Time for real action on Climate Change
As snow fell in Cornwall last week, world leaders gathered in Dubai for the COP28 climate summit. This year the spotlight is less on making new pledges and more on measuring whether existing pledges are been acted upon. This is vital because targets alone do not change the real world. 2023 has been the hottest in 120,000 years and next year is likely to be even hotter!
In 2017, Cornwall Council unanimously voted to declare a Climate Emergency and set a target for Cornwall to be Carbon Neutral by 2030, but it is increasingly clear that the Council has no prospect of achieving this goal.
An independent review of HM Government’s Net Zero Strategy, found that 82% of the UKs emissions are within the influence of Councils, yet local leaders are still waiting for the powers and resources they need to deliver on their ambitions.
Transport is Cornwall's biggest source of Carbon Emissions, but funding for public transport is woefully inadequate. Electric vehicles are becoming more affordable, but the lack of public chargers is a huge deterrent: Across the six towns of South East Cornwall there are just seven public rapid charging points (with none at all in Torpoint). Not nearly enough for 45,000 drivers!
Heat for our homes and businesses must be decarbonised too. Generally this means replacing a gas or oil boiler with an electric heat pump. Unfortunately in most cases this still costs more than a like-for-like boiler replacement, even with the Government's £7,500 grant. The real benefits of heat pumps will only be felt when the price of electricity is “decoupled” from the price of gas. It's crazy that the cost of wind and solar energy is currently pegged to the price of gas!
Cornwall led the country in renewable energy generation when the Lib Dems were in Government, but progress has stalled since 2015 when the Conservatives decided to “cut the green crap” and virtually banned onshore wind turbines. Local, national and global businesses want to invest in Cornwall, but red tape and a lack of grid connections are still holding them back.
On a more positive note, many are making the choice to go green despite all these challenges. I recently switched my gas boiler for a heat pump, and I'm pleased to say my house is still warm and cosy even in freezing weather. Local businesses are decarbonising too; Trewithen Dairy in Lostwithiel has over 1,000 solar panels powering its machinery and has plans to install more on the roof to power a fleet of electric lorries! It is even running trials in “regenerative farming practices” which could capture enough carbon in the soil to cancel out the methane emissions from their cows.
Carbon-neutral milk? That's something we can all raise a pint for!