Ed Matthew

As Tories vow to scrap ‘failed targets’, how do their climate claims stack up? We fact check Kemi Badenoch and her party after she promised to repeal Climate Change Act if they win power

My take on the decision by Kemi Badenoch to end the fight against the climate crisis and torpedo the U.K. economy and a great critique by @fionaharvey.bsky.social of the falsehoods set out in the Tory press release. This action by Badenoch is utterly shameful.

Kemi Badenoch vows to repeal Climate Change Act Tory leader says she would replace it with ‘cheap energy’ strategy, ending decades-long consensus on climate

Kemi Badenoch has now aligned the Tory party on climate with Trump and the far right parties of Europe. Tragic. It shows that she is more interested in the profits of oil and gas companies than the security of the country. The Tory party can no longer be trusted on the environment or the economy

There’s a persistent myth that new solar farms don’t really help tackle climate change because panels are “made with coal” and “never pay back” their carbon debt.

This is simply false.

- UN: solar ~8x cleaner than gas, ~19x than coal per kWh
- panels repay CO2 in 4 months; save 57x over life

It doesn’t. Most of the potential savings come from helping households with heat pumps to access electricity when it is cheap. Making sure they are installed to a high standard of efficiency also provides big savings. Getting off gas will also save money. Some levies can be paid for my exchequer

And here is the graphic showing the potential for heat pumps to cost half as much to run as a gas boiler WITH policy reforms - full report is here : www.e3g.org/publications...

Heat pumps could halve heating bills with energy system reform, study finds Steps to make electricity cheaper, such as ending levies, could transform prospects for pumps, thinktank shows

www.theguardian.com/environment/... - our latest E3G report showing that with policy reform, running a heat pump could be half the price of running a gas boiler. The future is electric !

Ofgem just approved a record £24bn investment in gas & electric grids to 2031, making bills "£30 lower" than they would have been

Predictably, some usual-suspect media have mangled the reporting.

So here's a Really Simple guide to counterfactuals, with Bluey refs:

Labour warned to keep spending review in line with net zero or face legal action Exclusive: Friends of the Earth tells Keir Starmer any major green cuts by Rachel Reeves will be challenged

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

All you need to know is that it has now been easily weaponised by those trying to undermine climate action. This means at very least they got their narrative very badly wrong and it has backfired. Either that or they were deliberately trying to offer a gift horse to Farage - I hope not

Climate experts and politicians round on Tony Blair for ‘wrong message’ Former Labour PM accused of ‘handing talking points’ to Tories and Reform after saying net zero strategy faltering

The Tony Blair Institute should issue a public apology for putting out a climate ‘solutions’ report that has been so easily weaponised by those seeking to delay climate action. This was a gross misjudgement and it should have been properly vetted before publication - what a mess

Tony Blair says current net zero push 'doomed to fail' The former PM's call for a change of course is rejected by Downing Street but welcomed by the Tories and Reform.

This is one of the worst reports I’ve seen to date on the energy transition. It is divisive and inaccurate. In the U.K. people have not lost faith in climate action. The issue is just being weaponised by Farage and Badenoch because it is part of their culture war strategy to gain power #climate

See below my article in Environmental Politics on ‘reasons to be cheerful’ despite the massive challenges we face on climate action. When you get past the politics, there are economic meta trends that make the shift to clean energy unstoppable. Happy reading

UK greenhouse gases fall again - as renewable electricity hits 50% for the first time Greenpeace says it shows "the UK's efforts to tackle climate change are working" but the country is "still very much dependent on expensive and polluting gas".

Latest gov 2024 figures show U.K. greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 54% (since 1990) and renewables made up over 50% of our electricity supply for first time. But gas is still driving up energy bills. We need to GET OFF GAS as soon as possible to bring down energy bills and boost our security

🚨 In Today’s spring statement, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has left a “huge open goal” by neglecting the clean economy as the primary driver for growth in the UK. Meanwhile, devastating cuts to overseas development aid undermine UK security.

Read our rapid reaction👇🧵

Solar is quickly becoming the cheapest source of electricity & will fundamentally change the energy system.

This paper argues that solar will be cheapest source of electricity around the world. Surprisingly this is AFTER including short- & long-term storage costs.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Kemi Badenoch Made Anti-Net Zero Speech at Shell Ad Agency Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch today ditched her party’s commitment to the UK’s flagship climate target in a speech hosted by an advertising group that works for Shell, DeSmog can reveal. During he...

