As predicted by the United Nations, warmer temperatures over time are changing weather patterns, creating an increased threat to life on Earth, through:
- a warming and rising ocean;
- more storms and increased drought;
- loss of species, and displacement of peoples; and
- an expanding global population facing health risks, poverty and inadequate food.
Many consider climate change the biggest threat to our planet. Governments, organisations and individuals need to act now to ensure a viable planet for future generations.
Recently Blueprint for a Green Planet caught my eye on a charity bookstall. Published in 1987, it remains highly relevant to how we tackle climate change today. Governments and companies seem to have done very little in the last 37 years to address the problem. The big oil companies are still expanding their oil wells. Zero-carbon homes, at least in the UK, are still a long way off. Transport is still fuelled largely by diesel and petrol engines.
But what are climate change and global warming?
According to the Natural History Museum, climate change is the defining issue of our time. They say that “we have reached a pivotal moment in deciding our planet’s future”. This sentiment is echoed by many well-respected organisations and individuals. It was Sir David Attenborough who brought us up with a start on the BBC’s programme broadcast in 2019 Climate Change: The Facts. Before this, though, Greta Thunberg, at the age of 15, broke onto the world scene in 2018 with her climate protests outside the Swedish Parliament, where she called for stronger action on climate change by holding up a poster saying “School Strike for Climate”.
She argued there had been insufficient progress since the signing of the Paris Agreement by 196 countries at COP 21 in 2015. The legally binding agreement has a goal to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5 degrees, compared to pre-industrial levels. Since then, progress to reduce this warming has been slow, and in some part of the world it has been reversed by the actions of political leaders such as Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro.
What is causing climate change?
According to the space agency NASA, global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s surface observed since the pre-industrial period owing to human activities that increase heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.
It’s well known that the main driver in this is the emission of greenhouse gases, most importantly carbon dioxide and methane, primarily released when fossil fuels are burnt. Transport and emissions from homes are major contributors, along with traditional farming methods (such as ploughing, meat and dairy production), and most industrial processes such as steel, glass and fertiliser production.
In the UK in 2022, 28 per cent of net greenhouse gas emissions were estimated to be from the domestic transport sector, 20 per cent from buildings, 14 per cent from industry, 14 per cent from electricity supply and 12 per cent from agriculture, as reported by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Greenhouse gas emissions remain stubbornly higher than is needed to achieve Net Zero by 2050, which is the UK government’s stated objective and legal commitment under the Paris Agreement.
UK government back-pedalling
Sadly, here in the UK, the government has recently back-pedalled on the move towards net zero. Here are a few examples as reported by Sky News:
- Phasing out petrol and diesel cars In 2020, then prime minister Boris Johnson made a commitment to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK after 2030 – bringing the target forward by ten years. Now Rishi Sunak has confirmed the deadline will be pushed back by five years, to 2035.
- Energy-efficient homes Another pledge made in 2020 was to ensure all privately rented homes had an energy efficiency rating of C or better (where A is the best and G is the worst) by 2028. But Sunak has now insisted no property owners would be “forced” into making “expensive upgrades”, and will only have to do so “when they can”.
- Emissions from domestic heating The government’s target was that all new heating system installations be low-carbon by 2025. This ban on gas boilers in new homes won’t now be put in place until 2035: a ten-year delay in tackling these emissions.
- More gas and oil wells In January 2024 the government handed out 24 new North Sea oil and gas licences. These are in addition to the initial tranche of 27 licences offered in October last year. On top of all this, the government is proposing to allow oil and gas exploration at sites intended for offshore wind.
This backtracking on environmental policies is not only due to Sunak’s recent policy U-turns. When the coalition ended in 2015, the Conservatives had a veritable bonfire of environmental policies including:
- scrapping support for onshore wind farms;
- axing solar subsidies;
- killing off the flagship ‘green homes’ scheme;
- selling off the green investment bank;
- watering down the incentive to buy a greener car;
- giving up on zero-carbon homes; and
- scrapping the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project.
The UK government wilfully ignores evidence
The UK is not doing anywhere near enough to combat the rise in global warming gases. Our government seems to be blind to the wealth of evidence on climate change. In early May 2024, the Conservative government’s climate plan was ruled unlawful by the High Court! This is the second time they have been found wanting by the High Court in meeting legally binding commitments on climate change mitigation measures. The campaigning groups that brought the case had argued (successfully) that the government relied too much on risky technologies, such as carbon capture, and glossed over the risk of missing targets.
Time magazine reports that 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded. This is verified by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (CCCS), the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
According to the UK government’s Environment Agency, March 2024 was the ninth wettest since records began in 1871. Also, in the first three months of this year we experienced the third wettest three-month period (January to March) and the wettest six-month period on record (October to March).
Think global – act local
So, what do we do? We have the opportunity in the next few months to vote out the Conservatives. That will help. As we have seen in other countries, changes at the top make a big difference. For instance, the USA has its major environmental programme thanks to Joe Biden. When Brazil’s Lula da Silva came to power in January 2023, he reversed many of the damaging aspects of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Here in the UK, Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Green Party all have substantial plans when it comes to tackling climate change. But what can we do as individuals, groups or organisations?
Here are some suggestions on transport:
- Use more sustainable forms of transport. According to the Department for Transport (DfT), transport produces 24 per cent of the UK’s total emissions. Go by bus or rail if you can. If you can use a bike instead of a petrol or diesel car, it’s good for your health and cuts exhaust emissions.
- Consider buying your next car as a fully electric vehicle. If you can’t afford a new one, there are now plenty of second-hand opportunities on the market.
- Try limiting your flights. Research shows that aircraft are responsible for around 4 per cent of global warming. In Europe, use the train instead of the plane. Major European rail companies are continuing to roll out new night train routes across the continent.
And there are practical things you can do at home:
- Many local councils offer grants towards insulation of lofts and cavity walls.
- A small measure is to put a ‘reflective board’ (surfaced with aluminium foil) behind the radiators, so that the radiator heats the room and not the wall.
- If you can afford it, install solar panels and a battery system. Solar panels and battery systems are getting cheaper all the time, and both are zero-rated for VAT.
- Install an air source heat pump so your home gives zero emissions for heating and hot water. Government grants of up to £7,500 are available.
- Replace your gas hob with an electric model.
