Sep 24, 2026 · 26 min · 9 segments
Are we giving up on action to combat climate change? The idea that we *should* at least slowing down our efforts to decarbonize energy production has been gaining a lot of traction in political…
Tom NicholasHost
Miatta FahnbullehGuest
We're kind of talking just after a sort of record-breaking summer in the UK, and maybe not in a particularly fantastic way.
The last Tuesday, the Met Office announced that we'd experienced what is provisionally they're calling the hottest summer on record.
Three of the top 10 hottest days since records began back in the 1880s happened in the UK this year.
And the UK's Health Security Agency and their stats on excess deaths due to heat waves this year is already approaching 3000, which kind of makes it a record year.
You've obviously stepped into the role of Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero against that kind of backdrop.
What's that been like for that to be the stuff that's happening around you as you've taken on this role?
You know, for me, the record heat waves, the droughts, the wildfires are a stark reminder that climate change is here.
The thing the experts have been warning us about for decades is now being felt and experienced in our communities.
The number one responsibility of any government is to do what is required to make sure that we're protecting our communities, because at the heart of this are people's homes, their businesses, their communities, their spaces that they love.
And we see that when we have extreme weather, it has a massive impact on that.
But more importantly, it kind of galvanises you that this is the time for action, not words, not provocation, action.
We're kind of talking just after a sort of record-breaking summer in the UK, and maybe not in a particularly fantastic way.
The last Tuesday, the Met Office announced that we'd experienced what is provisionally they're calling the hottest summer on record.
Three of the top 10 hottest days since records began back in the 1880s happened in the UK this year.
And the UK's Health Security Agency and their stats on excess deaths due to heat waves this year is already approaching 3000, which kind of makes it a record year.
You've obviously stepped into the role of Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero against that kind of backdrop.
What's that been like for that to be the stuff that's happening around you as you've taken on this role?
You know, for me, the record heat waves, the droughts, the wildfires are a stark reminder that climate change is here.
The thing the experts have been warning us about for decades is now being felt and experienced in our communities.
The number one responsibility of any government is to do what is required to make sure that we're protecting our communities, because at the heart of this are people's homes, their businesses, their communities, their spaces that they love.
And we see that when we have extreme weather, it has a massive impact on that.
But more importantly, it kind of galvanises you that this is the time for action, not words, not provocation, action.
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