The Essex Climate Action Commission

Our President, Professor Jules Pretty, gives an update on the climate crisis, and sets out what each of us can do to help

Photo: University of Essex

Professor Jules Pretty OBE

Jules Pretty is Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex. He is the author of many books, including The East Country, The Edge of Extinction, This Luminous Coast and The Earth Only Endures. Jules has been the President of Essex Wildlife Trust since 2019.

The Essex Climate Action Commission

Place-based and regional commissions are becoming new leaders in galvanizing change towards net-zero counties and cities in the UK (www.pcancities. org.uk). The Essex Climate Action Commission has recently appointed Professor Jules Pretty as its new Chair, following their publication of more than 100 recommendations for a commitment to Net Zero by 2050 (www.essex.gov.uk/ climate-action). This sets out radical changes needed in Land Use and Green Infrastructure, Energy, Transport, the Built Environment, Waste, Community Engagement, and the Green Economy. All recommendations were accepted with unanimous cross-party support in the County Council in November 2021.

We saw that the COP26 in Glasgow made some notable progress on limiting methane emissions, electric vehicles and green finance, and yet was unable to foster agreement on leaving all fossil fuels in the ground. It did, however, just manage to “keep +1.5o alive”. Place-based commissions are building partnerships and platforms for collective change, and have focused on the need to cut emissions by 50% this decade, followed by two successive further 50% cuts by 2040 and then 2050. This would be sufficient to begin to return carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere back towards 350 ppm, the safe space for humanity, last experienced in 1990. But it will be very hard, perhaps the greatest challenge faced by humanity.

It looks bad, but there is still time. Just enough. If each of us were to adopt ways of living that only produce one tonne of carbon dioxide and equivalent other greenhouse gases, then this would prevent the worst of the crisis. Let’s look at the numbers. The world emitted 53 Gt (billion tonnes) of CO2eq emissions last year, an average of 6.8 tonnes per person worldwide. The UK carbon footprint is 7.7 tonnes each.

If the total emissions were to fall to 10 Gt, this would be a safe place for humanity. This roughly equals to one tonne per person worldwide. This contraction and convergence model implies some growth in carbon emissions arising from increased consumption for the poorest countries: 1.65 billion people in 60 countries already have annual carbon footprints of less than one tonne per person, and 2.0 billion people in 31 countries emit between 1-2 tonnes per person.

So how can you do it? Thirty for 30: thirty carbon reduction options for each of us in five domains of food, home, mobility, stuff and leisure.

Try this: Choose one new behaviour per year. Start where you feel comfortable. After one year, select another. Then tell someone else. And at the same time, try doing things that make us happy and live long: healthy food, being in nature, physical activity, togetherness with others, creative pursuits for personal growth, a spiritual or ethical framework and, of course, sustainable consumption.

The good life is low carbon. It does not cost the earth. But then, of course, tell someone else, and persuade them to act too.

Thirty for 30 Thirty personal behaviours to reduce your annual carbon footprint for 2030 (tonnes C saved per person per year)

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2

Vegetarian diet Vegan diet 2 meat-free days per week or low carbon meat Eat only sustainable & organic foods Only eat local food Reduce food waste Install solar PV panels Install heat pump for home Switch electricity to only renewable sources Renewable heating sources only Refurbish home with best insulation Lower house temperature Install smart meter Co-housing living & collective living Replace fossil fuel car with Electric Vehicle (EV) Replace fossil fuel car with Hybrid vehicle Go car free High active (cycle, walking) & public transport Car pooling & sharing Cut one return flight London-Rome or Malaga Cut one return flight medium haul to Europe Cut one return flight London-New York or Dubai Reduce new textiles and clothing Recycle all plastic Recycle all paper/card No disposal of clothing (wear me 30 times) Working from home No pets Full part of sharing and volunteering economy Plant ten trees (10 years to save 1.0 t)

Listen to the Louder Than Words podcast

The Louder Than Words podcast is about ideas that improve lives. Professor Jules Pretty created the podcast and is host. Louder Than Words shows how research can deliver solutions to global problems, how we can improve people’s lives and how we can inspire people to take action now. Listen at louder-than-words. castos.com (and on all podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts and Google Podcasts).

The Essex BioBlitz 2022

The University of Essex and Essex Wildlife Trust are jointly launching the BioBlitz 2022 project, and need your help!

Climate change is shifting the times that plants flower; it is threatening our favourite places, trees and plants. The aim is to build knowledge and pride in the nature and places of Essex by drawing attention to the fingerprints of climate change in every local environment, and setting a platform for selecting low-carbon ways of living. There are 450 schools in Essex and nearly 250 parishes and towns. We’d like to get people in every location to contribute.

Download the iNaturalist app (freely available), and take photographs of plants in flower. The picture and location is recorded on the app, and the plant is identified by an AI-based model on iNaturalist and their peer-community. You’ll be asked to record 5 or more plants in flower each week over a 30 week period. We will then be able to gather data from the app and record results for all parishes and towns of Essex.

How to get involved:

1. Visit www.essexwt.org.uk/ essex-bioblitz-2022 to find out more information.

2. Download the free iNaturalist app.

3. Take photos of five flowering plants in Essex and submit them on the app.

4. Repeat this each week, for 30 weeks between March - October.