On Wednesday 24th February 2021, I attended an online conference with Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England and his wife, Diana Fox Carney, an economist and expert on eco-products. The GDST organised talk was focused on climate change, exploring what we, as consumers, can do to bring us closer to the EU’s 2050 target for net-zero carbon.
Following the news that the US has officially returned to the Paris Climate Agreement, just 107 days after it left during Trump’s administration, Mr Carney shared his thoughts on how he thinks the pandemic has affected climate change. “When we get over the pandemic, it’s inevitable that climate change will increase as people begin feeling safer and start flying/travelling again”. Since the beginning of the pandemic, national preventative measures have restricted people from taking flights to go on holiday. The cutbacks on flights have consequently led to a reduction in air pollution, which Mrs Carney believes had a positive impact on climate change. When asked why, Mr Carney, as an economist, is so determined to reverse climate change, his response was: “Every finance decision must take not only credit crunch but also climate change into account”. If a country has a credible climate change plan, “that tells companies where their economy is heading. The solution of climate change is not getting rid of our economy – it does not have to come with an economic cost”.
What can citizens do to help? Mr Carney explains that: “Things like unsustainable consumerism, our consumption effects the whole world and we need to be more aware of how our daily purchases are impacting climate change". Furthermore, how can we ensure that climate change doesn’t disproportionately hit disadvantaged, poorer countries the hardest? “Developed countries such as the UK and the US will catalyse millions into the economies of developing countries in order to help and support them”.
Finally, Mr Carney told us that he is hopeful that by 2030, we should be at least half-way through our net-zero carbon target. With the UK leading G7 this year, and Italy G20, we cannot use covid-19 as an excuse to delay action – climate change is an ongoing environmental emergency and we must control it before it controls us.
