Megan Kenyon

About Me

I am an experienced reporter and journalist, currently working as the sustainability correspondent for the New Statesman, and the New Statesman's specialist policy supplement, Spotlight. 

I was previously senior reporter at the Local Government Chronicle.

My work to date has covered a broad range of topics including politics, culture, education, housing, climate change, and the environment. You can email me at megan.e.kenyon@gmail.com.

I also write an occasional womens' football newsletter, The Final Third.

My Work

New Statesman •

Chris Stark: New oil and gas licences are a "total waste of time"

When the Prime Minister gave a speech announcing he would be rolling back several of the UK’s net zero policies, Chris Stark wasn’t watching. The former chief executive of the Independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) was delivering a speech at the Francis Crick Institute in central London to an audience that included David Attenborough. He had to read a transcript of Rishi Sunak’s announcement instead.

“I have regrets that he made that speech,” Stark says, speaking to New Statesman Spotlig
New Statesman •

Michael Mann: "Defeatism is as much of a threat as climate denial"

Michael E Mann is a climatologist and geophysicist, and is currently the director of the Centre for Science, Sustainability, and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania. His most recent book, Our Fragile Moment, was published last year and looks at the lessons we can learn from the Earth’s geological history in the fight against climate change. He spoke to New Statesman Spotlight about the importance of clear climate policies, the upcoming US and UK elections and why we should be worried abo
New Statesman •

From Willy Vlautin to Corinne Fowler: new books reviewed in short

Until 2020, Corinne Fowler was an academic specialising in empire and heritage largely out of the public eye. Then, with the appearance of a report she co-authored about the links between National Trust properties and colonialism, she found herself on the receiving end of high-octane invective flung by aggrieved traditionalists. They won’t be calmed by this book: Fowler hasn’t backed down and turns her attention to the ramifications of colonialism to be found in the British countryside.

A keen
New Statesman •

We should be more worried about nature-related risks

This article was originally published as an edition of the Green Transition, New Statesman Spotlight’s weekly newsletter on the economics of net zero. To see more editions and subscribe, click here.

Picture the scene. You switch on the news in early 2020 and top of the evening bulletin is the story of a suspicious new virus, with the UK seeing its first reported cases. Soon after, you’re forced to get used to a new way of living as the country is plunged into lockdown. The Covid-19 pandemic has
New Statesman •

How could Labour's local power plan work?

This article was originally published as an edition of the Green Transition, New Statesman Spotlight’s weekly newsletter on the economics of net zero. To see more editions and subscribe, click here.

Labour’s Local Power Plan – which forms part of its overarching plans for the green transition – has gone somewhat under the radar. Backed up with a £3.3bn pledge, and a key part of the party’s promise to achieve clean power by 2030, the plan is currently still in its vaguer stages, but would, in es
New Statesman •

More money isn't the key to clean power by 2030

Last week was a big one for Labour’s promise of achieving “clean power by 2030”. On Monday, Keir Starmer headed to Wales with the shadow climate change and net zero secretary, Ed Miliband, to see a floating onshore windfarm. They were joined by Vaughan Gething, the new First Minister of Wales, to announce that, if elected, GB Energy — Labour’s proposed publicly owned energy company — will fund the construction of more floating onshore wind farms.

As they toured the facility, a new report from t
New Statesman •

Two thirds of councils are on course to miss climate targets

The landscape of funding for local government is unnecessarily complex. It consists of an array of pots of money allocated for different purposes, which councils can bid for from central government. It’s an unpopular way of allocating funding, and has even been criticised by the Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, for its complexity.

A new poll from the Local Government Association (LGA) has found that two thirds of councils are not confident in hitting their climate targets, with a sizeable
New Statesman •

Labour's Green Prosperity Plan must include nature

Ed Miliband is setting the scene. Speaking at an event hosted by the Green Alliance to launch the latest iteration of the think tank’s Net Zero Policy Tracker last week, the shadow energy secretary asked listeners to “imagine visiting 2024 from, say, 2014”. A lot has changed over the past ten years, he pointed out, in terms of the climate crisis.

Miliband is right. For starters, the Labour Party – which he led until 2015 – looks to be on the cusp of forming the next government. Global temperatu
New Statesman •

Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers sound more earnest than ever

When I last saw Bleachers perform their indie rock in London two years ago, Jack Antonoff chucked giant inflatable tomatoes into the audience. On 20 March, at the second of two sold-out shows at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north-west London, the craziest it gets is a rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Matt, the band’s “front-of-house” guy. Antonoff hands a birthday cake down into the crowd, who unevenly pass it backwards towards the bar. He almost follows, wobbling at the edge of the barrier be
New Statesman •

Is the UK up to speed on climate adaptation?

Last month was the warmest February on record. And in the UK – where it rains a lot – Brits suffered the fourth wettest February in history. Increased rainfall raises the likelihood and risk of flooding which can damage housing and infrastructure. With the planet likely to breach 1.5°C of warming (above pre-industrial levels) by the end of this decade, it’s vital we have a plan to deal with frequent extreme weather events.

The Climate Change Act – which was passed in 2008 with the help of the c
New Statesman •

The law that could "create areas of habitat the size of Bromley"

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. According to last year’s “State of Nature” report, nearly one in six British species are threatened with extinction. Construction and development can cause major disruption to the UK’s biodiversity and wildlife. But, in the middle of a housing crisis, it is imperative that we build more houses. Is there a way of serving both needs?

