The UK's Royal Society was founded in 1660. Among its fellows have been numbered some of the most notable scientists in human history, such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein. Election as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) is still a significant honour, for scientists who are not just eminent in their field, but have made a significant contribution to scientific knowledge. Since 2018, Elon Musk has been among their number. To carry out groundbreaking scientific research, it is not necessary, of course, to be a nice person. However the Royal Society does have a Code of Condu ..read more

In September 2024, scientists and NGO representatives wrote to Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, calling on the government to pause plans to invest £1bn in carbon capture and storage to produce blue hydrogen (from fossil gas) and to capture carbon dioxide from new gas-fired power stations. (see coverage in the Guardian here) One of the main concerns raised  in our letter was that even if carbon capture is successful (and the technology has a dubious record) it cannot compensate for the upstream emissions from methane leaks, transport and processing of liqu ..read more

The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental human right, but it has been seriously undermined in the UK in recent years. The latest example of this is the arrest of the Chief Steward, Chris Nineham, and others at the recent Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration on 18th January and the subsequent bringing of charges against Ben Jamal, the Director of the PSC, based on claims which video evidence seems to clearly contradict.  The conditions which were imposed by the Metropolitan Police on the protest, preventing assembly at the BBC despite a track record of peaceful protests for o ..read more

Dear Prime Minister This year, it will be a decade since the Paris Agreement was signed. Yet fossil fuel emissions continue to rise, and the window to avert the worst impacts of climate breakdown is rapidly closing. At this critical moment, the re-election of Donald Trump as president of the United States seriously increases the grave danger we are in.  Trump’s presidency will have a direct effect by further increasing US emissions. If he pulls the US out from the Paris climate agreement, and potentially even from the entire UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the indirect effects ..read more

Trump's first orders as President: the US to leave the Paris climate agreement and cease funding the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). declaring an 'energy emergency', promising to fast-track fossil fuel permits and revoking restrictions on drilling in Alaska. ending Biden's pause on liquid gas exports a ban on wind energy permits rolling back measures to reduce vehicle emissions a 90 day pause on US foreign aid Other disturbing measures included exiting the World Health Organization, and declaring a 'border emergency' paving the way to send US troops to ..read more

Below are photos of our protest at the US embassy in London. Thanks to all who came, and especially to the speakers! Trump plans to boost US oil and gas production, gut environmental protections and slash clean energy investment. Claiming global warming is a hoax, he intends to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, even while the toll from climate disasters mounts in the US and around the world. We can’t let him derail global progress towards averting the worst of climate breakdown. Another date for your diaries: there will be a 'Together against Trump' rally opposite Downing Street duri ..read more

Not just in the US, but around the world, so many woke up with grief and horror to the discovery that Donald Trump had again won the US election. We don't need to have any illusions about the status quo - the US's long history of abuses of power and its unapologetic contribution to climate breakdown - to understand that Trump's second presidency is a catastrophe. At a crucial point where our heating climate is already increasingly erratic and dangerous, and we are very close to tipping points, he will pull back hard from global efforts to reverse the acceleration of fossil fuel pollution. Wi ..read more

After 14 years of Tory government, Labour has swept to power on a wave of disillusionment and anger at the Conservative Party. This is an opportunity to fix much that has been broken in this country, to build a fairer society, and, crucially, to take urgent action on the existential threat of climate breakdown, which is already causing destruction around the world, hitting those who have done least to cause the crisis hardest. Will that opportunity be taken? Time to act on climate Globally, every month since June 2023 has set a new temperature record for that month. This excess heat has resu ..read more

In the narrow window of time remaining to avert dangerous climate tipping points, the next UK government must bring real solutions to move our economy off fossil fuels. It must invest to transform the economy for a cleaner, fairer future, and address the interlocking social crises this country faces. The election announcement on 22 May was certainly memorable. As Rishi Sunak spoke in the rain, Things Can Only Get Better was played loudly in the background by protesters. But - 'better' is not enough in a time of climate breakdown. We have had a year of unprecedented global temperatures, with ..read more

In their current form, coral reefs have been around for around 60 million years. A quarter of all marine life, including over 4,000 species of fish, are dependent on coral reefs at some point in their life cycle. But these extraordinary ecosystems cannot survive the regular marine heatwaves caused by global heating. In the 1980s, the first observed incidents occurred of coral reefs turning white over extended areas. Scientist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg discovered the cause. Corals are animals related to jellyfish and anemones. Their polyps take food from the water but they also depend on symbiotic a ..read more