The European Union commits to a bioeconomy strategy - putting biobased materials, and their supply chains at the heart of the economy - thereby recognising the value that nature can provide. This is good news - and the UK must follow suit or risk falling further behind. ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

Terrible news for Londoners this. The fact you can pick up an electric car on most streets in the capital - for not much more than an ebike - has kept car ownership down, which reduces parking congestion, saves money and benefits the climate

"even though the energy transition is moving too fast for countries still being their future on fossil fuels, it is moving fast too slowly to produce a safe climate"

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

COP30. It's impossible to see this COP as anything other than a failure. 1️⃣The final agreement failed to include a road map setting out how countries could wean themselves off fossil fuels - oil, gas and coal - despite 80 countries pushing for this.

The Environmental Audit Committee published its report into environmental sustainability of housing growth. It is full of excellent insight from the industry and recommendations to Government. Here are some of the key takeaways. Thread! publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cm...

"the carbon level has reached 426.68 parts per million – well over scientists’ so called “safe” limit of 350. (...) news editors have told me not to be too downbeat; let’s have some optimism. I think the facts speak for themselves." www.theguardian.com/news/2025/no...

The timing of this is incredible. Could it be any more obvious? Among the reasons for the defeat cited by analysts are voter fatigue over hard-line immigration policies.

Six weeks since the PM said Britain faced a choice between decency or division and our bad, obviously, for not understanding that he was in fact Team Division

Maybe it's just me, but I find the positive tone of posts like this infuriating. It isn't "good" news. To limit warming to 2 (not 1.5) degrees, emissions must fall by ~8% p.a., every year, from NOW. Fossil fuel use GROWING for ~5 more years would be an unmitigated disaster.

If this chart bears out we are all doomed. Growth in renewables means little if we do not also phase out oil, gas and coal.

The @news.architectsjournal.co.uk excellent Climate Champions podcast is back & I had the absolute pleasure of speaking to Hattie Hartman & Joe Jack Williams as the first guest of the new series "the ‘mind-blowing’ growth of bio-based materials" 😀 www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/aj-clim...

The leader isn't Labour's problem Their problem is that people elected them to reverse the damage done by the Tories Whereas they just carried on doing more damage They need to tax wealth and invest in public services And challenge the oligarchs dominating our economy And focus on fairness

Bugonia !

Cross Laminated Timber production capacity in Spain has quadrupled in the last 5 years, with new plants operational across the north from Galicia in the west to Catalonia in the East Read about one of Europes emerging success stories in Mass Madera's annual report: massmadera.org/informe-mass...

Some good news. China's emissions appear to have peaked:

as requested by absolutely nobody, I am going to live blog the launch of the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction at the Buildings and Cooling Pavilion inside the Blue Zone at COP30, Belem, Brazil.

Walworth Town Hall in Elephant & Castle, south London. The Victorian building was gutted by a fire, now beautifully refurbished and extended up with gorgeous timber structural design. General Projects development, design by Feix & Merlin

Dominic Cummings, in an earlier incarnation, ran a secretly-funded 'think tank' dedicated to attacking the Beeb while Robbie Gibb glided effortlessly from GBNews to the BBC & started lecturing staff on impartiality. Imagine (cos you'll have to) how the 'left-wing' equivalent would be reported.

In 'How They Broke Britain', I do a pretty good job of detailing the depth & breadth of Tufton Street/Tory/Murdoch/Mail attempts to scupper the BBC, even as I castigate some presenters for going too easy on precisely the people who seek the Corporation's abolition. But I should have done more. 1/2

It's wild to me that Tim Davie was pushed out because of supposed bias *against* the right! Most people, myself included, have for years seen the BBC drifting further and further right:

Which one is more English?

Things are moving really fast in the world of built environment carbon removals Grown in Britain is now developing a certification called Biogenic Stored Carbon Quotient (BSCQ) - which would certify the carbon locked up in construction, in biogenic materials www.growninbritain.org/grown-in-bri...

