G7: the last chance for a green recovery

While climate pledges at the G7 summit in Cornwall are a positive step, strong leadership is needed from the leaders present on ending fossil fuel use now.

In The Financial, leading environmental academics comment as part of the Oxford’s True Planet drive to put the university’s interdisciplinary climate research on the agenda.

Myles Allen stated, ‘What is most interesting in these summits is what isn’t said: the G7 is, perhaps understandably, still focussed on the easy early wins. But why can no one bring themselves to point out the obvious: we have to stop fossil fuels from causing global warming before the world stops using fossil fuels. Which means we need to develop safe and permanent disposal of the carbon dioxide they generate, and stop dumping it into the atmosphere. And while everyone likes to talk about nature, we can’t turn rocks into trees indefinitely. Why aren’t we talking about this?’