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THE CITIZENS' assembly on climate change moves online this weekend as assembly members express determination to complete work and deliver recommendations to Parliament. The members of Climate Assembly UK, from all walks of life, have committed to several online discussions across three weekends to complete the assembly’s work on the path to net zero. Michael Cove MP commented on the announcement: “In order...

APPLICATIONS can now be made for support from the second phase of the Welsh Government’s £500 million Economic Resilience Fund. Economy, Transport and North Wales Minister Ken Skates released detailed information last week about this tranche of the fund, worth £200 million, including eligibility criteria for businesses and charities to enable them to prepare to apply. The purpose of the Fund...

THE IMPACTS of coronavirus on electricity in Great Britain is the key subject discussed in the new Summer report by National Grid ESO. Their analysis shows the impacts of the pandemic across a range of different scenarios, using insight and data from other European countries with similar markets. Industrial pauses and slowdowns, combined with school and commercial establishment closures, have had...

BUSINESSES across the UK are set to save up to £300 million a year, as the government launched a consultation on extending the Climate Change Agreement scheme. Climate Change Agreements work by setting targets for reducing businesses’ energy use in return for discounts on the climate change levy on their energy bills. The consultation will enable new targets to be put...

NEARLY half the UK’s carbon footprint comes from emissions released overseas to satisfy UK-based consumption, according to a new report by University of Leeds. Products including clothing, processed foods and electronics imported into the UK are counted as the manufacturing country’s emissions, not the UK’s - although they would not have been produced were it not for UK demand. These emissions...

PEOPLE forced to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic should incorporate emojis in their emails, a University of Chichester psychologist has revealed. Dr Moitree Banerjee wants Britain’s remote workers to start using more of the ideograms and smileys to compensate for losing as much as 93 per cent of non-verbal communication cues, taken from body language and tone of...

THE INDEPENDENT review into flood insurance following the November 2019 flooding in the north of England will be led by the former chair of the Association of British Insurers, Amanda Blanc. The review was announced by the former Environment Secretary in December and will seek to examine the level of insurance cover held by those affected in Doncaster, the barriers they...

SHELL will today update its investors on their plans to become a net-zero emissions energy business 'by 2050 or sooner'. Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell, commented on the news: “With the COVID-19 pandemic having a serious impact on people’s health and our economies, these are extraordinary times. "Yet even at this time of immediate challenge, we...

A COMMUNITY wind energy trust in Scotland has made the biggest one-off donation in their history to NHS Western Isles in recognition of the heroism of frontline staff and to support islanders suffering during the coronavirus pandemic. The £40,000 is the first grant awarded from Point and Sandwick Trust’s newly set up pandemic community fund, announced last month, and NHS...

ONE of the major energy companies has voiced their view amidst an ongoing conversation between utility companies and the government. Keith Anderson, chief executive of ScottishPower, told the Financial Times that bad debts arising from customers struggling to pay their bills during the pandemic could later be recovered via the Ofgem price cap mechanism that spreads the costs of missed...