Fantasic illustration of how complex & global the supply chain is for concrete (here with steel rebar) Obviously this snapshot says little about the specific ecological impact of those sites, but if this has less negative impact than timber I'll eat my hat - and yours Credit: Steve Brown Ramboll

Recently visited workstack in Charlton - a project by the Greenwich Enterprise Board and dRMM Studios. Light industrial spaces stacked on top of each other - CLT boxes, super minimal internal finish / super low embodied carbon

Completely agree. we need to begin to account for "lifestyle" emissions in development planning

As part of our plans for COP30 at Built by Nature, we've produced a film showcasing 6 exemplar timber buildings from around the world. Narrated by Kevin McCloud - the film asks; can the way we build our homes help solve the climate crisis? www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WxQ...

Highlights the benefit of other parties stepping aside, and the anti-reform vote coming together around a single candidate

This fact - 2024 saw the largest one year increase in CO2 levels since records began - should be leading the news agenda round the clock. There should be 24/7 crisis reporting, breaking news style, forcing politicians everywhere to respond. Every other news story should be connected to this.

Clay boards with or without natural fibers as fire protection layer (bye gypsum) 'beclaydung' project #eurocode #earthbuilding #regenerativematerials #bauwende youtu.be/MrObT7j4wHA?...

The asymmetry of don’t knows are a huge part of this. 2024 Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative voters are disproportionately likely to say they ‘don’t know’ who’d they vote for in future, which takes them out of the voter pool. Reform thus win a higher % of the remaining voters, pushing up their poll %

This new residential tower in Lyon is made from wood. In many ways, this is quite an incredible building. Here's why:

FYI Hemp is the future of housing Whole-of-plant use Carbon neutral Fireproof Environmentally friendly 3D printed houses/materials Hemp is ideally suited to Australian conditions CC: @JEChalmers @ClareONeilMP @CatherineKingMP @JulieCollinsMP 🐝 #auspol hemptoday.net/popular-uk-d...

The Venn diagram of urban density and average household GHG emissions is pretty much a circle. Interesting study on “Mapping household GHG emissions in the Greater Golden Horseshoe” from the University of Toronto School of Cities schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/mapping-hous...

New housing built by the City of York, designed by Mikhail Riches. Passivhaus terraced homes, built with a timber frame, cellulose insulation. One of 5 schemes around York by the practice - who previously won the Stirling Prize for similar housing in Norwich.

My tree of the week. Elephant and Castle, London. Who can name the tree?

Tory party’s long journey away from science, reason, responsibility, common sense and truth is complete

Look at the green bars: This is the proportion of renewable energy in EU27 countries generated by biomass. I.e. burning wood and other plant matter. Without BECCS the carbon in biomass is released into the atmosphere on combustion. Carbon we could be storing. This is not sustainable

An astounding number of activists have been abducted by the IDF in international waters tonight and taken to Israel against their will, including Greta Thunberg and Kieran Andrieu from @novaramedia.com. everybody here: globalsumudflotilla.org/sos/?key=X8J...

Today along with @sianberry.bsky.social I've published a report on our constituents' appalling experiences of the leasehold system. From extortionate fees to poor treatment at the hands of management companies, residents are being held to ransom in their own homes. Govt must act fast.

Renewables are a masterclass in learning-by-doing. Each doubling of deployment cuts costs via experience curves: better manufacturing, finance & supply chains. Result: Solar now cheapest new power in many regions Falling battery costs enable flexibility Electrification gets more attractive

Who's gonna tell him? growth was around 2.8% in the US in the year to November 2024

Andy Burnham's central proposal is to introduce electoral reform to enable a progressive coalition to govern for the long term, using this stability to re-nationalise core services: water, public transport, housing. open.spotify.com/episode/3zdj...

I'm not sure skeptical even half covers it

@michaelburchert.bsky.social - have you - or anyone else - put together a bio-based feed on bsky?? If not, shall we?

ARUP opened an exhibition on Blue Biomass, the potential of construction products made from aquatic biomass - kelp, algae, seagrass etc.

Rice straw is an excellent building material... bbc.com/news/article...

We are witnessing a kind of fossil-fuel funded fascism that would be historically fascinating if it wasn't so utterly nightmarish. At the very moment global temperatures appear to be escalating exponentially, the world's second biggest emitter band the very mention of it.

Fascists don’t like learning they are fascists.

Pont Valentre, Cahors. If you see this, post a bridge!