recentprojects

Details of my current work on political responses to climate change can be found on the research page.

This project, for the British Academy and in collaboration with Lancaster University, looks at the cultural factors that influence community energy projects.

The project will gather twelve case studies of community energy projects, from different countries including the UK, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and South Korea, to look at the cultural factors that influence community energy. It will ask what motivates people to be part of a community energy project; and how local circumstances affect that project. It will ask how national institutional and political cultures affect the way we produce and use energy, and whether the UK could learn from » Continue Reading.

I have worked on community renewable energy for over twelve years, and have experience of working with all stakeholders in this debate: national and local government, community organisations, commercial energy companies and universities.

Current and recent work in this area includes:

A jointly-authored research report for the British Academy, investigating the cultural influences and impacts of community energy (2015-16) Strategic advice to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, looking at how they could support community renewable energy, both through grant-making and through their social investment arm (2014) A role as Vice-Chair of the » Continue Reading.

Green Alliance’s Climate Leadership Programme aims to give members of parliament the knowledge and skills they need to lead a proactive and ambitious climate change agenda.

Constituency Voices, part of the Programme, works with small groups of MPs on low carbon initiatives and policy within their constituencies, helping them to take climate action to the national level.

In 2013 we focussed on community energy, with MPs in Edinburgh, Sheffield and Wells; and on the City Deals programme, with MPs in Swindon, Stockton and Warwickshire. This year, we focussed on climate science and impacts, looking in particular at the aftermath of » Continue Reading.

At the Paris summit in December 2015, 196 countries will meet to sign a new climate change agreement. But will it be meaningful and result in climate action?

This report outlines what needs to be agreed at the summit, sets out what has changed since the first Rio summit in 1992, considers the prospects for this agreement and why it is needed.

Written for and with Green Alliance, Christian Aid, Greenpeace, RSPB and WWF.

Download the report here

A Green Alliance pamphlet, co-authored with Nick Eyre, of the UK Energy Research Centre.

This pamphlet argues that energy policy needs to be refocussed around demand, rather than supply.

From the moment that our ancestors first discovered fire, energy use has been closely linked to progress. Agriculture is basically a way of diverting solar energy into useful crops – and farming liberated people from the daily hunt for sustenance, allowing modern societies to flourish. And, of course, the industrial revolution was essentially an energy revolution: exploiting fossil fuels to change radically the way that we live, work and even eat. » Continue Reading.

Co-operatively-owned energy generation is a vibrant and growing sector in the UK. The first co‑operatively-owned wind turbines, Baywind in Cumbria, started turning in 1997. Since then, over 7,000 individual investors have ploughed over £16 million into community-owned renewable energy.

But it’s far from easy to make an energy co-op happen, and they are still the exception, not the rule. The market for large-scale, commercial renewables is well established. At the other end of the scale, it is now relatively easy for individuals with a bit of money saved to invest in energy generation, thanks to the feed-in tariff. But the » Continue Reading.

Political leadership in this Parliament is essential if the UK is to achieve the ambitious targets set out by Parliament in the Climate Change Act and secure the economic benefits of a rapid transition to a low carbon economy.

To help MPs lead this vital agenda at national and constituency level, Green Alliance and Ashridge Business School have established a Climate Leadership Programme.

This is a unique partnership designed to help MPs develop the knowledge, networks and understanding to take positive action on climate change during a time of economic uncertainty and financial austerity. It aims to:

Allow politicians to strengthen their » Continue Reading.

The UK’s new Parliament, elected in May last year, has a historic responsibility. It is the last Parliament that can take action to avoid runaway climate change. The science tells us that global emissions need to peak during the current decade and decline steeply thereafter. Representatives of all parties in the next Parliament will need to lead the UK toward this low carbon future.

There are huge benefits for countries who can take the lead in low carbon technologies and approaches, from energy security to more resilient communities.

The new Parliament in 2010 is the last window of opportunity to » Continue Reading.

Housing and planning policy should be governed by the proximity principle: the idea that compact cities, towns and villages produce the best social, economic and environmental outcomes.

Proximity brings people, shops, schools and healthcare closer together. It drives creativity and innovation. It means less distance to travel: people are more likely to walk or cycle, which in turn makes streets safer and more welcoming. There are environmental advantages, too, with less land and energy required.

Before the development of modern transport, proximity was achieved automatically. But today, it requires careful planning and intervention by government. Yet government policy is contradictory. » Continue Reading.