July global temperature (+1.16°C relative to 1880-1920 mean) was within a hair (0.02°C) of being the warmest July in the era of instrumental measurements (Fig. 1, left).  That’s remarkable because we are still under the influence of a fairly strong La Nina (Fig. 1, right).  Global cooling associated with La Ninas peaks five months after the La Nina peak,[1] on average.

Something is going on in addition to greenhouse warming.  The 12-month running mean global temperature (blue curve in Fig. 2) has already reached its local minimum.  Barring a large volcano that fills the stratosphere with aerosols, the blue curve should rise over the next 12 months because Earth is now far out of energy balance – more energy coming in than going out.

Experts say chancellor refusing to commit spending needed to shift economy to low-carbon footing

Fiona Harvey – 13/8/21
The Treasury is blocking green policies essential to put the UK on track to net zero emissions, imperilling the UK’s own targets and the success of vital UN climate talks, experts have told the Guardian.
A string of policies, from home insulation to new infrastructure spending, have been scrapped, watered down or delayed. Rows about short term costs have dominated over longer term warnings that putting off green spending now will lead to much higher costs in future.

Decades of building bypasses may be drawing to a close in Wales, according to Lee Waters, the Welsh Government’s deputy climate change minister. The government made headlines in June when it announced a freeze on existing road schemes pending the outcome of a review, to be conducted by a Roads Review Panel. 
However, Waters told LTT: “The real importance of the roads review is not for schemes currently on the blocks, it’s for all future road schemes.

Fresh Sports Marketing Surveys data suggests that 6.7% of the UK’s working population is now commuting by bike, while the broader modal share appears to have hit 3%.
Compared to 2020, the number of people cycling to work has held up strongly. In week one of the study, back in mid-June of 2020, just 1.3% of people overall, and 4.5% of all those working said they were commuting by bike (though it should be noted working from home rates and use of furlough schemes were high at the time). Just over one year on, as the UK emerged from lockdown in July 2021, the figure stands at 3% of the overall population and 6.7% of those working.

In the UK surface transport is the single largest contributor of greenhouse gases, producing 23% of our emissions, and we’ve made no significant in-roads to cutting that contribution, in a decade. So what needs to change, and are we (and our policymakers) capable of doing it?

Three train carriages have been customised to carry up to 60 bikes on the new ScotRail Highland Explorer service from Glasgow to Oban.

There is space on the carriages for rucksacks and ski bags, limited space for tandems, as well as an e-bike charging socket. Each carriage has a total of 20 bike racks, as well as designated seating for 24 people.
The bike-friendly carriages have been introduced to encourage people to make car-free trips out to the countryside, said Scot-Rail.

 The Welsh Government is exploring making electric car clubs available in all communities, including rural areas.
Deputy climate change minister Lee Waters told LTT that the government aims to balance behaviour change incentives and disincentives, initially focusing on incentives. “For example, we’re looking at how we can roll out electric car clubs to every community.”
Rural areas were part of the aspiration, despite the potentially long distances between a club.