AIBU to feel hopeful that the British public could push the government to act on the climate emergency and avoid the point of no return?

[beeble347]

Donning my hard hat, but here goes. I'm an ordinary mum, since having my DS I've been very concerned about the stark statistics on the climate emergency and what it means for my family's safety. I have no background in science, but have done my best to educate myself on this topic and try to note down statistics exactly as reported.

I recently went to a screening of the People's Emergency Briefing, a 45 minute film featuring Chris Packham, Jennifer Saunders and Deborah Meaden, as well as ordinary members of the public. It showed talks by a number of professors (from Oxford University, UCL, Newcastle and so on) and experts in their field. It was hard-hitting but I actually felt hopeful at the end and motivated to lobby my MP and county councillors, some of whom attended the same screening and took part in the discussion afterwards. Some have already replied to me with encouraging emails about their support for the issue, action they have taken to reduce our local emissions.

Experts are warning that current trajectories in our use of fossil fuels risk warming the planet by 3-4 degrees C by the end of this century. Nobody wants to hear this, but the UK would become uninhabitable. The temperature and weather changes that would result in the UK would mean we couldn't grow food in our soil.

Even keeping planetary warming to 2 degrees C would require a yearly reduction in emissions of 13%. The world is expected to cross the threshold of 1.5C global warming in the next 3-5 years. The UK has reduced its actual emissions (including international aviation and shipping, and imports and exports) by about 20% since 1990, or an average of 0.6% each year.

I really feel it's the public's right to be informed about the urgency of the situation and how tangible and possible the solutions are, if only the government realises how much support there is for these changes. Thinking about the climate emergency felt so hopeless before, but I actually feel a sense of possibility now.

I know not everyone will agree with me or want to discuss this, but I wanted to share some facts on the topic. I also think so many, if not all, of the major issues concerning voters today are fundamental linked to the climate emergency. As someone said in this film, "the physics doesn't care about politics". I think we all have a lot more in common than we realise. I thought we had more time to delay taking action, but it really is a national emergency. But the research has already been done effectively, the solutions are right there and they're not beyond our reach.

Voters:
81.5% of the British public said they were deeply concerned about climate impacts in 2026.

National security (expert - Lt General Richard Nugee): this was one I found most shocking

• climate change meaning farmers can no longer earn a living, means they are more likely to be recruited by "non state actors" as the Lt Gen says happened in Afghanistan and Iraq with ISIS
• the melting Arctic ice is a new potential for conflict. Apparently Russia is declaring it an "internal sea" whereas the UK is not alone in treating the Arctic as international waters. So a risk of conflict over access, resources and shipping routes.
• then there's the obvious impact on migration as places in the global south are hit harder and earlier by extreme weather events

Housing:
Up to 1 in 4 properties in the UK will be at risk of flooding by 2050.
Houses are continuing to be built today that won't withstand the more extreme weather (including heat, think of the 40 degrees reached in summer of 2022) that we will continue to experience

Cost of living:
Continued nature depletion in the next decade could significantly impact GDP, a decline of up to 12%. The 2008 financial crisis caused a decline in UK GDP of 6.3%.

The fossil fuels system wastes about 2/3 of its potential energy when it's used. The example given was if you put £18 of petrol in your car, you get £6 worth of energy from it to actually move its wheels.

Food security:
With the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the impact on international shipping and fertiliser prices, food prices are projected to increase by 50% by November. We need to be supporting British agriculture and making best use of the land we have available. Secondly, we have to support farmers in mitigating flooding and extreme heat and frosts.

Cost of Net Zero:

• £4 billion a year, paid back by 2041, represents 0.2% of GDP
• saves $12 trillion compared to staying on fossil fuels
• inflation would have been 7% lower if we had decarbonised the energy sector
• the total estimated cost of the UK transition to Net Zero is now 73% cheaper than thought (5 years ago)
• In the last decade, the cost of offshore wind energy production has dropped 50%. The cost of solar has dropped by 70%.

Points of Hope:

• electric vehicles were expected to have 20% of the market share by 2030. They have already reached that benchmark and are projected to have 40% market share by 2030.
• the UK has one fifth of the world's offshore wind capacity

This isn't everything but I wanted to start the conversation. I've joined a local branch of a national organisation pushing for action on the climate emergency. I've written to my MP and local county councillors, one of whom told me to set a weekly reminder and email my local representatives - she said parties at the moment don't know what they stand for and pressure from the public IS effective. I'm growing my own vegetables, joined my local nature group and hoping to start a seed swap.

Sorry for the length of this and if I've posted in the wrong place. I felt really hopeless and alone in the face of the climate emergency but I can see the momentum that's gathering and hope that this may reach someone who wasn't aware of some of the facts, who does want change and who gets some inspiration for how to make that change happen.

We can’t bankrupt our economy for the Green agenda as it’s just completely irresponsible and ridiculous. What we do is a drop in the ocean quite literally. I say dig those oil fields in the north Sea.

Sorry but there are just too many right wing mugs to let that happen. There are plenty in the comments on here, when someone moans about benefits. The ignorant will be the end of Britain.

What a mug comment

That's the wrong question.

What an ignorant comment. Green energy would make us self sufficient.

Net Zero is just bollocks greenwashing though. Carbon is still being produced even if we achieve it, it doesn't solve anything. What's the point of the UK pissing on a giant fire?

Maybe the greens shouldn’t have spent decades opposing nuclear energy.

Could you explain why “Net Zero is bollocks” please ?

Sadly, that's not true.

No country in the world can be self sufficient only on green energy. It simply doesn't produce enough energy.

