British people should take fewer flights and even give up red meat if the UK is ever going to abolish greenhouse gas emissions, the government has been told.
Consumers would need to take action by switching to greener energy providers, swapping out diesel motors for electric vehicles, and walking more to help Britain achieve a so-called “net zero” climate change target by 2050.
The ambition, which would mean overall emissions were balanced out, has been outlined by government advisors in a report which called on ministers to ramp up efforts to cut toxic fumes.
Any pollution remaining by the 2050 date will need to be “offset” through measures to capture carbon such as planting trees, the report, from the Committee on Climate Change, said.
The shift would deliver economic opportunities, as well as warmer and more comfortable homes, cleaner air, better health and a boost for wildlife, the report, commissioned by ministers, added.
It came as new research found broad support for climate initiatives following protests by activist group Extinction Rebellion.
A majority of British adults, 54%, now believe that “climate change threatens our extinction as a species”, while just one in four (25%) disagree, a survey of 2,037 people by ComRes found.
Two-thirds of adults, 67%, believe that human activity “is the principal cause behind climate change”, the same study found, while around half the public, 51%, would be willing to forego “at least” one overseas trip per year for the sake of the climate.
Climate Change Committee chairman Lord Deben said: “We can do it, we know how to do it and we will benefit from doing it.”
He added: “We started the industrial revolution, we have been responsible for the biggest segment of the climate change that is happening in our world today.
“We need to be not only responsible for the leadership to overcome those damages, but also we have an opportunity of leading the new industrial revolution that will be based on the sustainable economy.
“This is the key to a very considerable amount of economic benefit. We will make money as a nation out of this if we do it properly because the rest of the world will want it.”
The committee’s report – requested by the UK government last year – warned that the proposed 2040 date for the phasing-out of new petrol and diesel cars and vans is too late. It recommended bringing it forward to 2030, or at the latest 2035.
Trebling woodland creation from 10,000 hectares a year today to around 30,000 hectares in 2050, and a 20% cut in beef, lamb and dairy consumption would help meet the target, the report said.
Business Secretary Greg Clark said as he received the report on Thursday: “One of our proudest achievements as a country is our position as a world-leader in tackling this global challenge, being the first country to raise the issue on the international stage, introduce long-term legally binding climate reduction targets and cutting emissions further than all other G20 countries.”
He said the committee’s report recognised the work done to lay the foundations to build a net-zero economy and it “now sets us on a path to become the first major economy to legislate to end our contribution to global warming entirely”.
The government is set to respond to the report “in due course”.