SARAH-Anne Somerville despairs at an apparent lack of interest from local residents on the climate emergency (Letters, Nov 4).
I fear this lack of interest extends also to our government and council.
I have been bashing on about climate change for over a quarter a century, a wasted quarter of a century.
Getting our politicians and residents to understand the dangers of climate change has been unbelievably slow, far too slow.
And there is still a lack of understanding.
We hear bold talk of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 but not a squeak on the need to halve these emissions by 2030.
This 2030 target is projected by the IPCC scenario SSP1-1.9, the one scenario which keeps global temperatures below +1.5ºC. The SSP1-1.9 scenario also requires net negative emissions after 2050.
We hear our ruling politicians tell us how well the UK has done.
We have achieved big cuts in our emissions.
But this mainly results from replacing coal with gas and by exporting our industry to China.
And there is an absence of policy on what we do next. This has not gone unnoticed.
For instance, the absence of any policy to insulate our leaky homes results in protesters sticking themselves to motorways.
We need to match our energy usage to the available renewable sources and, with a quarter of a century wasted, we now need to do it quickly.
Our ruling politicians need to get real. There is no time to lose.
DR MARTIN RODGER
Bloxworth Road, Parkstone
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