{"id":264578,"date":"2023-06-29T20:52:44","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T18:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=264578"},"modified":"2023-06-29T20:52:47","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T18:52:47","slug":"government-climate-advisor-britain-is-no-longer-a-climate-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=264578","title":{"rendered":"Government Climate Advisor: Britain is No Longer a Climate Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by Eric Worrall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps Britain\u2019s technically illiterate leaders may have noticed that households paying \u00a33,000 per year for home heating<\/a> is lowering their chances of surviving the next election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I\u2019m one of the UK\u2019s official climate change advisers \u2013 our new report says the country is no longer a world leader<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published: June 29, 2023 1.17am AEST
Piers Forster<\/a>
Professor of Physical Climate Change; Director of the Priestley International Centre for Climate, University of Leeds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK\u2019s Climate Change Committee \u2013 the official independent advisory body of which I am interim chair \u2013 has spent the past three months poring over thousands of pages of government strategy documents<\/a> to inform its latest annual progress report to parliament<\/a>. And our confidence in the UK meeting its climate goals is now markedly less than it was in our previous assessment a year ago. Key opportunities have been missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK is not giving its industries the support they need to electrify and decarbonise and there is little sign of progress. The government has set a laudable ambition to decarbonise steel and develop carbon dioxide removal industries<\/a> but there are few concrete plans in place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the US, EU and China invested billions in green industries to help the energy and cost of living crises, the UK has so far failed to do the same. This risks losing green jobs and industries to overseas competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has gone from leading the world with its net zero commitment back in 2019<\/a>, to showing support for new oil and gas and consenting to a new coal mine<\/a>. It\u2019s gone from hosting one of the most successful UN climate conferences<\/a> ever, to undermining that legacy by risking delivery of its own commitments. This government has taken its foot off the throttle and the world has noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our report isn\u2019t all bad news. Glimmers of the net zero transition can be seen in growing sales of new electric cars and the continued deployment of renewable energy generation, but the scale up of action overall is worryingly slow. There seems to be a sense that this can wait until other crises have been dealt with. But many of the crises we are facing \u2013 such as the war in Ukraine, the cost of living here in the UK \u2013 are interconnected<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/im-one-of-the-uks-official-climate-change-advisers-our-new-report-says-the-country-is-no-longer-a-world-leader-208509<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That new Cumbrian coal mine Professor Forster mentioned is a metallurgical coal mine<\/a> \u2013 exactly the kind of coal you would need to say kickstart a British solar panel manufacturing industry. Refining silica into solar panels requires lots of high grade coal, the coal is used as a chemical input into the process, not just a source of heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odd that a \u201cprofessor of physical climate change\u201d doesn\u2019t seem to know this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But with Britain\u2019s sky high energy prices, there seems little hope of any kind of significant new energy intensive industry developing in Britain. The main reason Britain still has a substantial manufacturing industry is Britain is a centre of excellence in precision engineering. The high value add of such products mitigates the energy cost disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would have had more respect if Professor Forster had explained how the UK could lower energy bills without \u201ctaking its foot of the throttle\u201d towards Net Zero. I mean immediate relief, as in next year, not pie in the sky visions of investments in new industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I would have had more respect if Professor Forster had explained how the UK could lower energy bills without \u201ctaking its foot of the throttle\u201d towards Net Zero. I mean immediate relief, as in next year, not pie in the sky visions of investments in new industries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":264580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691818076,691820631,691820630,691818154,691818248],"class_list":{"0":"post-264578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-co2","10":"tag-cumbrian-coal-mine","11":"tag-metallurgical-coal-mine","12":"tag-net-zero","13":"tag-uk","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Cumbria-coal-mine-e1582642235361.jpg?fit=1061%2C708&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-16Po","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":370898,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=370898","url_meta":{"origin":264578,"position":0},"title":"China Promises to Work with Britain on Climate Change, while Building more Coal","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"19\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201c\u2026 We obviously want China and all countries indeed to move away from fossil fuels \u2026\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"China\"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=china"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/00-UK-and-China.jpeg?fit=1200%2C553&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/00-UK-and-China.jpeg?fit=1200%2C553&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/00-UK-and-China.jpeg?fit=1200%2C553&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/00-UK-and-China.jpeg?fit=1200%2C553&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/00-UK-and-China.jpeg?fit=1200%2C553&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":221097,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=221097","url_meta":{"origin":264578,"position":1},"title":"As war on gas pipelines escalates, Britain faces national security crisis","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In a\u00a0letter to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, Net Zero Watch Director Dr. Benny Peiser has warned that the sabotage of three Nord Stream gas pipelines in the last 24 hours has brutally revealed how Britain\u2019s energy system and its entire economic and societal stability is\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1341.png?fit=828%2C435&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1341.png?fit=828%2C435&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1341.png?fit=828%2C435&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1341.png?fit=828%2C435&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":422027,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=422027","url_meta":{"origin":264578,"position":2},"title":"Net Zero is Slowing Growth, Bank of England Warns","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"19\/01\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Net zero policies are slowing the global economy, Andrew Bailey has warned. 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