The Elephant
A resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
The ElephantA resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
Visit: opendemocracy.net
Pro-shooting minister’s gamebird decision ‘stinks’
2024-04-18 (or before) in openDemocracyExclusive: Lord Benyon overruled his own experts to allow release of pheasants and partridges in protected sites
Exxon admits it would need ‘magic wand’ to keep green pledge
2024-04-02 (or before) in openDemocracyExxonMobil accused of greenwashing over claims that its ‘carbon capture’ project is reducing emissions
Nine questions for the Times about Matt Ridley
2024-03-11 (or before) in openDemocracyAs the Times faces serious criticism over its climate change coverage, openDemocracy has some questions for the paper about the coal-baron at the centre of the scandal.
Tagged under: Media | Climate Change Denial and Disinformation
Failing emissions scheme needs ‘total rethink’, experts say
2024-01-24 (or before) in openDemocracyGovernment accused of ‘deliberately undermining’ green policies after slashing financial penalties for big polluters
OPINION: Climate engineering? Spare me
2024-01-23 (or before) in openDemocracyTech-utopian hero worship is one of the social scourges of our time
Climate activists fitted with ankle tags
2024-01-23 (or before) in openDemocracyJust Stop Oil member Tim Hewes has to lead church services with an ankle tag on – despite not yet having faced trial
Tagged under: Activism
43 Lords have financial interests in fossil fuel industry
2023-11-05 (or before) in openDemocracyPoliticians accused of being ‘worryingly cosy’ with oil and gas firms as it’s revealed almost one in ten Tory peers has financial stake in the sector
Opaque think tanks and landlords dominate Tory conference
2023-10-06 (or before) in openDemocracyLobby groups and big business had a front row seat with cabinet ministers in Manchester this week
Tagged under: Lobbying
Companies can keep scale of food waste secret after lobbying
2023-10-03 (or before) in openDemocracyNFU told Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that revealing scale of waste could threaten contracts
Tagged under: Farming
Tories took £291,000 from airports lobbying for expansion
2023-09-18 (or before) in openDemocracyDonations raise eyebrows with Rishi Sunak expected to reject Climate Change Committee advice on banning expansions
Tagged under: Climate Change | Rishi Sunak
Who Funds You?
2023-09-08 (or before) in openDemocracyJust Stop Oil targets think tank over protest crackdown role
2023-09-08 (or before) in openDemocracyActivists targeted Policy Exchange after openDemocracy revealed it received Big Oil funding and helped draft law
Tagged under: Rishi Sunak | Exxon | Activism
Policy Exchange
2023-09-08 (or before) in openDemocracyNew UK ‘net zero’ minister linked to oil-funded think tank
2023-09-02 (or before) in openDemocracyClaire Coutinho was senior fellow at Policy Exchange, which drafted law to crack down on XR and other climate activists
Tagged under: Fossil Fuels | Net Zero | Activism
River ‘dying’ after farmers lobbied to weaken protections
2023-07-13 (or before) in openDemocracyExclusive: National Farmers’ Union boasted about months of lobbying to weaken enforcement of environmental regulation
Tagged under: Farming | Rivers
Public to lose access to paths after landowner lobbying
2023-06-15 (or before) in openDemocracyExclusive: Government U-turned on vow to abolish deadline for registering paths in England after letter from landowners
Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in tap water near airports
2023-06-01 (or before) in openDemocracyExperts say there is no safe level of exposure to the substances, which are prevalent in firefighters’ foam
Tagged under: PFAS aka Forever Chemicals
The future of the climate debate
2023-05-31 (or before) in openDemocracyThe cutting edge of the climate change debate was absent from recent events in New York City, including mass marches. It’s time to unlearn the deluded notions that keep us from exploring the real issues for the future.
Tagged under: Climate Change
Revealed: Kemi Badenoch dined with US anti-climate lobbyists
2023-04-17 (or before) in openDemocracyMinister had secret meeting with oil-backed think tank that warned UK government not to listen to climate scientists
Airlines downplayed climate science to block new regulations
2023-03-20 (or before) in openDemocracyCampaigners say the lobbying tactics used to argue against tougher measures on emissions echo those of the 20th century tobacco industry
Tagged under: Aviation
UK gives airlines £300m discount on air pollution bill
2023-03-17 (or before) in openDemocracyThe government wrote off emissions equivalent to 400,000 passengers flying from London to Sydney and back in one year
Insulate Britain activists jailed for seven weeks
2023-03-03 (or before) in openDemocracyInsulate Britain members have been found guilty of ignoring a judge's ban on telling a jury why they were protesting
Tagged under: Activism
BP, Shell, Exxon and co. bag £1bn handout from UK government
2023-02-09 (or before) in openDemocracyExclusive: Government giveaway of CO2 permits helped fossil fuel giants achieve record-breaking profits
Tagged under: BP | Shell | Exxon | Net Zero
Why we must abolish the controversial Energy Charter Treaty
2023-01-24 (or before) in openDemocracyOPINION: The treaty allows fossil fuel companies to sue governments for taking climate change action. It must go
Tagged under: Greta Thunberg | Climate Change
Gambling tycoons and climate sceptics bankrolling MPs’ staff
2023-01-24 (or before) in openDemocracyExclusive: Campaigner warns of ‘conflict of interest’ over donors who gave £1m to fund MPs’ staff and offices
Ministers urged to stop super-rich from censoring the media
2022-12-02 (or before) in openDemocracyTop newspaper editors call on Dominic Raab to bring in new law to defend journalists from oligarchs’ legal threats
Airlines want £2bn handout to cover cost of ‘green’ fuel
2022-11-15 (or before) in openDemocracyVirgin Atlantic, BA and EasyJet blasted over ‘outrageous’ request for taxpayers to subsidise their passengers
US voters have backed abortion. Republicans will fight back
2022-11-12 (or before) in openDemocracyOPINION: Narratives of the ‘resiliency of American democracy’ are premature, even if the Democrats held out well
Braverman gives herself fresh anti-protest powers
2022-10-18 (or before) in openDemocracyLast-minute amendment to Public Order Bill lets home secretary slap injunctions on people ‘likely’ to protest
Climate crisis activism: Is destroying property the answer?
