Climate change isn’t going away – you’re not the reason why

Much discourse surrounding the climate emergency revolves around carbon footprints and the individual doing their bit to reduce the overwhelming amount of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. The majority of us know that the globe is warming up and witness with each year that the climate is changing more drastically and frequently than ever before. Yet, still large numbers of people underestimate the proportion of peer-reviewed scientific literature that agrees humans are the main cause: over 99%. 

However, this does not mean you are specifically the problem. The reality is: you account for just one third the problem. A talk was held at the University of Leeds on 17th February with Professor Piers Forster, climate scientist at the university, member of the UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC), who advises the government on aspects regarding net-zero targets, and reporter for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the United Nations body for assessing climate change-related science. Repeating a presentation he held at the 2025 climate change conference, COP30 in Brazil, Forster expressed that two-thirds of the responsibility to combat climate change lies with governments and industries, and that it is structural change that will truly make a difference. He expressed the need to shift “from short-term interests to longer-term systemic changes,” all of which the CCC advised the government on, annually reporting on a vast number of UK industries and their progress towards the government’s targets of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The UK government’s own target is to reduce carbon emissions by 68% of the levels measured in 1990. As of 2024, the UK reached 50.4% lower emissions than those in 1990. Not bad, but still a long way to go if the country is to stay on track with its targets. But why do they matter anyway, and what are other countries doing to tackle climate change?

People often point the finger at China for being the world’s largest carbon emitter, now emitting 12.29 trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Yet, the story appears different when you consider emissions per capita, of which, according to Our World in Data, rich oil countries are leading the way, with Qatar emitting 41.27 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita. To put that into context, China emits almost half that of the US per capita at 8.66 tonnes (the US emits 14.2 tonnes of CO2 per capita), and the UK stands at 4.53 tonnes. However, when it comes to the Conference of the Parties, or COP, which is also held annually and involves countries which have agreed to be bound by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Prof. Forster says we need to build “a coalition of the willing,” united in tackling issues regarding climate change, but that does not translate into reality, stating “the whole thing has become a bit performative.” These conferences prove more tedious than perhaps thought, as they require processes to be decided on unanimously, which can sometimes take days, and there are countries that, he said, have not been cooperating. Namely, India and Saudi Arabia.

Of course, global politics are increasingly unpredictable, with populist figures in powerful positions choosing to ignore the issue of climate change, or worse, actively denying it and defunding scientific research. In February of this year, just days before the talk with Professor Forster, US President Trump made the US Environmental Protection Agency declassify greenhouse gases as a deadly pollutant, announcing that he would erase the scientific findings related to what he called the “hoax” of climate change. As aforementioned, scientific consensus is almost undisputedly in favour of the fact that climate change is a danger to humanity, as sea levels rise, threatening coastal communities and all life on earth due to increased global surface temperature. All of this can be attributed to what Prof. Forster stated: human activities have contributed an average of 1.22°C of global warming to date (across 2015–2024), with human-caused warming rising at an alarming rate of 0.27°C per decade. However, when addressing the issue of climate change policy in the UK, Forster stated, “there should really be nothing political about [it],” despite having also mentioned that his own research had been “weaponised” by politicians serving their own agendas. 

So, no, the fault of failing climate goals is not your own. Or rather, you are only to blame for a third of it. However, what can be done to change this is voting in favour of green initiatives and holding the government to account with the UK’s goals. The power of the vote goes a long way, and the CCC are not asking you to give up your package holidays to Ibiza and forcing you to buy a heat pump for your household (although the two could be considered within the interest of your own good), they are simply outlining how we can reverse this detrimental damage we, as humans, have been inflicting on this planet. Professor Piers Forster asks simply that all future policies also consider their effect on the climate, and affirms that we need to transition to cross-industry systemic changes. Climate change is not irreversible. You are, in fact, possible of positive change. 

Words by Jacob Edwards