BBC - The British must cut back on lifestyle to save themselves and the planet from climate change

Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49997755 Please see link above for original text, embedded hotlinks and comments.

Climate change: Big lifestyle changes are the only answer

By Justin Rowlatt Chief Environment correspondent 11 October 2019 The UK government must tell the public small, easy changes will not be enough to tackle climate change, warn experts.

Researchers from Imperial College London say we must eat less meat and dairy, swap cars for bikes, take fewer flights, and ditch gas boilers at home.

The report, seen by BBC Panorama, has been prepared for the Committee on Climate Change, which advises ministers how to cut the UK's carbon footprint.

It says an upheaval in our lifestyles is the only way to meet targets.

The government has passed a law obliging the country to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

It is "going further and faster than any other developed nation to protect the planet for future generations", a government spokesperson told BBC Panorama. "If we can go faster, we will."

But the new report warns major shifts in policy across huge areas of government activity are needed to keep the public onside.

Chris Stark, the Chief Executive of the Committee on Climate Change, tells Panorama the government's plan for cutting emissions is "not nearly at the level of ambition required".

"Every bit of policy now needs to be refreshed," he warned in an interview with BBC Panorama.

▪ Climate change: UK government to commit to 2050 target ▪ Ditch cars to meet climate change targets, say MPs ▪ Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months The new report, called Behaviour Change, Public Engagement and Net Zero, amounts to an extensive "to-do" list for government.

It says subsidies for fossil fuels have to go and taxes on low-carbon technologies must be cut.

1

At the same time, consumers need to be given far more information on the environmental consequences of their actions.

It also urges the government to consider introducing a carbon tax, increasing the prices of carbon-intensive products and activities.

It is an ambitious agenda but necessary, the report says, if Britain is to achieve its Net Zero ambitions.

"These changes need not be expensive or reduce well-being," the report concludes, "but they will not happen at the pace required unless policy first removes obstacles to change in markets and consumer choice."

Some photos from the real world in the United Kingdom. Do these back up the claims of Justin Rowlatt Chief Environment correspondent that the UK (and the world?) have to cut back drastically on use of fossil fuels for transportation and all sorts of uses in agriculture and manufacturing?

What is the BBC really trying to do?

2

3

4

5

There is no evidence that there is a need to cut back on modern lifestyle in the UK, to cut back on use of fossil fuels to prevent Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming, CAGW. Why do the British media demand drastic cutting back of use of fossil fuels?

6