Masdar needs you – Five things we’ve learnt this week

Masdar needs you

The world's greenest city is slowly rising out of the Abu Dhabi desert, but its success now rests on the ability to attract the world's top green firms to the site. Siemens has already confirmed a major new facility will be located within the green city, while Khalifa University has also been attracted by the settlement's electric car network, renewable energy, and beautiful modern architecture. However, Abu Dhabi is now seeking to attract more corporate backers to the green jewel of the desert.

The government does not do losing gracefully

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That seems to be the government's approach as it attempts to cut solar feed-in tariffs were again ruled unlawful, and ministers again responded by seeking another appeal. The net result is that the solar industry still cannot gauge the current feed-in tariff rate with any confidence, prompting accusations ministers are reverting to a "cynical" appeal in order to dampen demand for solar panels ahead of the scheduled March 3 cut to incentives.

MPs understand the carbon market better than the Treasury

The Energy and Climate Change Committee underlined its position as one of the few voices of green reason in Westminster with the release of a report that eloquently explained how the UK's carbon floor price will not work without similar action at an EU level. The big question is whether or not George Osborne is listening?

Green school building standards could be expelled

The Green Building industry is deeply concerned that Education Secretary Michael Gove is preparing to quietly axe the requirement for all new school buildings to meet or exceed the BREEAM 'very good' standard. It's too bureaucratic, says the government, and there are simpler ways to get schools to develop green buildings. Not so, says the Green Building Council, which insists the standard is increasingly popular and helps ensure that schools are built to a high standard that helps cut emissions and energy costs.

Climate change threats are real, and scary

Certain sections of the media may have chosen to focus on the apparent "benefits" outlined in the government's new Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) report, such as milder winters and longer fruit growing seasons, but the real story lay in the sheer scale of the likely negative impacts. Flooding is set to cost billions of pounds a year during the second half of the century, while droughts and rising sea levels will also present major challenges. And all that is before you begin to consider the havoc that will be wreaked by significantly more severe impacts in less temperate countries to the south.