Second Nature is a newsletter sent by the Subject Adviser on Climate Change & Environment. The title reminds us that it should become second nature to think about environmental impact when we take decisions, and as instinctively as we think about the financial impact. The main purpose of the newsletter is to prompt discussion in climate groups. You can find other suggestions for group discussions at Discussion Topics.
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Past issues and topics
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| Second Nature 057 March 2026 | GB electricity, backlash against solar farms in Lincolnshire and in Denmark, fracking in Lincolnshire, Germany fails to meet climate target, climate anxiety, politicians on your doorstep, concrete from coffee grounds, do food waste collections encourage waste, takeback scheme for paint, Lidl sets target to reduce its food waste, would you take a used carrier bag from this man? SN057 draws on material from Carbon Brief, the Guardian, resourcemedia, NESO, Gridwatch, The Conversation, Lidl's PR department, and the Climate Matters IGO. All of it is gratefully acknowledged. |
| Second Nature 056 March 2026 | Electricity from solar & wind in EU and GB, CCC's Supplementary Analysis of Seventh Carbon Budget, UK Net Zero and energy security (and national security), extreme heat, climate & health actions need to be taken together, poverty & capitalism (global GDP, B Corps, waste pickers in Kenya). |
| Second Nature 055 March 2026 | Six reasons to do nothing about climate change (pt 6 - we've left it too late), a sports centre achieves net zero, aluminium and plastics, temperature records broken in France and Spain, emissions from aviation could be halved, deforestation is not inevitable, Brazilian eucalyptus, more about wealth and growth. |
| Second Nature 054 February 2026 | Human progress: global decline of extreme poverty, six reasons to do nothing about climate change (pt 5 - net zero for the UK is impossible), crocuses are blooming ahead of schedule, 'vegan but bacon', fossil fuels are the new tobacco, shaming brands makes companies behave, toilet paper tested, economists and environmental scientists see the world differently, still time to stop Heathrow expansion. |
| Second Nature 053 February 2026 | China's CO2 emissions fell year-on-year in most major sectors, six reasons to do nothing about climate change (pt 4 - the scientists don't all agree), links to talks at the National Emergency Briefing, Trumpwatch (repeal of the Endangerment Finding), Britain's rain shows climate predictions playing out as expected, Lincolnshire to drop net zero, online tool for comparing energy use of products and services, sustainable flowers. |
| Second Nature 052 February 2026 | Six reasons to do nothing about climate change (pt 3 - let's be realistic, “my country only emits 1% of emissions” is no excuse, cumulative emissions), ecological economics, GB electricity in January, demand flexibility, Norway transitions to EVs, a shed made from straw, that battery-powered train again. |
| Second Nature 051 February 2026 | Six reasons to do nothing about climate change (pt 2 - climate science in a nutshell, CO2 is a plant food, H2O is a GHG), European offshore wind plan, North Sea CCS, guide to having climate conversations, "beef days", a rapid-charging battery train. |
| Second Nature 050 January 2026 | Wind and solar generated 30% of EU electricity in 2025, six reasons to do nothing about climate change (pt 1 - it's not happening, or it's a hoax), national security assessment on global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, net-zero backlash in the right-wing press, the need to defossilise the chemical industry, misleading claims about recycled plastic packaging, HD Hydro energy storage, skyscrapers built from wood. |
| Second Nature 049 January 2026 | Waste tyre exports to India, cost of net zero (you can't believe everything that you read in the newspapers), research on microplastics in human tissue questioned, solar grazing, High Seas Treaty. |
| Second Nature 048 January 2026 | Food supplies grow faster than population, record year for GB renewable electricity, new nuclear and SMRs, geoengineering, better white paint, waste (more food), UK ecosystems deteriorate, pawprint of dog food, public support for green policies, CO2 battery. |
