Scared of net zero? You can still jet off on holiday and eat steak, says climate adviser

THE move to net zero will not require a “huge shift” in everyday lives, with people still able to fly off on holiday and have a steak, a top climate adviser has said.

Speaking as he leaves the role after six years, Chris Stark, the chief executive of the climate change committee, suggested he and others in the green sector had pushed too hard the idea that the shift required a radical transformation.

Instead, people’s lives would not be that different in 2050, the target date for ending the UK’s contribution to climate change by cutting emissions to zero overall.

And after months in which the two major political parties have retreated on climate action, he said politicians needed to show bold leadership. Net zero was “an investment strategy for the country”, he said, and “FOMO” – fear of missing out – should be brought back into the climate debate, as other countries such as the US and China were making significant moves on the transition.

‘If you’re a person in Britain right now, your day-to-day life will not be that different in 2050’

He said it was important to know what each party planned to do, though he suggested it was no longer “politically convenient” for parties to put climate as central to their manifesto.

Asked how he thought people’s lives would be changed by the move to net zero, Mr Stark said: “I think I’m as guilty as anyone in the green space, of often presenting the move to net zero as radical, or a major shift or transformative stuff.

“Of course if you work in the energy sector, it is those things, but if you’re a person going about your day-to-day life in Britain right now, I don’t think your day-to-day life will be that different in 2050 when we hit net zero.

“You will still be driving your car, you’ll still be warming your house, you’ll have a job which is probably very similar to the one you have now.

“It’s not frightening, you can still fly off on holiday each year, and you can have a steak if you want to. There’s not a huge shift here.”

He said he was not dismissing the need for change, but suggested the idea of a big shift had been pushed too hard, when it was just going to play out in a “much more normal way”.