"By abandoning net-zero by 2050, Badenoch has sold out the interests of the British people to the fossil fuel industry." - @edmatthew.bsky.social in @desmog.bsky.social

The CCC recently said targeting net-zero would help cut household costs by £1,400 a year by 2050.

www.desmog.com/2025/03/18/k...

UK homes install subsidised heat pumps at record level Government-backed heat pump installations in the UK reached record levels for 2024.

📢 UK heat pump installations hit a record high!

A key driver? Boosting the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant. But high costs still block many. E3G’s @edmatthew.bsky.social says the govt must recommit in June’s spending review & expand support for low-income households.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Electric VS Petrol: which car does your dog find more comfortable? An experiment carried out by This Morning's resident vet, Dr Scott Miller, found dogs are 'more relaxed' when travelling in an EV in comparison to fuel powered cars

Dogs prefer electric cars. Surely that is now the death knell for the fossil fuel car!

UK homes install subsidised heat pumps at record level Government-backed heat pump installations in the UK reached record levels for 2024.

Heat pump market surges in 2024. I’m quoted calling for extension of heat pump grants and for government to remove some levies off electricity bills to really make the heat pump market fly.

Over the weekend we asked the British public to describe in a word how they felt about the Trump-Zelenskyy Oval Office meeting. The answers somewhat speak for themselves.

UK urged to act now on net zero – and skip two kebabs’ worth of meat a week Climate Change Committee issues advice to government on meeting carbon emissions target by 2050

The startling finding from the CCC’s advice on the 7th Carbon Budget is the scale of savings households can make by 2050 - on average a £700 cut in energy bills and another £700 cut in driving fuel bills a year. This means anyone arguing against net zero is in effect calling for high energy bills

Starmer announces big cut to UK aid budget to boost defence spending PM confirms rise in military spending to at least 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – three years earlier than planned

Defence spending may well need to increase in face of Russian threats and American isolationism but there are better ways to pay for it - especially taxes on oil & gas companies, who have made obscene profits over last few years. Cutting aid spending is devastating.

Britain’s net zero economy is booming, CBI says Green sector growing at triple the rate of the UK economy, providing high-wage jobs and increasing energy security

The net-zero economy grew 10% in 2024. Green=Growth. The line I love from this article is that Tory & Reform parties did not respond to request for comment 🤦‍♂️ - in their pursuit or culture wars, Badenoch & Farage are undermining economic growth and would condemn U.K. to dependence on high cost gas

‘It’s a temporary lifeline’: Drax decision is latest test of Labour’s green credentials Mixed reaction from campaigners as ministers impose reduced subsidies and stringent conditions on Yorkshire wood-burning plant

Drax subsidies extended but cut in half - my quote on Drax in Guardian: “its legacy is high emissions and forest destruction … its days are numbered”

Scientists brace ‘for the worst’ as Trump purges climate mentions from websites Trump administration pulling references online ‘won’t make crisis’ stop affecting Americans’ lives, say experts

Trump is a big fan of freedom of speech, unless of course it involves educating the public about the biggest existential threat to humanity - then he acts to remove all trace of it

Concerning article from the Sun on Sunday today on Rosebank, where the writer and Labour sources quoted clearly don’t quite grasp the economics of the oil and gas industry... maybe this thread can help 👇

archive.ph/Veh5p

Rosebank oilfield decision ruled unlawful by Edinburgh court Court of session says UK government go-ahead for Rosebank and Jackdaw permits does not take into account carbon emissions

Big news as Rosebank oilfield ruled illegal because the original decision did not take account of the climate impact of burning the oil. It is a total scandal these fields were approved without taking this into account. Gov must move fast to end all new oil and gas fields to stop climate breakdown

The catastrophic Los Angeles fires were made 35% more likely as a result of climate change. How bad does it need to get before the Republican Party acts to defend the people?

UK has spent £12.5bn from energy bills on fossil fuel power plants in past decade Research finds 60% of government contracts through backup ‘capacity market’ went to fossil fuel plants

Great report from @julietphillips.bsky.social and Beyond Fossil Fuels on cost of gas dependence and the need for new policies to create green energy back up and stop gas companies from profiteering during this transition

Trump’s Week One Ends With a Heap of Climate Rollbacks The new president issued a barrage of orders seeking to boost fossil fuels and reverse policies that address global warming.

China is already leading the world on clean tech investment. How do you think they feel about Trump’s climate roll back?