How ‘net zero’ sidelines equity when it comes to flying

The catastrophic impacts from storm Boris in 2024 remind us that emissions from our energy use remain too high. Updating a climate science lecture, I added 3 ppm to the CO₂ concentration graph reflecting last year's data and will again talk about record-breaking temperatures. Yet in 2015 the Paris Climate Agreement signified a hopeful breakthrough, reinforcing the importance of equity, and strengthening ambition for urgent climate action. It recognised the scale of the challenge and led to declarations of a climate emergency. So where did we go wrong? There are many responses to this question, and I’m not attempting to claim this commentary has the answers. Nevertheless, having followed the debate around two ‘difficult to decarbonise’ sectors, I illustrate how sidelining ‘equity’, combined with a techno-centric approach to deliver ‘net zero 2050’ targets, leaves the global majority facing a bleak future; but one that we have the wherewithal to turn around.