Article from Smart Energy GB
“Organisations like WWF take on some of the biggest environmental issues of our time, but we can all play our part in tackling the climate crisis together – starting with getting a smart meter installed.
“The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is best known for its work protecting endangered wildlife globally. But it’s also long been at the forefront of conserving vital habitats and the environment more broadly – including efforts to tackle the climate emergency.
WWF’s mission is to find ways to help transform the future for the world’s wildlife, rivers, forests and seas, to push for a reduction in carbon emissions that will avoid catastrophic climate change, and to press for measures to help people live sustainably within the means of our one planet.
“We are the first generation to know that we are destroying the world,” says Gareth Redmond-King, head of climate change at WWF. “We are also the last that can do anything about it. While we have the knowledge and the tools to stop a complete climate breakdown, we are running out of time to act.”
The problem is urgent and the problem is global, but that doesn’t mean people are powerless to act locally. Just the opposite.
Polls show that nearly 70 per cent of British people – including a majority across nearly all ages and backgrounds – want stronger political action to tackle the climate crisis and protect nature. WWF’s desire is to unite world leaders behind the crisis and catalyse action to stop devastating climate change, to restore nature and our natural resources and to fix the food system. This needs people all over the world to take action and join the fight.
WWF is clear about what the problem is. “The demands made by each and every one of us are far too much for our planet,” says Redmond-King. “Adopting simple, sustainable lifestyle habits can help to make a huge difference.”
No one is suggesting that we abandon all the luxuries we enjoy, merely that we stop taking them for granted and rely on them less in our everyday lives. We can, for instance, change how we travel, choosing to walk, cycle or use public transport where possible instead of driving. And we can fly less by choosing to go on holiday by train. We can eat less meat and dairy, and make a conscious effort to reduce our food waste – a huge source of emissions globally. We can wear clothes for longer – both before we wash them and before we buy new ones. We can buy less in general and consider whether we need to buy as much new stuff as we do – when we upgrade phones, buy new TVs and replace furniture, all of these have carbon footprints associated with their manufacture and transport.
That’s also true of domestic energy. WWF is backing the GB-wide installation of smart meters in homes. These can save energy, reduce waste and help preserve the Earth’s resources as part of an effort to bring the country’s outdated energy system into the 21st century.
Redmond-King explains: “Smart meters help Britain to make changes to its energy use at both a national and domestic level – which we need to do rapidly and deeply if we are to tackle the climate emergency.”
WWF believes that the next few years will be key for the world, and for Britain in particular. If the UK leaves the EU, our environmental laws may be rewritten. This could be a golden opportunity to change the way we manage our land, and for the UK government to ramp up its climate leadership.
Together, we can clean up the air that we breathe, revive the health of our seas and rivers, and restore our fertile soils. Let’s get going.”
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