May 3, 2022
Formed by the Committee on Climate Change, the 2008 Climate Act committed the UK to reducing its greenhouse gas emmisions by 80% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. In June 2019, this commitment was strengthened, and the UK Government committed to bring all greenhouse gas emmisions to 'net-zero' by the year 2050.
Net-Zero basically means that we are taking away just as much greenhouse gasses as we are putting into the atmosphere. For example, if the UK released 405.5 MILLION tonnes of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere (which we did in 2020), we would have to somehow take away the same amount from the atmosphere. This sounds quite overwhelming, but the amount of CO2 we release is going down, in 2010 we released 495.8 million tonnes of CO2, so we have decreased this number by 90.3 million tonnes in 10 years.
Obviously, there is a long way to go, but with efforts from the Government, large corporations and the public, we can reduce our CO2 emissions to Net-Zero.
You may have started to hear about Net-Zero much more recently, this is because we are hitting a point where a lot of the damage to the globe is becoming irreversible. Therefore, we need to act now to reduce the amount of permanent damage we are creating. This realisation means people are acting and demanding change, as the public cannot do it by themselves.
The sudden rise in popularity of the term Net-Zero has created a way for businesses to take advantage of the term and use it to bring in customers. Companies can promise that their products or services are sustainable and help achieve Net-Zero when they do not help the cause at all, as well as this. companies’ poor out marketing based around sustainability, this has a name, Greenwashing.
Although Net-Zero is a long way away for us, doing as much as you can to help is important, as we want our children and their children to live long and happy lives, enjoying the earth as we see it today or even better. Recycling, raising awareness and using renewable energy sources are simple ways which reduces your carbon footprint.
Making the switch to renewbale energy is simple; your next energy contract could be cheaper, more stable, and do good for the environment. With the net-zero initiative making it a legal requirement for all business to be produce net-zero carbon by 2050, it's never to early to make the switch to a renewable source of energy.
