Piddling in the Wind – Part 2
Not reading the global room
Posted on 09 Sep 25
by Mark Hodgson
In Piddling in the Wind I criticised the failure of the UK government to get anywhere near its targets for heat pump installations, despite the huge amounts of money being thrown at this objective. This can now be seen to stand as a metaphor for a much bigger failure. Earlier today Robin Guenier drew the attention of Clisceppers to the fact that the European Commission’s Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) has just been updated. The latest version can be found here.
Of course, unlike the abject failure of the UK government’s heat pump roll-out, the government can at least claim that it is making progress in reducing the country’s territorial emissions, albeit at terrible cost (financial, economic and environmental). The manifest failure, however, is with regard to the oft-repeated claims that we in the UK must lead the way, because others will follow. As is evidenced by the updated data, this claim is patently false.
Robin quite rightly drew attention in his brief comment to the main findings, thus:
Compared with 2023 global GHG emissions increased by 665.6 Mt. China, India, Russia and Indonesia all increased their emissions, with Indonesia having the largest increase in relative terms (+ 5.0%) and India the largest in absolute terms (164.8 Mt).
Note also how Brazil, the host of COP30 and the world’s sixth biggest emitter, has continued to increase emissions.
However, there is much more to note.
https://cliscep.com/2025/09/09/piddling-in-the-wind-part-2/
