Britain could run without fossil fuels for first time since 1882 This Easter could mark a milestone for the country’s transformation of the energy system, though the exact moment depends on our mercurial weather

Britain could run without fossil fuels for first time since 1882

Story👇
www.thetimes.com/article/01d7...

Britain’s food supply ‘at risk of catastrophic failure by 2030’ A report written before the 2024 election says climate change, habitat loss and geopolitical instability are a danger to food security — and it has been ignored

Hard to know which is more shocking - the dire warnings of the potential collapse of our food system in the UK or the fact that governments have tried to cover it up. Their complacency is off the scale. We urgently need to switch to growing more food domestically & to restore nature now

Drawing on dozens of scientific papers, the authors warned that environmental policies were insufficient to reverse the decline of the soils, pollinators, water courses and habitats on which farmers depended and said that “transformational change” was required to restore them.

Britain’s food supply ‘at risk of catastrophic failure by 2030’ A report written before the 2024 election says climate change, habitat loss and geopolitical instability are a danger to food security — and it has been ignored

Breaking: ministers ignored a report warning that Britain’s food supply is on course to collapse.

Climate change, habitat loss and geopolitical instability are undermining food security so much that it could be “at strategic risk of catastrophic failure” by 2030.
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Joint second in the notoriously difficult @carbonbrief.org quiz!

Major bragging rights for our @newscientist.com team with Sam Wong, @alecluhn.com, me, Michael Holder of @businessgreen.bsky.social and @ben-cooke.bsky.social

The story was broken by @bertiehb.bsky.social and @ben-cooke.bsky.social in @thetimes.com, and uncovered UK Foreign Office grants from 2016-2018 to support Xinjiang's regional government in developing carbon capture technologies.

2/7

Thanks!

Can you not? The paywall pays my salary...

Thanks for your help @bennelmes.bsky.social @colin-walker.bsky.social

What we can learn from Norway’s electric car revolution Easy charging, driver perks and clear politics transformed driving habits in a decade. Following that path may be easier for the UK than many expect

As Norway closes in on its goal of 100% EV sales, I wrote about the lesson it offers for the UK's own shift to electric cars. Spoiler: it's not just "have an enormous oil-based sovereign wealth fund to spend on buying everyone a Tesla."

www.thetimes.com/uk/transport...

Hi @richardkbroughton.bsky.social , hope you're well. I'm working on a piece about whether feeding birds does more harm than good. Might we have a chat? All the best.

@laurielaybourn.bsky.social @rupertread.bsky.social @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org @carolinelucas.bsky.social

If anyone has further tips about how the government is (or is not) thinking about climate risk, do get in touch at benjamin.cooke(at)thetimes.co.uk

It's a perfect example of what Laurie Laybourn calls the "disclosure trap". What climate change has in store for us is so ominous that politicians don't want to talk about it. But not talking about it makes it all the harder to mitigate.

It also warned of a rising threat of eco-terrorism, nuclear water wars between India, China and Pakistan, and the risk of Nato being drawn into wars over remaining breadbaskets in Russia and Ukraine.

While the published version warned that the degradation of rivers, forests and corals could kickstart a "global competition for food" in the 2030s, the internal version went further, warning that it could lead to mass migration to the UK, stoking populism and straining public services.

Suppressed climate report warned of mass migration and nuclear war Unabridged document said disappearing forests and rivers drying up could drive people to Europe and lead to conflict in Asia

Back in the Autumn, No.10 blocked the publication of a report into the risks the UK could face if climate change causes ecosystems around the world to collapse. On Tuesday, after an FOI request, it published the report. But it turns out, that wasn't the full version. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Thanks Richard! Hope you're well. Yup, it's scary stuff.

2025 global climate highlights are out:
🌡️ 2025 was 3rd warmest year on record, 1.47ºC above the preindustrial level
📈 2023-2025 is the first three year period above 1.5ºC (according to ERA5)
🌍 The last 11 years have been the warmest 11 years on record

See: climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima...

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Hello environment / climate peeps of Bluesky! I'm just doing some planning for what to write about in 2026. Do drop me a DM if you'd like to chat about anything you'd like to see the Times environment section cover this year.

Happy COP-mas Eve!

To celebrate, on 1st day of COP-mas morn, under the tree you may find a sparkly chat with our friend @ben-cooke.bsky.social to set the expectations for the season.

Check out wickedproblems.earth and/or your favourite media platform and Inshallah we will be there.

Trump wants energy dominance — is he just drilling US into a hole? The president is betting on fossil fuels while his superpower rival China is racing ahead on renewables

www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...

Climate change talks under fire as Cop30 gathers in Brazil While Baroness Worthington, lead author of Britain’s 2008 act, describes the talks as ‘a bit of theatre’, other campaigners believe they have made a difference

And I've written a couple of features on why many people think Cop isn't working, what we can do about it, and why the clean energy transition is zooming ahead even so. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

The fight to save Britain’s wildlife after year of climate ‘chaos’ The driest spring and hottest summer on record has taken a heavy toll on habitats, prompting pleas for urgent action to preserve our natural heritage

@henrybird1.bsky.social writes about what this year's arid summer tells us about the future of Britain's wildlife. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Four years on from landmark pledge, has deforestation slowed? As countries prepare for the Cop30 climate conference in Brazil, we assess the world’s progress on an ambitious goal set at the 2021 talks in Glasgow

Adam Vaughan checks in on the promise the world made at Cop26 in Glasgow, to halt deforestation by 2030. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the pledge has made little difference to the rate of forest loss. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

@annadowell.bsky.social has written a great piece about oil and gas workers in Aberdeen, who are fed up with promises of a just transition to renewables that has so far failed to deliver secure, high-paying jobs.

Pick up a copy of today's Times for 12 pages of in-depth coverage of the Cop30 talks, and the wider state of play for climate change and clean energy. It's got some brilliant stuff in it.

Trump wants energy dominance — is he just drilling US into a hole? The president is betting on fossil fuels while his superpower rival China is racing ahead on renewables

The US and China both have ambitions for energy dominance. But they're betting on very different visions of the global energy future. With China pumping out solar panels and batteries, and the US doubling down on gas, only one can be right. www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a...

We must be patriotically proud to be British but not to learn about or contribute to any of the culture that pride might be based on

my takeaway from climate week nyc is that "climate storytelling" is a little too much "we must reimagine our deepest souls in relationship to mother nature and the moral abyss of the polycrisis into which we must now stare" and not enough "ok but get a heat pump"