{"id":522079,"date":"2026-07-02T18:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T18:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/522079\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T18:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T18:25:08","slug":"a-bargain-price-for-reaching-net-zero-in-britain-climate-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/522079\/","title":{"rendered":"A bargain price for reaching net zero in Britain | Climate crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

I enjoyed Jonathan Freedland\u2019s lampooning of climate sceptics suffering in the recent heatwave (Climate sceptics cheering as they melt in record temperatures? This heatwave is where satire has come to die, 26 June<\/a>). He writes: \u201cGiven the desperate need for economic growth, I understand why net zero can seem like an unaffordable luxury. But look up: it\u2019s a life-saving essential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed it is essential, and it is far from being unaffordable. The Climate Change Committee\u2019s seventh carbon budget<\/a> in 2025 estimates that reaching net zero by 2050 will cost \u00a34bn a year \u2013 a 73% drop from its estimate five years previously. That amounts to just 0.2% of GDP \u2013 most of which will be met by the private sector \u2013 and the savings it will generate are so great that by 2040 net zero will be a net benefit to the economy. And the Office for Budget Responsibility<\/a> puts the public-sector costs of net zero at \u00a370 per person per year.<\/p>\n

Seventy pounds each for cleaner air, energy sovereignty, a stronger economy<\/a>, improved food security and reduced threat from heatwaves, droughts, floods, fires, and other, compounding threats of climate and ecological breakdown. Bargain.<\/p>\n

As the public overestimate the costs of net zero by up to 14,000%,<\/a> the idea that decarbonisation is an unaffordable luxury needs to be put to bed. It is an unavoidable investment in a safer future and it would be cheap at any price.
Dr Charlie Gardner
Ashwicken, Norfolk <\/p>\n

In response to Jonathan Freedland\u2019s piece, I\u2019d like to invite all Guardian readers, MPs and members of the House of Lords who have not yet seen The People\u2019s Emergency Briefing (PEB) to find a screening near them (Go to the National Emergency Briefing<\/a> website and find a screening near you on the map<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The PEB is an eye-opening film bringing together nine leading scientists and experts with the latest scientific evidence on why we must tackle both the climate and nature crises now. Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing exponentially. If we don\u2019t act now we will make our beautiful planet, our only home, uninhabitable. In the shorter term, we risk increasing extreme weather events, food insecurity, major health issues, increasing infrastructure damage and our national security. But it is not too late.<\/p>\n

The film is asking for a government-backed televised emergency briefing across all channels (similar to Covid days) so that people across the country can understand the scale of the crises we face, and for a debate on these issues in parliament so we can start working at speed to address them.
Moira Gommon
Birkenhead, Merseyside<\/p>\n

It was a relief to see the powerful headline of Jonathan Freedland\u2019s article and good to read the message for the coming government that followed. However, there is a very large elephant in the room: the role that the global military plays in driving climate change, day to day, through the manufacture and distribution of machinery and weapons of all kinds, the exercises they are used in and the wars that war-readiness engenders.<\/p>\n

Somehow we need to recognise that if our planet is to remain habitable we will need to overcome enmity and division and find ways to coexist and cooperate, and save it.
Diana Francis
Bath<\/p>\n

Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please email<\/a> us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters<\/a> section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I enjoyed Jonathan Freedland\u2019s lampooning of climate sceptics suffering in the recent heatwave (Climate sceptics cheering as they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-522079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}