Climate change: How to make a difference to save the planet

What makes usually law-abiding citizens try to get arrested?

Many people going about their business this week will have been hugely frustrated as Extinction Rebellion (XR) campaigners have caused transport chaos.

They have blocked key roads in London and Edinburgh.

They have disrupted bus routes and glued themselves to trains, and all with the aim of causing as much congestion as possible.

And getting arrested.

“We are unprepared for the danger our future holds. We face floods, wildfires, extreme weather, crop failure, mass migration and the breakdown of society. The time for denial is over. It is time to act,” they say.

I’m not part of XR but, as an environmental scientist, I understand their motivation.

So, I suspect, does Sir David Attenborough.

The revered natural historian has just finished a Netflix series, Our Planet, and a BBC show – and in both, he asks us all to do our bit to slow climate change.

Sir David has witnessed how a staggering 60 percent of wildlife has been lost since 1970.

Insect populations, in particular, have been hit by habitat loss, pesticides and climate change.

Without bees, butterflies and birds, many plants will not be pollinated, and nature is a fundamental part of our own existence.

Sir David’s Climate Change: The Facts, which airs on BBC One at 9pm tonight, is both sobering and uncompromising but it does explore what can be done on an international and personal level to help protect our environment before it’s too late.

Recent school strikes have shown that children understand we have a problem.

XR is bringing much-needed attention to the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced, because this is the truth people need to hear.

Scientists have been politely providing evidence on the case for change for decades and patiently waiting for people to do the “right thing”, but the issue has been ignored because no one wants change.

Change, however, must happen.

The impacts of global warming are being felt all around the world, with the 20 hottest years on record occurring in the past 22 years and with increasing numbers of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and hurricanes.

We are fairly well insulated from natural disasters here in the UK.

For many, the coming hot spell will seem a bonus rather than a red alert but talk to farmers, insurance companies and firefighters and they will tell you how quickly “normality” is changing.

The UK is already experiencing hotter, drier summers and wetter, milder winters.

Last year’s heatwave resulted in 600 premature deaths, melting roads, wildlife fatalities and a significantly lower harvest.

Yields of some staples such as onions were down 40 percent and winter animal feed was used in summer.

Firemen were called out to wildfires spread due to drought and strong winds – with low water pressure making their job harder.

Many of our favourite tree species are dying under attack from pests and diseases that are thriving in these milder, more humid conditions.

The floods of 2015-2016 cost the UK £1.6billion, according to the Environment Agency, and one in six properties is at risk from flooding.

As report after report warns, the process of climate change is only just beginning. We are on a runaway train gaining speed every year because we are addicted to oil.

Last week a study by American university researchers found air pollution from cars and trucks cause four million children to develop asthma every year.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we have to drastically cut our emissions of greenhouse gases by almost half in the next decade to stay within “safe” limits of warming.

The scale of the transformation this requires is phenomenal.

If done successfully, it will require changes in every aspect of our society: how we travel, what we eat, how we heat our homes, how we shop.

But there are viable alternatives that will save us money as well as the planet.

Generally, clean energy costs less, not more.

Insulation makes homes warmer and healthier.

Renewables use free energy from the sun and wind instead of importing expensive oil and gas from overseas.

Electric cars help to clean the air that we all breathe and more local jobs are created through these new industries.

So why are we not making these transformational changes?

Global warming is barely discussed in Westminster.

The first debate in years on the subject last month saw only about 60 MPs show up.

Political leaders here and abroad have failed to grasp how urgent and desperate this situation is.

The UK is legally committed to reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

The Government’s own report this month has shown the UK on track to comprehensively miss key targets.

Just as we should be drastically reducing pollution, in some sectors the UK is increasing emissions.

Public sector emissions increased by four percent in 2018.

Climate change costs us all money and costs lives.

Food prices are rising, insurance cover is too.

Homes are flooding and heat stroke increases the strain on the NHS.

Repairs to roads and railways washed out to sea are paid for by our taxes.

The greatest tragedy is that we have known for decades how to avoid this mess.

XR believe politicians have let us down, in particular, our children.

Estimates of how much land will be lost to the sea from melting ice this century are staggering.

That is why the protesters are prepared to go to jail.

We need leadership, laws and regulations that insist on a future that produces zero carbon.

We need to act fast to stop this trend before it is too late.

There is a rapidly closing window where we can make a difference.

You may not want to get arrested but there is plenty you can do to slow climate change.

We have only one home.

As Sir David Attenborough said: “How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew what was happening to the world and did nothing.”

• Consumer adviser Angela Terry is the founder of Onehome.org.uk life switches that won’t cost the earth