Having said that, nuclear power is actually greener than solar and wind energy, and a country can be self sufficient on that.

The solution?

Build more nuclear plants.

Our next door neighbour France invested heavily in nuclear - they're now totally self sufficient. Their economy isn't susceptible to economic energy shocks like the UK's is. And their carbon emissions are minimal.

And we chose not to go down that route - because of the Green lobby!

@FrippEnos tbh I thought the mentality of "what are you doing then" showed a kind of sensitivity, like you were being criticised by someone you perceived as holier than thou, am I right? I don't feel that way and I've not come on here to attack any individuals or claim to be doing better or more. I'm hoping to rally people to lobby for systemic change. Yes, individual actions are important but they're not enough without action to invest in renewable energy and cut emissions by corporations. I hope I'm making that more clear.

@Stressedout150 I don't think it's true that nothing we do will make a difference, it doesn't seem to be what the science says. Though I understand the feeling of hopelessness and have felt it myself. Think about local impact alone - cleaner air, better insulated houses (lower bills), less reliance on unstable foreign leaders for our power. Cleaner water at home.

The Climate Change Committee projects that an electrified energy system will halve current energy waste, saving the equivalent of roughly $1000 per household and protecting the economy from devastating fossil-fuel price shocks.

The net zero economy has tens of thousands of businesses generating over £83 billion annually in gross value added. These jobs are notably 38% more productive than the UK average.

The OBR estimates that for every pound spent on net zero, the returns outweigh the costs by a multiple of 2.2 to 4.1, primarily by avoiding the massive GDP losses associated with unchecked climate change.

Offshore wind now produces almost 15% of the UK’s electricity and has become one of the cheapest forms of energy generation, while also providing new jobs and export opportunities. Air pollution costs the NHS and businesses more than £20 billion each year. (LSE link below)

LSE, how will the transition to Net Zero affect the UK economy?

Can we reverse or slow global warming?

With regard to the North Sea drilling, it strikes me as a very expensive project given that it will not lower UK energy bills. 83% of UK oil and gas is exported and the UK has to then buy back what we need at market prices! Also, the North Sea reserves are 90% depleted already.

I do think it's vital that people working in the fossil fuels sector are supported to reskill. As a country, we've already moved away from mining coal. Couldn't we harness the free and renewable energy we have on our island and increase how much of our power it resources? I don't claim to have great knowledge of the science of it, but don't batteries mean we could export electricity packages that have come from solar, wind and water? I know it's an option for homeowners with solar panels, albeit on a tiny scale.

Already happening globally.

Yes, it's interesting. I was listening to a podcast just recently about nuclear energy. Apparently countries that have been historically opposed to nuclear energy are now considering it because of the geopolitical instability. Taiwan was one mentioned, it sits on a fault line apparently so was always very opposed and is now saying it will have to be open to it. The problem the programme raised was that we have limited expertise in nuclear energy and infrastructure in the UK now; that the more a country invests in a sector, the cheaper it is to expand, build more related infrastructure and train people. It's a great point though, perhaps the UK should be considering a combination.

I'm really glad this point has been raised, it's exactly the kind of thing I think our representatives need to be hearing. And also why I think there needs to be non-partisan or cross-party (among politicians) collaboration and discussion.

I don't think the Green Party have all the answers, or that the green lobby is a monolith. I certainly don't have plans to go glue myself to a motorway.

I'd love to hear from Reform voters, farmers, people in areas particularly suffering from flooding, people in towns that have historically depended on jobs in the fossil fuels sector (eg Aberdeen).

Apparently there's already been an Early Day Motion calling for a UK-wide, televised National Emergency Briefing on the climate crisis. I really do hope this goes ahead and that it gets people talking, demanding answers, raising how the climate emergency AND how the transition to Net Zero will affect them and their interests so it can be done equitably.

Its a nice answer but it still doesn't answer the question of what are you giving up to improve the situation.

What is the correct question?

@beeble347 do you think any of these actions will negate the damage caused by wars and the bombs, etc that are used? And how?

I thought that with the Net Zero project the U.K. government was already taking substantial action to decarbonise, and the concern was more that other countries are not following suit, since there’s a limited amount that we can do alone. China and the US are the major polluters.
I’m happy to be told I’m wrong but I’d understood we were actually quite far advanced here.

Thanks for this thread OP,I feel so hopeless about the climate and Gaza but will go and see the emergency briefing if it gives cause for hope.it seems to be so far from the government and public and medias thought process that I thought it was too late. I will be voting green as the only chance for the planet for the sake of any future grandchildren of mine.but does all feel very hopeless.

It does feel that way especially if countries keep bombing each other, it obviously does havoc for the environment.

Net zero is literally just physics. The world agreed to limit the global temperature rise to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels. To do that, the physics says we need to reach net zero by the middle of the century - ie that we are removing as much CO2 as we are pumping into the atmosphere. It is frustrating that science has been turned political.

This reminds me of my children’s school teaching that coral reefs are dying with no hope of ever getting them back. Children crying, all hope lost. Except there was amazing work being done regenerating the coral reefs and all hope was not lost at all.

I have far more hope for civilisation and whilst I completely accept there are bloody awful things happening all over the globe, I think we will be able to make changes as technology evolves and develops and the earth has undergone climate change previously when humans weren’t even around, so that’s something that may have happened regardless. We just have to accept we are space monkeys in a rock flying through the universe, life is precarious and nothing is guaranteed.

But, of course, it's political. World powers turn a blind eye to the environmental damage caused by war and bombing but continue to green wash smaller countries about net zero targets.

That's great! I'd love to hear what you think. I think also the discussion in person with other people that have just watched it and care was quite motivating.