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Boris Johnson hopes that his plans to “rebuild green” after COVID-19 will help him connect with leaders around the world, in his mission to reduce carbon emissions across the country.
His new 10 point plan It will aim, among other things, to get gasoline and diesel vehicles off the road by 2030, harness greener energy sources and protect nature.
Sky News experts have analyzed how some of the world’s largest emitters are making progress, or not, on green commitments.
Smoke comes out of an industrial plant in New Jersey
US: Joe Biden will need to unravel Trump’s climate damage before making any progress
By Cordelia Lynch, US Correspondent
The UK has always described himself as a world leader in the fight against climate changeBut Biden is also on a mission, with the most ambitious climate agenda ever adopted by a US president.
He has called the climate crisis an “existential threat” to the United States and has outlined a $ 2 trillion plan to decarbonize the power sector and create millions of clean energy jobs.
Joe Biden made climate change a key focus of his election speech
Mr biden It says its targets would allow the US energy sector to go carbon-free by 2035. That would allow the country to become a net zero emitter by 2050.
It also wants to revolutionize transportation using electric vehicles and trains, and build 1.5 million sustainable homes and housing units. But none of the above will be easy.
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The Prime Minister’s enthusiasm for working with Biden
Donald trump He spent the past four years denying the existence of climate change and trying to remove what he sees as obstacles to efficient energy production.
It rolled back 160 environmental regulations, covering everything from car fuel standards to methane emissions and light bulbs.
Thanks to its support of fracking, the United States briefly became the world’s largest oil exporter. His passion for fossil fuels, oil and gas production set America back on its previous path to a greener future.
Other countries, including the UK, have done much better. Biden has a lot to unravel.
Donald Trump spent the past four years denying that climate change exists
China: the world’s biggest polluter is wasting green money, but the reality is very different
By Tom Cheshire, Asia Correspondent
China it is the world’s biggest polluter, much bigger than Great Britain. Its total carbon emissions are 27 times that of the UK, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a US non-profit organization.
When it comes to the case of an elephant and a mouse, is the mouse’s climate change strategy worth a whimper?
Yes, for a few reasons.
Chinese President Xi Jinping appears on a billboard outside a steel plant in Henan
First of all, the UK and China are not so far apart when it is recalled that China has 1.4 billion people.
According to the World Bank, its CO2 emissions per capita are 7.2 tons, not far from the UK’s 5.8, and well below the US figure of 15.5.
The West is not as green as we would like to think and we have a duty to act regardless of what China does.
China’s leaders, like those in the UK, are in fact taking climate change seriously.
They have invested more than any country in renewable energy, built an electric car industry and publicly pledged to be carbon neutral by 2060 (not the same as “climate” neutral, which refers to all greenhouse gases. , not just carbon), with maximum emissions by 2030.
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Can China really be carbon neutral by 2060?
Reality, however, has a way of meddling.
Beijing has spent the last week engulfed in suffocating smog that locals thought was a thing of the past, as its COVID-19 recovery depends on heavy industry, rather than greener sprouts.
Beijing needs to stay the course on climate change. Commitments from other countries, even if they are much smaller like the UK, are a way to keep China honest.
President Xi Jinping leads the world’s biggest polluter
India: Rampant growth and aspiration of the middle class slow climate action
By Neville Lazarus, Reporter from India
According to a report by Greenpeace and the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), India continues to rank first as the worst emitter of sulfur dioxide (SO2) for the fifth year in a row.
It emits 21% of the world’s SO2, almost double that of Russia, which is the second worst country.
SO2 is a poisonous air pollutant that increases the risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and premature death.
India is the worst in the world for sulfur dioxide pollution
Air pollution is the cause of 12.5% of deaths nationwide.
In the winter months, a thick layer of smog envelops northern India, particularly the capital Delhi, where air pollution is almost 10 times the level recommended by the World Health Organization.
Environmentalists say the cause of this is almost entirely man-made. Farmers set fire to the stubble left over after harvesting their crops, as it is too expensive to dispose of otherwise.
There is very little financial support from the government for the farmer to change the disposal method.
In the past month, the state of Punjab recorded nearly 74,000 agricultural fires.
The government has tried to criminalize this, even fining farmers, but it has failed as they are a large vote bank. No government would want to antagonize them.
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Taj Mahal shrouded in smog as air quality drops
Thermal power plants are also the main cause of SO2 emissions. Although renewable energy capacity is increasing in the country, most coal plants lack the technology to clean up sulfur emissions.
With one of the largest middle-class populations in the world, the government is struggling to balance the aspirations of the people with the environment.
Although prime minister Narendra modiThe government has pushed for new initiatives in renewable energy, the gains have been wiped out by other facets of the country’s unbridled and mostly disorderly growth.
