Guaranteed to give the Greens a hard on.
Via the Carbon Brief
A group of academics this week argued that policymakers need to focus changing individuals' behaviour, rather than ineffective 'top-down' measures to address climate change. Speaking at a conference hosted by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Research at the Royal Society, the experts argued that current policies that aim to keep warming to two degrees - such as voluntary targets, carbon markets, and renewable energy subsidies - were failing.
The experts said it was time for more bottom-up, radical, climate action. Here's three proposals they argued might work.
1) A 'carbon card'
One proposal recommended consumers carried a 'carbon card' to track their energy consumption. By tracking consumption, people that used less could be rewarded, while those with large 'carbon footprints' would have to pay to pollute.
People would use their cards to buy energy, or fuel for their cars, with those amounts converted into carbon dioxide emissions (with the help of a little extra data on the energy efficiency of people's homes, and how much petrol their cars needed). Those that came in under a government-allocated amount could then sell their extra carbon credits to those that wanted to emit more - a system known as 'personal carbon trading'.
The technology already exists to make the schemes work in developed economies, said Dr Tina Fawcett, Senior Researcher at the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute. One scheme is currently being trialled in Australia, with the cost to the consumer of rolling out the schemes being "tens of pounds each year", she said.
But the idea has struggled to get off the ground in the UK. MPs considered the plan in 2008, but said the schemes were too 'administratively complex' to roll out on a large scale. And the idea has struggled to gain any traction with policymakers in this country since.
For the other two brain dead ideas click on here to continue reading.
It won’t be long until the Green Police come knocking on your door…
Like us on Facebook
Recent Comments