If we’re serious about net zero, all of us must change

Firefighters in Maltby after a fire started on scrubland before spreading to outbuildings, fences and homes (South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue)
PA Media
Bob Ward20 July 2022
WEST END FINAL

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Climate change is making heatwaves more frequent and more intense. Like all impacts of climate change they will continue to grow while atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases carry on rising.

The increase in greenhouse gas levels will not stop until the world cuts its emissions effectively to zero. That means we have to reduce as much as possible the amount we release, and balance any residual emissions by removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. At that point we will have net zero emissions.

If the world hits net zero emissions by 2050, it has a reasonable chance of limiting the rise in global average temperature to 1.5 degree Celsius above its pre-industrial level. Remember, what we are suffering now is the result of warming of just over one Celsius.

Unfortunately, that net zero target means that heatwaves and the other impacts will worsen for at least the next 30 years, and we will need to adapt to make ourselves more resilient to these consequences.

London can lead the way on net zero. The current Mayor has set an extremely ambitious target for the capital to be net zero by 2030, 20 years ahead of the national goal.

This will be incredibly challenging. To reach net zero we will need to stop using fossil fuels across the city. That means relying only on renewables or nuclear to generate our electricity, replacing all of our gas central heating with alternatives, such as heat pumps, and allowing only electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles on our roads.

And that will be the easiest part. To be truly net zero, we will also need all of London’s airports to allow only zero-carbon flights and we must make sure all the goods and services we bring into the capital, including food, clothes and appliances, are also made and transported without emissions.

This will require massive investment, and the City of London will need to play a crucial role. Some argue this is all too expensive. But it will be far cheaper than paying the enormous costs of lost lives and livelihoods from climate change impacts caused by our dependence on ruinously expensive fossil fuels.

Bob Ward is deputy chair of the London Climate Change Partnership

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