Adam Vaughan

Renewables have overtaken coal in the global electricity mix for the first time, @ember-energy.org has found
www.linkedin.com/pulse/renewa...

Thatcher ‘would be appalled by Kemi Badenoch’s vow to scrap climate act’ Former environment minister Lord Deben said the Tory leader’s decision was a vote-loser

Margaret Thatcher would have been “appalled” at plans by the Tory party leader Kemi Badenoch to scrap the Climate Change Act, according to Lord Deben. The Tory peer said it would cost jobs & votes.

Former Tory MP Lord Sharma said it "risks future investment"

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

Health risks to general public of breathing in nano- and micro-plastics are "uncertain", say science advisers to the UK government

The advisers (COMEAP) basically say we don't know enough to assess the risk of inhaling these tiny particles

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68d66c...

Sad about Jane Goodall.

She had a way with words.

“I spent so long in nature on my own, that I really only need to close my eyes, and I'm sort of back there. If I'm in the middle of the city, I could close my eyes I can imagine the rumbling rain was the rain pounding on the canvas," she told me.

We don’t need gas to power data centres, says Octopus Energy boss Greg Jackson, CEO of Britain’s biggest energy supplier, hit back at claims from union leaders and AI bosses that only fossil fuels and nuclear could meet demand

The boss of Britain’s biggest energy supplier has ridiculed the idea that energy demand from a boom in data centres can only be met by gas and nuclear power plants. “It’s horseshit,” said Octopus CEO Greg Jackson.

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

UK energy secretary Ed Miliband has announced a ban on new fracking licences.

Goes beyond 2019 moratorium on existing licences.

"I say: let's ban fracking and vow to send this bunch of frackers packing too," he said.

The move is directed at Reform, which has said it would back fracking.

Lot of love from the crowd for Ed Miliband at Labour party conference - he just got a big ovation for his list of progress in last year, solar approvals, onshore wind ban undone, GB Energy etc.

Labour’s net zero policies turn off working class voters, warns British union boss “If they don’t listen to us, they’re going to face some harsh realities,” says GMB chief.

GMB union boss using same language today...
“I'm pragmatic and a realist. We're going to need oil and gas for a long time to come. This nonsense that we're moving to electric heat anytime soon is rubbish"
www.politico.eu/article/labo...

@thecccuk.bsky.social letter tells UK government that its changes to the zero emissions vehicle mandate risks incentivising car makers to sell more plug-in hybrids rather than fully electric cars — which would mean higher CO2 emissions

www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Politicians now talk of climate ‘pragmatism’ to delay action – new study Politicians talk about being pragmatic on climate change to avoid hard decisions.

see also this @steveclimate.bsky.social
theconversation.com/politicians-...

Our world is hurtling into climate disaster and what do politicians give us? Oilfields and new runways | Bill McGuire In the name of ‘pragmatism’, green measures are being ditched, net zero derided. Be very clear: without slashing emissions we are in deep, deep trouble, says UCL professor Bill McGuire

"The excuse most often provided for turning away from green measures, for expanding fossil fuel production, for ignoring the science, is pragmatism.... this is dangerous drivel".

@profbillmcguire.bsky.social hits the nail on the head
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The UK's goal of 95% clean power by 2030 might sound Herculean.

But the UK has made more progress than many people think: it's already on 74%.

New official figures out today
www.gov.uk/government/s...

NEW

Analysis by @carbonbrief.org reveals there's been record 87 hours this year where national electricity demand was fully covered by clean sources

It is a sign of a rapidly-transforming energy system. But there's still a "very long way" to 2030 clean power goal

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

Video: Three Charts To Set the Record Straight On Climate Change In his United Nations address, President Trump lashed out at wind turbines, environmentalists and allies around the world while dismissing the dangers of climate change. Somini Sengupta explains the f...

Mad that the NYT is having to produce videos on basics such as "yes, climate change is happening" and "yes, renewables have become much cheaper"

But here we are. This is very nicely and clearly done by
@sominisengupta.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/video/climat...

