Publications
Brexit presents the UK with an historic opportunity to enhance its natural environment. Rural payments are currently determined predominantly by the EU through the Common Agricultural Policy, but after Brexit they could be reformed to deliver major benefits for the environment and wider society.
This report proposes a new online, market-based commissioning scheme for rural payments whereby a range of beneficiaries commission suppliers to provide certain ecosystem services.
Preserving and enhancing the environment for future generations to enjoy should be at the heart of conservative thinking. But a small number of high-profile conservatives are sceptical of environmental policies, particularly those that mitigate climate change.
This polling report unearths what most Conservative voters think about protecting the natural environment and reducing the harmful effects of climate change. It examines the views of Conservatives, including those with different socio-demographic characteristics, on key environmental issues such as air pollution, home energy improvements, Britain’s power sector, and the future of environmental regulations post-Brexit.
Homes in the UK need to consume less and greener energy so that important targets for reducing carbon emissions are achieved. Government sought to incentivise home energy
improvements by creating the Green Deal in 2013, but this was a failure and ended after two years. There is now a policy vacuum.
This report examines the current market in energy efficiency measures and decentralised renewable technologies, and the possible reasons for the Green Deal’s failure. It proposes a new home energy improvement scheme in the able to pay sector.
The Government has announced that it will phase out the use of coal in electricity generation by the mid-2020s, making the UK the first country to use coal for electricity generation and now the first developed country to phase it out completely. Since the announcement, however, there has been concern about the implications for the UK’s energy security as coal is removed from the grid.
This report analyses the impact of the coal phase-out on the power system, the demand for gas, the UK’s emissions targets and households bills. The lights will stay on. In fact, it is feasible and desirable to phase out coal currently planned.
This report sets out how the centre-right of British politics could better embed sustainability and long-termism within the UK economy. By understanding and overcoming the issues that impede our ability to become more sustainable and long-term, we can deliver better environmental, economic, and social outcomes.
The report proposes ambitious and cost-effective policies to build a greener and more long-term economy based around three major themes: tackling the tragedy of horizons in public and private sector institutions, securing value for money in relation to environmental outcomes, and urging a new internationalism to address climate change.
In this edition of Centre Write, we tackle the sometimes thorny issue of climate change. The former Chair of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee Tim Yeo makes the Conservative case for low-carbon subsidies and Bright Blue’s Associate Fellow Ben Caldecott highlights the challenges to be faced in Paris in December. But environmental issues do not end with climate change.
On the wider environment, the Chairman of the Conservative Environment Network Ben Goldsmith makes the case for resource efficiency, while NFU President Meurig Raymond highlights sustainability and economic efficiency in British farming. Other contributors include Stanley Johnson, Michael Liebreich, Maf Smith, Mark Hoban, Suella Fernandes MP and many more.
