The government has announced it’s going to fast-track new
measures to unlock hard-to-extract North Sea oil and gas as it
tries to persuade Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom.
The measures, which were recommended in a government-commissioned
report, include a new regulator to oversee the industry. The
government has also announced funding for a carbon capture and
storage project at Petershead. Ed Davey describes the government’s
plans in the Telegraph.

In its Budget submission, the manufacturers’ organisation
EEF says energy prices and green taxes are worrying industry more
than any other issue. Half the 300 companies in an EEF survey said
a government commitment to keep energy costs at, or below, the EU
average would be the biggest single factor encouraging them to
expand manufacturing in the UK.

A new papersuggests volcanic activity
over the past 15 years could help to explain why surface
temperatures have been rising slower than in previous decades. But
experts warn volcanoes only offer ‘temporary respite’ from rising
temperatures, reports the Independent.

Shadow energy secretary, Caroline Flint, told the Andrew
Marr show yesterday that Labour will not renegotiate the contract
with the French-owned EDF Energy for a new nuclear power stations
at Hinkley Point, if it gets into power. Flint said Labour hopes
this is the first of many new nuclear builds and the cost will come
down in the future.

The Armed Forces will have to consider abandoning some of
their coastal sites because of the growing threat from flooding and
rising sea levels as a result of climate change. Important military
facilities, including RAF Brize Norton, the Royal Navy bases at
Plymouth and Portsmouth, and the Ministry of Defence’s headquarters
in London, face a “direct impact” from floods by 2020, according to
documents obtained by Friends of the Earthvia a Freedom
of Information request.

Businesses, investors, and governments are increasingly
attempting to embrace the concept of green economic growth, but the
benefits associated with sustainable technologies and businesses
models are not being as widely shared as they could be, according
to new report from the International Institute for Environment and
Development and the Green Economy Coalition.

Onshore wind farms are being paid £30 million a year to sit
idle during stormy weather, according tocalculationsby anti-wind group the
Renewable Energy Foundation. Energy minister Michael Fallon has
written to renewable power companies warning that he is ready to
change the law to force smaller wind farms to lower their prices if
they fail to cut the costs voluntarily.

Climate change won’t reduce high winter death rates in the
UK because there will be more harmful weather extremes even as it
gets less cold, according to a new studyin the journal Nature Climate
Change. The research suggests more volatile winters, with swings
from cold to mild linked to rising greenhouse gas emissions, might
even raise death rates. Also covered in the Times.

In a letterto the Times, four climate
scientists based at the Met Office say “the risk to our communities
from serious flooding and coastal inundation are increasing with
climate change”. It adds:” “What we have not said, because that is
a matter of ongoing research, is that the recent storms are
definitively linked to climate change.” In the Telegraph, columnist Tom Chivers also
discusses the link.

Arctic sea ice is getting younger. In 1988, ice that was at
least 4 years old accounted for 26 percent of the Arctic’s sea ice.
By 2013, ice that age was only 7 percent of all Arctic sea ice. A
video from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
illustrates the trend.

A front-page story in the Mail on Sunday criticises Labour
MP Barry Gardiner – shadow energy minister and Labour’s ‘special
envoy on climate change’ – for going to a conference in Cancun on
an all expenses paid trip during the winter flooding in the
UK.

Economic development improves quality of life but as
economies rely mainly on fossil fuels, improved life conditions
lead to rising carbon emissions. A new study calculates the “carbon
intensity of human well-being” for 106 countries over the period
1970 to 2009 and concludes that as long as societies rely on fossil
fuels, achieving better life conditions will drive up carbon
emissions.

A new study looks at how climate change is likely to impact
fish yields in different countries. Previous studies have predicted
a shortfall in fish supply by 2050 as the population grows and
fisheries relocate in search of cooler waters, but the new research
suggests otherwise. As long as wild stocks are managed sustainably,
ongoing technological development in the aquaculture industry could
keep pace with demand, say the researchers.