Ed Miliband considers expansion of existing North Sea oil fields While Labour pledged to ban new oil and gas fields, the energy secretary is looking into ‘tiebacks’ — small expansions of existing sites

Ministers are considering a green light to expand existing North Sea oil and gas fields despite Labour’s manifesto pledge to ban new ones.

@tessakhan.bsky.social says industry figures for those expansions are a "fantasy"

Labour says manifesto will be met

Story 👇
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

China's new climate target 'falls well short,' EU says China's new climate pledge "falls well short" and will make it harder to reach global targets to slow climate change, the European Union's climate chief said on Thursday, as the bloc struggles to agree its own emissions-cutting goal.

I haven't seen any independent observers say that China's NDC is strong.

But it's pretty rich of the EU to criticise the target when it couldn't even get its house in order to publish a NDC in time for the UN's deadline (which has already been extended!).

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

Keir Starmer has no plans to attend COP30 climate summit in Brazil Final decision has yet to be made amid ‘big fight inside government’ over trip by prime minister

Sir Keir Starmer has no plans to attend the UN COP30 summit in Brazil in November, despite having branded Rishi Sunak’s absence from the world’s top climate conference a “failure of leadership” just a few years ago. 

www.ft.com/content/5f8f...

Exactly the sort of mechanism Labour criticised the Conservatives for, when they were in power

Plan to water down laws protecting national parks branded ‘outrageous’ Campaigners said that the change being considered by ministers, which would increase the number of developments and building projects, would be ‘devastating’

NEW

The government is considering plans to weaken a law protecting England’s national parks, in a move criticised as “outrageous” and “devastating”.

Story 👇
www.thetimes.com/uk/history/a...

I think I preferred it when Hollywood film stars were giving #UNGA speeches on climate change

Meanwhile, back in the world of facts.
wmo.int/publication-...

It's not just that airport expansion will make climate change worse.

Climate change will also make airports worse.

New study of 30 European airports projects warming will increase the number of people exposed to noise pollution by mid-century
www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/12...

UK energy regulator Ofgem has picked 77 "super battery" projects - Li-Ion batteries, flow batteries and pumped hydro storage - to support peaks and troughs in wind and solar power

And hopefully, to cut constraint payments to windfarms (£1bn+ in 2024)

ofgem-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/super-b...

Don’t fret over China’s new climate targets The ambitions of its clean-tech industry matter more than any humdrum pledges

China will announce plans this week to cut its carbon emissions 10-15% by 2035, sources tell the Economist

Expert think it may already have peaked emissions or be on the verge of doing so

However, a 30% cut by 2035 is needed to hit the world's 1.5C climate goal 👇
www.economist.com/china/2025/0...

"10 years after the Paris Agreement, governments plan to produce more than double the volume of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C"

Stark "production gap" report from @unep.org today
www.sei.org/publications...

England's environmental watchdog has found the government may have failed to comply with the law on a target to ensure the good health of the country's seas

www.theoep.org.uk/news/oep-ide...

Hen harrier revival project scrapped ‘to save money’ A scheme to restore the bird of prey in southern England had been showing signs of progress, Natural England says, before it was cancelled two years early

NEW

Hen harrier revival project scrapped ‘to save money’

👇
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

China tests an express route to Europe through a thawing Arctic “Climate change is rapidly and actively changing the geopolitical dynamics” in the region, an Arctic researcher says.

China tests an express route to Europe through a thawing Arctic

“Climate change is rapidly and actively changing the geopolitical dynamics” in the region, an Arctic researcher says.
www.politico.eu/article/chin...

Kent County Council rescinds climate change emergency declaration The motion was proposed by Reform UK after it took control of Kent County Council in May.

Kent County Council has rescinded its declaration of a climate emergency

The motion was proposed by Reform UK members after the party took control in May's local elections

The Green Party, Liberal Democrats and Labour Party opposed it
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Time series of monthly Northern Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature anomalies from 1850 to August 2025 alongside multi-model expectations of the warming in this area (scenario SSP2-4.5).

The Northern Pacific Ocean is currently smashing temperature records.

And it is reaching these levels far earlier than the current generation of climate models had expected.

A short thread 🧵