What the reaction to our China dependence report tells us about Europe's real choices: open.substack.com/pub/loomfram...

Fossil fuel price shocks should accelerate Europe's energy transition but new dangers arise because the cheapest route runs so overwhelmingly through China. Our new research on these risks is out today: loomframe.substack.com/p/europes-ne...

Eurostat data show how European governments cut taxes on electricity by about half in 2022 as prices spiked. They have since been steadily reintroduced. Cutting electricity taxes is again on the table in response to latest price rises & to encourage households to move away from fossil fuels.

Why the Iran crisis shows Europe needs a new energy script. My new post: open.substack.com/pub/loomfram...

The golden era of multilateralism is over. Net zero targets may soon be too. The climate agenda I worked on for 20 years is broken. Time for a new direction. open.substack.com/pub/loomfram...

Spoke to BBC on how climate politics is now about who captures + controls the economic benefits of new energy industries. The future of international cooperation is away from COP. It will be economic & security deals between individual countries. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

So impressive 👏

NEW CHART: Nuclear renaissance? The rise, fall and rise of UK nuclear power over eight decades (Thanks to Ho Woo Nam for pulling the data together & Tom Prater for making such a cool chart) www.carbonbrief.org/...

Fires cause record loss of tropical forests "The record... released 3.1 billion tonnes of planet-warming gases... That's roughly the same as the emissions of the European Union." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thanks @prospectmagazine.co.uk @aloner.bsky.social who let me write about Tony Blair's recent tribute act to the TB-GBs of New Labour, with some more serious consideration of where his NZ antipathy comes and the new politics if climate mini 🧵 www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/698...

Record heat today in England and Wales made at least 3x more likely by climate change, according to Climate Central. Mayday mayday

Excellent news 🌞🌞

FACTCHECK: Almost all the headlines on Tony Blair / net-zero are *wildly* inaccurate REALITY: 1️⃣Net-zero is *only way* to stop warming 2️⃣Blair calls for tech to "turbocharge our path to net-zero" 3️⃣He categorically *does not* say "net-zero is doomed to fail" 🧵 1/6

There's actually much to agree with in Blair's argument on Net Zero today. open.substack.com/pub/jossgarm...

The global export value of internal combustion engine cars fell by 24% between 2018-2022, but the sale of electric cars soared by 740%. The future is EVs and someone needs to be building them... why not the UK? Find out more here: www.ippr.org/articles/pla...

MASSIVE FISCAL PACKAGE OUT OF BERLIN: 12-20%+ of GDP. - 500 billion fund for public investment - All defence spending above 1% of GDP not counted for debt brake. - Federal states can borrow 0.35% p.y. for investment. Germany is back - economically and militarily. 1/x

I agree. If we can't rely on the US, and if Russia is not defeated in Ukraine, there will be a real threat of a major war on NATO territory, from which the UK could not stand aloof. The government would, I suspect, have buy-in from most parties for starting a national conversation on implications.

NEW: Official advisers CCC say UK shld cut emissions 87% by 2040 ⚖️Net cost of net-zero 73% less than thought 💷Total cost to 2050 = £108bn (~£4bn/yr, 0.2% GDP) 🏡🚗H’hold energy/fuel bills to fall £1,400 🔌Electrification is key THREAD + charts www.carbonbrief.org/... 1/10

More offshore wind farms on the way.

"There is no trade off between growth and Net Zero. Quite the opposite. Its the industrial opportunity of the century." Great to hear Rachel Reeves doubling down on opportunities from Britain's green economy, which recently grew 9% in a single year.

In our first @moreincommonuk.bsky.social voting intention of 2025, Labour & Tories remain at 26%. Reform is at 22% - the highest figure we’ve recorded for them 🌳CON 26% (nc) 🌹LAB 26% (nc) ➡️ REF UK 22% (+3) 🔶 LIB DEM 12% ( -1) 🌍 GREEN 7% (-1) 🟡 SNP 3% (nc) N = 2,011 6 - 8 Jan, Change w 10 Dec

Best TV in years!

Big news for the green steel plans for Port Talbot as first supply agreement announced with JCB. www.businessgreen.com/news/4389022...

Our brand new Clean Power 2030 Action Plan is published today. We’ve produced this at lightning pace - it’s packed with new steps towards clean power. We’re moving quickly and making big decisions to open the path to 2030. www.gov.uk/government/p...

This bit of the MI5 chief's annual threat summary has been living in my head rent-free since October, now it can be in all your heads, too.

As ever, it's fantastic to see global range of names among the latest cohort!

🚗What's happening to Europe's car industry is one of the biggest stories in the world right now, & prob the biggest story of next year too. A slow motion implosion driven by multiple factors (esp Chinese competition). Watch my primer on what's going on👇 youtu.be/oW_SXIVQT5I?...

STRIKING NEW DATA: More than a quarter of new cars sold in the UK in November were battery EVs (so much for "stalling sales") 📈BEV sales up 51% year-on-year 📉Petrol sales down 35% year-on-year (!) Data from New Automotive

Something quite surreal about incoming DNI Tulsi Gabbard lobbying for Edward Snowdon's pardon - the largest leaker of US intelligence in history.

Starmer - introduced by a heat pump engineer! - says he is doubling down on clean energy mission & “accelerate to net zero”

UK 10yr yields falling back to where they were pre-Budget. Given that the rise was such a huge issue, I must have missed all the breathless coverage of what the fall means...

"Marsalek and Roussev...discussed options relating to Christo Grozev...lead Russia investigator with Bellingcat" "such as carrying out surveillance of him, kidnapping him and taking him to Moscow, killing him and infiltrating Bellingcat" www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...

The biggest shock of the Haigh resignation is discovering that once upon a time the police actually investigated a stolen phone.

NEW: The number of homeless children living in temporary accommodation in England has risen AGAIN to 159,380 - up 15% in a year. Transient lives in temporary homes, defined by uncertainly, doing untold damage. It is a scandal. But it’s not new. And it’s not going away.

Bart, I don't want to alarm you but coffee futures are at the highest level in more than four decades ☕🚨 📈 Arabica bean prices are surging due to drought in Brazil, supply concerns in Vietnam, and logistical challenges 💰 The move threatens to boost costs to consumers

Resolution Foundation on why relaxing electric car targets would worsen the squeeze on household incomes:

The Chinese competition is what is shuttering British car factories, not green targets. When it was obvious the world was going to go electric, some car companies gambled it wouldn’t happen and now their workers are paying the price for that bad bet.

Coal use across OECD nations has HALVED since its peak in 2008, BUT current policies are not yet enough to set us on course for a rapid fossil decline ⏳📉 Under current policies, fossil power demand in 2030 is expected to be only 2% below 2023 levels ❗ ember-energy.org/lat...

“This isn’t just about tax or even just about farming, important though those things are, it is about a whole community demanding to be treated with respect.” Decent response to farm protests from Steve Reed. “I heard the anguish of the countryside” www.standard.co.uk/news/politic...

New: China for the first time has passed Europe as the second-largest historical emitter www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

NEW: Is Britain’s welfare too generous? Most countries pay workers who lose their jobs more than half of their previous salaries. In Britain, unemployment benefits are *12%* of the average wage @thetimes.com 1/5 www.thetimes.com/article/c28d...

Bit of a sad first thing to share on this platform, but says something about times we are living in: