Category: Environment

The National Trust says delays in the heritage scheme set to replace EU funding risk “erasing or damaging history.” Another Brexit bonus?

With the rejection of Aquind’s subsea plans, has Simon Clarke, MP, now waved goodbye to the regular donations from Boris Johnson’s friend?

Climate change is the largest crisis facing the planet. What the global north and much of the south do in the next decade to limit emissions will be critical to the world’s future. Newcastle City Council is doing its bit to tackle climate change. As lead experts tells us – we need to act now. […]

The British government has recently announced new measures to cut the cost of generating nuclear power in the UK. A new funding model set out by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is aimed at incentivising investment in the UK’s nuclear power infrastructure. The new model is an integral part of the government’s plan for carbon neutrality […]

Can a former climate change sceptic lead the UK towards zero emissions? I am referring to our Prime Minister who, even in 2015, was writing articles denying climate change. This was the time when more serious politicians gathered in Paris to reach what became known as the Paris Climate Agreement. Progress, after the Paris Agreement, […]

Neil Taylor’ s excellent article ‘Climate change: let’s get practical’ (NE Bylines 6 November 2021) offers helpful advice on making decisions about lowering our carbon footprints on this planet, our only home. Among other things he suggests we ask ourselves: “Am I thinking laterally about how I can reduce my … consumption?” The carbon cost […]

Following the publication of COP26’s final agreement, Molly Scott Cato, former Green MEP and now Professor of Economics at the University of Roehampton, says the event has failed in what history will see as our last chance to protect the world from disastrous over-heating. Molly said: “The fundamental purpose of COP26 was to ensure that our climate does not […]

Amongst the great and the good at the Government’s Global Investment Summit 2021 in late October, one of the preparatory sessions to COP26, was a man in a dark flannel suit seemingly looking round for people to impress. Who was this man? The CEO of a vast multinational firm? A President or PM of a […]

To mark the COP26 Climate Conference solar panel systems are being installed at Glasgow Central Mosque. The largest of Scottish Mosques joins an initiative to reduce the carbon footprint of mosques and other community buildings internationally. The project is supported by Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Islamic Relief, both members of the […]

COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and it is attended by countries who have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – a treaty that was agreed in 1994. This is the 26th meeting and it is taking place now in Glasgow, Scotland. The main goal of COP26 is to lock […]

If you have the privilege to be in the Green Zone of COP26 in Glasgow at 12.30 pm on 12 November, you’ll be able to see a screening of ‘Climate Change Catastrophe’, the inspired result of a collaboration between Cap-a-Pie Theatre Company, hundreds of Northern children and their teachers, and Climate Scientists and Engineers from […]

Protestors from North East for Europe waited at Hexham General Hospital to greet Boris Johnson today. Kim Sanderson, spokesperson for North East for Europe said: “We are here to meet the Prime Minister to voice our concerns over corruption in the Conservative party at national and County Council levels.” “We also want to show our […]

The day started well before dawn. A few of us piled into Central Station, Newcastle with about half a dozen other early starters onto the mostly empty 6.20 train to Edinburgh, en route to Glasgow. The EU and Scottish flags were effectively combined to for what would be a recurring theme for the day alongside […]

We know the environment and climate are in trouble. This is from the perspective of humans and other species.. What can we do about it? First-off…please don’t leave it to politicians and business leaders! Many want short term results and profit at almost any price. And many will not deliver what we need. Also don’t […]

The image of Boris Johnson maskless and dozing during the opening speeches at COP26 in Glasgow is one of the most damning indictments of our incompetent leader to emerge and is now circulating around the world much to the amusement of international commentators. Downing Street officials insist the PM was following the rules, only removing […]

Today a group of Tynedale locals from North East for Europe are taking part in an Action Day for Farmers outside of Hexham Mart. The group has become increasingly aware of the difficulties farmers face in the current climate due to Brexit and government policy. North East for Europe, which is part of the European […]

Scott Hunter goes in search of the Tees Valley town that is the worst affected by the discharge of untreated sewage.

Chi Onwurah backs a Bill to ban the production and sale of plastics in wet wipes as there are lots of plastic-free alternatives

Molly Scott Cato comments on yesterday’s Budget. “…it took the Chancellor nearly half an hour to utter the word ‘green’”

A thousand dead crabs washed up on the sand, a torn and tattered note littering no man’s land: “Poison all your rivers, dump sewage in the main. Then taking it in turns party as the planet burns, and choke to death on the shame.” Harry Gallagher

There is much public outrage at the thought of raw sewage in our rivers and seas. A look at cause and effect. Science and sewage.

Raw sewage has been in the news a lot recently. This was all foreseen in 2017 when Hearts not Hate campaigned on ‘we love clean beaches’.

North East young people really do want to make a difference. They are concerned about climate change and have some ideas to build hope.

We all remember songs from our childhood. Songs stick. Act Now has an important message and not one to forget.

Are those beer goggles you’re wearing, Mr Gove? Michael Gove visited the site of the South Tees Development Corporation in late September. When he spoke of that experience at the to the party faithful on Monday, many may have been enthralled by what he had to say. Many on Teesside, meanwhile, were left absolutely speechless.  […]

A new show about climate change, Climate Change Catastrophe, made by children for grown-ups, will be shown at COP26 , the United Nations annual climate change conference being held in Glasgow, UK, on 12 November. Hundreds of primary school children from across the North of England worked with Newcastle University climate scientists and engineers, and Cap-a-Pie […]

It is high time we recognised the inter-connectedness of our planet and our people – we are not separate from it or each other. The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 takes place in Glasgow in November. Many believe this is the last opportunity to mitigate disaster. The urgency of change needed now is Code Red. […]

Sharon Hodgson MP is proud to join Oxfam this September in taking a stand against the fast fashion industry.  Second Hand September The #SecondHandSeptember campaign is celebrating looking fashionable in re-used and re-loved clothes. Both Sharon and the team at Oxfam are concerned about the environmental damage that fast fashion (mass produced clothes often at […]

After a summer of record temperatures, forest fires and devastating floods across the world, all eyes and ears will be focused on Glasgow as the world’s leaders prepare to meet for COP26 in November. There are huge expectations and high hopes, but also a lot of hype, plenty of political posturing, and far too much […]

Since the UN’s 2018 special report on global warming (released when I was 13) gave humanity a climate crisis deadline, lowering emissions has become a priority of many governments around the world. However, 12 years quickly turned into 11 years, which fell into 10 years with the distraction of a deadly pandemic. I am now […]