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'As for my own personal lifestyle choices. I don't have a car, I haven't flown in at least 5 years (might be longer), I try to shop for local produce but admit I don't always. I don't have a heat pump and probably couldnt afford one but I think it's irrelevant (could be wrong) as i'm in a social housing flat'.You kindly asked after my whereabouts in another post.Here I am MICHAEL BRIGO.Calm down dear !What am I doing to 'save the planet' ?Firstly I acknowledge that my age precludes me from many activities that I have carried out in the past but I am unable to do now. a) I don't own a car and use public transport.Why wouldn't I ?With a Freedom Pass paid for from 50+ years of higher rate Income Tax I would be a fool not to. b) I haven't flown in at least 12 years (possibly longer).But with the chaos caused at airports by the rise in cheap flights at my age I have no desire to.Anyway I have visited all the decent places in Europe  before they were swamped by mass tourism, often from China.And even all those years back I never found any place east of Istanbul at all inviting (and now of course it's worse !)c) I also shop locally, well Southfields' Sainsburys Local or the big one at Southside.But that is pretty irrelevant as the key issue is surely the 'carbon footprint' of the product from field to shelf.d) I don't have a heat pump either as I also live in a block of flats which happens to have communal heating.But I have installed thermostatic radiator valves in my flat and the management committee are obsessive about the temperature setting.Unfortunately many flats are now sublet and tenants don't really care much as long as they are warm.Not sure what else I can do really except perhaps lead protest marches to the Indian and Chinese embassies.'China, the United States, India, the EU27, Russia and Brazil were the world’s largest GHG emitters in 2023. Together they account for 49.8% of global population, 63.2% of global gross domestic product, 64.2% of global fossil fuel consumption and 62.7% of global GHG emissions. Among these top emitters, in 2023 China, India, Russia and Brazil increased their emissions compared to 2022, with India having the largest increase in relative terms (+ 6.1%) and China the largest absolute increase by 784 MtCO2eq'.The UK only accounts for 1% of annual global emissions.Any suggestions for anything else I can do ?

John Hawkes ● 16d

Here is an old but good report by Leonie Cooper AM.  I find it amazing that it took Wandsworth so very long to actually do something about this as so many boroughs were years and years ahead of them:https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/leonie_cooper_am-_a_wasted_opportunity_report.pdfThis year I was happy to that there was NO wasted food after  Christmas.  Sorry vegans/vegetarians for the following:  I let the kids (they are grown up) cook and we made sure that we as always had lots of vegetables to go with the turkey on the day itself.  After the Boxing Day sandwiches and another  cold meal I stripped it of meat and made stock out of the carcase by cooking it in the slow cooker while a curry for visiting family was being made. We had turkey soup the following day using up the stock and any left over vegetables. It was delicious and there was no huge carcase to get rid of as it fitted easily even when wrapped in newspaper into the small food waste caddy with room for lots of satsuma peel.  It was very satisfying to not have wasted anything.Nowadays our food waste usually fits into a compostable magazine wrapper - and we can easily go a couple or three weeks without needing a food collection - even though it is weekly.It isn't just the waste of food that is a problem - but all of its production and travelling etc.  So it's worthwhile choosing carefully and just continuously tweaking what you do to improve. There are Repair shops and Repair cafes to help you to reduce the amount of waste that you make.  (I used to work with a manager who would throw away his shirts when he lost a button.)  There is a website that all children should be introduced to before they leave home on how to look after their clothes so they are not damaged and they can make small repairs.https://www.wrap.ngo/taking-action/citizen-behaviour-change/previous-campaigns  and by making sure that I have recycled everything that I can by following the info for every Council I visit!  And that starts with choosing carefully - as Vivienne Westwood suggested.www.recyclenow.com

Philippa Bond ● 17d

“”For the climate sceptics amongst us just read this:https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/It’s NASA, is that an impeccable enough source?The climate research teams at Exeter Uni, who work closely with the Met Office, based not coincidentally in Exeter, can provide much more detailed research, peer reviewed of course and supported by well over 90% of climate scientists worldwide.At this stage in the debate we really shouldn’t have to be going back to basics to point out what is happening to the Earth’s climate.How we, humankind, respond, is of course very much open to debate but if it does not include reducing CO2 emissions globally and rapidly, then what, exactly?  Methane is far more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2 and those emissions, too, need drastic reduction.If you don't believe any of this then that puts you at odds with 90%+ of the world's climate scientists, including those at NASA. Science matters.  Google it but do choose sites with some scientific heft and not just those that offer uninformed scepticism.””I posted the above yesterday on another thread but here it is again just in case. I know you didn’t specifically ask me what I’m doing about it but for all of us the key word is “mitigation”.  Each of us can make a tiny difference at most but collectively we can achieve far more. However it’s no use talking about mitigation unless you start from the position that humankind has a serious, indeed, existential problem, and that urgent action is required. Here’s another link I recommend a sceptic should read: https://www.theccc.org.uk/climate-action/international-action-on-climate-change/If you do read it then also take a look at the very long list of serious international academic experts on the committee. That’s scientific heft for you. What we do individually, or as a country, will not be cost free. Indeed it could be financially quite painful. When considering that point consider also the potential cost of doing nothing. Your call.

Jonathan Callaway ● 19d

I don't really know why i'm bothering to answer as you won't bother to read any of the links I post and you will just go off on a tangent. However I feel like I should at least try. So here goes. Please bear in mind firstly that I am not a scientist, I don't have all the answers, but they are almost certainly on the NASA and IPCC website — it would be great if you went there and took a look. As you won't though I will put some detail below. Firstly. You can see on the graph below that the IPCC says to keep warming to 1.5 degrees or below (as per the Paris agreement) we need a 43% reduction from 2019 emmissions by 2030. In 2019 we emitted 59.1 gigatonnes of C02 and we need to get that down to 33.7 gigatonnes. In 2023 our C02 emissions were 57.1 gigatonnes, a slight increase from 2022. The IPCC said that we needed a 7.5% decrease EVERY YEAR until 2030 to meet that target, therefore we are currently well off track to meet that. In answer to what businesses and goverments should do, well the answers according to the IPCC are available on their website but i can summarise them for you. It's quite simple, we have to DECREASE EMISSIONS of greenhouse gasses, whether that be C02, methane, whatever. As to how we actually do it — please go to the IPCC website, they say it's possible.
As to what individuals can do, well there's lots of things however a lot of them are insignificant in comparison to what governments and business can do. Sure, it's great to shop local, drive an electric car if you can afford it etc but as the IPCC says — the heavy lifting is needed by governements around the world. That's not me trying to excuse myself or anyone else from responsibility, we all have a part to play but it's not going to work without a significant change of strategy from governments. As for my own personal lifestyle choices. I don't have a car, I haven't flown in at least 5 years (might be longer), I try to shop for local produce but admit I don't always. I don't have a heat pump and probably couldnt afford one but I think it's irrelevant (could be wrong) as i'm in a social housing flat. The latest IPCC report can be found here: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/

Michael Brigo ● 19d