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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Catherine Bennett

Never mind the planet’s fate when the jet set feel the urge to seek out some winter sun

A luxury yacht pictured in front of the Dubai skyline.
A luxury yacht off the Dubai marina beach. Photograph: Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images

That I fully expect to be dead by the time the UK achieves net zero is, of course, no reason to dodge interim advice from the Climate Change Committee (CCC), the UK’s official climate authority. Its latest report to government is of particular interest to the public, in arguing that a third of the emissions cuts required to achieve net zero by 2050 will have to come from consumers themselves.

Unless we – individual households – accept heat pumps and electric cars and deterrents to flying and less meat (skipping two kebabs per week), the CCC explains, the target cannot be met. And assuming the introduction of a selective news blackout that reduces public awareness of UK plutocrats, celebrities and influencers with colossal carbon footprints, such a behavioural transformation may not be impossible.

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