Fly Less, Cut Meat, No Diesel: U.K.heads to Zero Carbon

British people need to fly less, drive electric cars, eat little meat and turn their home thermostats down to 19 degrees Celsius (66 Fahrenheit) in order to rein in greenhouse gases damaging the planet.

Those are the recommendations from the government’s official adviser on climate change and sketch out the toughest measures anywhere in the industrial world to rein in pollution. Drawn up by a panel including lawmakers, scientists, industry officials and analysts, their 277-page report also suggests a drastic overhaul for industry, agriculture and aviation.

The findings mark out the ways Prime Minister Theresa May and her successors can reach a target to cut net emissions to zero by 2050, something scientists say is necessary to prevent more violent storms and rising seas that come with climate change. It’s an indication that there’s a growing consensus on the environment in the U.K. even as lawmakers remain deeply divided about how the nation should leave the European Union

“We are not asking people to lead a miserable life,” John Gummer, former Conservative lawmaker who chairs the Committee on Climate Change, told reporters in London before the report was released on Thursday. “We are looking to having as fulfilled, as different, as various a life as we have today and to do it in a way in which we take respect for the future.”

Chart shows U.K. emissions declining, with a pathway to meeting carbon budgets set down in law. IAS emissions refer to international aviation and shipping, which are included in the 2050 target but not the carbon budgets. Source: U.K. Committee on Climate Change

Sensing a lack of commitment from the British government, thousands of protesters from Extinction Rebellion took to the streets of London in April, blocking several main thoroughfares in a call for reaching net-zero emissions by 2025. Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has said ministers should declare a climate emergency.

“This report now sets us on a path to become the first major economy to legislate to end our contribution to global warming entirely,” Clark said in a statement.

Source: Bloomberg