On 12 February, the government’s biodiversity net gain (BNG) regulations came into effect. First th
New Statesman •

From John Berger to Jenny Kleeman: new books reviewed in short

The Underground Sea: Miners and the Miners’ Strike by John Berger

In this slim volume the editors Tom Overton and Matthew Harle have brought together a selection of John Berger’s writings on miners and the miners’ strike of 1984-85, now being remembered 40 years on. Berger, once this magazine’s art critic and a lifelong Marxist, was fascinated by mining and returned to the subject at intervals in an attempt “to give some idea to someone who’s never been near a mine, what’s involved in working i
New Statesman •

Local authorities warn they have "little choice" but to raise council tax

In the past week, two councils facing unprecedented financial uncertainty outlined plans to dim street lights in order to make necessary savings. One – Havering Council in London – is teetering on the edge of issuing a section 114 notice (which is issued by a council’s chief financial officer and freezes all non-essential spending). The other – Birmingham Council – declared itself effectively bankrupt in September 2023.

Both councils are also proposing large increases to their council tax bills
New Statesman •

What is the City's role in the UK's green industrial strategy?

Reaching net zero is an expensive ambition. According to the non-departmental Committee on Climate Change (CCC), the amount of capital investment needed to accelerate the green transition is between £50-60bn a year. With high inflation, rising interest rates and cuts to government spending, it’s unlikely the public purse will be able to achieve this alone. Private investment is essential.

But the UK’s turbulent landscape of green policies does not make investing in sustainable development easy
New Statesman •

Why do local councils keep collapsing?

More councils have gone bust in 2023 than in the 30 years before 2018, with eight effectively declaring bankruptcy since that year: Northamptonshire, Croydon, Slough, Northumberland, Thurrock, Woking, Birmingham and Nottingham.

But why are councils going bust? Anoosh Chakelian, Britain editor, is joined by policy correspondent Megan Kenyon and Jonny Ball, associate editor of the New Statesman’s policy section, Spotlight, to delve into what’s happening in town halls across the country.

Read Ano
New Statesman •

So long, £28bn: Can Labour achieve "green prosperity" without its headline pledge?

On the day of the party’s manifesto deadline, Labour is finally dropping its pledge to invest £28bn a year in the green economy. The figure was first announced in October 2021 by Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves at the party’s annual conference in Brighton, and has remained a headline pledge. But by February 2024, it had, according to some corners, become an “albatross” around the of the shadow front bench. It had to go. While some prominent Labour voices have urged Starmer to hold on to the ple
New Statesman •

The Parliament Brief: are new oil and gas licences really a “good idea”?

Welcome to the Parliament Brief, where Spotlight, the New Statesman’s policy section, digests the latest and most important committee sessions taking place across the House of Commons and House of Lords. Previous editions can be found here.

Who? MPs from the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) heard from Graham Stuart, minister for energy security and net zero, and Alison Campbell, the UK’s lead negotiator at Cop28 and deputy director of international climate negotiations at the Dep
New Statesman •

English councils are facing an "out-of-control" financial crisis

The collapse of Northamptonshire Council in 2018 shocked the local government sector. The first local authority to issue a section 114 notice for almost 20 years, Northamptonshire’s problems were predominantly down to poor financial management. A section 114 notice is a report issued by a council’s chief financial officer which effectively freezes all non-essential spending at the local authority. At the time, in issuing this notice, Northamptonshire Council was in a relatively unique predicamen
New Statesman •

The problem with heat pumps

This article was originally published as an edition of the Green Transition, Spotlight New Statesman’s weekly newsletter on the economics of net zero. To see more editions and subscribe, click here.

My parents are getting the hang of sustainable living. From their home in Cumbria, they drive a hybrid car, which they charge regularly in the garage. Last year they had solar panels installed on their roof.

But their adoption of renewable alternatives stops at central heating. Like 23 million othe
New Statesman •

Lord Deben: “Sunak will not reach net zero unless he changes policy”

The UK’s independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has been without a permanent chair for six months. In June 2023, John Gummer, who is formally known as Lord Deben, stepped down from the helm of the CCC having already extended his term for a further nine months following a request from the then secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng.

Gummer had been due to resign in September 2022. Legally, a chair of the CCC is only allowed two terms, each of five
New Statesman •

From Colin Barrett to Hannah Ritchie: new books reviewed in short

“It is my very firm belief that if Nato had come into being earlier, there would have been no Second World War,” said Field Marshal Montgomery in 1953, before doubling down and claiming it as the best defence against a third world war too. So far, he has been proved right. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, founded in 1949, may, in the words of its biographer Peter Apps, be “a very imperfect institution” but it proved an effective bulwark against the Soviet Union and has long been a key pla
New Statesman •

Why Michael Gove's planning reforms won't deliver sustainable housing

A year after it launched a consultation on national planning policy, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) finally published its revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2023. The department said the reforms will mean the “right homes are built in the right places”, and that new developments deliver the Housing Secretary Michael Gove’s catchy new acronym, Biden (Beauty, Infrastructure, Democracy, Environment and Neighbourhood).

DLUHC, in its many it
New Statesman •

Beavers are the secret weapon in the UK’s flood defences

The last time a beaver was born in London, the Tudors were on the throne. Hunted to extinction more than 400 years ago, Eurasian beavers were prized by the 16th-century nobility for their rich fur, their meat, and their production of castoreum, an exudate that was apparently like vanilla in taste, which was used to make medicines, perfumes and flavourings for food.

But today these industrious creatures are prized for their role in Britain’s rewilding efforts. In September the first Eurasian bea
New Statesman •

Poll shows nature could prove vital to winning swing voters

Nature, biodiversity and tackling water pollution are key issues that could swing environmentally-conscious voters at the next general election, new polling from the Wildlife Trusts has revealed.

The Wildlife Trusts is an organisation made up of 46 wildlife trusts covering the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney, and looks after more than 2,300 nature reserves. Its membership sits at almost a million.

The organisation polled 1,138 of its members and supporters about their environmental priorities
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