Ben Tuxworth’s Posts

• Climate change policy as prescription for British health care? 0

  Posted 1 month, 4 weeks ago

  Britain's National Health Service could be getting a climate-change makeover. New studies suggest that greening the NHS would save money, jobs, and lives.

• It's hot. It's cool. It's a box.

  Kyoto stove wins $75,000 FT climate change innovation competition 17

  Posted 7 months ago

  The Kyoto box, a solar-powered cardboard cooker, has been named the year’s best climate change-tackling innovation.

• Brit's Eye View: Where's Britain's green stimulus?

  Will a shortage of green investment leave the U.K. behind in the race to develop clean tech? 0

  Posted 7 months, 1 week ago

  With "green stimulus" all the rage this side of the Atlantic too, there's a fair amount of interest in a) how much we're going to spend and b) on what.

• Brit's Eye View: Is Barack Obama the American Tony Blair?

  Is Obama up to the challenge on climate and the economy, or will he disappoint like Blair? 0

  Posted 8 months, 4 weeks ago

  It already seems so long ago, when, like you, we anxious eco-Brits spent a tense few minutes on Jan. 20 deconstructing Obama's inauguration speech.

  There was plenty to cheer: "The ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet." (Well spotted!) "Without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control." (Bloody good point!) "We will restore science to its rightful place." (Yes! Stuff the creationist nutters!) "The success of our economy always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend… Read More

• Brit's Eye View: Wise after the event

  The insurance industry is making strides on climate, but has further to go 2

  Posted 10 months, 2 weeks ago

  After another year full of unpleasant surprises, you'd think the insurance sector would be ratcheting up its response to big risks like climate change. The U.K. industry has about $15 trillion of assets under management, so the potential to play a significant role in getting others to factor in climate change looks substantial. A new initiative in London is showing the global industry how to go about it.

  ClimateWise was launched in 2007 by the Prince of Wales. His view was that "if insurance companies could take a strategic view across all aspects of what they do and look… Read More

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Ben Tuxworth’s Recent Comments

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  Thanks for all these comments...

  The problem with innovation is never a shortage of ideas - the patents offices have thousands and thousands of great ideas registered over the years, that never made it to market.  Our competition was about finding innovations that were market ready and therefore promising as investment opportunities.  We did know that there are variations on the solar oven idea already out there, but the innovative element of the Kyoto box was the simplicity of approach, using existing manufacturing processes (initially a cardboard factory in Kenya, now developing a more durable plastic version in Indonesia) and simple resources to offer a full kit. As a result these boxes are cheap enough to retail in Africa and have a significant impact -  this could be cost neutral if carbon credits are factored in as part of an offset project. 

  And don't forget this was a competition -  other organisations working in this area unfortunately did not apply to the Challenge.   If you want to win the race you have to show up!  The judges and  the voting public saw merit in this idea ahead of the others on the basis of the idea and its planned path to market.  Social acceptability is a big part of this challenge, and  we'll follow up later in the year to see how the Kyoto box got on...

  On Kyoto stove wins $75,000 FT climate change innovation competition posted 6 months, 4 weeks ago 17 Responses

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  The sceptic curve

  Thanks for the comment.  Wilson sets out the 'not man-made' sceptical case, now that being sceptical about the change itself is pretty much impossible to hold as a line. Some of what he says is plain wrong - the much used idea of carbon emissions lagging temperature increases for example has been comprehensively debunked: a range of such myths are usefully exploded by ex Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government Sir David King in his book 'The Hot Topic'.  But there are always scientists who don't agree - a scientific consensus is by definition a highly caveat-laden proposition.  The point for policy is that most scientists and commentators now accept evidence that we are causing climate change is sufficiently firmly established to prompt precautionary action. To imply as Wilson does that there is an equal body of science suggesting climate change is from some other cause is disingenuous to say the least.  These tactics - to hold up the possibility of doubt as a reason not to act and to suggest governments are acting because of some sort of green conspiracy - are well past their sell-by date.  The risk to the Northern Irish economy that Wilson sees in discouraging carbon intensive business (if indeed any such thing is happening) is trivial compared to the much greater risk to that economy of being left behind as business elsewhere responds to the need to mitigate, both directly and through its supply chain.  On Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales are pursuing dramatically different environmental strategies posted 1 year ago 2 Responses