Latest news with #ClimateChangeCommittee
The Sun
4 hours ago
- Climate
- The Sun
New UK weather records being set ‘very frequently': report
LONDON: Extremes in temperature and rainfall in the UK are becoming increasingly frequent, the nation's meteorological service said Monday in a report on Britain's changing climate. England and Wales endured the wettest winter in 250 years in from from October 2023 to March 2024, with six of the 10 wettest winters occurring in the 21st century. The report also found that last year was the UK's fourth warmest since 1884 with the last three years all in the top five warmest on record. Records were now being broken 'very frequently', said Mike Kendon, Met Office climate scientist and lead author of the Met Office's State of the UK Climate report. 'It's the extremes of temperature and rainfall that is changing the most, and that's of profound concern, and that's going to continue in the future,' he said. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the findings showed Britain's way of life was 'under threat'. 'Whether it is extreme heat, droughts, flooding, we can see it actually with our own eyes, that it's already happening, and we need to act,' he said. In 2024, experts recorded the warmest spring, the second warmest February and the fifth warmest winter on record. Rising sea levels surrounding the UK were speeding up, with two-thirds of the rise recorded since 1900 taking place in the last 30 years, the report said. 'Every year that goes by is another upward step on the warming trajectory our climate is on,' Kendon said. 'Observations show that our climate in the UK is now notably different to what it was just a few decades ago,' he added. - 'Clear signs' - Changes to the seasons were evident, according to a volunteer-fed database drawn upon by the Met Office researchers. Out of 13 spring events monitored in 2024, 12 occurred earlier than average. The report reinforced the 'clear and urgent signals of our changing climate', added Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society. The research, however, did not find any evidence that the UK's climate was becoming more windy or stormy. Last month, a group of experts tasked with advising the government said the UK had cut its carbon emissions by 50.4 percent since 1990 levels. Much of the drop in emissions of planet-heating greenhouse gases -- blamed for triggering climate change -- was due to the closure of the UK's coal-fired power generation plants, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said in its report to parliament. The progress could largely be attributed to the policies of the previous Conservative government, the report said, while crediting the new government of Labour Prime Minister Keir with 'bold policy decisions this year'. Starmer, elected just over a year ago, has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 81 percent on 1990 levels by 2035, strengthening the UK government's ambitions to help curb climate change. – AFP
Int'l Business Times
4 hours ago
- Climate
- Int'l Business Times
New UK Weather Records Being Set 'Very Frequently': Report
Extremes in temperature and rainfall in the UK are becoming increasingly frequent, the nation's meteorological service said Monday in a report on Britain's changing climate. England and Wales endured the wettest winter in 250 years in from from October 2023 to March 2024, with six of the 10 wettest winters occurring in the 21st century. The report also found that last year was the UK's fourth warmest since 1884 with the last three years all in the top five warmest on record. Records were now being broken "very frequently", said Mike Kendon, Met Office climate scientist and lead author of the Met Office's State of the UK Climate report. "It's the extremes of temperature and rainfall that is changing the most, and that's of profound concern, and that's going to continue in the future," he said. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the findings showed Britain's way of life was "under threat". "Whether it is extreme heat, droughts, flooding, we can see it actually with our own eyes, that it's already happening, and we need to act," he said. In 2024, experts recorded the warmest spring, the second warmest February and the fifth warmest winter on record. Rising sea levels surrounding the UK were speeding up, with two-thirds of the rise recorded since 1900 taking place in the last 30 years, the report said. "Every year that goes by is another upward step on the warming trajectory our climate is on," Kendon said. "Observations show that our climate in the UK is now notably different to what it was just a few decades ago," he added. Changes to the seasons were evident, according to a volunteer-fed database drawn upon by the Met Office researchers. Out of 13 spring events monitored in 2024, 12 occurred earlier than average. The report reinforced the "clear and urgent signals of our changing climate", added Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society. The research, however, did not find any evidence that the UK's climate was becoming more windy or stormy. Last month, a group of experts tasked with advising the government said the UK had cut its carbon emissions by 50.4 percent since 1990 levels. Much of the drop in emissions of planet-heating greenhouse gases -- blamed for triggering climate change -- was due to the closure of the UK's coal-fired power generation plants, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said in its report to parliament. The progress could largely be attributed to the policies of the previous Conservative government, the report said, while crediting the new government of Labour Prime Minister Keir with "bold policy decisions this year". Starmer, elected just over a year ago, has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 81 percent on 1990 levels by 2035, strengthening the UK government's ambitions to help curb climate change.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Climate
- South China Morning Post
Today's forecast: 34.7 degrees. No, it's not Hong Kong, it's the UK
Among the many challenges facing those of us who have moved from Hong Kong to Britain is adapting to the country's notoriously cold, wet and windy weather. But climate change is making us feel more at home. The UK is experiencing – or, more accurately, enduring – its third heatwave of the year, with temperatures hitting 34.7 degrees Celsius on Friday. This weekend, it has been as hot as Hong Kong. Fresh concerns about Britain's ability to cope with the soaring temperatures are being raised, from heat-related deaths to wildfires, water shortages and transport meltdowns. More than 10,000 people are estimated to have died in the UK as a result of heatwaves between 2020 and 2024. The Climate Change Committee, which advises the government, warned this year that the country's efforts to adapt to global warming were inadequate and not working. It recommended setting new targets, improving coordination, adapting policies and stepping up monitoring.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Net zero to cost taxpayers £800bn
