There's a lot of news this week about the climate. The UN has said that there is no credible plan for 1.5 degrees. Support for COP27 doesn't look like the landmark event that is needed. Svalbard, home to polar bears, is warming faster than anywhere else.
I was set a climate report from a UK academic group (UK FIRES) from 2019 that made some strong recommendations about what we need to do to avert climate disaster. These included a complete ban on flying, all shipping to move to rail, stopping using concrete, and to stop eating beef and lamb.
As radical as these sound there is method behind them, there is no currently available technology that would allow either flying or shipping, the same for concrete, to be net zero carbon, and so to remain within the UK Climate Change Act they must be stopped.
A future government will probably be put in a difficult position. There will certainly be more legal challenges if the government is not acting within the act. They will then either have to take radical steps or change the act.
The sooner we start to act the less severe the consequences will be. Some ideas... Increase rail - HS2+, more connections to Europe, tax short haul flights. stopping demolition of buildings, pay farmers to rewild pastures.
