---
title: "Carbon, Climate – What’s the Emergency?"
url: "https://www.systra.com/uk/expert_insights/carbon-climate-whats-the-emergency/"
type: expert_insights
date_published: 2021-04-22
date_modified: 2023-09-14
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language: en-GB
word_count: 811
reading_time: 5 min
canonical: "https://www.systra.com/uk/expert_insights/carbon-climate-whats-the-emergency/"
featured_image: "https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2021/04/climate.jpg"
type-insight:
  - Environment
---

# Carbon, Climate – What’s the Emergency?

![Carbon, Climate – What’s the Emergency?](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2021/04/climate.jpg)

**SYSTRA are developing a series of six Webinars that will run monthly in the
run up to COP 26 covering the Climate Emergency and the route to Net Zero.
The first event took place on Thursday 15th April and was titled “Carbon,
Climate – What’s the Emergency?” Here is a summary of what was covered.

The threat of disastrous climate change is leading the need to reduce greenhouse
gas and carbon output. A shift in mindset is required by businesses and
individuals to consider the impact of their choices over the next ten years. The
impact of COVID-19 has inadvertently led to new models of working, but the most
obvious benefit being a reduction in commuter congestion and employers finding
alternative ways to communicate that have far-reaching advantages to the
environment.

Part of the UK government’s strategy is ‘Net-Zero’; a call to balance all of the
greenhouse gasses that the United Kingdom is emitting into the atmosphere with
those that the country removes. The Climate Change Committee has highlighted
that the UK needs to reach a 78% reduction in emissions by 2035 and an end to
all greenhouse emissions by 2050. Emission reduction needs to occur across every
sector of the economy for this to be achievable and ‘Surface transport’ is the
biggest offender when it comes to emissions with around a third of emissions
emitted by this sector. Whilst the UK has made good progress when it comes to
switching to renewable energy; over 50% of our electricity now comes from
renewable sources, emissions by surface transport have only dropped by around
2%. We all need to play our part to ensure climate change does not make our
planet inhabitable for future generations of humans.

![image-1](https://www.systra.com/uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/06/image-1.png)

When it comes down to the individual; there are small changes we can make that
can have a real impact. We can decide whether to fly or use rail to reach our
destinations. We can eat less meat. We can switch to driving electric cars and
change from gas to sustainable alternatives to heat our homes. However; there
can be economical obstacles to this. Often these changes can only be made by
wealthier households, so more incentives to ‘not’ use fossil fuel vehicles and
affordability are required by the government to ensure that these options can be
considered by anyone and current policies are insufficient for existing targets.
Electric vehicles are also not wholly environmentally friendly , as they still
produce significant levels of C02 during manufacture and maintenance; but a
meaningful shift to the use of these over fossil fuel vehicles is preferable in
the initial stages, however, reducing the need to travel and encouraging greater
use of public transport, walking and cycling and reducing private car usage
should be the medium to long term aim. This will require significant behavioural
change which will require far more than just infrastructure to achieve including
both ‘Carrots’ and ‘Sticks’ some of which may be unpalatable in the short term.

For transport to become more sustainable, the government needs to invest in
infrastructure to encourage more public transport and shared mobility, as well
as city spatial planning to ensure that what people need (for example, shops and
businesses) are at reach within a shorter journey pattern, such as the 15 Minute
Community concept; where travel desires can be reached within a 15 minute
radius. This can only be achieved by wholesale changes to the way we plan our
existing and proposed communities needing significant change in our town and
transport planning practises in urban and rural communities alike. Another
concept for sustainability is ‘Balancing The Grid’; where the levels of energy
produced should match the demand (is harder with renewable sources). In the UK,
the frequency is balanced at 50 Hertz. If that drops by 1%, it can cause damage
and instability to the network. Therefore, renewable sources need to be
structured to be flexible and responsive to reach these challenges; such as
intelligent batteries, tariff systems, and grid-connected renewable systems
where unused electricity is ‘fed’ back into the system. These methods can work
alongside existing models such as smart meters.

For the UK to succeed in its aspirations to achieve Net-Zero carbon, energy,
technology and transport will need to converge with Carbon reduction at the
heart of all policy decisions. Over the next few months (leading up to COP26 in
Glasgow), SYSTRA are undertaking monthly seminars to explore the progress the
country has made and what further steps can be taken over the next few years.
These will cover areas such as: Planning for 15 min communities, Transport
demand management, Achieving significant Behavioural change, Responding to
climate Emergency in Rural communities, Equality and Affordability, The future
for public transport and the Freight sector addressing the increase in delivery
vehicles.

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