Britain still failing on climate crisis, warn advisers

(The Guardian, 21 Jun 2020) Committee urges that companies must meet green standards to qualify for Covid-19 corporate bailouts

Ministers are bracing themselves for a powerful new rebuke from the government’s own advisers over the nation’s inadequate response to the climate crisis. In its annual progress report, to be published on Thursday, the Committee on Climate Change will lambast continuing failures by the government to tackle the issues of overheating homes, flash floods, loss of biodiversity and the other threats posed as our planet continues to overheat dangerously.

Last year, the committee complained that no areas of the UK’s response to the climate crisis were being tackled properly. “The whole thing is run by the government like a Dad’s Army,” said the committee’s chairman, Lord Deben.

And this year’s report will bring no happier news for ministers. Instead, the committee will highlight the fact that virtually no progress has been made over the past year to tackle the misery that will be brought by climate change. And although global carbon emissions have decreased during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, many scientists warn that any benefits for the climate are likely to be temporary.

External link

The Guardian, 21 Jun 2020: Britain still failing on climate crisis, warn advisers