2050 climate change commitment

[Tringa]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48596775

Very laudable and we have to do something, even if, for example, having much better insulation should have come along years ago, but shouldn't we get away from the idea we can offset carbon emissions by planting trees?

While x trees might well absorb x tonnes of CO2 they won't absorb that amount from the moment they are planted as small saplings, so the uptake of the CO2 we produce now might not be absorbed for many years and in the meantime the emitted CO2 contributes to climate change.

Planting trees is a good idea but I wonder how many trees would be needed to offset even say 10% of the current emissions.

Dave

 

[AshleyC]

I struggle to see the point when china, Russia and the USA couldn't care less

 

[ancient_mariner]

I struggle to see the point when china, Russia and the USA couldn't care less

2 wrongs etc.

A future boycott of purchasing goods on polluting countries or carbon-output related import duties might make a difference (yeah, right - more like Britain will become a third world country).

 

[Kaolin]

I struggle to see the point when china, Russia and the USA couldn't care less

The reduced of air pollution alone looks like a significant upside. In time both the US and Russsia will care, I suspect not until it is costing them money but they will care. Someone has to take a lead and I can't see why it should not be the UK.

 

[gman]

If we were more self sufficient with industries then we could possibly lead the way, but as we have already seen over the last decade or so it certainly pays dividends to ignore the environment, intellectual trademarks, employee and human rights etc.

 

[AshleyC]

don't get me wrong and well done us for taking some sort of lead in it, im all for it although i think we have it pretty good over here already. I just wish the coal would hurry up and run out so countries are forced to do something!

 

[Steve Smith]

I struggle to see the point when china, Russia and the USA couldn't care less

China are doing a lot. The US, not so much.


Steve.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Somewhere in the climate change debate there is an element of truth but it's so overlaid with speculation that it's pretty hard to see what that truth is. The fact is we've come a long way already. When I was a boy the air in the cities was never clear and there was always a haze in the country skies. Nowadays our air is nearly as clear as on a Swiss mountain.

 

[woof woof]

I hope that whatever environmental legislation is passed doesn't include any carbon trading type options as these will IMO dilute what actually happens in reality. Any measures should IMO be solid, real and in the UK and pollution shouldn't be allowed to happen because someone has bought credits from someone else or claimed to have planted a tree in Cambodia (or wherever.)

If we're serious about this we have to do it and not just claim that we're doing it in a box ticking farce.

Oh, and also we need someone with a brain that works driving this not some well meaning tree hugger with a pot addled brain who'll spout wonderful on message stuff but make things worse.

 

[Suvv]

Carbon trading is included in the new proposals.
Aviation seems to be missing.
What happens when the trees you have planted to offset your carbon use die? I read a couple of years ago that all the trees planted to offset a festival were dead within a year!

 

[LCPete]

China are doing a lot. The US, not so much.


Steve.

Yes China are apparently doing a lot of work on renewable energy not enough but it’s a start
Unfortunately with trump in charge the USA will never do anything

 

[gman]

Yes China are apparently doing a lot of work on renewable energy not enough but it’s a start
Unfortunately with trump in charge the USA will never do anything

I do wonder if this is because they care about the global environment, their own local environment or because they know fossil fuels will not only run out one day but also because it makes you reliant on the nations who provide it?

 

[LongLensPhotography]

Excellent news. The UK will officially become a 3rd world country. It is certainly en route there regardless if you draw the curve from where the EMPIRE was in the beginning of the 20th century and today... It will certainly be helpful as China and Russia leapfrogs us, and the US is not going to stand behind either. Even the Germany run EU will have a hidden opt out clause. I shouldn't be excited because I live here, but I suppose that can be fixed.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

How about the "authorities" just stop putting plastic waste everywhere and shut the hell up until that is done?!

 

[gman]

How about the "authorities" just stop putting plastic waste everywhere and shut the hell up until that is done?!

I'm not quite following this, what do you mean by putting plastic waste everywhere?

 

[LongLensPhotography]

I'm not quite following this, what do you mean by putting plastic waste everywhere?

