Last year, a UNUnited Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security. report warned that the world had just 12 years to make the kind of changes needed to prevent the worst effects of global warmingThe Earth is getting hotter due to climate change..
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Pressure mounts to speed up action on climate
Last year, a UNUnited Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security. report warned that the world had just 12 years to make the kind of changes needed to prevent the worst effects of global warmingThe Earth is getting hotter due to climate change..
X
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Going emission-free will be extremely difficult. It will involve getting rid of all petrol and diesel cars, trains and buses, and then replacing them with electric vehicles.
That electricity will need to come from renewableEnergy sources, such as wind and solar power. sources, including at least 10 times as many wind turbines. You can also say goodbye to gas cookers or heating. (Currently nine in 10 homes have a gas boiler.)
Then, there is meat. Farm animals are responsible for up to 18% of the world's emissions. To be truly emission-free, the UK will need to embrace a more vegetarian diet.
Can it be done in time?
It is simply not possible to do all of this in just six years. It will involve dramatic and expensive changes to every person's life. Many people will lose their jobs. There is no way that can happen without provoking massive protests, as has happened in France. People will only accept changes if they happen gradually; 2050 is a better target.
This is too complacentFeeling that you do not need to do anything about a situation. For example, somebody with very high grades at school might think they do not need to work hard any longer. ; it will be too late by 2050. Climate change is an emergency, and we must respond to it the way we would any other emergency: quickly and urgently. In order to do this, every person must get involved. As teenage activist Greta ThunbergA teenage climate activist who inspired a mass environmental movement by schoolchildren in 2018, when she was just 15 years old. She has since spoken at the UN and been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. says, "I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is."
UN - United Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security.
Global warming - The Earth is getting hotter due to climate change.
Renewable - Energy sources, such as wind and solar power.
Complacent - Feeling that you do not need to do anything about a situation. For example, somebody with very high grades at school might think they do not need to work hard any longer.
Greta Thunberg - A teenage climate activist who inspired a mass environmental movement by schoolchildren in 2018, when she was just 15 years old. She has since spoken at the UN and been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Pressure mounts to speed up action on climate
Glossary
UN - United Nations. An intergovernmental organisation based in New York that aims to maintain international peace and security.
Global warming - The Earth is getting hotter due to climate change.
Renewable - Energy sources, such as wind and solar power.
Complacent - Feeling that you do not need to do anything about a situation. For example, somebody with very high grades at school might think they do not need to work hard any longer.
Greta Thunberg - A teenage climate activist who inspired a mass environmental movement by schoolchildren in 2018, when she was just 15 years old. She has since spoken at the UN and been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize.