Cllr John Hart: ‘Devon County Council is taking the lead on climate change’

Let’s hope so.

Atmospheric CO2 has passed an iconic threshold; 2020 ends earth’s warmest 10 years on record. 

Professor Richard Betts MBE, who leads the production of the Met Office’s annual CO2 forecast, said: 

Since CO2 stays in the atmosphere for a very long time, each year’s emissions add to those from previous years and cause the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere to keep increasing. Although the Covid-19 pandemic meant that 7% less CO2 was emitted worldwide in 2020 than in previous years, that still added to the ongoing build-up in the atmosphere. Emissions have now returned almost to pre-pandemic levels, but their effect this year will be partly dampened for a while by the stronger natural sinks due to the La Niña.

The human-caused build-up of CO2 in the atmosphere is accelerating. It took over 200 years for levels to increase by 25%, but now just over 30 years later we are approaching a 50% increase. Reversing this trend and slowing the atmospheric CO2 rise will need global emissions to reduce, and bringing them to a halt will need global emissions to be brought down to net zero. This needs to happen within about the next 30 years if global warming is to be limited to 1.5°C.

It took around 200 years for CO2 levels to reach 25% above pre-industrial levels. It took only a little over 30 years to reach the next 25%. This shows how much the atmospheric CO2 rise is accelerating. @richardabetts https://t.co/5Q3iNhFv7y via @Independent @daisydunnesci

— SEI Climate (@SEIclimate) January 9, 2021

Devon has a plan. A roadmap for how Devon can achieve net-zero emissions is open for consultation until 15 February. Cllr John Hart, leader of Devon County Council, writes:

I am very proud that Devon County Council has been taking a lead on the issue...

Now in case you are thinking this is just another talking shop, I can assure you it isn’t. 

If we are to tackle global warming then all of us need to change our behaviour – personally, in our communities and in the organisations and companies of which we are a part. 

And if people are going to change then they need to feel part of the process. So a major consultation’s been launched this month to enable everyone in Devon to have their say on what needs to be done.