Britain's move to a net zero economy will cost taxpayers more than £800bn over the next two decades, the UK's fiscal watchdog has said. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said government plans to limit climate change will cost the public purse £30bn every year until at least 2051, as tax revenue from the sale of petrol and diesel fuel dries up. This includes nearly £9.9bn of spending every year on tech investments – for example updating the electricity grid – as well as £20.5bn in revenue losses from declining fuel duty from petrol cars, as electric vehicles (EV) become more common. Investments in green technology will initially make up most of the net zero cost before lost tax receipts become the bigger factor, the OBR said. 'In the next decade, expenditure accounts for the bulk of the fiscal cost, particularly public investment in residential buildings, removals and surface transport, which start to decline from 2036 to 2037,' it said. While the sums are significant, the fiscal cost of net zero has been revised down from £1.1 trillion since the OBR last reviewed it in 2021. The watchdog said this was because of fuel duty freezes leading to lower lost receipts and a higher-than-expected uptake of EVs. It also assumes the Government will spend less on the transition after the Climate Change Committee revised down the costs across the whole of the economy. The huge expected cost comes at a time of vulnerable public finances as well as a growing political backlash against net zero led by President Donald Trump. In the UK, Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, was recently warned by former prime minister Sir Tony Blair that net zero policies were 'doomed to fail'. Sir Kier Starmer's Government is also under growing pressure from Reform UK, which has made scrapping net zero central to its pitch to voters and has consistently led in the polls since April. The OBR's findings also came with warnings of how climate change will affect the public finances. If temperatures rise to 3C (37.4F) above the pre-industrial average, the UK faces a double whammy of costs from net zero policies and climate change damage. This would lower growth and add 74pc of GDP to government debt by the early 2070s relative to current estimates, the OBR said. Any costs from greater warming – such as more frequent wildfires, floods and storms – would also be difficult to mitigate, the watchdog warned. 'Unlike transition costs, there is little the UK can do to directly reduce these costs, as they are driven by the impact of global climate change, and so by how much major global emitters reduce their emissions over the coming decades,' it said. The £800bn cost could be cushioned by a change in Government tax policy. The OBR said introducing a road tax for all vehicles, including EVs, could lead to a less steep fall in fuel duty tax revenue. The controversial policy has been championed by think tanks like the Resolution Foundation – which was headed by Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, until last year's general election – to avoid a 'massive black hole' in tax revenues. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Net zero to cost taxpayers £800bn
Britain's move to a net zero economy will cost taxpayers more than £800bn over the next two decades as tax revenue from the sale of petrol and diesel fuel dries up, the UK's fiscal watchdog has said. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said government plans to limit climate change will cost the public purse £30bn every year until at least 2051. This includes nearly £9.9bn of spending every year on tech investments – for example updating the electricity grid – as well as £20.5bn in revenue losses from declining fuel duty from petrol cars, as electric vehicles (EV) become more common. Investments in green technology will initially make up most of the net zero cost before lost tax receipts become the bigger factor, the OBR said. 'In the next decade, expenditure accounts for the bulk of the fiscal cost, particularly public investment in residential buildings, removals and surface transport, which start to decline from 2036 to 2037,' it said. While the sums are significant, the fiscal cost of net zero has been revised down from £1.1 trillion since the OBR last reviewed it in 2021. The watchdog said this was because of fuel duty freezes leading to lower lost receipts and a higher-than-expected uptake of EVs. It also assumes the Government will spend less on the transition after the Climate Change Committee revised down the costs across the whole of the economy. 'Doomed to fail' The huge expected cost comes at a time of vulnerable public finances as well as a growing political backlash against net zero led by President Donald Trump. In the UK, Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, was recently warned by former prime minister Sir Tony Blair that net zero policies were 'doomed to fail'. Sir Kier Starmer's Government is also under growing pressure from Reform UK, which has made scrapping net zero central to its pitch to voters and has consistently led in the polls since April. The OBR's findings also came with warnings of how climate change will affect the public finances. If temperatures rise to 3C (37.4F) above the pre-industrial average, the UK faces a double whammy of costs from net zero policies and climate change damage. This would lower growth and add 74pc of GDP to government debt by the early 2070s relative to current estimates, the OBR said. Any costs from greater warming – such as more frequent wildfires, floods and storms – would also be difficult to mitigate, the watchdog warned. 'Unlike transition costs, there is little the UK can do to directly reduce these costs, as they are driven by the impact of global climate change, and so by how much major global emitters reduce their emissions over the coming decades,' it said. The £800bn cost could be cushioned by a change in Government tax policy. The OBR said introducing a road tax for all vehicles, including EVs, could lead to a less steep fall in fuel duty tax revenue. The controversial policy has been championed by think tanks like the Resolution Foundation – which was headed by Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, until last year's general election – to avoid a 'massive black hole' in tax revenues.
