If you ruled the world, what would you implement to help with climate change

[GiraffeInTheCity]

Daydreaming if world domination whilst doing a rain dance...

If you ruled unilaterally, what would you do to make things (anything) more climate friendly? I would

• set net zero targets for much sooner (net zero 2050/2030 feels like ages given the emergency) and would require companies to have solid plans to get there. Probably set it for the next 3 to 5 years. Massive fines if you don't meet targets.

• mandate large scale public transport infrastructure upgrades in big cities where there isn't enough (tax the billionaires to pay for it) and make driving in them difficult (ULEZ, scant parking etc)

• renationalise energy and water, with the view to run it on clean energy and without pumping effluent into the rivers / sea. I imagine there would need to be massive upgrades here too to achieve that. Not renationalising because the private sector is being a bunch of thieves dishonest, But because things need to move quickly now, this is an emergency.

• make eating meat / dairy / fish illegal (I know I'll get flamed for this one...) --

-- What would you do?

@stuntbubbles I don't think you will be able to phase cats out. They will ignore you and set up their own anarcho syndicat.😁

@gnilliwdog It’s a stealth policy really as I’d like to keep them, but I need my dictatorship to seem fair vis a vis the dogs, hence a phase out. Once we enact all my other very reasonable policies, Earth will be saved and oh, look: we’ve still got cats! Hooray!

(In all seriousness my policies are great but impractical without a revolution and I don’t think anyone has the energy.)

@stuntbubbles Ah, I see. Cats will probably go with anything stealthy so I think you have that covered. We need to keep some dogs so the cats can sit on the fence and annoy them. I'm quite up for outlawing excessive cleaning, growing my own veg, travelling by train - I love overnight trains. Lots of good ideas.

@stuntbubbles could you add horses to your list?

There are about 850,000 in the UK and they require a minimum of 1.5 acres, if fallow fields are included that could (big assumption) be 2 acres. That's 1.7 million acres or about 700,000 hectares. They also need 40 l of water a day which is 14.6 m3, or 12.4 billion litres a year for them all.

Not likely!

We can use them for transport and land work!

Exactly! I was picturing horse-and-cart delivery for bushels of apples and such. It’s possible I may be conflating my post-climate crisis future with a 19th-century pastoral novel.

Sorting out the railways could make a huge impact.

Bring back all those local stations and branch lines to help people commute more effectively.

Bring in proper freight lines to remove millions of lorries off the roads.

That ship sailed long ago. Most of the disused track beds have now been built on with housing, industrial buildings, roads, and of course footpaths and cycle paths.

On most of the disused tracks are bridges that have been demolished, filled in, or are unsafe, all of which would need to be replaced/repaired. We have the busiest road bridge in our city which used to be a railway bridge until the 1970s - if the track bed was restored, they'd need to completely redesign the city's one way system and build a new road bridge to replace the re-purposed one!

I don't think people will be happy when they're told their houses need to be demolished or restore a railway line, nor retail parks/warehouses/supermarkets, etc.

It's a shame that the politicians of that era didn't put building/development prohibitions in place to stop the track beds being built up or otherwise used, "just in case" the railways needed to be put back. But in many cases, there was undue haste in ripping up the railway lines, it's as if they didn't want them to be re-opened so removed all the infrastructure (sometimes within days of closure).

Ban private jets except in tightly controlled circumstances such as someone needing to get somewhere in secret

Subsidise rail travel and reopen railway lines

Subsidise bus travel and reopen bus routes

Invest in a lot more cycle infrastructure - look at Netherlands to see what can be done, no VAT on bikes or services related to bikes

Ban ownership of SUVs/particularly polluting cars in the UK

Ban garden bonfires, disposable BBQs and private use of fireworks to decrease air pollution; also ban on patio heaters

Have tax free childcare and fully paid maternity leave for first child/ren (ie twins) but not for subsequent children - nobody "needs" more than one child so if you want more you pay for your own childcare and mat leave

Stop businesses leaving their lights on overnight or when they are closed

Loads more trees but not next to houses they can fall on

An absolute ban on greenfield development unless every other option has been exhausted - you might, for example, need to build a school or hospital on a new site, but not houses. Linked to that, have more incentives to bring empty homes into use and stop second home ownership to reduce the "need" to concrete over the countryside

Taxes on cruises and ski-ing; and higher aviation taxes for business travel - Teams and Zoom exist, so use them.

Do something about water leaks!

I've got a feeling all of this would cost an awful lot; not sure where I'd get the money to do it all. Taxes on cruises/aviation would only go so far

in many cases, there was undue haste in ripping up the railway lines, it's as if they didn't want them to be re-opened so removed all the infrastructure

Yes, and they've been going round concreting under bridges as if they are trying their best to make sure railways can never be used again. I know the ship has sailed for most railway lines, and cycle tracks are also important, but there are probably some places where new stations can be added to existing lines, and a short length of new track would open up new opportunities.

@Inthe90sitwas : YES to putting women in charge!!

We need long-term decision making based on protecting what we love (i.e. nature, our kids, our planet) not short term decision making based on ego, profit and greed. I'd love to see more women in decision making spaces a complete change in how we make decisions on big issues so £ isn't a trump card.

