Net zero goals may be hindering the climate fight

The targets encourage a ‘burn now, pay later’ approach, writes Leslie Sklair, while Mark Walford says it is a form of colonialism to rob young people of their future to keep ourselves comfortable

Most of the media seem to think that the idea of net zero emissions is unproblematic, despite the fact that many climate scientists consider that it is very problematic. Given the prominence of the idea at Cop26, this lack of balance in the reporting of breakthroughs is worrying.

For example, Robert Watson, a former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has denounced net zero as a trap set by industrialists and governments to hoodwink the world. Watson and other climate scientists have argued that while net zero might be a great idea in principle, in practice it “helps perpetuate a belief in technological salvation and diminishes the sense of urgency surrounding the need to curb emissions now”. They say the push for net zero has encouraged a “burn now, pay later” approach, which has seen carbon emissions continue to rise.

As a sociologist, I am not in a position to evaluate such criticisms of net zero scientifically, but as a sociologist of science, I think it is important that there is a balanced debate about it.
Leslie Sklair
Emeritus professor of sociology, London School of Economics

Peter Kalmus is right that “climate breakdown is the result of centuries of colonial and social oppression” (Climate depression is real. And it is spreading fast among our youth, 4 November). But it’s more than that. The activities that are causing climate breakdown are a form of colonialism in themselves. By living unsustainably now, we are living on the backs of people who will live after we have gone. We are stealing the wealth and future of others to keep ourselves comfortable. Fossil fuel companies are colonial enterprises, and the organisations that support them are propping up a form of colonialism which will impoverish us all.
Mark Walford
London

FROM

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/09/net-zero-goals-may-be-hindering-the-climate-fight