changing planet
Tur ing point 2020
As we enter a critical decade for climate action, a selection of Clean Slate contributors look back on the environmental highs and lows of the past ten years and explore what needs to happen now. ground or in terms of policy from national governments across the world. Since 2012, my research has been largely focused on energy decarbonisation and developing carbon budgets at local and national level in the UK. As part of my research an online tool has been developed to help local authorities to calculate their carbon budget and cut their emissions in line with latest climate science and the UN Paris Agreement. 27 local authorities, including Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds, have already adopted our work to set Paris-aligned climate goals and are now actively developing implementation plans to achieve the adopted targets.
What needs to change in the coming decade?
Jaise Kuriakose Lecturer in Energy and Climate Change at the Tyndall Centre, and CAT guest lecturer What were your environmental highs and lows of the last ten years?
The last ten years have seen significant improvement in the understanding of climate science and the impact of climate change on human, natural as well as built and engineered environments. The awareness of climate change and its impact led to one of the greatest diplomatic successes, the Paris Agreement signed by nearly all countries in the world. We have also witnessed the rise of Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion, which led to declaration of climate emergencies across the UK at local level.
Meanwhile, significant energy innovation happened in all sectors including storage, electricity generation, heat pumps, and so on, leading to substantial reductions in costs. The costs for wind and solar have reduced at a level faster than most governments or industrial bodies forecast. In the UK, the cost of offshore windfarms built in 2025 will be as low as £39.65/MWh and will be the cheapest form of energy generation. Wind is already forecast to be cheaper than existing gas power stations as early as 2023. Despite all this progress, along with a considerable public momentum for climate action, there has been less action on the
A fundamental shift in the way we live and organise in our society is essential for a radical reduction in emissions aligned with Paris goals. In the UK, 77% of all emissions are just CO2 which arises from the relatively easy to abate sectors using fossil energy. Some sectors do take more time to decarbonise such as industrial processes or aviation and shipping. Electricity, heating and road transport need to be zero carbon as soon as possible, and are within the direct influence of local policies. Hence, enabling local authorities in using a CO2 -focused approach by prioritising these sectors, picking the ‘low hanging fruit’, can actually lead to rapid deep decarbonisation.
What can we as individuals do to make a real difference?
Individuals have a major role in this transition, both by influencing local policy and by making lifestyle changes to help deliver the Paris goals. Ultimately radical changes at a local level and changing to a low carbon lifestyle through consumption patterns will force the national policymakers also to change.
Clean Slate 15
