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The politics of food (pt.1)
Of all aspects of the climate debate, there is probably none more emotional or divisive than the politics of food. Diet is deeply personal and loaded with cultural meaning. And, for too many people, simply affording healthy food is becoming increasingly difficult. In this newsletter I’m going to look at just one aspect of the…
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How did a conspiracy theory become government policy… and should we worry?
One of the most curious government announcements of late was UK Transport Secretary Mark Harper’s pledge to “stop the misuse of 15 minute cities” where “local councils can decide how often you go to the shops”. 15 minute cities – known in Scotland as ’20 minute neighbourhoods’ – are an urban planning approach intended to…
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What will people give up to save the planet? This might be the wrong question.
Last month’s newsletter explored the high levels of support amongst the UK public for environmental action, after the Uxbridge by-election led to a race by politicians to distance themselves from the green agenda. While the point still stands – the evidence on public opinion is consistent and remarkably clear – it is always worth interrogating attitudes…
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Politicians are underestimating how popular environmental policies are
Would the public support a new wind farm being built on their doorstep? According to MPs, no. A survey of MPs last year found that they were twice as likely to think their constituents would oppose a wind development (43%) than support it (19%). Yet when you ask the public themselves you get a dramatically different answer. More…
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Climate change: Scottish farming needs help to reduce its stubbornly high greenhouse gas emissions
First published in the Scotsman. There was good news and bad news in Scotland’s latest climate emissions statistics, published last week. The good news is that our emissions have fallen significantly over the past decades, down nearly 50 per cent since 1990. The bad news is that we missed our 2021 target, meaning we have even…
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Dan Paris 