The Government’s financial support for fossil fuel companies is being overlooked

Bob Ward explores the subsidies currently doled out by the government to fossil fuel companies and asks why it has not attracted the same degree of criticism as subsidies for the renewable energy industry

Another campaign that makes inaccurate and misleading claims about the science of climate change has been thoroughly discredited

Bob Ward takes to task David Rose, author of an article in The Mail on Sunday that makes inaccurate and misleading claims about the science of climate change

A study with erroneous claims about the impacts of global warming has finally been corrected

A journal article claiming that moderate amounts of global warming have overall positive benefits has been quietly corrected after Bob Ward pointed out a number of errors. The updated analysis now claims “impacts are always negative”, but the erroneous findings have been used to inform a recent report by the IPCC which still needs to be corrected. This episode underlines the need for greater transparency at academic journals and by researchers

New figures published by the IMF show the UK provides more subsidies for fossil fuels than renewables

An IMF report has quantified the subsidies provided for the fossil fuel industry, finding the UK will spend £26 billion this year, amounting to far more than the subsidies provided for renewables. Bob Ward summarises the findings

Do male climate change 'sceptics' have a problem with women?

Although clearly not all climate change 'sceptics' are male, writes Bob Ward, it does appear that those who most intensely promote climate change denial are usually male, and routinely refer to female climate scientists in a dismissive way. He provides some evidence for his argument

Why the ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement is bad news for Donald Trump

Late last week, the US and China announced that they had ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, an accord which Donald Trump has vowed to renegotiate if he wins the White House this fall. Bob Ward writes that if the Agreement comes into force – which will be very likely if it is ratified by the EU’s Member States – Trump will likely be unable to withdraw the US from it over the course of a single presidential term

The US and China’s ratification of the Paris climate agreement puts pressure on the EU to quickly do the same

The US and China have announced that they have ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. This is despite Donald Trump vowing to renegotiate the agreement if he wins the US presidential election in November. Bob Ward writes that if the Agreement comes into force – which will be very likely if it is ratified by the EU’s Member States – Trump will likely be unable to withdraw the US from it over the course of a single presidential term

What next for the Greens? The Green Party after Natalie Bennett

Natalie Bennett recently announced that she will not seek re-election for a third term as leader of the Green Party. James Dennison evaluates Bennett’s leadership, as well as the impact that the negative press coverage she received had on the party. Thanks to the party’s growing membership under her leadership – having attracted voters from Labour and from the Liberal Democrats – the new Green leader will have to perform a balancing act in articulating the party’s future direction

Congress is targeting the academic freedom of climate change scholars that they do not agree with

Last weekend allegations surfaced over undisclosed ties between Dr Willie Soon, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and corporate interests from the energy industry. Dr Soon is now under investigation, and a Democratic member of Congress has used it as an opportunity to suggest climate change academics who have been invited by Republicans to give evidence at Congressional hearings may also have hidden links to the fossil fuel industry. Bob Ward writes that these allegations are based on partisanship rather than evidence, and that academics from all disciplines should fight attempts by Congressional members from both sides of the aisle to stifle academic freedom

The extension and successes of California's cap-and-trade programme suggests the future of US climate policy may not be so bleak.

Despite President Trump withdrawing from the Paris Agreement in June, Bob Ward highlights that an extension on California’s cap-and-trade programme represents a bipartisan demonstration of climate leadership and cause for optimis