Leo Hickman
@leohickman.carbonbrief.org
Editor and director, Carbon Brief https://bsky.app/profile/carbonbrief.org
Interesting analysis of the Telegraph’s recent flirtation with climate change reality. Possible factors: good (/s) old editorial like of noise, new ownership, Tory infighting. It concludes - wisely - with a quote from @leohickman.carbonbrief.org to be cautious about this supposed change of heart.
Right turn on green: is the Telegraph changing its tune on the climate?
Flurry of articles has raised eyebrows and prompted a response from Kemi Badenoch defending stance on net zero
theguardian.com
I'm quoted in this Guardian article about the Telegraph's rollercoaster week of comment pieces about climate change www.theguardian.com/media/2026/a...
Right turn on green: is the Telegraph changing its tune on the climate?
Flurry of articles has raised eyebrows and prompted a response from Kemi Badenoch defending stance on net zero
theguardian.com
Hungary's Paks nuclear plant is close to complete shutdown due to low water levels on the Danube The river just hit the lowest level in more than a century, amid an ongoing European drought and heatwave
🧵Right-leaning newspapers are trying to blame Europe's raging wildfires on everything EXCEPT fossil fuels 1. The Wall Street Journal Frontpage story: "Greece fights wildfires as Europe crisis spreads" WSJ editorial: "How green policies fuel fires in Europe"
I see we've reached the point in this particular summer of extremes where we are now having to BLOW UP rocks in drought-striken rivers to help send water towards gasping nuclear power plants www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
South-eastern Europe faces heatwave energy crunch as Romania detonates Danube rock to increase water flow – Europe live
Explosives used to move a large rock and let more water flow to cool nuclear power plant
theguardian.com
Ever wondered if Allister Heath is a crazed ideologue or a brilliant satirist? HIs latest column - learn to love climate change and build more swimming pools - settles the question. The man’s a comic genius - and with perfect timing app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/74279/...
Climate change sceptics have lost the plot as Europe burns
Reading the Telegraph, it’s hard to work out whether their climate columns are a work of satire
app.prospectmagazine.co.uk
"Drill, baby, drill" the North Sea, say Conservatives and Reform. Meanwhile, over at BP HQ...
This must be so head-spinning for them... Here's the Daily Mail trying to cover the wildfires ('Evacuate!') and record heat deaths in UK, while also trying to maintain its climate denial by running a highly misleading comment piece by Matt Ridley and an editorial focused on "water companies"
The Daily Telegraph ends its rollercoaster week of comment pieces about climate change with one by Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservatives. Note how, yet again, she doesn't explain how she will "replace" the Climate Change Act. Just vibes about "markets, innovation and competition"
The Daily Telegraph ends its rollercoaster week of comment pieces about climate change with one by Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservatives. Note how, yet again, she doesn't explain how she will "replace" the Climate Change Act. Just vibes about "markets, innovation and competition"
"Antalya on fire..." Yes, this is the Turkish city due to host the next UN climate conference, COP31, this November
The Telegraph has now removed "embrace Mediterranean life" from the headline - presumably realising that Heath (who is the editor of its Sunday edition, remember) was being widely mocked and derided. Here's before and after...
Just in case you've seen climate sceptics posting highly misleading charts on social media about wildfires, here's our new factcheck...
Carbon Brief@carbonbrief.org · 6d agoNEW – Factcheck: No, Europe is not having its ‘quietest’ year for wildfires ✍️ @giulianaviglione.bsky.social and @rtmcswee.carbonbrief.org 💬 With comments from @calxcunningham.bsky.social Read here: buff.ly/pDQGTR3
Heath is now responding to reader comments beneath his article and they are as dismissive, arrogant and ill-informed as would expect. A sample...
🧵UK media has been duped about net-zero (again) The playbook is identical: 1️⃣ Find a big scary number 2️⃣ Speed-dial non-specialist hacks 3️⃣ Do say “serious economic damage” 4️⃣ Don’t say “we pretended gas is free” 5️⃣ That's it! Many papers still fell for it 🤷
"Allister will be responding to your comments from 3pm" 🍿 www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2026...
Leo Hickman@leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 7d agoThe Daily Telegraph has raced through all five stages of climate denial this week. But this is, perhaps, the most ridiculous column so far: "Without minimising the severe downsides…especially on some poorer nations, many in Britain would enjoy the kind of warmer climate predicted by modellers..."
++NEW++ "During the May and June 2026 heat events there were an estimated total of 2,877 heat-associated deaths" "...the mortality burden is already close to the highest annual totals previously recorded by UKHSA" www.gov.uk/government/p...
Weird. I can't find any English-language media coverage of these announcements yet other than this Reuters video www.reutersconnect.com/item/spain-u...
Licensable video: Spain-UK sign agreement to advance fight against climate change
reutersconnect.com
I know it's not news Kemi Badenoch is not across the detail, but this is an absolute shocker. She says the UK's net zero plans are 'perversely increasing carbon emissions'. In 2019 when net zero targets were adopted emissions were 45% below 1990 levels. Last year they were 54% below 1990 levels.
The growing intermittency of…conventional nuclear energy. www.reuters.com/business/ene...
Low Danube river levels force Romania to shut down both of its nuclear power reactors
Romania will shut down its second nuclear reactor on the Danube river, the energy ministry said on Wednesday, three days after decades-low river levels forced it to shut down the first.
reuters.com
++BREAKING++ The UK and Spanish governments have issued a joint statement overnight: "[We] agreed that this summer’s wildfires demonstrated that climate change was now a national security emergency facing Europe and threatening our way of life." www.gov.uk/government/n...
The Daily Telegraph has raced through all five stages of climate denial this week. But this is, perhaps, the most ridiculous column so far: "Without minimising the severe downsides…especially on some poorer nations, many in Britain would enjoy the kind of warmer climate predicted by modellers..."
NEW – Q&A: What does China’s 15th ‘five-year plan’ for renewables mean for climate change? ✍️ Written by @anikanpatel.carbonbrief.org and Lekai Liu 💬 With comments from Yao Zhe @jamesnorman.bsky.social Pan Jiahua, Cosimo Ries and Isadora Wang Read here: buff.ly/qVU3RTg
NEW – Climate change is driving a ‘shift’ in childhood malaria risk across Africa ✍️ Written by @ayeshatandon.carbonbrief.org 💬 With comments from @colincarlson.bsky.social Dr Teresa Yamana, Dr Adugna Woyessa and Dr Janey Messina Read here: buff.ly/CORfkfm
Climate change is driving a ‘shift’ in childhood malaria risk across Africa - Carbon Brief
Rising temperatures are redistributing the risk of childhood malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in areas of “new risk” in the east and south of the continent, but also “relief hotspots” in weste...
buff.ly
NEW – World falling short on 22 of 23 nature targets for 2030, says draft UN report | @daisydunne.carbonbrief.org @orladwyer.carbonbrief.org @arunacsekhar.bsky.social Read here: buff.ly/D2XVoGo
This is a really smart way to make sure Reform's climate deniers are named and their views are firmly on the record: "Below is a list of all 30 councillors in Walsall who voted against the amendment to accepting the existence of man-made climate change" www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-countr...
