the Board of Green Alliance and EVA England.

Are you interested in the current UK energy landscape?

Join us for our 2025 Keynote Lecture with @dharavyas.bsky.social, Chief Executive of @energy-uk.org.uk, giving her perspective on the latest energy policy developments in the UK.

More details here
👉 bit.ly/4bVd5UT

#energypolicy #energy

Hi @newsagents.bsky.social! Next time you're talking about net zero you could do a lot worse than getting @carbonbrief.org on to talk it through!

They've already debunked the Sun claim you cited👇🏼
bsky.app/profile/drsi...

It wasn’t net zero — it was fossil gas that drove up UK electricity prices.

Spot on, @pilitaclark.bsky.social! Gas sets the price most of the time.

As @dharavyas.bsky.social Energy UK, says: "It’s the volatile cost of fossil fuels and our dependence on them that have driven up energy bills."

Tell me more about your concern for living standards for flooded communities, farm workers too hot to work, or the businesses reliant on supply chains hit by extreme weather worldwide

💡⚡☀️🔥Still time to sign up to stream tomorrow mornings event! 🏠🏢🏭📈

I'm really looking forward to chatting to @chrisstark.bsky.social about all things clean power, what's next on his to-do list and what he thinks of how the industry is responding to his mission!

Framing summer energy poverty - Publications Office of the EU Summer energy poverty (SEPOV) is an urgent and growing issue in Europe as climate change raises temperatures and makes extreme heat waves a regular occurrence. Heat brings signifi-cant public health, ...

🔥 It’s March, and it already feels like summer.

Europe isn’t ready for extreme heat.

I wrote a first-of-its-kind report for the European Commission: Framing Summer Energy Poverty. We need urgent action, because the next deadly heatwave is coming.

op.europa.eu/en/publicati...

Angie Stone. Rest in Power.

I’ll help Rob! Talk to our events team next week? Let’s set it up.

Super excited about this - what a line up!

Not only that it's FREE - whether you're a member or not, tune in and hear from @chrisstark.bsky.social and our very own @dharavyas.bsky.social - not to be missed.

Think Reform’s net-zero announcements may well be their first big mistake since their rise in the polls. There would definitely be scope to criticise specific climate measures, but trying to actively reverse shift to renewables lands well on wrong side of British public opinion.

📸Snapshots | How can the government accelerate its clean power mission?

We were joined by @rosahodgkin.bsky.social @neso-energy.bsky.social @chrisstark.bsky.social @dharavyas.bsky.social to discuss the government's clean power mission

Watch back💻
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...

TOMORROW: How can the government accelerate its clean power mission?

Don't miss our event exploring Labour's progress on decarbonising power by 2030 and the potential pitfalls.

@rosahodgkin.bsky.social @chrisstark.bsky.social @dharavyas.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...

An image for an IfG event. How can the government accelerate its clean power mission? Tuesday 04 February 2025, 12:30 — 13:30 This IfG event will bring together an expert panel, including: Rosa Hodgkin, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government Fintan Slye, CEO of the National Energy System Operator Chris Stark, Head of Mission Control for Clean Power 2030 Dhara Vyas, CEO of Energy UK The event will be chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.

EVENT: How can the government accelerate its clean power mission?

🗓️Tuesday 4 Feb, 12:30

Hear from @rosahodgkin.bsky.social @chrisstark.bsky.social @dharavyas.bsky.social @jillongovt.bsky.social on how Labour can achieve its clean power commitments
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/govern...

Glad to join @nea-ukcharity.bsky.social for its annual #FuelPovertyConf today.

Following a rousing speech from @miattafahnbulleh.bsky.social this panel discussion was wide ranging with a big focus on both ambition & partnership - both essential if we want to eradicate fuel poverty.

During our second session at our #FuelPovertyConf, @pwsmith101.bsky.social, Caroline Flint, @dharavyas.bsky.social and Jessica Skilbeck will discuss how ambitious fuel poverty strategies can be updated and implemented.

The negative headlines arising from the government’s difficulties in getting AI models that actually work in the Department for Work and Pensions are a case in point (as reported by Robert Booth over at the Guardian). My concern here isn’t that the government has had many unsuccessful pilots: that is a good thing, and part of government seizing the benefits of AI is going to be trying things at pilot stage that don’t work. My worry is that the story emerged through a freedom of information request. Government needs to shake off its old, old addiction to failing in secrecy if it is going to get the benefits both of sharing knowledge about how AI works with households and businesses, and for us to trust how governments use AI.

Well @stephenkb.bsky.social is bang on here

A bird's-eye view of a former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp showing a wide dirt pathway flanked by parallel rows of barbed-wire fences. Groups of visitors walk along the path, surrounded by the remnants of brick structures and barracks, now reduced to foundations. Green grass contrasts with the somber history of the site, as the path leads toward a guard tower in the distance.

Auschwitz was at the end of a long process. It did not start from gas chambers.

This hatred was gradually developed by humans. From ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.

Auschwitz took time.

While Trump issued a flurry of energy policies on Day One, I drilled down (pun intended) into what might be some of the most impactful (and under the radar)

#GreenSky #EnergySky

thehill.com/policy/energ...