This is such a great thread- maybe we should send it to the environment secretary!

Just to add my 2p’s worth I’d make it mandatory for everyone with more than a certain m2 of space outside to grow some basic veg to reduce carbon emissions on food (and it’s so much tastier when fresh). On a similar note I’d reduce the costs on allotments and extend public land for allotment use to encourage more self sufficiency with food

Also I’d ban imports of food that could be grown/farmed here- for instance it’s ridiculous that we import New Zealand lamb, Argentinian beef, Spanish pork etc, and also ban any foods grown out of season which require extra energy (like heaters) to grow them. Polytunnels can encourage earlier than usual fruits and veg but more than that we just have to learn to eat seasonally again.

On the dairy/meat debate on climate A LOT of vegan advertising about that issue is misleading and indeed false. True some of the mass farming around the world and importing of meat etc isn’t environmentally friendly but a shoulder of lamb from up the road compared to a carton of almond milk from California (which uses so much water to grow the almonds) is a heck of a lot better for the environment (and tastier).

Ration airmiles
Ration fuel
Support local farmers to produce local food.
Limit the number of children per family
Reduce the number of holiday homes
Reduce the number of car manufacturers so they parts can be reused.
Lots of wind turbines and solar panels

Rationing and banning activities that have become normal for so many people will only lead to a massive amount of resentment to the extent that they would be unworkable and in all likelihood lead to a black market that as ever would penalise the poorest the most.

(Not trolling just trying to continue the debate 🙂)

Yes but I rule the world so they will bow to my mighty power! I will take back their houses, and let them live in all the millionaires houses instead. The millionaires can live in the sea.

@Stichintimesavesstapling most millionaires already have a super yacht so no great hardship for them.

I don't know. People accepted considerable changes because of Covid, such as not being able to travel. Maybe if people felt as frightened of climate change as they did then they would be willing to give things up. We have accepted the loss of NHS dentists, the delays at A&E, closure of libraries and all sorts of austerity measures without too much resentment, or not much protest it seems. We lost our free movement in Europe, and though people moan a bit I don't see any black market opening up for British to live and work abroad. And it is a massive loss, especially to young people. I would, of course, prefer that people changed lifestyles as a positive thing rather than be driven by fear as they were with Covid and austerity.

I would then ban boats with motors or engines and make them live a life of an 18th century pirate

People accepted considerable changes because of Covid, such as not being able to travel

That is true but I think most people saw it as a temporary measure.
I’m sure limiting travel is a necessary measure but it will be difficult to implement it world wide.

If the message on climate change was delivered with the urgency of Covid we might be on our way to some change now. If PMs across the world were giving national talks and announcing restrictions with the input of climate experts, if the media were covering it in the nightly news and giving the death toll of those affected across the world. If leaders appealed to people's altruism not to harm others by their habits. Maybe people would make changes and obey restrictions, on the whole.

If leaders appealed to people's altruism not to harm others by their habits.

Yes that’s true. Governments; campaigns against smoking seem to have worked - people generally obey the rules around smoking in public spaces or around children etc.
I’m quite old so I’ve had opportunities to travel so I wouldn’t mind so much - but whether young people would agree to travelling far less…….I don’t know.

Certainly, world leaders arriving by private jet to conference and summits devoted to climate change do not set a good example.

@Andante57 I am old now too, but I did most of my youthful travel overland, catching trains from Europe to Asia, boats to Hong Kong, Greece, or France then buses, cycling and trains around Europe. Admittedly you need time for that and to be willing to work, it wouldn't be the same as having a quick flight for a weeks break somewhere. Well, in this imaginary scenario maybe we could create more opportunities for young people to travel and work abroad, using overland and sea travel. It's also been suggested people have a limited amount of airmiles, that may work. You are right, it would be difficult, and world leaders are a terrible example.

I would build monorails, over cities etc, that way buying the land wouldn't be an issue. I think we need to move into the future instead of pretending it is still the 20th century.

Make all public transport free. Tax people for driving into cities (where there is already good public transport.)

Invest heavily in solar and wind power. Require factories and warehouses to install solar panels. Also all new houses.

Provide grants for home Insulation.

Invest in a study into better use of transport hubs for moving goods around, with increased use of rivers, sea and rail for non-perishable items.

Nationalise power, water, transport, etc. Ensure that our taxes aren’t going to shareholders, or to subsidise other nations who own our infrastructure. Use that tax revenue to improve sewage processing, etc.

Improve our building standards to ensure that houses are tolerant to both high and low temperatures, and increased risk of flooding.

Ensure that any houses already built in flood prone areas are modified to be tolerant to those conditions. Rewired to put and with all electrical circuits at high level. Two circuits so that you can isolate the upper floor. Lower floors waterproofed, and with stone/ tiled floors for easy cleaning.

Air source heat pump grants.

Free water harvesting systems for gardens. Reduced water bills for any households, dependent on the amount of rainwater collected.

Reforestation and carbon capture investment.

Ban peat use.

Make shops responsible for the costs of disposal of/ recycling of all plastic packaging to encourage them to target supply chains to use less.

@Stichintimesavesstapling make them live a life of an 18th century pirate as opposed to 21st century pirates?