Climate Change Notes on Boris's Speech - 06/10/2021

Climate Change Content Boris's Party Conference Speech on the 6th October 2021

Below are a few notes notes of Boris's party conference speech, where he discusses topics related to climate change. 

It's slim pickings, as you might expect from a party who regularly shout about "their" targets and commitments to zero carbon, whilst doing very little to augment change outside the change that is automatically delivered by economic forces. 

Protesters

In reference to  Insulate Britain Protesters and their M25 protest. He dubs them a nuisance and that they should be placed in "well-insulated" police cells. 

Comments: Cringe worthy. If Boris had been shown to act meaningfully on climate change, then these protests would not be happening. Does he imagine that members of the public enjoy sitting in roads, being abused by drivers, and with criminal records earned from their activities, damage their employability. The suffragettes, remember them? They had no choice but to protest, it is the same with this new wave of suffragettes. 

Hydrogen Buses

"Some" Buses will run on hydrogen. This is a clean air initiative, and may well be more carbon intensive that using diesel. 

Rewilding

Boris makes reference to the rewilding of Britain with a figure 30% of land area, and 10's of millions of trees. Beavers reintroduced to certain areas. 

Comments: This will only happen if it is made economically possible. New farm subsidy replacement ELMs may offer some routes for farmers to rewild, but it will not happen quickly enough to make a meaningful contribution towards climate change. Trees only meaningfully begin to remove carbon 5 years after they have been planted, and it takes 10 to 15 years for them to get up to speed. 

COP

"Can we keep alive the ambition of paris, to stop the planet heating by more than 1.5 degrees. The government cant do it alone, and taxpayers certainly can't do it alone, the other day I took a boat out in to the Moray Firth to sea this aquatic forest of turbines towering over water like redwoods of california."

Comments: This reference to wind energy is run for around 2 minutes, and then Bris flips back to perceived successes of vaccine roll out. Wind now makes up about 25% of UK grid energy (3.4% for Solar). The reason we have 25% wind is economic it is the cheapest form of generation capacity. 

Environmental Consultants Bristol