German coalition partners pledge to ‘ideally’ end use of coal power by 2030 The new German government could pull forward the country’s target date for ending the use of unabated coal power by eight years…

The first phase of the COP15 Biodiversity Summit in Kunming, China closed today with the UN expressing confidence the week long talks had helped set the stage for the adoption of a new international treaty next year to ramp up global biodiversity protection. The latest round of virtual talks delivered a wave of new funding […]

A new era of cross-industry collaboration could help London meet its hugely ambitious target to become a net zero emission city by 2030, according to top business leaders at last month’s Net Zero Festival. Judy Brown, COO and CFO at fashion giant Burberry, said all cities had a key role to play in supporting and […]

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to unlock more public land for electric vehicle (EV) charge points around the capital as part of a new strategy to accelerate update of zero emission vehicles across the city. The launch of the draft version of London’s 2030 Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy was launched as the city’s mayor […]

The slow pace of electrification across Britain’s rail network threatens to derail the country’s new zero target, industry professionals have this week warned. Statistics published by the Office for Rail and Road yesterday reveal that just 179 kilometres of rail track were electrified last year, less than half the 448 kilometres annual goal experts maintain […]

A public and media backlash remains one of the biggest threats to the net zero transition in many economies. How can businesses and policymakers tailor policies and investment to minimise the risk of climate action becoming a polarising issue? BusinessGreen’s recent Net Zero Festival saw a host of leading thinkers and experts discuss this most […]

The Queen has voiced her frustration at world leaders’ inaction on climate change in unguarded comments which criticise those who “talk but don’t do” in response to the climate crisis. The UK’s longest-serving monarch’s comments were picked up while she was speaking to the Duchess of Cornwall and Plaid Cymru politician Elin Jones at an […]

Climate tech solutions can sometimes seem vexingly distant on the horizon, but as climate impacts bear down hard, the urgency of the problem is palpable. That’s why it’s invigorating to see a solution…

Farmers as a group don’t typically embrace change. Just ask Luis Lombana, CEO of Ficosterra, a Spanish marine biotechnology company that makes fertilisers from an unexpected source: seaweed. “Whether you are in Spain or Mexico or the States, farmers are very slow to change the way they’ve been doing things traditionally, especially when you come […]

The UK government has helped facilitate £2.6bn of inward investment towards domestic net zero projects over the last 10 months, according to the latest data from the Department for International Trade (DIT). Figures published yesterday by the Department claim 46 green projects geared at helping the UK reach its climate goals received inward investment between […]

US energy and engineering conglomerate General Electric (GE) plans to invest £2.5m in a UK branch of its Next Engineers programme, the company announced yesterday. The investment will go towards launching its Next Engineers educational programme in Staffordshire in the UK with the aim of improving the diversity of people entering the engineering profession and […]

The UK is struggling to deliver the levels of innovation, research, and development needed to accelerate the deployment of a host of technologies crucial to the net zero transition over the next three…

Breweries from across the UK and Ireland have called on world leaders to grab a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” at the upcoming COP26 Cliamte Summit to protect people and nature from the global climate crisis. In a open letter published this morning, a coalition of 25 brewers urged governments from around the world to commit and agree […]

Finance lies at the heart of translating the UK’s green commitments into practical reality; it will be one of the most analysed parts of the soon-to-be-published Net Zero Strategy, and a core pillar of…

The government is facing yet more calls to slash VAT rates on domestic renewable energy and clean technology systems so as to incentivise the uptake of green solutions that can reduce household carbon emissions and shield consumers from volatile gas prices. In a letter to the government yesterday, nearly 30 companies and organisations from across […]

Coldplay has announced its 2022 world tour ‘Music of the Spheres’ will have a net zero carbon footprint, after announcing plans to invest in a range of emissions reduction projects. The British band…

The John Lewis Partnership has committed to the Business Ambition for 1.5C group and appointed new climate change specialists to support the development of a new roadmap towards net zero emissions, the…

European utility giant Vattenfall this week announced a new partnership with Swedish electric motorcycle manufacturer CAKE to develop a fossil-free electric motorcycle. The two companies signed a letter…

Negative emissions technologies and nature-based solutions are likely to play a vital role in delivering net zero emissions, and certainly in stabilising the climate be reducing emissions in the atmosphere in the second half of the century. However, the global offsets market remains dogged by legitimate concerns about its efficacy, and companies run the risk […]

Octopus Energy and renewables developer RES are teaming up to invest £3bn in green hydrogen plants across the UK by 2030, in a bid to capitalise on growing pressure on heavy industry to decarbonise. In a major boost for domestic production of the zero carbon fuel, the two firms plan to build and operate a […]

