The Spectator’s Energy Summit 2019
In association with National Grid.
David Attenborough is making the same mistake as Greta Thunberg
It wasn’t so long ago that Sir David Attenborough came across as a calm voice of reason. His much-admired documentaries touched on environmental issues but were not driven by them; they were not morality plays. But something seems to have got into Sir David. He has become a Greta of the third age. The rot
Channel 4’s climate change debate was a sham
I’ve seen some mad political debates in my time, but none as bonkers as last night’s climate debate on Channel 4. It summed up beautifully how unhinged climate-change alarmism has become. It wasn’t a debate at all, in fact. Everyone in the studio agreed that the end of the world is nigh, that mankind is
Tories go to war with Channel 4 over climate debate ice sculpture
Why did Boris Johnson refuse to attend tonight’s Channel 4 leaders’ debate on the climate? His party has gone to war with the broadcaster, writing to Ofcom before the programme even started to complain about the way the prime Minister had been ’empty-chaired’, a slowly-melting ice sculpture replacing him (and another for Nigel Farage). According
Coldplay’s sanctimonious politics is as boring as their music
Everyone, use as much plastic as you can. Drive your diesel cars everywhere. Refuse to recycle. Fly long-haul. Do everything in your power to crank up climate change. Why? Because we now know climate change has one really positive side-effect — it stops Coldplay from touring. Yes, Coldplay, the squarest band in Christendom, the most
How can the UK decarbonise by 2050?
Beyond Brexit, there has been little discussion of domestic policy over the past few years – except when it comes to climate change. Almost every prominent Cabinet Minister has now endorsed greener policymaking, and the outgoing prime minister Theresa May has even passed landmark legislation targeting net-zero UK carbon emissions by 2050. It’s clear the
The state of UK energy: Where do we go from here?
On the evening of Monday 3rd June, The Spectator gathered a group of experts together for a dinner to discuss the challenge of bringing the UK’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. The dinner was held the night before the Spectator Energy Summit, with both events being chaired by Andrew Neil. With the permission
How do we cut carbon and how fast can we go?
The 2019 Spectator Energy Summit opened with the chairman, Andrew Neil, listing the UK’s considerable achievements in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon emissions are 43 per cent lower today than they were in 1990 and Britain’s energy supply recently functioned without coal for over a fortnight – something it had not done for well over
Move over Brexit, low-carbon energy system is the challenge
While Brexit may feel like the only game in town, president and COO of Global Transmission for National Grid Ventures, Jon Butterworth, says its most pressing challenge is how to cost-effectively accelerate the transition to a more dynamic low-carbon energy system, while maintaining a robust security of supply As someone who is responsible for a
Is the UK really ready to decarbonise?
With the Extinction Rebellion protests and the arrival of Greta Thunberg, climate change dominates the political agenda in a way it hasn’t done in years. The news that the UK went a whole week without using coal went viral around the world after Leonardo Di Caprio posted National Grid statistics on his Instagram. Meanwhile, the