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Columnist and Environment

How 2023 saw the UK going backwards on climate issues

The past 12 months featured constant alarming news on the environment coupled to a political class still not heeding the warnings from scientists. But there have been highs amid the lows, says Graham Lawton

By Graham Lawton

13 December 2023

Youth from Fridays for Future organization stage a protest calling to cease fires and end fossil fuels in the conference venue, Blue Zone during the COP28, UN Climate Change Conference, held by UNFCCC in Dubai Exhibition Center, United Arab Emirates on December 8, 2023. COP28, running from November 30 to December 12 focuses on particular nations' decarbonisation goals. The Conference in Dubai focuses also on the most vulnerable communities and Loss and Damage (Photo by Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via Getty Images) — Youth from Fridays for Future organization stage a protest calling to cease fires and end fossil fuels
Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto/Getty

I WILL remember 2023 as another year of sadness and anger, and not just because of my personal loss. Constant alarming news on the environment coupled to a political class still largely unable or unwilling to heed the warnings from scientists frequently make my job a gloomy place.

This is especially so in the UK, where our shopping trolley of a government has veered alarmingly to the right on a lot of what ex-prime…

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