Climate Emergency

There is no doubt that there is a climate emergency, evidence from around the world shows it. Melting icecaps, more severe weather, flooding beyond an in recorded human history.

In 2011 about 1 million Syrian refugees were unleased on Europe, the potential flooding of Bangladesh will unleash 10 times as many, the refugees from Sub Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia the World Bank estimate by 2050 will be in the region of 150 million all due to climate change.

In 1997 the Kyoto Protocol thought 2C was the threshold of catastrophe, Kyoto failed, since then we have produced more emissions than the 20 years before 1997.

The current prediction is that even with current actions the planet could still go to a 4-5c warmer this would make half the planet uninhabitable.

In Sheffield we are working to put right the ravages of the past but the most damage to the climate has been done in the last 25 years, not in the distant past. People ask us to set a date by which we can achieve a less than 1.5C rise in temperature or a zero carbon City.  We cannot set a date by which we can achieve this without solid robust evidence of what actions we all need to take to reach this target.

Sheffield City Council is committed to change, we will be bold and honest and forthright, this is an emergency and one that we are preparing to tackle.

The proposed clean air zone will save lives and will lower carbon output.

The UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change say we need to half our carbon emissions by 2030, to avoid catastrophe. We can do this if we are not too selfish, or lazy we can move towards this target. 

A recent report claimed that half the UK emissions came from discarded food, electronics and clothing. This means that in the UK our personal carbon footprint is 1/3 larger than they need to be.

Its up to us, each of us to recycle, reuse and repurpose, if we all undertake to take action, we can change the future to a brighter one.

So drive a cleaner car, us the bus or get an electric bike, only buy food you are going to use and shop locally think how you can reduce your personal carbon footprint.