Cllr James Harvey, Broadland Green Party Councillor for Plumstead Ward had an Opinion piece published in the Eastern Daily Press on Friday 2 February.
The text is as follows:
Jit Thacker, in his response to Dr Charlie Gardner’s letter (15 January), wrote (EDP Opinion 24 January) about Net Zero, COP28 and Climate Change. I prefer the expression Climate Breakdown.
I don’t agree with his sentiment on Net Zero, although it does have its flaws. We need ‘Real Zero’ policies, or at least more stringent accounting and reporting on what counts towards Net Zero. We cannot afford reductions in net emissions which rely upon initiatives such as carbon capture and storage, ‘sustainable’ aviation fuel, or dubious tree planting schemes, all tantamount to green-washing. The target of 2050 for Net Zero is far too late, and puts the burden on future generations to solve something that will be irreversible by then.
To suggest that Net Zero targets and UK action on reducing emissions are damaging the UK more than climate breakdown is at the very least irresponsible, and shows a lack of empathy for the dire straits many are in. Perhaps it’s calculated misdirection given Dr Thacker works for a company paid by road schemes and HS2; one wonders at his motivations. Has he looked out of the window recently and seen the flooding impacting large parts of Norfolk, or the harvest failures? Farmers and many Norfolk residents are having a hell of a time of it.
Last year we saw record average temperature across the globe, and this year is set to be even worse. Come summer Norfolk could be frying, with water shortages and wild-fires.
The UK’s carbon emissions are not insignificant, especially when one takes into account historic emissions, as well as those from the manufacture of goods and services we outsource abroad, and shipping and aviation. The richest 10% on the planet are responsible for 49% of lifestyle emissions, the poorest 50% for just 10% (source Oxfam’s Confronting Carbon Inequality report). Guess which bracket the UK sits in.
The China argument is an emotive one, but again laced with misdirection. China has the fastest growing renewables programme in the world, and it’s a travesty the UK hasn’t kept up. We had the opportunity, but instead have squandered money on subsidising oil and gas companies to the tune of £236m a week. Imagine what that money could do for creating new jobs in the renewables industry and powering the UK with secure, green energy, not to mention helping the NHS and welfare services. We have the solutions, we just lack the political will.
Renewable energy could power the UK through a combination of wind (onshore and offshore), tidal and solar, and perhaps even geothermal; the latter is being explored in old coal mines in the South West, and other parts of the UK. Renewables are cheaper, cleaner, mean lower bills, and are quicker to come online than oil and gas projects. The argument that sometimes the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine is out-of-date and completely solvable through long duration energy storage including battery technology, upgrades to the national grid and grid balancing, and a reduction in energy consumption via initiatives such as better insulated homes. We have enough existing oil and gas reserves to see us through a transition period without the need to grant new licenses, which the current Government is intent on doing; more sick profits for fossil fuel companies at our expense.
We need rapid de-carbonisation now, to not do so would be ‘ruinously destructive’. We need to set an example, take responsibility for our historical actions and actually become the world leaders the Government keeps falsely claiming us to be. No more new road building (fix our potholes instead), no more new oil and gas, no more destruction of our wild places and rare species; we’re the most nature denuded country in Europe. Invest instead in public and active transport, and renewable energy.
The clock is ticking, and future generations will hold us to account.
