James Murray
@james-bg.bsky.social
Editor-in-chief of BusinessGreen, writing for a couple of decades or so about the environment, the economy, green politics, and the Climate Theory of Everything
Seems bad, tbh. www.businessgreen.com/news/4533884...
'Completely brutal': UK harvest on track for historic lows after drought and heatwaves 'desiccate' crops
ECIU analysis of industry forecasts suggests 2026 could be the worst harvest on record, costing farmers hundreds of millions in lost revenue
businessgreen.com
Another upbeat energy article by Ambrose E-P in the Telegraph that also slaps the Tories over their green energy stance. archive.ph/Ypxmt
New piece from me: Getting over the 2030 energy bill bump On how we're in a period of unusually high energy bills that we should be able to escape from - but only if we start making serious progress on electrification www.nesta.org.uk/blog/the-ene...
The energy edit: getting over the 2030 energy bill bump
Every six weeks Andrew Sissons assesses the most important signals and trends underpinning the UK’s energy transition.
nesta.org.uk
No, you’re meant to be going on holiday tomorrow but are currently in A&E with a boy who broke his wrist at football camp.
I think this is why I have found the recent heatwave so despair inducing - there's no sense anyone has any plans to try and stop this from just getting worse
James Murray@james-bg.bsky.social · yesterdayAppreciate this is 'make it make sense' howling into the void, but the failure (with some exceptions) of government, politicians, media, and business to point at the heatwaves and fires and state 'this is why climate action matters' is a serious problem. www.businessgreen.com/blog-post/45...
Appreciate this is 'make it make sense' howling into the void, but the failure (with some exceptions) of government, politicians, media, and business to point at the heatwaves and fires and state 'this is why climate action matters' is a serious problem. www.businessgreen.com/blog-post/45...
Summertime silence
The right of British politics has stepped up its attacks on climate action in recent weeks, so why has the rest of the political spectrum largely failed to seize the 'teachable moment' presented by cr...
businessgreen.com
The same people who have been telling us "we can't stop climate change, instead we must adapt" have been hammering our capacity to adapt, through their promotion of austerity. What they're really saying is "keep burning fossil fuels for the sake of our donors". www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
"It's as if we have to mourn the future."
Repeated heatwaves fuel eco-anxiety and anger among youth: 'It feels like we're living in a dystopia'
In the wake of the third heatwave to hit France since May, frustration and anxiety have gripped part of the younger generations, faced with what some call 'the coolest summer of the rest of their live...
lemonde.fr
From Paul Krugman's substack. Trump has been a disaster for the US and its standing in the world.
Wrote about the deafening silence on our summer of climate impacts from Labour, the Lib Dems, the Greens, business leaders, and even some campaign groups. The dominant climate discourse from the past week has been from those who want to ditch net zero targets and trash decarbonisation policies.
Jessica Elgot@jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 2d agoWe are in the third drought in five years. We have the National Trust and NFU - those radical types - sounding the alarm on unprecedented temperatures. But so little from any single figure in politics talking about the climate crisis.
There's barely anything even on what should be uncontroversial - how we build resilience in our housing, our food and water supplies, our healthcare systems in the face of ever hotter summers.
We are in the third drought in five years. We have the National Trust and NFU - those radical types - sounding the alarm on unprecedented temperatures. But so little from any single figure in politics talking about the climate crisis.
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
“Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones, with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you’re the one filming it.”
Water historian here. What the world needs (soon) is a desalination moonshot. We're going to need A LOT more fresh water. Desalination is very energy intensive. China's massive lead in renewable energy gives them potential advantage. But the USA or EU could conceivably get it done if they start now.
a man in a suit and tie is standing in a desert
Alt: a man in a suit and tie is standing in a desert
media.tenor.com
Rewilding is the best defence against wildfires (and why the Telegraph is unsurprisingly wrong): spectator.com/article/rewi...
Rewilding is the best defence against wildfires
Rewilding is not the cause of Britain's worsening upland wildfires. Increasingly, it looks like one of the most promising solutions.
spectator.com
The Strait of Hormuz is still shut. The UK is at risk of yet another recession due to its reliance on oil and gas. And the Tories, Reform, and their media outriders have spent the past week arguing for greater fossil fuel reliance largely unchallenged. www.businessgreen.com/news/4533806...
UK at risk of recession if Strait of Hormuz blockade continues, EY warns
Consultancy's latest forecast argues UK economy has proven surprisingly resilient in face of energy shock, but risk of recession is growing as disruption to oil and gas markets continues
businessgreen.com
Solar power toppling yet more records. You can focus on how this will deliver significant and well-understood challenges for the grid or you can recognise how cheap and clean power is becoming increasingly abundant in predictable and manageable ways. www.businessgreen.com/news/4533778...
'A major player': Solar generated record 14.4 per cent of Great Britain's electricity in July
UK 'firmly in its second solar boom' as all-time monthly generation record tumbles yet again, NESO figures confirm
businessgreen.com
It'll take time to play out, but internal combustion engines really are over. www.businessgreen.com/news/4533769...
EV100: Over 70 per cent of large corporates failed to purchase diesel or petrol vehicles last year
One-in-five EV100 members have now electrified more than half their vehicle fleets, latest data finds
businessgreen.com
In 'policy interventions work' news... www.businessgreen.com/news/4533773...
Number of single-use plastic bags sold by major retailers has fallen 90 per cent over past decade
England's biggest seven retailers sold just two single-use plastic bags per person on average in 2025, government data confirms
businessgreen.com
EV100: Over 70 per cent of large corporates failed to purchase diesel or petrol vehicles last year businessgreen.com/ne...
Blimey, Amol Rajan really taking Daily Telegraph/ Reform UK talking points on net zero! #r4today
The really fun part is after all the suffering from this El Nino is done we’ll get several years of columnists in serious newspapers opining about how we’re now seeing a ‘pause’ in global warming.
Zeke Hausfather@zekehausfather.com · 3d agoI'm not sure folks have realized just how crazy the second half of 2026 and 2027 will be for global temperatures – on the back of a record-smashing El Niño event. Here is my latest estimate of where both years will end up compared to global temperatures since 1850.
I'm not sure folks have realized just how crazy the second half of 2026 and 2027 will be for global temperatures – on the back of a record-smashing El Niño event. Here is my latest estimate of where both years will end up compared to global temperatures since 1850.
“The climate emergency kills,” he said on Monday. “And that’s why it’s not enough to address the consequences, which we do; what we have to do is reduce its causes, anticipate its effects, and, consequently, better prepare our country to protect people’s lives.”
‘Climate change kills’: Pedro Sánchez speaks plain truth to Spain’s deniers
PM has long history of speaking out on realities of global heating but political opponents remain unnmoved
theguardian.com