In 2015 world leaders gathered to sign the Paris Agreement, setting in place the direction of travel for global action to combat climate change by attempting to limit global warming by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050. There can be no doubt that climate change will be the defining policy question of this century with countries and economies across the world looking to decarbonise at pace and stave off potential environmental catastrophe.
Yet government commitments alone are not enough to make the intentions of the Paris Agreement a reality. Our economy is a major contributor to carbon emissions. It’s the reason we go to work in cars burning fossil fuels, it’s what produces the food we eat and the plastic packaging in which that food comes. It makes our lives that much more liveable but it does so at significant environmental cost.