AIBU to think that the Tories are utterly wicked to drop net zero?

[Upsizer]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/19/rishi-sunak-planning-drop-net-zero-policies-pre-election-challenge-labour

I think this is genuinely wicked but I guess it was inevitable with the easiness of drumming up a culture war over environmental issues to win votes. Environment is the new Brexit.

Fighting climate change is going to cost all of us thousands of pounds. So we won’t do it - to get votes.

Our children will live on an island suffering extremes of heat and fighting off refugees from uninhabitable parts of the world.

But it will save us some cash I guess.

AIBU to think this is wicked?

Don’t worry, you will be told exactly that.

Because not good enough, something something, lead the world, blah blah.

How dare you think rationally and look at data. It’s not nearly as good enough as empty virtue signalling statements.

what is “airy fairy rainbows and unicorns” ? are you ok ?

UK 1.03% - but our action makes no difference.
Japan 3.47% - but our action makes no difference.
Italy 1.00% - but our action makes no difference.
France 0.93% - but our action makes no difference.
Brazil 1.29% - but our action makes no difference.
Canada 1.89% - but our action makes no difference.
Denmark 0.11% - but our action makes no difference.
Saudi Arabia 1.45% - but our action makes no difference.
Vietnam 0.58% - but our action makes no difference.
etc…
etc…
It all adds up to about 50% of global emissions. Who is taking responsibility for this 50% ?

You mean the UK can make Japan, Italy, France, Brazil, Canada et al sign up to net 0? When did this happen.

The days of the empire are done. The UK can do no such thing.

Exactly.

Plus people need to understand how little changes can create positive feedback that results in bigger change .

So pathetically defeatist to decide it's not worth doing anything

The thing is no one outside the U.K. wants us to “lead the world” or even act like we are. To try would offend them. We still say “bloody Romans” today over 1,500 yrs after they left, now image that same feeling but only more raw and angry because we let them go/or left those colonies a few hundred years ago to just a few decades ago.

I'm grasping facts. Yes, the uk is better than some places. I've acknowledged that if you bothered to read my posts.

So what? Does that mean that we can just stop and sit back and let the world continue to heat up?

Of course it matters what the uk does, just as it matters what every other country does, small or large, given we all share the same planet.

If countries which can afford to make real, positive change and who can afford to lead other countries into doing the same don't bother, then all the other places will do the same and just go "ah, fuck it.".

The 1% figure is wrong in the first place and had zero bearing on my point anyway.

I'm.talkng about leading the way globally with innovation and science. We are on the precipice of huge opportunities to make money from new ideas around the world in renewable energy.

Investment that saves all consumers money (you do know Tory net zero cuts added hundreds to our energy bills already right)

We should invest in this

Instead we cut back.

It's kinda pathetic.

You don't seem to understand though so I give up trying to make you understand

Awww. Little changes. How cute. Who knew that a self help motivational book could be a proxy for realpolitik.

Of course not. The UK needs to take responsibility for its part. All countries do, team effort. The Paris Agreement is the treaty which governs this, I have absolutely no clue why you think the UK has to enforce anything other than taking responsibility for its own part.

You should give up. Because you are making a fool of yourself disputing widely known numbers.

Thats why per capita matters. They can do easy actions to get those numbers down to where we are.

Who is “they” ?

The many other 1% ish countries ?

But we have been taking responsibility for our part!
Look at the chart…see the CO2 emissions are going DOWN quite SHARPLY

The UK is a global leader in wind technology and carbon capture, just off the top of my head.

It hosted COP26 in Glasgow. Which is in the UK.

But sure, the UK can't influence anything. Nothing. Zip.

Sigh. The 59 countries that emit more per capita than we do, some magnitudes more. There is no excuse for how Canada, USA and Australia emit three times or more than what we do per person.

It's too late to do anything about it now anyway

@sleepwouldbenice
Except the poster he/she is replying to (me) never mentioned any of those things but don't let that impact your response. You stick to your climate change catastrophe narrative and anyone who says different must be a conspiracy theorist.

So we need to do more of it, not less - we are making progress, the policies and interventions are working. The point is to go all the way as fast as we can.

Not really. Not in technology.
Hosting the COP26- it was our turn to host it. Saying we are leading it is a bit like trying to claim we lead the Olympics.

Kinda makes you realise it's all creative accounting and that none of the countries re being honest because it doesn't add up

Hmmm. No the point is to go as fast as we can without collapsing our economy and causing excess deaths of people. As pp have stated the infrastructure needs to be there to keep going and while we are broke (thanks Brexit) we can’t go any faster and actually need to slow a bit (raw sewage is a huge public health issue and we need to fix that).

Typical Tory ….. vote better!

Congratulations everything you just said is wrong.

We're not.

It was out turn.

Yeah, it really is leading the way in certain areas of green tech. Seems like it's your turn to ignore facts.

And yes, I'm aware that countries take turns at hosting COP. So what? It still matters that the UK did it and so, y'know, influenced the way of things.

Sigh. And what about the >100 countries who emit less per capita than the UK ? We should be moving towards that by the same token. Maybe our 5.06t CO2e / capita could one day be reduced to Mexico’s 3.63 or even Brazil’s 2.24 on the way to 0.00