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?

@twinkletoesimnot

"The farming is difficult though because you can't blanket say meat / dairy because the difference in a grass fed, locally sourced product and an imported steak from a feed lot in Argentina or New Zealand lamb is just incomparable. "

Unfortunately this isn't true. It isn't so much about the air miles or distance travelled, but more about the pure resources needed to raise an animal from birth to slaughter to provide a few meals. It just isn't as efficient as eating the plants directly.

climatehub.uk/resource/climate-change-food-calculator-whats-your-diets-carbon-footprint/

Needs to be tackled world wide. China, India and the US cause a huge amount of the problem. Too much money tied up in oil companies, large grain producers etc. I would- large taxes on all passenger flights. It’s ridiculous that you can fly to Spain for £30. Huge taxes on all large cars/SUVs/designer pick ups etc. unless you can prove you need it for your job (farmer). Fines for pollution caused by shipping.

Tackle the disposable culture- clothes that are worn twice, washing machines that break after 3 years, cars that can’t be fixed after 10 years, plastic packaging in all its forms etc. Disposable wipes for everything. Binning sofas after 2 years. There is so much decent 60s/70s solid wood furniture out there and people are buying mdf from ikea instead.

Renationalise energy, water and public transport. Solar panels on the roofs of all commercial buildings and all new houses. NOT on decent agricultural land as is currently happening. Electric cars take ridiculous amounts of energy and resources to produce and if they are recharged with fossil fuel produced electricity they’re adding to the issues not solving them. It would cause vastly less damage to keep older cars on the road using petrol/diesel. But that doesn’t make anyone money!!

It just isn't as efficient as eating the plants directly. Well we can't digest grass which is what my sheep eat.

Taken from the link you just shared SpinachMonster

For example if you say you have two slices of bread a day, it tells you this bread is contributing 43kg to your annual green house gas emissions, which is equivalent to driving a car 111 miles, or heating an average UK home for 6 days. It also uses the equivalent water to 276 showers (each 8-minute) to produce.

A small daily piece of cheese (30g) is about 8 times this, and beef (eg a hamburger) is 66 times this, or eight return flights London to Malaga.

Do people actually believe this nonsense? Does no one actually look at what they are trying to claim and think, I think someone is over egging the pudding a bit here?

How can the calculator tell if you are eating homemade sourdough or Iceland's white sliced?

How does it know if the beef burgers you are eating are from a cow raised on soya in a Brazilian feedlot with water shipped in by tankers or from a cow that's grazed on grass it's entire life and drunk water out of a natural spring.

How does it know of the eggs you eat are from your backyard chickens fed on veg waste from the garden or from caged hens in Thailand.

How does it know if the cheese is from industrial sized Polish dairy 'mega' farms with the milk shipped to elsewhere in the EU before being processed into plastic cheese slices or handcrafted buffalo mozzarella?

It's nonsense!

@Scrowy

I don't even know where to start with the problems in your most recent post.

I'm not going to try to persuade you otherwise.

I will say if you really believe modern farming isn't in any way cruel, I'm afraid you haven't seen the reality of farming (I have, sadly. I grew up with it all around me.)

It is absolutely undeniably cruel. Look into the procedures that need to happen routinely to produce dairy. Cows forcibly impregnated for a start and newborn calves removed within 72 hours of birth (confirmed by Yeo Valley, Tesco and Sainsburys.)

It's a general calculator- so takes the average I imagine.

Of course you are absolutely right, there are parts of the U.K. which are only accessible for animals and not suitable for planting crops.

However, a huge amount of land is suitable for crops, (the vast majority) as I'm sure you know. Feeding an animal for life then eating the animal simply isn't as efficient as eating the crops directly, that's pretty clear.

Cows forcibly impregnated Have you ever seen a cow and bull having sex in a field? It's hardly love's young dream. The cow comes into season and the bull ejaculates into her. She just stands there.

You forgot the male chickens

@CatLadyDrinksGin Electric cars take ridiculous amounts of energy and resources to produce and if they are recharged with fossil fuel produced electricity they’re adding to the issues not solving them. It would cause vastly less damage to keep older cars on the road using petrol/diesel. But that doesn’t make anyone money!!

This is a bit of an urban myth and not true. Studies by both Volvo and Renault show on the standard European energy mix that EVs break even with ICE after about 87k miles and on a 100% renewable tariff after about 55k miles.

@spinachmonster It also uses the equivalent water to 276 showers (each 8-minute) to produce.

Be really really careful with any of the water use claims, many of them are based on a very good study (IIRC by TU Delft). The claims however take some of the data completely out of context. e.g. for crops and animals raised outside it included rainfall and irrigation, wheat is rarely irrigated so all this claim proves is how much rain falls on the average field of wheat.

Yes I have. So does that fact, (which I agree with- it doesn't exactly look lovely for her either - I agree- ) Make forcing her to go through a man doing it and then her calf being taken away at birth or soon after ok- considering it is all completely unnecessary?

There is no denying the newborn calf being permanently removed is highly stressful for both mother and calf...

How many electric vehicle owners do you know that do over 87k in their car? All the ones I know do about 30k then trade it in for a new one!!

Eliminate humans? The rest of the planet would do better without us perhaps.

Renationalise the energy grid and put solar panels on every building that can have them.
Invest in hydrogen fuel cells and synthetic fuels.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=oahihUHPyGs

Small dairy farm. Larger ones are worse but all involve removing the calf from the mother. So we can take the milk.

That's not true either....

Heard of calf at foot dairies?

But the car won't be scrapped at 30k even if that is the case, so as long as the car eventually does that number of miles (and I would guess most electric car owners are likely to be on a 100% renewable tariff given how reasonable they are now), it still works.

@CatLadyDrinksGin I assume your friends aren't scrapping them after 30k? Which is the only way your comment about vastly more damage stands up.

www.oldhallfarm.co.uk/

As a pp said, one biological child per adult to reduce population & balance humanity vs every other species sharing the planet.

Improve education/equality/opportunities for women, would have a similar effect in many places.

Better awareness of what necessities actually are, eg water, food, shelter, emotional/physical/psychological support.

Agreed

The planet will survive, as it always has done, regardless.

I agree!

Where I live is extremely hilly and impractical for cycling.
The reason the dutch can do it is because it's flat there

Ebike?