The authors of the report state the key messages are as follows –
In addition to reducing our energy demand, delivering zero emissions with today’s technologies requires the phasing out of flying, shipping, lamb and beef, blast-furnace steel and cement.
They also state this on jobs and location –
There are two key implications for how we live our lives: first, buildings will become much more expensive because the restrictions on building which generate substantial scarcities; second, transport will become much more expensive because the limits on air travel will generate excess demand for other forms of transport.
Those who are starting secondary school now, in 2019, will be 43 in 2050. Thinking about what education is appropriate for a very different set of industries is a key question. Should we still be training airplane pilots? Or aeronautical engineers?
And they state this on implementation of the requirements –
The changes in behaviour to achieve Absolute Zero are clearly substantial. In principle, these changes could be induced through changing prices and thus providing clear incentives for behaviour to change. The alternative is that the government prohibits certain types of behaviour and regulates on production processes.
You may be wondering how on earth they are going to get the support of the public in shutting the airports and stopping the consumption of beef and lamb?
Well, we could argue they are already well on their way to ensuring the closure of many airports thanks to the draconian laws that the British people have been living under since March 2020 in the name of protecting the NHS and saving lives.
Is it just a coincidence that four months after the release of the report, the UK Government brought in the coronavirus act and implemented a national lockdown which has decimated the travel industry? A quick read through the report certainly suggests the real reason for lockdown may have been so that the Government can meet its legal commitment to reduce emissions.
They will get the support just as they got the support for implementing ridiculous, draconian laws under the guise of stopping the spread of Covid-19. Laws which have decimated small business, taken away our freedoms, and created what will be the greatest health crisis to have ever been due to turning the NHS into the National Covid Service and then the National Vaccination Service.
They managed all the above through psychological manipulation and coercion. That is not an opinion, it is fact, and it is all documented in official UK Government documents which you can read here , and here .
And they are going to use the exact same tactics to ensure you allow all airports to close and never eat beef or lamb again, this is what the ‘Absolute Zero’ report recommends the UK Government implements to achieve their legally required targets –
Social norms and individual behaviours
There is a misalignment between the scale of actions recommended by government (e.g. energy conservation) and those most commonly performed by individuals (e.g. recycling). Actions which can have a big effect, such as better insulation in houses and not flying, are being ignored in favour of small, high profile actions, such as not using plastic straws. This is enabling individuals to feel satisfied that they are ‘doing their bit’ without actually making the lifestyle changes required to meet the zero emissions target. If large scale social change is to be successful a new approach is needed.
Whilst the thought of society taking radical, meaningful steps to meet zero emission targets could be criticised for being idealistic, we can learn from historical cultural changes. Not long ago, smoking cigarettes was encouraged and considered to be acceptable in public spaces that children frequented, drink-driving was practiced with such regularity that it killed 1000 people per year in the UK, and discrimination based on sexual orientation was written into law. These behaviours now seem reprehensible, showing society is capable acknowledging the negative consequences of certain behaviours and socially outlawing their practice. Focus should therefore be centred on expediting the evolution of new social norms with confidence that change can happen.
Evidence from behavioural science, and the long experience in public health of changing behaviours around smoking and alcohol, shows that information alone is not enough to change behaviour. To make the types of changes described in this report, we will have to think more broadly on the economic and physical contexts in which designers, engineers and members of the public make decisions that determine carbon emissions.
At the same time, clear, accurate and transparent information on problems and the efficacy of proposed solutions is essential for maintaining public support for policy interventions. The phrasing of communication is also important. Messages framed about fear and climate crisis have been found to be ineffective at motivating change.
The longevity of the challenge of reducing emissions, and the lack of immediate or even apparent consequences of small individual actions mean it is challenging to link to them to the large-scale climate crisis. This allows individuals to make decisions which contrast with their desire to reduce emissions.
Scientific description is not always the most effective means of communication, and language used to promote zero emissions should no longer focus on an ‘ecofriendly’ and ‘green’ lexicon, but rather candid descriptions of actions that appeal to human fulfilment. Evidence from time-use studies shows that human fulfilment does not strictly depend on using energy – the activities we enjoy the most are the ones with the lowest energy requirements.
Consumers can be satisfied in a zero emissions landscape.
But they will also get the support they need by conditioning and indoctrinating your children in schools –
‘Starting with the difficult decisions, an educational setting should provide a timeline for actions to be taken by humanity in order to ensure that we hit our carbon reduction targets by 2050 . By working backwards from 2050, and sequentially working out the order and timing in which key mitigation actions need to be taken, a roadmap for the necessary restraint can be established.
Across the secondary school system, this roadmap is essential in eliciting the questions which will inevitably come from the school children. This will enable an exploration of real change in the mind sets of those who will need to embrace change more than ever before later in their lives .
Huge questions will emerge, such as: will internal-combustion engines disappear, will aeroplanes disappear , will meat and-dairy agriculture disappear, and will we need to stop building things? By empowering school children to realise that asking the huge questions is appropriate, we will enable change to be embraced through education .
All of this will be done to allegedly reduce carbon emissions due to the alleged danger of global warming.