Need some Thursday optimism?

Deforestation in the Amazon may finally be turning a corner 🌴

I spoke to experts and indigenous people about what's changed, and what's still left to do 🧵👇

In today's The Times and The Sunday Times, with Ben Cooke

thetimes.co.uk/article/hope-f…

I don’t understand this. The UK has carbon budgets, which are set under the Climate Change Act 2008 & says it has plans & policies that will enable them to be met. If so, it is complying with its obligations. If not, it is acting contrary to the will of elected representatives.

I reviewed Clayton Page Aldern's book The Weight of Nature, a fascinating and disturbing account of how climate change's effects will be far wackier than just fires and floods. Algal blooms could cause Alzheimers, and heat waves could make us all crankier. bit.ly/3vK3b7W

I spoke to Ben Cooke at The Times and The Sunday Times about how the UK is letting the economic benefits of green industry slip through its fingers.

Yes, the UK will have a tough time competing with the $$$ tabled by IRA, but it's not all about money...

🧵

thetimes.co.uk/article/green-…

I spoke to Ryan Anderson of Parallel Carbon, about how his company hopes to do two things the net zero transition will require in spades - taking carbon out of the air and generating clean hydrogen - all with one machine.
thetimes.co.uk/article/green-…

The UK's poor water quality isn't just damaging our rivers, it's damaging our seagrass meadows too - and accelerating climate change in the process Blue Marine Foundation Essex Wildlife Trust thetimes.co.uk/article/restor…

'A report by Blue Marine Foundation, Project Seagrass and Surfers Against Sewage has found that 34% of the country's seagrass meadows are in poor condition, primarily due to too much nitrogen and phosphorus flowing into the sea from polluted rivers and sewage pipes.' - Ben Cooke in…

Could a subscription service be the answer to boosting heat pump uptake in the UK? Swedish company Aira thinks so. Ben Cooke reports thetimes.co.uk/article/the-ne…

A rare spot of good news for corals - conservationists have helped Indonesia's corals grow back by giving them steel frames to latch onto.

thetimes.co.uk/article/how-st…

The forests in the north and south of Belize are held together by a vital connecting thread - the 'Maya Forest Corridor'. I was there a few weeks ago to find out how farmers and conservationists are deciding its future. thetimes.co.uk/article/forest…

It was fascinating to speak to Ed Miliband about his relationship with his brother, his time as Labour leader, and his plans to turn Britain into a green powerhouse. And brilliant stories from the past like this 👇. Interview in today’s Sunday Times Magazine. 1/x

The way it always used to be

Heat pumps will be the main solution for decarbonising home heating, but what about those homes too small for them? I spoke to Johan Du Plessis of tepeo about his solution - a heat battery that knows your heating preferences better than you do.
thetimes.co.uk/article/why-i-…

No one ever says this about golf courses, yet they cover 5x as much land as solar panels.

From Alan Titchmarsh in the Times.

🎅 🎅 Need last-minute gift ideas for the climate nerd in your life? Ben Cooke, who writes about #climatetech and #environment for The Times and The Sunday Times, joined us on the #WickedProblemsPod - has you covered.🎅 🎅

Feat Hannah Ritchie Akshat Rathi Simon Sharpe

news.wickedproblems.uk/p/the-timesben…

Sizeable boost from govt today for heat pump grants - extra £1.5bn, on top of initial £450m budget.

Big boost, and fair play to Claire Coutinho MP who has faced past criticism for upping the grants from £5K to £7.5k without increasing the total budget

beis-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/families-…

Batteries are currently going through a massive domino effect of adoption certain to phaseout 50% of global fossil fuel demand by 2040 at the latest. Because: economics

We are witnessing, live, the end of the age of oil (that's why Big Oil hijacked the UN climate talks)

THREAD

Battery technology on course to achieve #NetZero

Short-haul aircraft will be electric by the 2030s as stored power replaces fossil fuels.

Ben Cooke bit.ly/3RmJmdO

Dive into The Times and The Sunday Times' piece feat. our research by Kingsmill Bond on renewables scaling exponentially. 🌎

'If RMI’s predictions are correct, the upshot is a remarkable conclusion that you won’t hear ... the world is actually on course to achieve below 2C.”
thetimes.co.uk/article/615c6b…

EU fossil generation collapsed by 17% in the first half of 2023.

📉 Fossil generation dropped by 30% in Portugal, Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia and Finland.
↘️ EU Coal generation decreased by a staggering 23% year-on-year.

ember-climate.org/insights/resea…