Author Archives: Matthew Lockwood

by | February 1, 2010 · 12:02 am

Carbon trading in trouble

Posted by Matthew Lockwood

Carbon markets in various places around the world seem to be running into trouble. In the US, the election of Senator Scott Brown in Massachussetts means that the cap-and-trade element of the Boxer-Kerry climate bill is likely to go. Down under in Australia the emissions trading plans of the Rudd government became the focus for the rise of new opposition leader Tony Abbott, who is tying to harness anti-tax sentiment to fight the scheme (already facing stiff resistance from the coal industry and other vested interests). Meanwhile, in the wake of the failure to agree a successor to the Kyoto Potocol in Copenhagen, various London-based banks Continue reading →

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by | January 26, 2010 · 12:13 am

Plus ça change…

There’s a new growth business – no growth. Tim Jackson’s Propserity without Growth is the text of the moment, and the New Economics Foundation has a new report out today on why Growth is Impossible (we’ll be blogging on these over the next few days and weeks, so watch this space for our analysis of where they are right and where they go wrong). 

President Sarkozy of France has added to the mix, last week launching a new sustainable development barometer. Sarkozy, you may remember, commissioned prominent economists Amartya Sen and Joe Stiglitz to look beyond GDP growth and advise on other ways of measuring human progress.  According to reports, the barometer will be used “to inform the French government, parliament, local authorities, businesses, NGOs and citizens about sustainable economic development and environmental pressures in a drive to support initiatives that boost sustainable behaviour”. The indicators included range hugely, from unemployment to the evolution of bird populations, from the carbon footprint of France’s imports to the suicide rate.

If any of this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Continue reading →

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by | January 20, 2010 · 10:10 pm

The American People – climate sceptics or climate policy supporters?

A new poll from the Brookings Institution has caused some anguish amongst environmentalists, as it shows evidence of an increase in climate scepticism in the US in the wake of the Climategate controversy. In fact, things are not that bad – the proportion who think there is no solid evidence for warming has increased by only 3 percentage points. Despite their depiction in Europe as anti-scientific irrational nuts, a good two-thirds of Americans still do accept the science, according to the survey – surely a comfortable majority.

In contrast with this small movement, the big numbers in the Brookings study are actually about support for climate policies. Continue reading →

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