Failure to persuade public to change behaviour means UK will miss net zero target, Lords warn
A report lands amid criticism of the Prime Minister Liz Truss for reportedly blocking a public awareness campaign to cut energy use. The crossbench Lords say ministers should learn from the plastic bag tax and messaging to change habits during the coronavirus pandemic.
A report by the group found that a third of the emissions the UK must cut by 2035 to limit the impacts of climate change must come from people changing their behaviours, such as by insulating homes, using less energy and being incentivised to travel, shop and eat in a more environmentally friendly way.
4 comments:
Well, if they put themselves in charge, they can take the blame when things go wrong.
A nice little tale from my workplace about changing public behaviour:
Around 25 years ago, we had a German bloke called Werner move into our office. He was a nice bloke, fresh into the country, having been recruited to teach German to our A level students. Hampshire County Council had found him a flat on a nasty windswept 1930s estate on the edge of Gosport.
One day he came into work a bit gloomy and puzzled-looking. "I can't understand it, Sam! In Germany, we have seven different bins for recycling different types of waste. It makes sense, doesn't it! Here in the UK you have only two, but still I notice that my neighbours just...'chuck', do you say?...anyway, they are putting all waste into the same bin, even though the bins are different colours and are clearly marked.
"So last week I went around the estate politely telling people which bin they must use for which type of waste. The authorities must have communicated it badly, I think. I pointed out that in Germany we have seven different types, so really there is no excuse...
"Today is bin collection day, but this morning, I rise up to find that lots of people have thrown all their rubbish into my front garden..."
Sam - it is indeed a nice story. I often wonder how many people don't bother sorting their rubbish into the right bin, or who just don't do it properly. It would be no great surprise if it is too poorly sorted to be worthwhile.
"...and being incentivised to travel, shop and eat in a more environmentally friendly way."
So make buses more attractive to use, both in frequency of service and cost. If that is too much to ask of a Government then they have only themselves to blame for peoples' disinterest.
DJ - cars are so much more convenient and flexible than buses though. A small and inexpensive electric vehicle would do for most shopping and commuting journeys, but many roads would not be suitable for them. Too much fast, heavy traffic.
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