Climate change
Portrait of the week: Cameron’s cash, A-grades abound and Tower Bridge won’t budge
Home With less frightening domestic data on the coronavirus pandemic to ponder, subjects such as the rivalry between Boris Johnson,…
In defence of net zero: yes, we can afford it
Ending emissions will cost less than tackling Covid
The Greek wildfires and the failings of the state
The wildfires raging across Greece for what is by now more than a week, show no sign of abating. High…
What's the truth about the UN's 'code red' climate warning?
Predictably enough, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report has been greeted with hyperbole about fire, flood and tempest. It is…
Revealed: the BBC guide for covering climate change
Climate change is once again dominating the news agenda. A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that even if…
Chris Packham’s suggestions to save the world
On Monday 2 August, the BBC Today programme offered its ‘Countdown to COP26’. For the rest of the month, Amol…
The danger of Boris Johnson’s eco-obsession
It is a notable feather in Nigel Farage’s cap that his new evening show on GB News has already become…
The West’s moralising over climate change will cost India
On Tuesday, I chaired a session at Policy Exchange addressed by Tony Abbott, the eloquent former prime minister of Australia,…
Britain, climate change and the reality of extreme weather events
‘Extreme weather will be the norm,’ says the Guardian. Britain is gaining a more ‘violent’ climate according to Sir James…
Let’s hope the Third World prevails at COP26
On Tuesday, I chaired a session at Policy Exchange addressed by Tony Abbott, the eloquent former prime minister of Australia,…
Iran is running out of water
It’s far from an exact science, but if you want to get a sense of where the world is heading…
Is climate change to blame for Germany’s flooding?
Greta Thunberg has declared the floods in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands to be the product of man-made climate change,…
Rishi Sunak and the coming Tory battle over climate change
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, isn’t normally given to waffle, which makes his maiden appearance on GB News all the more…
The shifting language of shame
As his tweed jacket flapped open to one side of his stomach, my husband stood up unsteadily and arched his…
Joe Biden's skewed climate change priorities
It’s not hard to see why politicians like Joe Biden and Boris Johnson want to talk about climate change. First…
Can Boris Johnson's green makeover woo red wall voters?
COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference due to be held in Glasgow, isn’t until November, but work is already…
Theatre's final taboo: fun
The stage has become a pleasure-free zone in which snarling dramatists fight over their pet political causes, says Lloyd Evans
Unhappy blend of melodrama and allegory: Southwark Playhouse’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice reviewed
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a musical fantasy set in a Nordic town near the Arctic circle. Johan is a magician…
The good news on climate
As I watch the snow blow past my window, it’s hard not to scoff at the idea of a ‘climate…
The elitism lurking at the heart of the green movement
There’s a movement in the UK that is trying to block the building of essential new council housing. It is…
California burning
Oakland The air in Northern California was thick and yellow in November 2018. The hills were wrapped not in salty…
What we can learn from Sweden
It is a particular pleasure to be returning to the columns of The Spectator, more than half a century after…
An environmentalist's apology: ‘I was guilty of alarmism’
This article was originally published on Forbes website, but subsequently taken down. On behalf of environmentalists everywhere, I would like…
Tree-ring analysis has solved many historical mysteries
History is only as good as its sources. It is limited largely to what has survived of written records, and…
France's citizens' climate convention has come back to bite Macron
Those of us who are sceptical about the worth of citizens’ assemblies have been noting with interest the upshot of…