2022-10-16 (or before) in openDemocracyFrom SUVs to gas pipelines, sabotage is on the rise as the climate crisis deepens – but does it work?
Tagged under: Activism
Revealed: Truss adviser worked at energy lobbying firm
2022-09-09 (or before) in openDemocracyIain Carter was a partner at Hanbury Strategy, which was paid to lobby the government on behalf of Bulb Energy
Truss backed US anti-climate lobbyists who tanked green law
2022-07-29 (or before) in openDemocracyHardline free-market groups allied with Tory leadership favourite also said NHS should compete with US corporations
Leaders of net-zero backlash are funded by US oil money
2022-05-09 (or before) in openDemocracyNet Zero Watch says it won’t take cash from fossil fuel investors – but we discovered a funder with millions in oil
Tagged under: Net Zero
Brexiteer behind net-zero backlash has $130m in fossil fuel
2022-03-22 (or before) in openDemocracyJeremy Hosking, who is bankrolling campaigns to scrap UK emissions targets, has given millions to parties led by Nigel Farage and Laurence Fox
Tagged under: Fossil Fuels | Net Zero
Green growth vs degrowth: are we missing the point?
2022-03-19 (or before) in openDemocracyIt’s time to stop talking past each other and unite against the real enemies of environmental justice.
Tagged under: Degrowth
MPs who lobbied for controversial ‘green’ petrol were funded by fuel industry
2022-02-21 (or before) in openDemocracyGovernment introduced 'E10' petrol after parliamentary group produced glowing report – despite warnings about its environmental credentials
Tagged under: Climate Change
The Brexit dark money lobby has a new target – climate change action
2021-11-05 (or before) in openDemocracyBrexit showed that a few ruthless, well-connected people with big money behind them can change history. Now they’re at it again, and the stakes are even higher
Tagged under: Climate Change
Will climate change stop Arabia from being Saudi?
2021-10-29 (or before) in openDemocracyThe power of the House of Saud is a direct product of the West’s obsession with oil – can it survive a global shift to green energy?
Tagged under: Climate Change | Africa | Saudi Arabia
BP paid ex-MI6 spy firm to snoop on green campaigners
2021-10-24 (or before) in openDemocracyExclusive: Oil giant also shared intelligence on environmentalists with British Museum and Warwick University in ‘shocking’ web of surveillance
Tagged under: BP
Glasgow’s COP26 is crunch time to save the world from disaster
2021-10-24 (or before) in openDemocracyLooking back on 30 years of climate conferences, Geoffrey Lean recalls the many missed opportunities for change that led us to this boiling point
Tagged under: COP26 | Climate Change
The path to the square: the role of digital technologies in Belarus’ protests
2020-09-05 (or before) in openDemocracyIn the new information environment, state violence against hyperlocal dispersed protests is becoming less effective in suppressing them. As the situation in Belarus shows, violence is providing a new motivation for people to take to the streets.
The faulty science, doomism, and flawed conclusions of 'Deep Adaptation'
2020-07-21 (or before) in openDemocracyThe claim that runaway climate change has made societal collapse inevitable is not only wrong – it undermines the cause of the climate movement.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Collapse
Exclusive: Police Chief urged Priti Patel to use Extinction Rebellion ‘opportunity’ to curb protest rights
2020-06-05 (or before) in openDemocracyBoris Johnson says protest ‘a key part of democracy’. But new documents show Met Police boss urging government to use XR demos as a ‘much-needed opportunity’ to limit protest laws
Tagged under: Extinction Rebellion
2025 no more? The Tory victory, XR, and the coming storms
2020-01-17 (or before) in openDemocracyThere’s no chance of Boris Johnson’s government implementing any of Extinction Rebellion’s “three demands” to save the climate and biodiversity. So what now?
Tagged under: Extinction Rebellion
System change, not climate change! What 'The Good Place' can teach us about climate action
2019-10-16 (or before) in openDemocracyIt’s pointless to blame Extinction Rebellion activists for eating McDonalds. Like in the TV show The Good Place, it’s the system that’s broken.
Tagged under: Extinction Rebellion | Activism | Climate Change
Growing pain: the delusion of boundless economic growth
2019-10-16 (or before) in openDemocracyGambling on a future of continued economic growth is a bad bet with long odds and extremely high stakes.
Tagged under: Economic Growth
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