In February of 2025, the Climate Change Committee released the 7th Carbon Budget, advising Government on new pathways to decarbonizing the UK by 2050.  

Topics Discussed; 

In this episode we dive into the budget as outlined and discuss topics;  

• The key strategies in the budget and how likely we are to achieve them.  
• Carbon removal and carbon capture technologies  
• The jobs and skills needed to achieve a large-scale transition, and  
• Challenges for government, industry and public  

Host 

• Dr. Nadine Moustafa - Research Associate at Imperial, specialising in carbon management and decarbonisation technologies. 

Guest  

• Dr Aidan Rhodes – Research Fellow at Imperial and Energy Policy Briefing Paper Fellow at Energy Futures Lab.  

Timecode & Chapters;  

00:00 - Introduction to the Energy Futures Podcast  

00:41 - What is the Carbon Budget?  

03:20 - The Seventh Carbon Budget: Scope and Significance  

04:11 - Decarbonizing the Power Sector and Beyond  

05:51 - Heating and Households: The Heat Pump Challenge  

10:52 - From Technology to Implementation: Public Engagement and Policy  

14:28 - Industry and Investment: Long-Term Business Models  

18:00 - Carbon Markets and Carbon Removal Technologies  

21:20 - No Silver Bullet: A Multi-Technology Approach  

23:47 - Adaptation and Climate Resilience  

28:22 - Challenges to Reaching Net Zero  

32:03 - Supply Chains, Skills, and Workforce Transition  

36:00 - Granular Planning and Regional Considerations  

39:03 - Financing the Transition: Public and Private Roles  

43:01 - Conclusion: A Call to Action and Optimism 

Nadine's links: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadine-moustafa-ph-d-5831a1a7/ 

Imperial profile - https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/n.mou... 

Aidan’s Links  - Aidan Rhodes Profile | Imperial College London 

Aidan Rhodes | LinkedIn 

Produced by Annemarie van Basten 

Annemarie Van Basten | LinkedIn 

Additional Links  

• Seventh Carbon Budget link - https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/the-seventh-carbon-budget/#:~:text=Our%20recommended%20level%20for%20the,the%20importance%20of%20the%20task 
• Climate Change Committee link - https://www.theccc.org.uk 
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) link - https://www.ipcc.ch 
• Energy Futures Lab (Imperial) - https://www.imperial.ac.uk/energy-futures-lab/ 
• Centre for Environmental Policy (Imperial) - https://www.imperial.ac.uk/environmental-policy/