The Problems and Solutions to Climate Change: Greenpeace UK
From Lauraibm
Contents |
Overview
The world is warming up. Already 150,000 people are dying every year because of climate change and, within 50 years, one-third of all land-based species could face extinction. If we carry on the way we are now, by 2100 the planet will likely be hotter than it's been at any point in the past two million years.
But catastrophic climate change isn't inevitable. We know that climate change is caused by burning fossil fuels. The technologies that could dramatically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels – decentralised energy, renewables and efficiency, hybrid cars, efficient buildings – already exist and have been proven to work. If we start cutting our emissions now, using these ready-to-go technologies, then there is still a chance to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.
What we’re lacking is real action. The government needs to put in place meaningful policies to urgently reduce emissions – and to act on them immediately. Under New Labour, carbon emissions have risen. The government is set to miss its own emissions targets. Whether through political cowardice or industry lobbying, the government is failing to put their words into action.
We're the last generation that can stop this global catastrophe, and we need your help.
The Problems
The world is warming up. As we burn up the planet’s coal, oil and gas reserves, and cut down its remaining forests, greenhouse gases are pouring into the atmosphere. The delicate balance of atmospheric gases that sustains life is thickening, trapping more and more heat and irreversibly changing our world.
The causes
For all the technological gloss of the 21st century, the UK is still living in an industrial era, pumping out emissions from coal, oil and gas. Worse, our energy is supplied through a criminally wasteful, centralised energy system; two thirds of all energy generated in UK power stations is lost as waste heat – up the chimney and along transmission lines. But there are clean, affordable and proven solutions for the most polluting sectors: electricity, transport, industry and domestic.
The science=
This massive and rapid change to our climate is like nothing humankind has seen before. As such, the science around it has been cautious and careful in reaching consensus over time. But a strong consensus has finally been reached; the scientific community now agrees that climate change is real, it’s caused by human activity and it’s already happening.
The impacts
The 0.6 degree rise we’ve experienced already kills 150,000 people every year. Glaciers, permafrost and sea ice are disappearing. Sea levels are rising, seasons changing and extreme weather becoming more extreme. As temperatures increase further, there will almost inevitably be more flooding, more drought, more disease, more famine and more war, creating hundreds of millions of refugees and causing the destruction of entire ecosystems and species.
How much climate change can we bear?
An average temperature rise of around 1.3 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels is already inevitable and will bring with it some terrible impacts worldwide. If that figure hits two degrees, many scientists say that not only will the impacts be much greater, but the probability of feedback mechanisms kicking in will be much higher; climate change could spiral completely out of control. Some studies say we have 10 years or less to tackle emissions if we are to stay below that temperature threshold.
The politics (UK)
So why do we keep burning fossil fuels? The problem isn't a scientific one but a political one. Despite the rhetoric, political cowardice and industry lobbying are preventing meaningful action. New Labour has overseen a rise in overall carbon emissions and is now set to miss its own emissions targets. And if the UK doesn’t deliver at home, how can it put pressure on other governments internationally?
The politics (international)
Carbon emissions don't respect borders and the sad fact is that the world's most vulnerable people are the ones that are suffering most from its impacts. With countries like China and India in the middle of their own industrial revolutions, it's clear we need a global framework and global cooperation to address the problem. The Kyoto Protocol is a crucial first step but far, far more needs to be done.
The nuclear distraction
While the government claims to care about the climate, in practice it has bowed to the demands of big business. The government has fallen for the nuclear industry's spin and decided that the UK needs 10 new nuclear power stations. Nuclear power can't stop climate change or ensure energy security. We need to start reducing emissions within a decade to avoid catastrophic climate change; the first new nuclear power stations won't produce a watt of energy before 2018.
The Solutions
The good news is that we know exactly what needs to be done to stop climate change - and the technologies we need already exist. With the right policies at national and local levels, we would be able to deploy them on a large scale.
Clean energy
Two thirds of all energy going into the UK's power stations is lost as waste heat - up the chimney and in the cooling towers. If we captured this waste heat, there would be enough of it to heat every building and business in the UK.
To capture and use this heat, we would need to stop relying on our archaic, centralised energy system and start producing energy in smaller, local combined heat and power (CHP) plants. A number of countries around the world are already doing this; the UK needs to follow their example and undergo an energy revolution. With a decentralised energy system based on renewable technologies, we could double the efficiency of our power stations, slash our carbon emissions and reduce our reliance on foreign gas.
Transport
Transport is responsible for 22 percent of the UK's carbon emissions, and vehicles in the UK are pumping out more greenhouse gases than ever before. At the moment, EU car manufacturers only have a voluntary agreement to reduce the emissions of their cars. To make real progress towards low carbon cars, binding efficiency targets need to be imposed on manufacturers and gas-guzzlers need to be taxed more highly.
Aviation is the fastest growing cause of climate change in the world, and the popularity of short haul flights is still growing. According to the Tyndall Centre, if air traffic is allowed to keep growing at its present rate, then all other sectors will have to reduce their emissions to zero in order to reach the government's climate change targets. The government urgently needs to increase the cost of flying, and to scrap its plans to expand airports across the UK.
Industry
In 2005, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) was set up to tackle emissions from industry, which accounts for almost a quarter of the UK's carbon emissions, The ETS requires companies to either reduce their emissions or buy carbon credits from other companies that have exceeded their targets.
It's a helpful framework, but the ETS will only lead to lower carbon emissions when its carbon allocations are determined by the science of climate change, rather than by industry. Much more needs to be done to extend its scope and its value.
In the home
While it is crucial to start cutting the wastage at our power stations, that doesn't take the onus off the rest of us. Domestic usage accounts for 15 per cent of the UK's carbon emissions. A proportion of this can be cut out by very simple changes to our lives, like switching our light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs, turning off all appliances when we aren't using them, fitting insulation in the loft, and so on.
But we can go further. Decentralising our energy system enables homes to become power stations. By installing small scale solar or wind generators we can generate our own power; we could even sell our excess power to our neighbours through the national grid.
