Hello and welcome to what may be the last ZCB Newsletter for a while as the communications phase of the ZCB2030 report comes to a close and the ZCB team hunkers down into a new research phase. Once we are up and running we will let you know how things are going again.

Meanwhile here are a few snippets of ZCB team news and an assortment of mostly positive articles from across institutions and the press on our progress towards a zero carbon world.

Bringing about a Zero Carbon Britain by 2030 is a hugely ambitious undertaking, but a necessary one if we wish to avoid dangerous levels of global warming, according to the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. Failure to prevent climate change early enough will result in changing weather patterns, crop failures, consequent mass migrations and severe competition for food and water around the world.

Excitingly, we have two new videos explaining the Power Down and Power Up concepts of ZCB2030.

Click 'Read More' to scroll down to them

Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA), was quoted in the Guardian saying "If we do not have an international agreement whose effect is put in place by 2017, then the door to holding temperatures below 2°C will be closed forever." Yet ahead of the critical talks in Durban, Governments of the world's long industrialised countries are giving up on forging a new treaty before 2016 at the earliest.

There is an urgent need to develop a positive, yet realistic vision showing how Britain can take a lead in decarbonisation. With the fantastic help of our supporters, CAT’s ZeroCarbonBritain2030 report was launched in Parliament last year. We are proud of the incredible impact it has made.  Many MPs, including Energy Minister Chris Huhne, have read the report and our team has had detailed discussions with the Dept of Energy and Climate Change on its impacts and implications. The report has been downloaded 28,000 times and reached a broad cross-section of civil society, NGOs, businesses and policymakers.

Our funding for Zero Carbon Britain is now coming to an end – but we can’t let it stop here! To persuade government to ACT NOW we must continue to develop robust and up-to-date research, highlighting the benefits of making the right decisions now - before it’s too late….

Please help us raise £80,000 to support the research needed to:

• answer the crucial questions raised by the ZCB2030 report
• include new and emerging technologies
• further develop our land-use research
• show how ZCB2030 can cope with 2-week wind lulls, as occurred in December 2010.
• develop an accessible zero carbon energy model that will collate the research of a wider range of experts and technologies

This innovative next phase will give our work the necessary academic credibility to make a real impact. It will help demonstrate that rising to the climate challenge can also create new green jobs, offer secure energy, and re-vitalise the economy.

Many thanks for your support; we rely on supporters like you who understand the importance of our work at this crucial time.

I do hope you are able to help us raise £80,000 for this project.

Paul Allen

Project Director – Zero Carbon Britain

"A decarbonised Britain is an essential part of our sustainable future. With ZeroCarbonBritain CAT provides the most detailed and efficient route to get us there. The report clearly argues the case for decarbonising energy and provides solutions to do this. Across all tiers of government, legislators and policy makers must take CAT's findings onboard and make the transition to a low-carbon Britain happen faster.”

Joan Walley MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group