In case you’re caught up in the squirrel-chasing media coverage of the latest faux outrage scandal, you might have missed the energy policy revolution Ed Miliband has pulled off while other journos were looking elsewhere.
Adam Bell of Stonehaven UK returns to explain why he thinks Miliband has overthrown the “Lawsonian” consensus of the past 40 years in just a few weeks. We talk through his recent piece in Politics Home, including the growing consensus around economic growth from both the left and right.
We’re also joined by Chris Slater, founder and CEO of carbon insurance startup Oka, talking about how the insurance sector is becoming a crucial player in de-risking carbon markets. What becomes clear is that while there’s agreement on the need for growth, the paths to achieving it are as divergent as ever.
Key Takeaways:
1. A New Consensus on Growth, But How Do We Get There?
Adam Bell brings clarity to the emerging consensus: growth is no longer up for debate, but how to achieve it certainly is. On one side, Ed Miliband’s quietly engineered energy revolution is pushing central planning to new heights, with the government setting the frame of what infrastructure gets built and where. On the other side, free-market libertarians like the authors of the Foundations report argue for Texas-style deregulation and letting markets decide. Both visions, however, aim for the same end—overbuild and overabundance in energy infrastructure.
2. The Insurance Industry Steps into Carbon Markets
Chris Slater of Oka introduces a new frontier in climate finance—insurance for carbon markets. As regulatory frameworks like CORSIA emerge to blur the line between voluntary and compliance markets for carbon reductions, the insurance sector is stepping in to take on risks such as jurisdictional instability and climate-related project failures. Without insurance, Slater argues, the carbon markets will remain underfunded and volatile, particularly in developing economies.
He points out that Corsia, the airline industry’s decarbonisation scheme, is a blueprint for how compliance markets could work if other sectors adopt similar mechanisms. With the looming penalties for airlines failing to meet their targets, Slater’s insights show how serious this transition is becoming.
3. Free Markets or Central Planning: The Same Road to Overabundance?
The irony isn’t lost on Bell when comparing Texas’s laissez-faire energy market to the UK’s more centralised planning. While Texas is seen as a bastion of deregulation, its success in renewable energy is rooted in a centrally planned framework that decided where wind farms could be built. Meanwhile, the UK’s plans for wind and grid infrastructure remain tangled in regulatory delays. Both systems claim to be the better path to growth, but both also rely on a level of state intervention that raises eyebrows.
4. Tax and Regulation: The Sticks Needed for Carbon Markets to Thrive
Perhaps the most significant takeaway from this episode is the clear message that voluntary action alone won’t cut it. Slater emphasizes that without firm regulations, such as carbon taxes or compliance markets like Corsia, the demand for carbon credits will never meet the necessary scale. Governments need to create demand through penalties and incentives, or the carbon markets will stay niche.
Catalyst Recommendations by Chris Slater
To wrap up our conversation, Chris Slater shared three key influences that have shaped his journey into climate tech and insurance. If you’re looking for insights that could help shape your own thinking, these catalysts are worth exploring:
1. Speed and Scale by John Doerr
This book has been instrumental for Chris in mapping out a measurable path to addressing climate change. John Doerr, a venture capitalist, outlines a practical plan to achieve net-zero emissions through a combination of technology, policy, and market innovation. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in how to drive large-scale change. Read Speed and Scale here.
2. His Personal Journey as a Father
Chris candidly shared that becoming a parent was a key catalyst in his decision to enter the climate space. The realisation that his children—and future generations—would face the brunt of climate change motivated him to apply his expertise in insurance to help solve these problems. While it’s not something you can link to directly, it’s a reminder that personal stakes are often a powerful driver for impactful work.
3. Applying the OKR Framework
As a founder, Chris found John Doerr’s OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework—first made popular in Doerr’s book Measure What Matters—invaluable for building scalable businesses. It gave him a structure for goal-setting that helped steer his company toward meaningful impact in the climate space. Learn more about OKRs and Measure What Matters.
Final Thought: A Road to Growth, but Which One?
The future of energy and climate risk management lies in finding the right mix of market forces and government regulation. This episode highlights the challenges and contradictions of both approaches, and while insurance can mitigate some risks, policy needs to do the heavy lifting to create demand and steer investment in the right direction.
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Got thoughts on how we balance central planning with free markets? Share your take in the comments or on BlueSky or Twitter with the hashtag #WickedClimatePod.
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