Jeremy Williams's Blog, page 100

What we learned this week

The Climate Crisis film festival ran in November, and this week launched an online hub where you can watch 20 climate documentaries for £10. Some really good ones on there and I’ll be doing that myself. And as a reader of this blog, you can get yourself a 20% discount by clicking here and using the code GREENCHRISTMAS

Amazon is now the biggest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the world. This does not make them good, it makes them fractionally less evil – but it’s a step in the r...

An A-rated home by 2020 – did we do it?

Back in January 2019, I wrote about my family home and my plan to get it to a A rating by the end of 2020. With that a week away, it’s time to take stock and see where we’re up to.

When we bought the house in 2009, it scored 73 on its Energy Performance Certificate – a low C. We made lots of improvements and renovations, including draught-proofing, efficient appliances and LED bulbs, and fitting double glazing. With all the easy stuff done, in the last couple of years I’ve turned to some of ...

The structural racism of global vaccine access

Last week the first people to be vaccinated against Covid-19 got their jabs in Britain. Politicians have made a big deal of this, with one going so far as to say that this was because “we’re a much better country” – the kind of playground nonsense that makes me long for more women in politics.

While some countries may have more scientists and more efficient institutions for certifying new medicines, it does help to be rich.

A report from Oxfam last week highlighted the fact that rich count...

How green trolling fights greenwash

Last month the Shell corporate Twitter account attempted a bit of social media engagement and posted a little poll. “What are you willing to change to help reduce emissions?” they asked, “#EnergyDebate”, with a variety of options to choose from.

It was a spectacular own goal, because of course Twitter responded in form. Some said they were willing to never buy Shell products again. Nationalising Shell was popular, or shutting it down entirely. Thousands of people replied to the poll, includi...

From sea to desert to forest

Last week I wrote about how Kazakhstan saved and restored the northern part of the Aral Sea. It did this by damming that part of the lake and essentially separating it from the larger basin. But what about that dry sandy expanse to the south, the Aralkum Desert?

The fate of the north and south parts of the Aral sea have gone in opposite directions. The north is in recovery. The south gets some spillover from the dam and seasonal flooding, but otherwise remains desert. The main river that flo...

Book review: Back to Nature, by Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin

In March 2020, like much of the world, Britain went into a pandemic lockdown. While off work and home from school, many people rediscovered the wildlife in their own gardens and local area. They came to appreciate birdsong as the sound of traffic ebbed away. With shops and leisure facilities closed, they went on walks instead. Millions of people reconnected with nature in some way.

Also stuck at home were Chris Packham, one of Britains best known naturalists, and his step-daughter Megan...

What we learned this week

Over the next decade, our superblock plan will transform the entire central grid of the city into a greener, pedestrian-friendly and almost car-free area the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, writes in the Guardian about the citys ambitious plans.

Five years after the Paris Agreement, Climate Change News rounds up what has worked and what hasnt so far.

Georgia senator David Perdue is a noisy climate denier who encouraged Trump to pull out of the Paris Agreement. But, says The Intercept, a...

Can the Aral Sea be restored?

The Aral Sea was the worlds fourth largest lake, and used to lie across the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It doesnt any more. Its gone, reduced to a tenth of its size. In its place is a wasteland of toxic sand, and one of the most spectacular examples of humankinds destruction of nature.

Heres a primer from NASA, who have watched the sea shrink from their satellites:

I last wrote about the Aral Sea in 2014, which was the year that the main southern basin finally dried up...

How would you get Britain to net zero?

Britain has committed to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Last week it added an intermediate target (and Nationally Determined Voluntary Contribution, in the language of the Paris Agreement) of a 68% reduction by 2030.

There are many ways to get there, and the government department with responsibility for climate change, the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, has illustrated this with an interactive challenge. Visitors to the website can move a series of levers...

The four levels of racism

When I started reading more about racism, one of the most useful things I learned is how racism operates at multiple levels. It ought to be taught in schools and perhaps it is now, but it was never taught to me. As I talk more about racism and climate change, I get the impression that I wasnt the only one who never got the memo.

So while this will be entry level for some readers, Im going to write about it for everybody else. Its important, because understanding the multiple levels of racism...