By Paul Homewood
h/t Philip Bratby
UK efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are being seriously undermined by the failure to account for rising carbon output in the countries where our goods are manufactured, a new report has warned.
Almost half of the UK’s carbon footprint – the total amount of greenhouse gas released in the production and consumption of all the goods and services – now comes from emissions released overseas for imported products including clothing, processed foods and electronics.
But the manufacture of these products is not used to calculate national emissions, and are instead counted as the manufacturing country’s emissions – even though they would not have been produced were it not for UK demand.
These “invisible” overseas emissions are also not currently included in the UK’s 2050 net zero target, while international aviation and shipping emissions are also excluded.
The new report, by WWF, found between 1990 and 2016 total emissions within the UK’s borders reduced by 41 per cent, but the consumption-based footprint only dropped 15 per cent, mainly due to goods and services coming from abroad.
Overall, 46 per cent of the UK’s carbon footprint in 2016 came from emissions released overseas to satisfy the nation’s consumption – a significant rise from 14 per cent in 1990. These emissions are not covered by UK domestic climate policy.
Dr Stephen Cornelius, chief climate change adviser at WWF, said: “Climate change is a global problem that needs a global solution. The UK has committed to net zero emissions and a credible plan to achieve this is one that tackles emissions based on what we consume, as well as what we produce.
“We need to be honest about our emissions – that means tackling those in the goods and services we buy in, not just the ones we make here. As an influential nation which has shown it can act as a global leader on climate change before, we have the ability to take responsibility for emissions that are down to UK demand alone.”
As Philip points out, the imported solar panels and wind turbines we buy have a carbon footprint, so presumably these will have to be banned as well.
And I don’t suppose China will be too happy if the West stops buying all of their products, as it would destroy their economy, something the WWF does not seem to care about.
But at least exercises like these expose the lie that we can get to Net Zero by installing lots of lovely renewable energy, drive electric cars and plant a few trees.
The harsh reality is that we as a country will have to cut back and do without most of the things we take for granted in our lives now.
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
April 17, 2020 at 12:33PM
Iowa Climate Science Education 