Cambridge Speakeasy

Net Zero or Not Zero: Can we debate climate change?

Thursday 22nd February, 2024 

Panel debate and Q and A from 7pm until 8.45pm, social until 10pm. 

The Clayton Hotel, Garden Suite,  27-29 Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2FB. 

(A two-minute walk from Cambridge Station). 

GET TICKETS: FSU Member £5. Non-FSU Member £10. Student £3. 

Popular challenges to Net Zero targets are growing around the world. Most dramatically, European farmers have blockaded city streets in their tractors, but closer to home, we have seen anti-ULEZ and anti-LTN protests taking place around the UK, including Cambridge. But very often, those who question national and global responses to climate change are traduced and stigmatised as ‘deniers’, accused of being motivated by ignorance, ideology or vested interests.  

How and why did the scientific study of climate become so politicised and why has this given rise to such rigid political and ideological orthodoxy?  

The launch, in paperback, of Ross Clark’s book Not Zero:  How an Irrational Target Will Impoverish You, Help China (and Won’t Even Save the Planet) provides an ideal opportunity for these questions to be debated. 

About the book:

 “devastating and detailed…compulsory reading for everybody in government and the media” Matt Ridley

“a must-read for those involved in the climate debate” Emeritus Professor Michael Kelly, former Prince Philip Professor of Technology at the University of Cambridge.

The book will be on sale on the night and Ross will be signing copies. 

On Thursday 22nd February, the Free Speech Union brings together a panel of speakers, including Ross, who insist that the science of climate change and policy responses to it must be open to debate and democratic accountability. 

Speakers confirmed so far: 

Ross Clark is a prolific freelance journalist who is leader-writer on the Spectator as well as a columnist for the Telegraph, Daily Mail and Express.  He is the author of several books including The Denial, a satirical climate change novel, and The War Against Cash. Follow Ross on X/Twitter: @RossjournoClark 

Harry Wilkinson is head of policy at the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) and sister organisation Net Zero Watch. He is also a policy adviser to Craig Mackinlay MP, who chairs the Net Zero Scrutiny Group in Parliament. Previously he was researcher to the late Nigel Lawson has written for a number of publications including CapX, The Conservative Woman, Global Vision and 1828. Follow Harry on X/Twitter: @HarryWilkinsonn 

Austin Williams is the director of the Future Cities Project, author of several books, including “China’s Urban Revolution: Understanding Chinese Eco-cities”, “Enemies of Progress: The Dangers of Sustainability”, and co-author of “The Lure of the City: From Slums to Suburbs”. He is chair of Bookshop Barnies and has written for magazines as diverse as Nature, Wired, Top Gear, South China Morning Post, Metropolis, Times Literary Supplement, The Spectator and The Economist.. Follow Austin on X/ Twitter: @Future_Cities