EXPERT ALERT: Still a chance to increase ambition for climate policy
By: News Archive
In light of the news that the COP26 climate talks have been postponed until next year Dr Phil Williamson, honorary reader at UEA's School of Environmental Sciences, says there is still the opportunity to increase ambition for climate policy in the months ahead.
"The decision to postpone COP26 is not surprising,” said Dr Williamson. “The UK government was already seriously behind in its planning for this event, and is struggling to manage the current health emergency. Yet the coronavirus does show that major lifestyle changes are possible, giving optimism that other transformative changes can be made to tackle the climate emergency.
“Is a major international meeting actually necessary to increase ambition for climate policy? There is the opportunity to do so anyway in the months ahead. For example, by ensuring that any future support for fossil fuel industries is conditional on them taking responsibility for the pollution they cause, by a Carbon Take Back Obligation.
“The coronavirus shutdown will provide a welcome reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, paradoxically, the rate of global warming may temporarily increase because of other, short-term changes in atmospheric composition."
Dr Williamson’s main expertise is in global climate change - how it affects us and natural systems, and what we can do about it. He was Science Coordinator for the UK Greenhouse Gas Removal programme, co-funded by NERC, other Research Councils and the UK government (BEIS), and a lead author for the Special Report on Ocean, Cryosphere and Climate for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published last year.
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