UK ‘on track’ to meet ‘challenging’ net zero target, minister declares
The UK is “on track” to meet its “challenging” target of hitting net zero emissions by 2050, a minister has told Sky News.
“I think it’s challenging, but I think we are on track, I think we’re doing quite well,” Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told Kay Burley about the goal.
“If you look, since 1990 we’ve reduced our emissions by 45% and we’ve managed to grow the economy by 80%, this is a world-beating figure.”
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UN: Climate change poses ‘immediate threat’
He added: “It’s 2021 now, I think there’s every chance we will hit the target.
“It’s a lot of work and I think we can do that … it is challenging, it’s not an easy thing, if it were an easy thing we wouldn’t be going on about it.”
Mr Kwarteng was speaking ahead of the release of a landmark United Nations review into climate change.
This found that heatwaves, flooding and droughts will be more frequent and more intense as the world is set to hit the 1.5C global warming limit in the next 20 years.
The milestone scientific assessment says the rate of warming in the last 2,000 years has been “unprecedented” and it was “unequivocal” that human influence is already responsible for 1.1C of global warming since 1850.
Every inhabited region on Earth is already impacted by climate change and the report found that the accepted 1.5C limit will be met even in the best case scenario, causing more regular extreme weather events.
Boris Johnson said the report “makes for sobering reading” and shows “the next decade is going to be pivotal to securing the future of our planet”.
“We know what must be done to limit global warming – consign coal to history and shift to clean energy sources, protect nature and provide climate finance for countries on the frontline,” the prime minister said.
“The UK is leading the way, decarbonising our economy faster than any country in the G20 over the last two decades.
“I hope today’s IPCC report will be a wake-up call for the world to take action now, before we meet in Glasgow in November for the critical COP26 summit.”
But Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said Mr Johnson “still can’t make his mind up whether he cares about the climate or not”.
“The UK should lead the world in tackling the climate emergency, instead we’re showing other countries that climate inaction is acceptable,” he said.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer added: “The IPCC report is the starkest reminder yet that the climate crisis is here right now and is the biggest long-term threat we face. The biggest threat we now face is not climate denial but climate delay.”
Ahead of COP26 gathering later this year, the climate minister has come in for criticism for travelling by plane to 30 countries in seven months.
Labour frontbencher Wes Streeting told Sky News on Monday that the travel was “not a good look”.
“They [the public] want the government to take action, but we can’t have a ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ mantra, ‘One rule for them, one rule for everyone else’ mantra coming from the government, because we’ve got to take the country with us,” the shadow child poverty secretary said.
“We have all got to play our part.”
The business secretary defended Mr Sharma’s foreign travel however, arguing that “if you’re trying to conduct international diplomacy, if you’re trying to build trust with other people, I think face-to-face meetings are critical for that”.
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“COP26 is a big international event, it’s probably the biggest international event of international diplomacy that we’ve hosted in decades and he has to go and forge those alliances, he has to build networks, he has to deliver on people’s commitments and that does involve foreign travel,” Mr Kwarteng said.
He added that Zoom “has its limitations”, saying: “I think it’s effective in some quarters, but if you’re trying to conduct international diplomacy, if you’re trying to build trust with other people, I think face-to-face meetings are critical for that.”
Sky News has launched the first daily prime time news show dedicated to climate change.
The Daily Climate Show is broadcast at 6.30pm and 9.30pm Monday to Friday on Sky News, the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.
Hosted by Anna Jones, it follows Sky News correspondents as they investigate how global warming is changing our landscape and how we all live our lives.
The show also highlights solutions to the crisis and how small changes can make a big difference.
Panama’s capital city will accept cryptocurrency payments for taxes and municipal fees, including bus tickets and permits, Panama City mayor Mayer Mizrachi announced on April 15, joining a growing list of jurisdictions globally that have voted to accept such payments.
Panama City will begin accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Circle’s USDC (USDC), and Tether’s USDt (USDT) stablecoin for payment once the crypto-to-fiat payment rails are established, Mizrachi posted on the X platform.
Mizrachi said previous administrations attempted to push through similar legislation but failed to overcome stipulations requiring the local government to accept funds denominated in US dollars.
In a translated statement, the Panama City mayor said that the local government partnered with a bank that will immediately convert any digital assets received into US dollars, allowing the municipality to accept crypto without introducing new legislation.
Panama City joins a growing list of global jurisdictions on the municipal and state level accepting cryptocurrency payments for taxes, exploring Bitcoin strategic reserves to protect public treasuries from inflation and passing pro-crypto policies to attract investment.
Related: New York bill proposes legalizing Bitcoin, crypto for state payments
Municipalities and states embrace digital assets
Several municipalities and territories around the globe already accept crypto for tax payments or are exploring various implementations of blockchain technology for government spending.
