Energy Seminar - Week 1: Energy policy at a time of multiple crises: is the UK government getting it right?


Jim Watson will speak in person at the Main Lecture Theatre, ECI, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford. This talk will be streamed through TEAMS and recorded. See www.energy.ox.ac.uk/events to access the TEAMS streaming link. The recording will be available within 5 working days after each seminar on www.energy.ox.ac.uk, PAST EVENTS

Energy policy has rarely been so challenging. The imperative to rapidly reduce emissions to climate change has been reinforced by increasing evidence of climate change impacts. During the past year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has accelerated increases in oil and gas prices, with serious implications for Europe and many other regions of the world. This has piled pressure on households and businesses who have faced unprecedented increases in energy bills. This lecture will discuss these pressures, and how they have affected energy policy objectives of sustainability, security and affordability. It will also examine the policy response in the UK. In common with many other countries, the UK government has responded with a strategy for energy security and large scale subsidies for households and businesses. But many have questioned this strategy and subsequent policy announcements, particularly the relative lack of action on energy demand and decisions on new fossil fuel development. The lecture will explore whether the government is doing enough, and whether they are getting their energy policy priorities right.