Future proof: Britain in the 2020s, an IPPR explainer - Environment
Article
Humankind’s Promethean capacity to dominate and reshape the natural environment for its own benefit will hit a limit in the coming decades.
The Anthropocene age – the new geological epoch in which human activity is the central and destructive influence on the Earth’s ecosystems – will require us to fundamentally change how we produce and consume energy in the 2020s. This imperative will set the UK on a trajectory towards a radically different, low-carbon and increasingly local and decentralised energy system. This change will – if a just transition to a low carbon future can be effectively managed – bring immense social, environmental and economic benefits. In the process, responding to climate change will change how we work, consume, travel and live.
Related items
Taking stock: Counting the economic costs of alcohol harm
Alcohol consumption across the UK is increasing. Government and employers must act to address the health risks.A people-focussed future for transport in England
Our findings from three roundtables on the impact of transport in people’s lives and the priorities for change.Progressive renewal: The Global Progress Action Summit
A quarter of the way through this century, change is in the air. Everyone, everywhere, seemingly all at once, wants out of the status quo.