UCL-Energy seminar: 'Relationship between materials, energy, emissions and the economy – Applications to Climate Policy', Professor John Barrett, University of Leeds

While the latest and past IPCC reports have been clear on the scale of the challenge to achieve a reasonable probability of limiting temperature rise to 2 degrees, this urgency has not been translated into equitable carbon budgets for countries let alone the generation of a coherent climate change mitigation plan. Climate policy has tended to ignore the fundamental driver of emissions; Consumption. This is not helped by the fact that GHG emissions are accounting for on a territorial basis, meaning that the emissions embodied in goods and services produced outside the UK are the responsibility of another country. If rapid reduction in emissions is to occur, strategies and policies addressing both the composition and absolute level of consumption must be introduced urgently.

About the speaker:

John holds a Chair in Sustainability Research at the Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), University of Leeds. His research interests include sustainable consumption and production (SCP) modelling, carbon accounting and exploring the transition to a low carbon pathway. John has been an advisor to the UK Government on the development of carbon footprint standards and continues to work with the UK Government on “Consumption-based Emissions” being responsible for providing the headline indicator for the UK. John also works closely with other government bodies such as the Committee on Climate Change currently providing advice on carbon leakage for an upcoming report. John is an accomplished public speaker having presented to Government Select Committees and regularly appearing on Radio 4 while the research is regularly covered in the broad sheet media. John has managed numerous research projects and a large research team for over 10 years. John is also a lead author for the International Panel on Climate Change, Working Group III.

Slides from this event