Britain’s New Prime Minister Is Not A Greenie

Brexit Threatens EU Climate Policy

It is one of the most successful political reinventions ever. In just a few years as its new leader, David Cameron turned around the Tories’ toxic “nasty party” image - at least with enough voters to form a coalition government. One of the most eye-catching moments came 10 years ago today with his “hug a husky” trip to the Arctic to highlight the impact of climate change. It was followed by Cameron’s commitment to lead the “greenest government ever”. Yet with a succession of green policies now dropped or watered down, those environmental promises are now ringing hollow with many voters. --Adam Vaughan, The Guardian, 20 April 2016

The U.K. vote to leave the European Union risks stoking a bitter fight among EU governments over sharing the burden of [CO2] cuts in the transport, farm and building industries, potentially weakening the bloc’s leadership in the battle against climate change. Last month’s U.K. vote to leave the EU caused political shock waves that are penetrating deep into the bloc’s institutions, rattling the decision-making machinery and clouding the outlook for a range of policies including climate protection. The turbulence could end up watering down Europe’s emissions-reduction target for the next decade because the remaining EU nations may balk at boosting their effort to compensate for Brexit. --Ewa Krukowska and Jonathan Stearns, Bloomberg, 11 July 2016

The greatest risk posed by Brexit is not technicalities around ratification of the Paris Agreement, but rather the loss of a strong voice on climate change within the EU. The UK’s voice has been important not only for internal EU policy but also for the EU’s role in international negotiations. Brexit risks shifting the balance of EU climate policies away from ambitious targets. The key factor is likely to be how strong the shift is in global thinking and commitment to action on climate change heralded by the Paris Agreement. --Adrian Macey, The Listener, 11 July 2016

Europe’s renewable energy sector is facing significant insecurity in the wake of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union. The Brexit campaign was led by a number of leading political figures who oppose tackling climate change by introducing wind warms and other renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuel power stations. Of all the possible contenders to replace David Cameron, none are great advocates of renewable energy sources. It is now unclear what course of action the government will take in terms of renewable energy sources given the current state of disarray in the country’s political landscape. However the Brexit win raises questions about whether the cross party unity on tackling the issue of global warming will now start to disintegrate. --Josh Philips, BDC Magazine, 5 July 2016

An inquiry exploring the implications of Brexit on the UK’s energy policies has been launched. The Energy and Climate Change Committee said the nation’s exit from the European Union raises a number of questions the government will need to consider when it negotiates the deal. It adds while Member States, including the UK, retain sovereignty over their energy mix, parts of UK energy policies have been driven by EU-wide directives and proposals. Through the inquiry, the Committee aims to understand the implications and determine which policy areas will need to be addressed during the exit negotiations. --Priyanka Shrestha, Energy Live News, 11 July 2016

Britain may have to rely on costly emergency measures to keep the lights on this winter after spare capacity in the power market fell to the lowest level on record. Power stations operating under normal market conditions will produce barely enough electricity to meet peak demand following a series of coal plant closures, National Grid analysis shows. National Grid has been forced to intervene and bolster supplies by paying 10 power plants £123m to stay open through an emergency scheme, the costs of which will be passed on to consumers through their energy bills. It will then make additional payments to these back-up power plants to fire up, if they are needed as a "last resort" to prevent blackouts. These costs, which could easily run to tens of millions of pounds in a cold snap, will also be passed on to consumers. --Emily Gosden, The Daily Telegraph, 8 July 2016

Carbon markets, the free enterprise solution to saving the world from global warming, are now in danger themselves. Undercut by a lack of political will on the size of caps and overtaken by costly new environmental mandates, carbon markets in the United States, Europe and Asia are collapsing, with prices so low they have become virtually valueless. The markets are crumbling just as Britain’s vote to leave the European Union throws into question the future of the world’s largest market by threatening to shrink demand. --Bloomberg, 9 July 2016