Bulb calls on Treasury to scrap VAT on green products ahead of ‘tax day’ March 22, 2021 Challenger energy brand Bulb has today called on the Treasury to scrap VAT on green products in a bid to encourage more households to “go green”. According to the firm, which now supplies energy to 1.7m households, scrapping the duty on such items could save the average family £5,500. As a result of the UK’s [...]
The greatest space mission will be tackling climate change and protecting our planet March 21, 2021 Efforts around the world are focused on making businesses more sustainable, with ever greater emphasis on innovative technology to help solve the climate crisis we face. There was a dearth of climate-related announcements in Rishi Sunak’s Budget speech earlier this month. Sunak did, however, reiterate the Government’s plan to establish the UK as a “science [...]
Financial services firms admit they do not have carbon neutral targets in place March 19, 2021 Financial services firms are struggling with net zero targets, with more than half (51%) of firms saying they do not yet have a target in place to achieve carbon neutral status. Just 18 per cent of financial services firms have a plan to achieve carbon neutral status by 2025, and 16 per cent claim they [...]
World must invest $131 trillion in clean energy to hit Paris targets March 16, 2021 The world must invest $131 trillion (£94 trillion) in clean energy resources over the next 30 years in order to hit the climate targets set out in 2015’s Paris accords. A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) found that investment must increase $33 trillion from current plans over the coming decades if [...]
Central banks must play ‘clear role’ in greening financial system, argues think tank March 15, 2021 Central Banks, including the Bank of England, must have a strategy for helping countries achieve net zero emissions, according to a report published today. The report, funded by the European Climate Foundation, argues that achieving a net zero economy is the best way of minimising the risks of climate change. It calls for central banks [...]
HSBC concedes to investor pressure over climate change March 11, 2021 HSBC has given in to investor pressure by tabling plans to phase out its financing of coal power by 2040, staving off backlash over the bank not being aligned with its climate ‘ambitions’. The bankin giant said today it will retire from funding both coal-fired power and thermal coal mining across the EU by 2030, and [...]
CBI calls for ‘fundamental change’ to UK tax system to achieve climate change goals March 11, 2021 One of the UK’s most influential business groups has called for the government to deliver wholesale changes to the country’s tax regime in order to hit its 2050 net zero target. The CBI said that instead of making changes to individual taxes, ministers should instead pursue “fundamental change with a holistic, coherent tax plan”. It [...]
Greenpeace paragliders land on ECB roof in climate finance protest March 10, 2021 Climate activists flew on top of the European Central Bank on Wednesday to hang a banner which accused the bank of funding polluters. Two Greenpeace activists flew over Frankfurt’s Main river to display a banner that demanded the ECB “stop funding climate killers”. The protest followed a think tank report which argued that the ECB’s [...]
Two-thirds of world’s original rainforest now destroyed or damaged March 8, 2021 An estimated two-thirds of the world’s original tropical rainforest has been degraded or destroyed by people, new data has revealed, sparking concern that a vital natural buffer against the climate crisis is disappearing quickly. As well as providing protection against the impacts of climate change, the loss of forest has also majorly contributed to climate-warming [...]
Government slammed over lack of climate change plan March 5, 2021 Two government committees have hit out at the government over a lack of detail in its climate change plans ahead of this year’s COP26 conference. In a new report released today, the influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said that two years on from fixing its net zero target in law, the government had “no plan” [...]