It was supposed to be the last chance to avert the worst impacts of climate change.
But too little has been done to go green in the aftermath of COP26, a Perth environment campaigner has said.
For Net Zero Week I spoke to Shelley Jeffrey to find out what she makes of the progress (or lack thereof) in tackling climate change in the months since the pivotal summit.
And she didn’t have many kind words.
Not enough done
I spoke to Shelley in the build-up to the Glasgow climate summit as part of a road trip in an e-van The Courier and The Press & Journal did to highlight climate issues in the north of the Central Belt.
At the time, she told of her fears of losing her family home to flooding.
Shelley feels deflated by what she has seen since COP26, even saying events such as Net Zero Week is “greenwashing”.
“It’s the same thing over and over again,” she said.
“The government isn’t doing anything meaningful to prevent the potential literal extinction of life on Earth.
“The whole concept of Net Zero Week is based on greenwashing. Net zero carbon sounds fantastic, until you realise it’s a buzzword for an overall insignificant reduction in climate damage.
“You can contribute enormously to global warming and still claim ‘net zero’.”
She highlights North Sea oil field projects being given the green light just months after COP26.
“Yet governments still claim their target of net zero is some valiant attempt.”
Climate scientists have repeatedly warned the polluting emissions such as methane and CO2 need to be drastically cut if the worst effects of climate change are to be avoided.
Is action being taken on flooding?
Flooding is an issue close to Shelley’s heart.
Her family home, and many others near the Craigie Burn, has been washed out – with a particularly bad incident in 2020 forcing several people out of their properties.
Shelley said she hasn’t seen meaningful action to curb the issue being taken by authorities.
She described flooding as an “alarm bell” drawing attention to the affects of climate change in Scotland.
“We face huge swathes of the planet being incompatible with human life as we know it,” she said.
“I’m just tired.
“I’ve been putting so much effort into taking action for the climate. You only need to look at ICPP reports to see how utterly unrewarding that is.”
What is Net Zero Week?
Net Zero Week is the UK’s national awareness week for climate change.
The UK government passed a law in 2019 to achieve net zero and “end its contribution to climate change” by 2050.
However, net zero does not mean full decarbonisation.
Instead, it means any emissions will be off set by “schemes to remove an equivalent amount of greenhouse gasses”.
This could be through tree planting, for example.
Net Zero Week aims to raise awareness about the importance of driving down emissions, while encouraging changes to polluting behaviours.
Conversation