| Second Nature 047 January 2026 | Global health advances, clean electricity in California and GB, free solar electricity in Australia, backlash against net zero, EPR fees for UK packaging, small actions, UK media divorces climate change from net zero, two reviews of 2025. |
| Second Nature 046 December 2025 | Realism is required, global CO2 emissions same as last year, China's climate pledge, China's Total Fertility Rate, decoupling GDP and emissions, South Korea moves out of coal, the clean energy transition is an opportunity, new records for GB wind, heat pumps don't stress the grid, real cost of wind electricity, nudge against plastic packaging. |
| Second Nature 045 November 2025 | Hans Rosling and 'the secret, silent miracle of human progress', briefings (maternal deaths, child mortality, access to primary education, extreme poverty), 'possibilism' and climate optimism, Bill Gates's memo ahead of COP30, China's emissions falling, investment in renewables should come from defence budget, airport expansion, train vs plane, plastic packaging and ocean plastic, the UK's B Corps. |
| Second Nature 044 October 2025 | CO2 levels, State of Climate Action report, global coal use, talks offered and delivered, shifting baseline syndrome, SN now 'verging on the realistic', Climate Change Act, EAT-Lancet Commission update, profiling environmental criminals, PHEVs, plastic in the gutter. |
| Upcoming talk, and other news October 2025 | Renewables overtake coal as world's biggest source of electricity; most MPs don't know how urgent climate action is. |
| Second Nature 043 October 2025 | China's climate pledge, Greenpeace's Power Shift report, Planetary Health Diet, power demands of AI, marine ecosystems, 'pragmatism' as an excuse for delaying climate action. |
| Second Nature 042 September 2025 | Collapse of the AMOC, trees won't save us, population, the negative footprint illusion, where the climate groups are, India's power sector emissions falling. |
| Second Nature 041 August 2025 | Plastics and health, B Corps, population (After the Spike), OWID's Data Insights, feedback on SN013's 'The N-Word'. Links: plug-in solar panels, air-to-air heat pumps, how to talk to your friends about climate change, the British garden of the future. |
| Second Nature 040 July 2025 | Summary and conclusions based on SN001-SN039. |
| Second Nature 039 June 2025 | Oceans and atmosphere: the oceans are getting darker and more acid, atmosphere is thirstier; WMO climate update, planning and infrastructure bill, pumped storage. |
| Second Nature 038 May 2025 | Sea level rise due to global heating, the circularity gap, the psychology of climate action, the role of the Advertising Standards Agency, government responses to Climate Change Committee recommendations, green electricity in China, a velvety, soft-matte lip mousse that also hydrates. |
| Second Nature 037 May 2025 | CO2 levels in the atmosphere, wind news, solar in Pakistan, wishcycling and greenwashing. |
| Second Nature 036 April 2025 | Carbon removal and the Carbon TakeBack Obligation, psychology of climate action, zonal electricity pricing, renewables, plastics recycling. |
| Second Nature 035 April 2025 | Carbon reduction and carbon removal, GB solar, psychology of climate action, towards a nature-literate society, tyre exports to India. |
| Second Nature 034 March 2025 | A Climate of Truth, is UK net zero possible, sustainable beauty, and some greenwash. |
| Second Nature 033 March 2025 | Psychology of climate change, half of all CO2 emissions come from 36 fossil fuel firms, SAF, ocean currents, a coot's nest in Amsterdam. |
| Second Nature 032 March 2025 | Seventh Carbon Budget, carbon footprint of a potato, "CO2 is not a pollutant", "biggest GHG is H2O", more on chocolate. |
| Second Nature 031 February 2025 | Glaciers and sea ice, SAF, overtourism, personal climate action matters, UK only 1% of the world's emissions, deodorant, fast furniture, ethical chocolate. |
| Second Nature 030 January 2025 | Microplastics, PFAS, what happened to GB electricity on 8 Jan, EfW, feedback from a climate sceptic, ASHP, ADs, EVs and hydrogen HGVs. |
