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designworks
In Green Investments

Pope Francis’ Powerful Call for Climate Action

By Ciara Shannon After watching Pope Francis’s funeral, as I’m quite new to the area, I decided to go for a wonder. I soon found myself looking at the towering fells and lush green valley surrounding St. Mary’s Church in Longsleddale. Feeling a bit awestruck, I thought about the Pope’s remarkable legacy and some of his words came to mind:“The…
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designworks
In Green Investments

Energy ownership should be accessible to everyone

This post was written for Green Alliance and was published on Inside Track on 23/01/2025. This post is by Ciara Shannon, founding director of the Green Finance Community Hub CIC and green finance lead at North West Net Zero Hub. The Local Power Plan has the potential to transform the future of UK energy. But its true impact will depend on whether…
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designworks
In Community Energy, Community Finance, Net Zero, Offshore wind, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Finance

Cumbria’s Offshore Wind Potential

By Ciara Shannon Reaching net zero by 2050 is “narrow but still achievable” because of the staggering growth in clean energy technologies, so says the IEA. IEA’s recent updated Net Zero Pathway calls for a tripling of global renewable power capacity (in particular, solar and offshore wind), a doubling of energy efficiency improvements, a steep rise in EV cars and heat pumps and large reductions…
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designworks
In Green Investments, Hydrogen, Net Zero

Harnessing Low Carbon Hydrogen

By Ciara Shannon, Green Finance Community Hub This week, it’s been exciting to see the first ever UK Hydrogen Week celebrate some of the many hydrogen projects in the pipeline. The buzz is testament to the growing momentum of hydrogen’s potential to decarbonise a range of hard to abate sectors such as long-haul transport, chemicals, fertilisers, iron and steel. To be…
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designworks
In Green Investments, Sustainable Finance

The Bulbous £28 Billion Distraction

Originally written as a guest blog for Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster (BECBC). Image source: COP26 Banner In February, it was hard to ignore the flurry of commentary about Labour’s U-turn on their £28 billion Green Investment Pledge, first announced in 2021. £28 billion a year in green capital investment, every year, until 2030 was going to turbocharge the green industrial revolution…
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