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Greening the United Kingdom’s Agriculture and Industry - Initiatives Outside the Consumer Sphere are essential post-EU

Summary

In 2021, the UK will play host to the COP21 meeting in Glasgow, its first scheduled appearance on the world stage as an exEU member. It needs to demonstrate that it can meet its own ‘net zero by 2050’ target without the structure the EU would provide; in 2020 the bloc agreed in principal to a record-setting deadline for its own target. Outside of the much-hyped developments in the consumer sphere, industry and agriculture in the UK are essential to meeting net zero in time. Their complex and cutting-edge solutions now require as much government backing as possible.

Key Highlights

- In 2021, the UK will play host to the COP21 meeting in Glasgow, its first scheduled appearance on the world stage as an exEU member. It needs to demonstrate that it can meet its own ‘net zero by 2050’ target without the structure the EU would provide; in 2020 the bloc agreed in principal to a record-setting deadline for its own target. Outside of the much-hyped developments in the consumer sphere, industry and agriculture in the UK are essential to meeting net zero in time. Their complex and cutting-edge solutions now require as much government backing as possible.
- Agriculture and industry in the UK are being called upon to change to more renewable practices, in anticipation of the actioning of the government’s Green Industrial Revolution. Against a backdrop of so-called ‘Green New Deals’ finding support across many of its most powerful allies - including the EU - the UK is seeking to address the Climate Emergency with deep societal and economic reforms. Its official target of reaching ‘net zero’ carbon emissions, which entails a 100% reduction of CO2 emissions from 1990 levels by the year 2050, was set in law in June 2019. In November 2020, in the midst of its second COVID-19 lockdown and heightening pressure for a green economic recovery, Boris Johnson’s government announced a 10- point plan for the UK’s Green Industrial Revolution, a plan to meet the net zero target.
- The main culprits of the UK’s carbon emissions have always been, first, electricity and heat, then transport and buildings (see Figure 1). This has led some to complain that there is not sufficient promise of government support for areas like agriculture and industry, where many of the strides towards renewable practices over the last ten years have been driven from within sectors. Manufacturing, construction and industry are three sectors which together contributed 11% to the UK’s total carbon emissions in 2016, the year of the most recent reliable data from Climate Watch. Agriculture is also a major emitter of other greenhouse gases - in fact the fourth biggest emitter among UK sectors in these terms.

Scope

- Looks at how industry can be made more Green and sustainable
- Learn what options are available to the UK and other countries
- See what plans the government has in place
- Examine the full challenges that have to be overcome

Reasons to Buy

- What industries are the main culprits for CO2 output in the UK?
- What changes need to be made to reduce their impact?
- Are there significant plans in place?
- How quickly does this need to be done to hit national and global targets?