Britain
Photo: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2020.
Holding the British Government accountable to the climate crisis promises after COVID-19 written by Masha Trosheva
W
hile the world has been dealing with the more immediate issue of the coronavirus pandemic, the global climate emergency continues to pose a threat to the environment we live in. Just last summer, Cambridge reached the highest temperature recorded in the UK at 38.7°C. This is more than a degree higher than the 1990 record set in Cheltenham of 37.1°C. The summer of 2020 has also seen extreme weather patterns. As we continue to see the catastrophic effects of climate change on the planet, the changes seen in lockdown have presented the possibility of keeping road and industry pollution lower than seen in previous years. During the peak of the pandemic and the early stages of lockdown in the spring, global carbon dioxide emissions dropped significantly. Compared with the average levels in 2019, this period presented a 17% decrease in CO2 emissions. A decrease in transport use accounted for approximately half of this. These figures appear promising and if maintained would pose a considerably smaller impact on the climate. However, this is not a proactive solution to tackling climate change and does not reverse any of the previous damage done. As people return to workspaces and children return to schools in September, carbon dioxide emissions are likely to soar once again to 2019 levels. Transport emissions may increase to even higher rates than those seen before the pandemic, as people see public transport as a risk from the virus and opt for private alterna-
tives, such as cars, minimising contact with strangers. As well as this, the shutting down of manufacturing plants across the globe at the peak of the pandemic helped facilitate the decrease in carbon dioxide emissions, but this trend will not last long as production recommences and attempts to make up for lost time and profit. For deep routed change to occur, many climate activists believe that there must be governmental policy changes and direct action to make considerable progress. The UK government has made several promises to do so over the years and in May of 2019 it declared a state of climate emergency. By doing so it finally recognised the devastating effects that global warming has created and acknowledged the lack of action previously taken to fight this pressing issue. The government also committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 in order to keep on track with the 2016 Paris Agreement, which set to keep global warming below the 2°C threshold, compared to 1990 levels. But, will the coronavirus crisis distract the government from fulfilling these promises? The Committee on Climate Change urges the government to tackle the economic and climate crises simultaneously by creating jobs in environmental sectors such as tree planting, peatland restoration and green infrastructure. This would provide a long-term solution, as well as improving residents’ quality of life. Creating a circular economy with improved recycling infrastruc-
Autumn 2020 • Dialogue 51