The sea, oceans, etc. Watch BBC's own documentaries for a graphic illustration. Scientific studies show [micro]plastic is in all of our bodies. Of course, the authorities are not literally tipping it over into the water themselves but the lack of recycling facilities, China's refusal to take in any more waste (good on them) and the OVER-USE of plastic everywhere makes it a problem it is today.
I only need to go to Tesco and I can see so many crazy examples. Brocolli in a wrap. Eco pears in polystyrene trays... OK they stopped that one just recently. Biscuits in plastic tray, in a bag and a cardboard box. You clearly don't need all 3. Don't forget producing plastic requires a lot of energy and also contributes to pollution in lots of different ways. But basically someone (ICI, Bayer, China?) needs to keep profiting from making plastic moulds.

 

[viv1969]

How about the "authorities" just stop putting plastic waste everywhere and shut the hell up until that is done?!

That's not the authorities, that's the general public; either directly by just dumping it, or indirectly by consumer pressure for packaging.

 

[jeff127]

Excellent news. The UK will officially become a 3rd world country. It is certainly en route there regardless if you draw the curve from where the EMPIRE was in the beginning of the 20th century and today... It will certainly be helpful as China and Russia leapfrogs us, and the US is not going to stand behind either. Even the Germany run EU will have a hidden opt out clause. I shouldn't be excited because I live here, but I suppose that can be fixed.

I'm not 100% sure but want to check. This is sarcasm, right?

 

[gman]

The sea, oceans, etc. Watch BBC's own documentaries for a graphic illustration. Scientific studies show [micro]plastic is in all of our bodies. Of course, the authorities are not literally tipping it over into the water themselves but the lack of recycling facilities, China's refusal to take in any more waste (good on them) and the OVER-USE of plastic everywhere makes it a problem it is today.
I only need to go to Tesco and I can see so many crazy examples. Brocolli in a wrap. Eco pears in polystyrene trays... OK they stopped that one just recently. Biscuits in plastic tray, in a bag and a cardboard box. You clearly don't need all 3. Don't forget producing plastic requires a lot of energy and also contributes to pollution in lots of different ways. But basically someone (ICI, Bayer, China?) needs to keep profiting from making plastic moulds.

The bit in bold was where my chain of thought was going but yes just because they aren't directly disposing of waste materials doesn't mean they are clear of fault.

Unfortunately, recycling is very expensive predominantly due to the manpower required and despite insane landfill tax rates it is still often cheaper to simply send things there, including paper and cardboard believe it or not. If it's not completely clean then it gets rejected.

Waste for Energy would be a reasonable enough alternative to landfill for the mid term but we are slow to adopt, especially in Scotland. Why? To me it's obvious, they make a fortune from landfill tax which also has vat applied to this tax. It's criminal.

But they are starting to build more Waste for Energy plants, but ideally the long term solution as you say is at the source of the material and those who manufacture it.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

But they are starting to build more Waste for Energy plants, but ideally the long term solution as you say is at the source of the material and those who manufacture it.

I'd much rather it gets burned cleanly rather than dumped, but even better the packaging should be reduced and / or replaced with bamboo / cardboard or other novel genuinely bio-degradable materials.

Shopping bags is one of the simplest areas to deal with. A couple of years ago in France, a far more advanced nation in this respect I had to get a cotton bag in a supermarket. This is all they had. It makes perfect sense. It's still perfectly usable and can be washed and when its done it will not become a pollutant unlike our synthetic "bags for life", only good for 4-6 months in real life.

 

[Cobra]

I had to get a cotton bag in a supermarket.

They are starting to appear over here too. Although the ones I've seen are more like Hessian.

it will not become a pollutant unlike our synthetic "bags for life", only good for 4-6 months in real life.

But the idea of that was, not that it would last for life, when it broke, you took the old one back, recycled it, and gave you a new one.
Seems that's stopped now, so we just chuck'em away it was a good idea while it lasted

 

[viv1969]

I've got jute shopping bags, and also re-useable and washable net bags for loose veg/fruit.
I do, though, keep a couple of plastic "bags for life" in my bags for unanticipated shop visits. Each is at least a year old (one way more than that) and are nowhere near needing to be replaced.