| Second Nature 029 January 2025 | Hottest year on record, Trump, GB wind (and other renewables), carbon instinct, microplastics in bottled water. |
| Second Nature 028 December 2024 | A dunkelflaute (and then new wind records), more about Trump, the myth of carbon footprint, the spectrum of allies, consumerism gone mad. |
| Second Nature 027 December 2024 | New website, attribution studies, tipping points, sustainable aviation. |
| Second Nature 026 November 2024 | Trump's election, EU emissions (again), NESO's Clean Energy 2030, things we can live without this Christmas. |
| Second Nature 025 October 2024 | EU emissions falling, CoP16, pylons, footprint of emails and WhatsApp posts, The Non-Consumers' Association, plastic packaging. |
| Second Nature 024 October 2024 | 'Buts' used to slow climate action, carbon capture & storage, pylons, Power Purchase Agreements, The Non-Consumers' Association. |
| Second Nature 023 September 2024 | Pylons, planetary boundaries. |
| Second Nature 022 September 2024 | Allocation Round 6, plastic overshoot, degrowth. |
| Second Nature 021 August 2024 | Overshoot and negative emissions, degrowth. |
| Second Nature 020 August 2024 | Natural Climate Solutions part 2 - heat, how it works - carbon dioxide, Hannah Ritchie's list of things that don't matter much. |
| Natural Climate Solutions - part 2, heat | A fully-referenced version of the article by Tony Kendle in Second Nature 020. |
| Second Nature 019 July 2024 | Natural Climate Solutions part 1 - water, carbon tunnel syndrome, Climate Matters Group at York Festival. |
| Natural Climate Solutions - part 1, water | A fully-referenced version of the article by Tony Kendle in Second Nature 019. |
| Second Nature 018 July 2024 | The Sixth Carbon Budget, solar churches, refill shops, declutter! |
| Second Nature 017 June 2024 | Restore Nature march, Zero Carbon Britain, can the UK survive on renewables? |
| Second Nature 016 May 2024 | Get ready for 3C of warming! |
| Second Nature 015 April 2024 | Carbon intensity of UK electricity, continuing conversations about Chernobyl, recycling soft plastics, Energy from Waste, dishwashers. |
| Second Nature 014 March 2024 | Nuclear power, on-demand renewable energy, energy from waste, recycling soft plastics, bamboo toilet roll, dishwashers. |
| Second Nature 013 March 2024 | Nuclear power, GB wind, sustainable gardening. |
| Second Nature 012 February 2024 | Valentine's Day verse, reliability of EVs, large-scale electricity storage, wildfires. |
| Second Nature 011 January 2024 | 2023 hottest year on record, press release arithmetic, sustainable aviation fuel, climate science in a nutshell, green gardening. |
| Second Nature 010 December 2023 | Cop28, hydrogen strategy update, divestment, small changes to lifestyle. |
| Second Nature 009 November 2023 | Disco bath light, suggested reading, planetary boundaries, get ready to vote. |
| Second Nature 008 November 2023 | The three 'buts'; optimism, pessimism, doomism, and hope; steps to a sustainable world. |
| Second Nature 007 October 2023 | Pumpkins, population, planetary health diet, 20 mph speed limits. |
| Second Nature 006 October 2023 | Recycled Lego, global temperature data, GB wind industry struggles, State of Nature Report, individual climate action, heat pumps suitable for all property types. |
| Second Nature 005 September 2023 | New heat records, new record for carbon intensity of GB electricity. |
| Second Nature 004 September 2023 | GB wind, contracts for difference, composting, carbon capture and storage, consumer's victory pledge. |
| Second Nature 003 August 2023 | Correction to 002, biomass, ESO app, postcard from the future. |
| Second Nature 002 July 2023 | Oops, China, role of the individual, single-use stuff. |
| Second Nature 001 July 2023 | Climate tribalism, objectives for a u3a climate group. |
- The Reithian Directive defines the mission of the BBC, but I think it is a good objective for a newsletter. ↩︎
- It's not Easy Bein' Green was written by Joe Raposo and sung by Kermit the Frog on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. There are many cover versions, including one by Van Morrison on Hard Nose The Highway. ↩︎
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