Around 500 scientists, civil servants, journalists and climate experts took part in the 10th annual Carbon Brief quiz on Wednesday 6 November 2024.
This year’s quiz was hosted by Octopus Energy at its headquarters in central London.
In total, 55 teams participated – 30 teams in person and 25 teams joining via Zoom.
Competing teams reflected a wide range of climate change and energy professionals. The list included journalists, civil servants, climate campaigners, policy advisers, energy experts and scientists.
Organisations represented included: Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) in India; Systemiq/Energy Transition Commission; Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment; E3G; Wellcome Trust; CIFF; IIASA Aether; ECIU (Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit); Independent Diplomat; Max Planck Institute for Meteorology; C40 Cities; Ricardo; Oxford Sustainable Law Programme; Verisk Maplecroft; Leverhulme Wildfires Centre; Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI); Tracker Group; the ENDS Report; Grantham Institute at Imperial; World Resources Institute (WRI) Europe; University of Exeter; New Scientist; WWF; DESNZ; University of Strathclyde; Department for Transport; European Climate Foundation (ECF); Unearthed/Greenpeace; Meliore; HM Treasury; Skeptical Science; InfluenceMap; Octopus Energy; Met Office; Vrije Universiteit Brussel; UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources; Civil Service Climate and Environment Network (CSCEN); University of Surrey; Climate Outreach; UK Parliament; Aldersgate Group and Hirlam & Accord.
Teams were tested with five rounds of questions – general knowledge, policy, science and two picture rounds. (See the slideshow of the questions and answers below).
After two hours of playing, this year’s winners were announced.
Comprised of players from climate thinktank E3G, last year’s third place team, “Call Me Mabey”, won the coveted Carbon Brief trophy with a total score of 75 out of 100 available points.
In second place, with 62 points, were the “Green Scene Hooligans” from the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), who were playing remotely from India.
In third place, with 55 points, was “The Abate Escape”, representing players from Systemiq and the Energy Transition Commission, who accepted a trophy for the highest in-person score.
A third trophy was awarded to the Wellcome Trust for the best team name: “2(C) hot to handle”.
See the full leaderboard:
All the questions and answers from this year’s quiz can be found in this PDF document.
This year’s trickiest round was from the science round, with an average score of 6.2 out of 20 available points. Only 5% of teams knew that 2023’s most talked-about climate paper (based on its Altmetric score) was “Change in Antarctic ice shelf area from 2009 to 2019“, published in the Cryosphere in May 2023.
In the policy round, only 5% of teams correctly identified the DRC as the country with the lowest per-capita emissions out of the following four countries: Afghanistan, Chad, DRC and Haiti.
Finally, in general knowledge, only 7% of teams knew that the collective noun for goldfish is a “troubling”.
Carbon Brief would like to thank all the teams who took part and we look forward to hosting the quiz again in the autumn of 2025. If you would like to participate in next year’s quiz, please contact us in advance at info@carbonbrief.org.
Picture gallery by Carbon Brief
The post The Carbon Brief Quiz 2024 appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Prepared by a coalition of nine Western Australian union, industry, conservation, and community organisations—including UnionsWA, the Conservation Council WA, and the Smart Energy Council—the WA Clean Energy, Jobs & Industry Plan provides a practical roadmap to transform Western Australia into a clean energy powerhouse while creating thousands of secure local jobs.
Western Australia stands at a pivotal crossroads: lead the global clean energy economy or watch investment, future industries, and secure jobs go elsewhere. The WA Clean Energy, Jobs & Industry Plan outlines a transformative blueprint to harness the state’s world-class solar and wind resources. Discover how legislated renewable targets, green iron manufacturing, and a dedicated regional training strategy can generate tens of thousands of local jobs, lower household bills, and build a resilient, net-zero future for all Western Australians.
WA needs a clear and forward-thinking plan if it is going to become a competitive renewable energy powerhouse and maintain its economic strength through the energy transition.
“Western Australians know a faster renewable energy transition will lower their household expenses and prevent harmful climate pollution. But the community also needs clear direction to ensure this transition will create jobs, lower costs and not cause undue environmental harm.
“Here, sectors representing a broad range of interests have laid the groundwork for those outcomes, clearly outlining what is needed to create a future for WA that is good for the environment, for the climate, for workers and for the economy.
Summary
The WA Clean Energy, Jobs & Industry Plan sets out a strategic roadmap to position Western Australia as a global clean energy superpower while creating thousands of secure local jobs.
The report establishes three overarching goals:
- Creating local employment.
- Maintaining industrial competitiveness.
- Lowering household energy costs
To realize this vision, the framework details actionable measures to follow on from the recent WA Government announcement of a 75% Renewable Energy Target by 2031 for the South West Interconnected System. This includes developing a statewide Renewable Energy Target, coordinating statewide workforce and training pipelines, strategically planning regional infrastructure to safeguard high-value biodiversity and cultural heritage, and ensuring equitable benefit-sharing through household electrification incentives and First Nations equity partnerships. Ultimately, the plan highlights that establishing clear policy and regulatory certainty will unlock lower energy bills, boost power reliability, and secure the state’s global competitiveness in emerging green commodity export markets.
Key Findings
- Statewide Renewable Energy Target and Emissions Reduction Targets: The report calls for a statewide RET and 1.5°C aligned emission reduction targets to remove policy risk, lower capital costs, and attract clean energy investment.
- Transformative Job Creation: Accelerating the transition offers massive employment prospects, including up to 8,800 solar and battery jobs by 2050, as well as 24,000 ongoing and 11,000 construction jobs in a commercial green iron industry.
- Industrial Electrification & Competitiveness: Requiring large gas users to adopt binding electrification timetables and providing concessional financing will protect existing energy-intensive manufacturers from rising energy costs and impending domestic gas shortfalls.
- Green Commodity Export Leadership: Western Australia can build new export markets in green iron, green ammonia, and offshore oil/gas decommissioning by constructing shared common-user infrastructure and setting dedicated Green Commodity Export Targets.
- Coordinated Workforce & Training Pipeline: To address critical skill shortages the plan recommends establishing a WA Clean Energy Jobs Plan 2050, three regional training hubs, and dedicated pathways for female and under-represented apprentices.
- Environmental Safeguards & Community Benefits: Fast-tracked development must be paired with State Planning Policies that avoid high-biodiversity and cultural heritage lands, mandate new data centres to run on additional renewable power, and deliver household electrification rebates and First Nations equity partnerships.
What you can do
WA has an opportunity to lead on sustainable, clean energy and associated industries. You can help by:
- Sending an email to Environment Minister Murray Watt and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, calling on them to reject Browse.
- Sharing this story to help more Australians understand what’s at stake.
- Encouraging your friends and family to take action.