How important is COP26? There is an understandable desire to resist the modern impulse to rank and categorise any and all events, to hyperbolically attach ‘historic’ to pretty mundane occasions, to promote the moderately impressive to full blown GOAT-status. We are living in an age of inflationary event significance. And yet, you can still make […]

Fully-costed net zero plans designed to drive “significant emissions cuts” across global aviation, steel, and shipping within the next decade have been unveiled today by the Mission Possible Partnership, a coalition of hundreds of major investors, carbon-intensive companies, think tanks, and NGOs that is aiming to accelerate the decarbonisation of so-called ‘hard-to-abate’ industries. The industry-backed […]

Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are set to rebound across the world’s biggest economies after a short period of pandemic-driven decline last year, with coal consumption looking set for growth in 2021, fresh analysis today warns. A sobering new study today by a partnership of research organisations and NGOs predicts CO2 emissions from energy across the […]

Norway, the UK, and Sweden have topped a global list of countries deemed best prepared to build a net zero economy over the coming years, in a new set of rankings published today by consultancy giant KPMG. The rankings compare the progress of a selection of leading economies in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that […]

The iron and steel sector has long been placed among a raft of industries deemed ‘hard-to-abate’ – in other words, heavy industries that are notoriously difficult, expensive, and perhaps even impossible…

COP26 has pushed sustainability firmly up the corporate agenda. It is a moment which can help sustainability teams get more traction, attention and be more forthright in terms of what they advise senior…

Octopus Group’s specialist clean energy investment business has secured a £150m corporate pensions mandate with an unnamed UK-based institutional investor to invest in renewable energy infrastructure, it announced yesterday. Octopus Renewables said its new Renewable Energy Income Partnership (REIP) IV fund plans to invest in a range of renewable assets, including solar and wind across […]

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and 41 trade associations are calling on the government to reform the business rates system in the upcoming Budget this autumn so as to remove barriers to green investment. The group, which represents 261,000 businesses and nine million employees, today released a joint statement arguing the UK’s current business […]

The International Energy Agency (IEA) this week rebranded its flagship annual report as an “essential guidebook” for world leaders attending the COP26 Climate Summit next month, and its message is stark:…

BusinessGreen will tomorrow host its latest interactive webinar, bringing together a panel of experts to explore how organisations can harness sustainable business models and projects to drive regional development and create value for all stakeholders without depleting natural, economic, and social capital. Hosted in association with EQUANS, the event will provide an exclusive insight into the […]

Our first-world diets are killing our health and the planet. We eat unhealthy levels of meat, dairy and processed food high in sugar, fats and salt, and our diets are driving the intensive meat and dairy production that is one of the leading causes of the climate crisis, is wasteful and pollutes the environment here […]

RenewableUK is calling on the government to double the UK’s current onshore wind capacity in the next decade to help ensure the country meets its 2035 target of generating 100 per cent green electricity. The renewable energy trade association has today published an Onshore Wind Industry Prospectus proposing to work with the central government and […]

The UK’s energy system in 2050 will run at a scale and complexity that requires a level of nationwide management, development, and design that does not exist today, according to two leading engineers from project management giant Atkins.    Speaking at last month’s Net Zero Festival, Darren McClure, who is both a Chartered Civil Engineer […]

The Environment Agency has today published a sobering new report, warning the world is failing to adapt to escalating climate impacts, which are set to see sea levels rise by up 78cm by the 2080s at the…

NatWest has today announced plans to launch a new green loan for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in support of an ambitious goal to provide £100bn of Climate and Sustainable Funding and Finance (CSFF) over the next four years to help drive the transition to a net zero economy. The bank this morning published a […]

Fossil fuel use is set to peak by 2025 if the climate pledges announced so far by governments are delivered, according to the latest projections from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that suggest the global fossil fuel industry is on the brink of entering a period of sustained decline. The energy watchdog’s annual World Energy […]

Digital news brand The Independent has today announced a net zero emissions target for 2030, as it marked its 35th birthday this month with fresh commitments to deliver “more climate-focused news, views and inspiring, engaging lifestyle coverage”. The former print newspaper, which became a digital-only operation in 2016, said research carried out by Ipsos Mori […]

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In 1992, US President George H. W. Bush joined other world leaders and signed the first global treaty to combat climate change, saying that an “unprecedented era of peace, freedom and stability” in the wake of the Cold War would spur action to protect the environment. “We must leave this Earth in better condition than […]