The US state of Colorado started accepting crypto payments for taxes in September 2022. Much like Panama City said it will do, Colorado immediately converts the crypto to fiat.
In December 2023, the city of Lugano, Switzerland, announced taxes and city fees could be paid in Bitcoin, which was one of the developments that earned it the reputation of being a globally recognized Bitcoin city.
The city council of Vancouver, Canada, passed a motion to become “Bitcoin-friendly city” in December 2024. As part of that motion, the Vancouver local government will explore integrating BTC into the financial system, including tax payments.
North Carolina lawmaker Neal Jackson introduced legislation titled “The North Carolina Digital Asset Freedom Act” on April 10. If passed, the bill will recognize cryptocurrencies as an official form of payment that can be used to pay taxes.
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As digital assets gain mainstream adoption, establishing a legal framework for stablecoins is a “good idea,” said US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
In an April 16 panel at the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell commented on the evolution of the cryptocurrency industry, which has delivered a consumer use case that “could have wide appeal” following a difficult “wave of failures and frauds,” he said.
Powell delivers remarks at the Economic Club of Chicago. Source: Bloomberg Television
During crypto’s difficult years, which culminated in 2022 and 2023 with several high-profile business failures, the Fed “worked with Congress to try to get a […] legal framework for stablecoins, which would have been a nice place to start,” said Powell. “We were not successful.”
“I think that the climate is changing and you’re moving into more mainstreaming of that whole sector, so Congress is again looking […] at a legal framework for stablecoins,” he said.
“Depending on what’s in it, that’s a good idea. We need that. There isn’t one now,” said Powell.
This isn’t the first time Powell acknowledged the need for stablecoin legislation. In June 2023, the Fed boss told the House Financial Services Committee that stablecoins were “a form of money” that requires “robust” federal oversight.
Related: Stablecoins are the best way to ensure US dollar dominance — Web3 CEO
Support for stablecoin legislation is growing
The election of US President Donald Trump has ushered in a new era of pro-crypto appointments and policy shifts that could make America a digital asset superpower.
Washington’s formal embrace of cryptocurrency began earlier this year when Trump established the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, with Bo Hines as the executive director.
Hines told a digital asset summit in New York last month that a comprehensive stablecoin bill was a top priority for the current administration. After the Senate Banking Committee passed the GENIUS Act, a final stablecoin bill could arrive at the president’s desk “in the next two months,” said Hines.
Bo Hines (right) speaks of “imminent” stablecoin legislation at the Digital Asset Summit on March 18. Source: Cointelegraph
Stablecoins pegged to the US dollar are by far the most popular tokens used for remittances and cryptocurrency trading.
The combined value of all stablecoins is currently $227 billion, according to RWA.xyz. The dollar-pegged USDC (USDC) and USDt (USDT) account for more than 88% of the total market.
Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom
An appellate court has granted a joint request from Ripple Labs and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pause an appeal in a 2020 SEC case against Ripple amid settlement negotiations.
In an April 16 filing in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the court approved a joint SEC-Ripple motion to hold the appeal in abeyance — temporarily pausing the case — for 60 days. As part of the order, the SEC is expected to file a status report by June 15.
The SEC’s case against Ripple and its executives, filed in December 2020, was expected to begin winding down after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced on March 19 that the commission would be dropping its appeal against the blockchain firm. A federal court found Ripple liable for $125 million in an August ruling, resulting in both the SEC and blockchain firm filing an appeal and cross-appeal, respectively.
However, once US President Donald Trump took office and leadership of the SEC moved from former chair Gary Gensler to acting chair Mark Uyeda, the commission began dropping multiple enforcement cases against crypto firms in a seeming political shift. Ripple pledged $5 million in XRP to Trump’s inauguration fund, and Garlinghouse and chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty attended events supporting the US president.
Related: SEC dropping Ripple case is ‘final exclamation mark’ that XRP is not a security — John Deaton
Despite support for the end of the case coming from both Ripple and the SEC, the August 2024 judgment and appellate cases leave some legal entanglements. Alderoty said in March that Ripple would drop its cross-appeal with the SEC and receive a roughly $75 million refund from the lower court judgment. It’s unclear what else may result from negotiations over a settlement in appellate court.
New leadership at SEC incoming
Acting chair Uyeda is expected to step down following the US Senate confirming Paul Atkins as SEC chair on April 9.
During his confirmation hearings, lawmakers questioned Atkins about his ties to crypto, which could create conflicts of interest in his role regulating the industry. In financial disclosures, Atkins stated he had millions of dollars in assets through stakes in crypto firms, including Securitize, Pontoro and Patomak.
Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered
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