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The climate situation 2025 Reasons to be very concerned Key background information Action neededKey information
What should have been done by governments and wider society in response to climate change? Counting consumption rather than territorial CO2 emissions Climate inaction and delay: Conspiracy or cockup? All sections of society are failing Government failures Climate science briefing for MPs by Patrick Vallence et al was seriously misleading House of Commons Library reports on climate change are seriously misleading MPs Campaigning failures Zero Hour: Climate urgency denial UKHACC: Climate urgency denial: CorrespondenceAction needed
Reliable (safe system) decision making and policy makingUK carbon budget calculations 2025 Carbon budget calculations for the average country What would GENUINE climate leadership look like?
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Posts in 2023-2024:
Reasons to be very concerned
Key points on the climate emergencyHuman activity has changed the climate
The climate has changed: The physics Mankind has changed the climateMortality from climate change
Mortality and other costs of climate changeTime is running out
UK carbon budget calculations 2024 The UK's share of the global carbon budget runs out in 2 years The global carbon budget runs out in 7 yearsSystem failures
UN Secretary-General: "Government leaders are lying" The UK Net Zero 2050 strategy would take three times the UK's share of the global carbon budgetPleas from those most affected
Young people are pleading for action: 10 key messages Greta Thunberg's "blah blah blah" speech, Milan 2021 Pleas from the world's poorestAction needed
UN Secretary-General: "A grassroots movement that cannot be ignored"Actions needed
Climate emergency ten-point action plan1. Overall aim and priority
International commitments given Why 1.5°C? Why climate action is an overriding priority2. Global strategy: Limit further emissions to 400 billion tonnes CO2
Global strategy: Limit further emissions to 400 billion tonnes CO23. Allocation of the global CO2 budget between countries
Allocation of the global CO2 budget between countriesThe maths of staying within the UK's carbon budget: Halve emissions every 3 years Double digit percentage annual emission cuts "Zero carbon sooner" CO2 budget report from CUSP
4. Reviewing progress against the CO2 budget
Global emissions are still rising5. Identifying reasons for lack of progress on climate change
Why progress has been so poor: Summary The UK's Seven Principles of Public Life Decision making has not followed the science It is a system failure rather than a failure of individuals Cognitive biases, flawed reasoning, fallacies and denial dominate opinions and decision making Climate denial: literal, interpretive and implicatory Climate urgency denial Checklist for auditing consistency with the IPCC Auditing consistency with the IPCC: Summary for selected groups5a. Governments
UK Climate Change Committee: Not consistent with the IPCC UK Government fallacy: overclaiming the reduction in UK CO2 emissions5b. Media deficiencies
The BBC: Climate denial The Guardian: Climate denial The British Medical Journal: Climate denial5c. Campaigning deficiencies
Friends of the Earth: Climate denial 1: Court case 2022 Friends of the Earth: Climate denial 2: Response to CCC annual report 2023 Fridays for Future: Consistent with the IPCC Climate Uncensored: Consistent with the IPCC Campaign against Climate Change: Consistent with the IPCC Ethical Consumer Magazine: Climate denial Climate Emergency UK: Climate denial Client Earth: Climate denial Sustrans: Climate denial6. Improve decision making
7. Actions by sector
Specific actions needed: Summary National governments Local governmentFalse solutions to be avoided
'Offsetting' Planting trees Tree planting claims by Zurich scientists were withdrawn Electric vehicles: not an immediate solution8. Individuals
Individuals Reduce your carbon footprint: at least 10% per year9. Ensuring good decision making
Challenging fallacies
Common climate fallaciesUK Government
The 'Net Zero 2050' UK Government fallaciesEthical Consumer: Inconsistency with the IPCC in the Climate Gap reports
Critique of report methodology Correspondence with Ethical ConsumerCivil disobedience
Civil disobedience in a democracy: Q and ATechnicalities
UK average GHG emissions International comparisonsEmissions by sector
"Green electricity" Health, education, etc emissionsCalculator version information
Quotes
QuotesLinks
LinksPosts in 2022:
Consistency with the IPCC
Climate urgency fallaciesAction needed
Passivhaus home standardsChallenge fallacies and malpractice
Challenge fallacies, incompetence and malpracticeEnsuring good decision making
Assessing performance on the climate emergency Climate Urgency Realism or Denial score Climate urgency denial in UK Government scientistsAbout
Why trust this website?Posts in 2020-2021:
Action needed
'Hydrogen power' is not the answerEnsuring good decision making
Civil disobedience and the law Extinction RebellionTechnicalities by sector
Basic UK energy and greenhouse gas statistics ReferencesPosts in 2019:
The climate crisis and what to do about it
Climate change: the basics Simple solutions for the climate crisis, which should have been implemented alreadyAction needed
Local government: Make walking safe OrganisationsAwareness raising
Leaflets, videoReasons for optimism
Decline in UK domestic aviation Decline of domestic aviation in SwedenStandards of administration in a democracy
Effective planningPerformance assessments
BEIS is not telling the truth on carbon emissions Transport for the North: Failing on the climate crisis Steve Rotheram: failing on the climate crisis Wirral Council's emission reduction trajectory
Why climate action is an overriding priority
Action on climate change is now seen as an overriding priority.
What makes climate action an overriding priority is a combination of
What makes climate action an overriding priority is a combination of
- self-interest
- the moral obligation.
Action on climate change is now seen by many to be an overriding priority.
What makes climate action an overriding priority is a combination of
- self-interest
- moral obligation.
Self-interest
On a basis of purely self-interest, it make sense to limit climate damage because otherwise each country will be affected by- extreme heat
- storms
- economic disruption
- worldwide disorder
- refugees and migration.
Moral obligation
The moral obligation to act comes from- the scale of harm being done by burning of fossil fuels
- deaths
- refugees
- political instability
- the people who are most affected being the ones who are the least responsible.
First published: Nov 2019
Last updated: 18 Jul 2023