Climate policy becomes industrial policy The Commission's publications are framed less as conventional climate measures than as a response to competitiveness, energy security, and the political cost of Europe's continued dependence on imported fossil fuels. The Middle East conflict earlier this year added more than €50 billion to the EU's fossil fuel import bill. Energy prices remain a structural drag […]
Demand for clean energy technologies is rising across Europe at the very time that European countries are falling behind on deployment targets in critical sectors. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have reaffirmed the case for accelerating the clean energy transition as a route to greater energy security. Yet supply chains underpinning key technologies […]
The Middle East conflict risks sparking a renewed affordability crisis The ongoing conflict in the Gulf has led to a sharp rise in gas prices across the globe. For example, the NBP one-month forward gas future price, a key benchmark for UK gas prices, has risen by over 50% since the start of the year. Energy consumers in the UK are particularly exposed: gas sets the UK wholesale electricity price around 60% of the time according to DESNZ, and almost 90% of households in England use gas as the main […]
Asia-Pacific bearing the brunt of shortages Roughly 80% of crude oil and LNG passing through the Strait of Hormuz is destined for Asia, making the region especially vulnerable to the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East. The scale of impact varies market-to-market: Beyond energy, the impact is compounded by second-order supply disruptions. The possibility of fertiliser shortages is a particular concern – India, […]
Context In the midst of wider political turmoil, the UK’s energy department has had a strong start to 2026. The bold decision to procure a record amount of offshore wind in AR7 was followed up by £15bn allocated through the Warm Homes Plan, the signing of the Hamburg Declaration, the Local Power Plan, and another […]
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Great Britain are moving from technological experiments to real world pilots, driven by advances in AI, sustained private investment, and growing interest in safer and more innovative transport systems. AVs are seen as a “status symbol” for cities, associated with the Silicon Valley. London wants to show it is an early […]
The UK Government has committed to leverage the power of data to support economic growth. The Industrial Strategy set out the ambition to capitalise on the value of UK data, treating it as an economic asset. The recent adoption of the Data (Use and Access) Act has now enabled the implementation of this ambition, establishing the […]
The next six months will be a defining period for the UK’s clean energy transition. The government’s Clean Power 2030 (CP2030) target means scaling up renewables and grid infrastructure to four times the level of investment seen over the past five years - estimated at £40bn per year through to 2030. Delivery depends on coordinated, […]
One of the most significant energy policy decisions in years was made by the UK government this month, when it confirmed plans to rule out zonal pricing for the GB electricity market. Instead, government will progress to “reformed national pricing” – which means sticking with the current wholesale market structure and pursuing evolutionary changes, namely […]
The UK’s data centre policy and regulatory environment is undergoing a period of rapid transformation. Demand for data centre capacity as part of global AI infrastructure is expected to scale exponentially. The UK government is seeking to establish itself as a global destination for data centre investment, as a route to the growth of the […]
As Ursula von der Leyen peers out of her window on the 13th floor of the Berlaymont building in Brussels, she wouldn’t be blamed for taking the dark December days as an omen for the EU’s situation. The headwinds Pro-European parties have suffered repeated setbacks since the EU elections in June. The elections resulted in a divided […]
Many assumed that the intense political debate on energy bills would have dissipated by now, given prices peaked in the summer of last year and have fallen significantly since. However the new Government’s decision to introduce means-testing of the winter fuel allowance for pensioners – just at the point energy prices are starting to creep […]
