Taking sustainability seriously

It is widely accepted that the world needs to stop emitting greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere within the next few decades, that is, achieve Net Zero by 2050, to avoid a climate disaster. This will require significant changes to life as we know it because much of modern life involves greenhouse gas emissions-generating activity. This affects every major sector of the economy and every country in the world. Furthermore, the change to emissions levels will need to be sustained for at least 30 years. It will affect and require consensus and co-operation across all tiers of Government, both nationally and internationally, to achieve the far harder emission reductions over the next 30 years than those already achieved. Many outstanding challenges remain, including electricity storage; cement, iron and steel production; plastics and chemical manufacturing including fertiliser; residential heating; aviation and shipping; methane from farm animals; carbon capture and storage; decarbonising heavy goods vehicles and land transport; and emissions pricing. The challenge is huge and very complex, and made more so by the international dimension without any mechanisms or levers to tackle sources (including countries) of high emissions.