We’re too late to stop the climate change time bomb from exploding, but we can prevent its worst effects. Energy efficiency specialist Green Home Systems’ chairman, Steven Easton, discusses why we need to act now on climate change
On 9th August 2021 the IPCC published their Sixth Assessment Report and warned that without immediate action humanity will face climate change catastrophe.
This assessment leads a series of reports that are being published over the next few months and is the first major review of climate change since 2013.
The release comes less than three months before COP26, the key climate summit being held in Glasgow, and to which the hopes of a green future are pinned.
The content of the report is damning: the past five years have been the warmest on record and the recent sea level rises has nearly tripled. It concludes that there is no doubt that climate change is caused by human activities and that humans are unequivocally effecting every corner of our planet’s land, sea, and air.
If we do not reduce our greenhouse gas emissions then we will experience flooding, heat waves, wild-fires, extinction, famine, and shortages – all at a scale and frequency that will cause widespread death, misery and suffering.
The warming we have been experiencing to date has already made detrimental changes to our planet that are now almost irreversible, but we can slow down the changes by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the worst from happening.
“If we do not change our behaviour now, we will destroy the world and rob our children and grandchildren of their future,” said Steven Easton, Chairman of Green Home Systems. “The IPCC report makes clear that climate change is not just a problem for the future, but one that is very much in the here and now. The doubters have been silenced – the science of climate change is now beyond question. We created climate change, and we have the responsibility to fix it.”
“Every aspect of our lives must change: our homes, our transport, our food production, our businesses, our industry, our consumerism. We each have a responsibility to understand how our daily actions contribute to climate change, and then change our behaviour for the better. Governments, businesses, employers, employees, suppliers and customers each must play a part in the overhaul that is required and accept that the status quo is no longer acceptable.”
“Housing is a major contributor to climate change,” said Mr Easton. “And we need a massive effort from government and householders to produce a national energy efficiency housing refurbishment programme.
This will be very challenging and force us to make difficult decisions, but the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions must be at the forefront of our minds when the hard questions are asked.
We can preserve our historic buildings and also make them efficient, but we are going to have to restructure our planning system and reprioritise our building standards.
But it is for government to lead the way on this by developing a national housing strategy that sets a clear path for homeowners, renters, social and private landlords, and local authorities.
This path should prioritise the need to retrofit housing across the country by upgrading insulation and installing highly efficient heating and renewable energy systems.
There will be a need for incentives, such as grant funding and innovative finance solutions, but also for penalties for those who don’t comply.”
“The opportunity that this green industrial revolution presents us is not just to prevent the worst aspects of climate change from happening, but also to create a genuine economic legacy as we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic. The opportunities for job creation and community wealth building in the green economy are vast, and government should be seeking to maximise this as soon as possible.”
“By creating good quality, well paid, and environmentally friendly jobs, we can also create a highly qualified and motivated workforce that can be the envy of the world. The opportunity to save the world from climate change disaster is also an opportunity to create community wealth for the generations to come. Now is the time to act.”
Steven Easton is co-founder and chairman of Green Home Systems, an Irvine based company who specialise in energy efficiency projects such as thermal insulation and renewable heating systems.
The company was founded in 2014 and has completed more than 10,000 energy efficiency projects that have prevent more than 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere.