Meet the paviers from nottingham. Look at the camera. Say, cheese no, henry. Henry. Claudine is an infant school teacher. Alex installs commercial laundries. Ten year old zack is into rugby and football, and seven year old henry volunteers for the council picking up litter. Happy birthday, daddy. Happy birthday, dad whoop whoop the paviers have agreed to be our guinea pigs and, for the next two weeks, will try to reduce their Carbon Footprint. And. Action earlier this year, the government pledged to reduce the uks Greenhouse Gas emissions to almost zero by 2050. And for any left over, well have to find ways of capturing and storing Carbon Dioxide. So, the result is net zero. Weve already managed to make big cuts to our emissions 42 since 1990. Most of the savings have come because energy is getting cleaner and were manufacturing less here. This has all happened without us having to do much. But that has got to change. Reaching net zero is going to require a lot more effort from us all, according to this new report commissioned by the committee on Climate Change. Thats the body that advises the government on reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions. It says we are all going to need to change our behaviour and it says small, easy adjustments wont cut the mustard. What is needed is high impact shifts in the way we all live. So, what does this mean for families like the paviers . So, heres everyone else. They are about to find out. But first off, tell me a bit about how you feel about Climate Change. Is it something you think about much . Well, i think about it, whether i actually do anything about it. And what about you . Yeah, i worry about it more. Me too. You do. Its been in the news so much recently, hasnt it . But its really overwhelming, all the information, so its like, you know, what can actually we do in our little household that will make a difference . The first step to answering this question is working out how much carbon they usually emit. Everything they do has a carbon consequence. Their driving, their gas and electricity use, their hobbies and their food. To crunch the numbers, ive enlisted Carbon Footprinting expert Professor Mike berners lee. Doorbell hi, mike. How you doing . The four of you, best estimate is that your footprint is Something Like 45 tonnes. Put in context, four average uk people will have an annual Carbon Footprint of about 52 tonnes. So, guys, you are doing a little bit better than average. How do you feel about that . Im pleased about that. Youre quite pleased, i can tell. Im quite pleased, yeah. Im quite pleased it wasnt more than the average, but obviously weve still got a long way to go, havent we . Their total footprint of 45 tonnes a year is made of. Nine tonnes from their travel, six tonnes from their Home Energy Use and 13 tonnes from food and drink. These are the three big areas the Behaviour Change report says we need to tackle. The rest is largely goods and services used outside the home, much of which they have less control over. The biggest challenge is their weekly shop, which makes up almost a third of their total Carbon Footprint thanks to two of their favourite foods. Meat and dairy are the two highest carbon types of food. When i analysed this, it looked to me as if you had a bit more meat and dairy then the typical uk diet. Meat and dairy have a big footprint, because producing food from animals uses more resources than food from plants. Whats more, cows and sheep burp up methane, a powerful Greenhouse Gas. The most important thing for you guys to do if you want to cut the Carbon Footprint of your food is to cut down the amount of meat and dairy, especially the beef and lamb. We may as well have a cow in the back garden the amount of milk we get through. They also have to think about when and where the food is produced. With fruit and veg, if its in season, thats great. If its out of season, you have to ask yourself, has it travelled a long way and, if so, how has it travelled . So, if its come from a long way away, is it robust enough to go on a boat . A boat is about 100 times more carbon efficient than putting it on an aeroplane. So, sturdy pineapples are in, but soft fruit from far away is out and to help us with this, the Behaviour Change report says there should be a mandatory environmental food labelling. For the next two weeks, the paviers are going to change their diet and theyll be sending me videos to keep me updated. Vegan sausage roll. Delicious. Claudine is embracing the challenge and, surprisingly, so are the boys. Ok, so, boys, first vegetarian bolognese and rice. Whats your verdict . 100 out of 100. 0oh, thats not bad. Alex . Yeah, its pretty good. Pretty good. Yeah. The report suggests cutting down, not giving up meat. It also says we need to encourage lower impact food production. Ive come down to devon and to the worlds longest running agricultural institution, rothamsted research. Now, theyve been looking into how to reduce emissions from cattle. The hope is that one day we might be able to have our steak and eat it. But not today by the looks of things. Dr taro takahashi is leading the research. Cow moos right, so, taro, what is the experiment that youre doing here . We have got the sensor over there to measure the amount of methanes emitted from each individual animal. This machine tests the cows breath while they eat to measure how much methane theyre burping up. The results show that some cows produce a lot more methane than others. The difference between the most polluting animal and the least polluting animal is about a0 . Our hope is to keep breeding using these less polluting animals. So, you are trying to breed a kind of race of super low carbon cows. Ultimately thats our goal. Thats the goal. Yes. Other studies have shown that feeding cows seaweed or clover can also make a difference. We know that by changing feed we can also reduce methane emissions, but you can never achieve net zero. There are other things farms can do to try and reach net zero, like planting more trees and hedgerows, which absorb Carbon Dioxide. The problem is that at the moment, about three quarters of farming subsidies go towards livestock. Chris stark is the head of the committee on Climate Change, which advises the government on reaching zero. The policies that we have at the moment have driven us to have the kind of farming production that we have today and a lot of it is about livestock. That is not helping the Climate Change issue. We need to change the balance of incentives that are provided to farmers in this country so that we have larger parts of Agricultural Land being used in a way that will help with Climate Change. Meanwhile, back at the pavier home, they are still trying to cut back on meat and dairy. So, its made out of soya beans, so its just slightly different than coming from a cow. You really dont like it . That bad . Its a. He blows raspberry claudine laughs yeah, so, the soya milk trial didnt go as planned. And away from home, alex is missing meat. Unfortunately, ive got a confession to make ive fallen off the wagon today. Twice. Ive had a chicken wrap for lunch and ive just been to a restaurant in manchester that serves pies. But for hardened carnivores like alex, there may be lower carbon alternatives. Here in west london, theres a small urban farm thats producing a rather unusual livestock. In his garden shed, laurence is rearing crickets. Oh, wow. And mealworms. So, why would people want to overcome their disgust and eat insects . Well, really its going to come down to the environmental benefits of eating insects. Insects are far more efficient at converting what they eat into protein than traditional farm animals so they have a much lower Carbon Footprint. So, are these nice though . Do they taste nice . Yeah. Contrary to the immediate disgust that you have, they are very tasty. Really . Laurences mother is the company chef. Hi, justin. From the farm to the kitchen. What are you going to cook for us . Were going to make a delicious bug burger. The main ingredient is mealworms, which have been boiled. So, if you would like to try one. What do we think . He laughs a sort of nutty flavour. A little bit creamy. Yeah. Its actually not. Genuinely, its actually not that bad. Under her expert guidance, i whizzed up some bug burgers, which im going to test out on the paviers. The paviers are going to love these at least i hope they will. Im sure they will. Ill be taking those up to nottingham later. When it comes to cutting our emissions, its notjust what we eat, but also what we throw away. So, the paviers are trying to waste as little as possible. But even with their best efforts, theres always going to be some waste. Ivejust looked in the kitchen bin and theres something there that looks just like the cheese sandwich with the vegan cheese that i made this morning. Ijust had a little chat with henry and apparently it doesnt taste very nice, bless him. Ten Million Tonnes of food is thrown away every year in the uk and 70 comes from our homes. Here at this food waste plant in northamptonshire, theyre processing waste and the greenest way possible. So, lets see what weve got here. Oh, my. Look, a whole chicken. Lets have a look. Urgh so, somebody bought this, look at that, and didnt eat it. All sorts of stuff here. Now, if this waste was put in a landfill site, it would produce methane, a powerful Global Warming gas, but this waste can be put to good effect. Im stuck oh, god Charlotte Morton is here to show me around. Shes the head of the trade association for plants like this. 65,000 tonnes of waste is processed here every year. First, the food is stripped of its packaging and ground into a soup. Urgh there, look at that. Isnt that lovely . So, this is a nutritious broth, is it . It certainly is, full of energy, just what we need. This soup is pumped into huge tanks, where its broken down by bacteria, which produce methane. The methane is collected and used to generate electricity, powering 6,500 homes every year. So, what kind of policies do we need to make sure that food waste is, you know, disposed of in this way . Well, really two kinds of policies. 0n the one hand, we need Financial Support for local authorities to put in place separate food waste collection, and then we need Financial Support to allow the industry to build the capacity over the next decade that will allow us to treat this waste. Afterfood, the next big offender in the paviers Carbon Footprint was their travel, which made up 9 of their 45 tonnes. And four of that was down to their driving. So, over our two week challenge, theyre trying to cut it right down. The kids have to walk to school and claudine has to take the bus. Its going to take about 45 minutes, and when i normally do this journey in my car, it takes about 10, 15. To reach net zero, were going to have to decarbonise all of the uks public transport and expand services. Its taken about 50 minutes to get home, so. Yeah, i do feel a bit tired now, actually, i have to say. For those tricky journeys, where walking or public transport isnt an option, ive got another solution. All right, claudine, come with me. This. Wow. Is your brand new electric car. Lets get in, lets have a drive. If were going to reach net zero by 2050, were going to have to ditch our petrol and diesel cars. But is the government doing enough to promote an electric car revolution . The department for transports target is that, by 2040, no new cars on our roads should be internal Combustion Engine vehicles. That is, petrol and diesel fuelled. 2040 is too late, so were going to have to bring forward that date. At the latest 2035, and preferably before that even. In 2018, electric car sales made up just 2. 2 of all new cars sold, so there is a long way to go. First trip in the new electric carfor me, up to the rugby this morning. It is a lot smoother, isnt it . The electric car is a hit with the paviers, but at around £30,000, its out of their price range. So, then, boys, daddys driving in the car, better than mum . Yeah. Yeah, i think so too. The new Behaviour Change report says we need more financial incentives to get people to buy them. But its notjust about cost. We also need to be able to charge our cars. For shortjourneys, the paviers can charge it up at home overnight. But alex travels long distances for work, so ive arranged for him to test an electric van. Today, were off to cheltenham. Were going to try this new electric van. See how this goes. There are currently almost 27,000 public chargers in the uk, but the committee on Climate Change says well need almost eight times that number. The remaining mileage is going down quicker than anticipated. So, werejust stopping off at hopwood services. Hopefully, theyll have some electric points there, we can charge. Success hes found a charger. But after 35 minutes, its only put 40 miles worth of charge back on the van. Were still not fully charged. Which is a problem, because i need to get back on the road. Clearly, its not just about the number of chargers. Charging speed is critical. To enable long journeys, were going to need an estimated 3,300 ultra rapid chargers along motorways. The big step that is needed is the charging infrastructure. And some of those public chargers need to be publicly funded, particularly at the outset, so that we get them in the right places, strategically located, so you can drive across the country in your electric vehicle. Again, all of this is possible, but it requires a proper plan, which we dont have at the moment. There is one type of transport where there isnt currently a low carbon alternative flying. This year, the paviers flights contributed 5 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide out of their total of 45. So, you had a family holiday in malaga, yeah . All four of you. Were not casting any blame, but claudine, you went to nashville, didnt you . Its my fault yes, idid. With a friend, for your 40th. About half of it is your family holiday to malaga, and about half of it, claudine, is your trip to nashville, which, of course, is further away. Sorry, guys. Sarcastically thank you. Sorry two thirds of all flights are taken byjust15 of the population, so to encourage people to fly less, the Behaviour Change report proposes a tax on frequent flyers. Next up, what about the emissions from the energy we use at home . So, your electricity consumption is Something Like a third of what i would have expected for four average people in the uk, so thats. Thats good. Good news, that is, isnt it . That suggests all sorts of Good Practice going on. By doing their washing at a low temperature, not using the tumble dryer, and, of course, turning off the lights, the paviers have kept their annual electricity footprint to about one tonne. But their gas use is a different story. It came to five tonnes, 11 of their total Carbon Footprint. Some of that is due to cooking with gas and using lots of hot water. Theyll try to cut that down. But the majority is because their home has gas central heating. Its notjust the paviers across the country, home heating is a major source of emissions. Part of the problem is that our Housing Stock is old and badly insulated. Im here in nottingham to see a remarkable transformation. This row of ordinary council houses, transformed into low carbon houses. Ten homes have had the energy makeover. 17 more are under construction. David adams is the lead engineer in charge of the project. David, what on earth is going on here . These existing homes, paper thin walls, very inefficient, losing a lot of heat, so were basically bringing in new walls. This is going over the top, to the other side. It will be dropped down. Effectively, were putting a new house over the top of an old one. Insulation isnt the only problem. What about that gas central heating . To reach net zero, virtually all our homes will need to be converted to low carbon heating systems. So, weve ripped out the gas boilers from all these dwellings, and weve linked them up to a Communal Energy centre to provide heat and power. Wow, so, this looks pretty hi tech, david. So, what is this and how does it work . So, these are heat pumps. Weve got ground source heating. Were taking warmth from the ground, were intensifying it, and turning it into hot water for use in the homes. The heat pumps run on electricity, which comes mostly from the solar panels on the roof. So, the whole project has reduced the Carbon Emissions by about 90 . But it doesnt come cheap. This retrofit cost £80,000 per house. And this project is a drop in the ocean. 29 million homes in the uk will need to become carbon free to reach net zero. When i think about the challenge overall of net zero, the biggest single challenge is housing. We havent even started nibbling away at that heat challenge in any real sense. We need a real plan and we need to start on it. And the sooner we do, the cheaper it will be overall. So, what could the paviers do to their home . Heres what Energy Expert matt lipson recommends. New double glazing. External insulation. Room by Room Temperature control. And a low carbon heating system. So, the next thing you need to do is replace your gas boiler with something else, so that the heat youre using is low carbon. Probably your best option, we thought, was a heat pump, which would use electricity. If they did everything, how much would it cost . We estimate somewhere between £23,000£30,000 for everything we talked about. Could somebodyjust go up to that money tree up there . That is the key problem. Making our homes low carbon is expensive and most of us either cant or wont pay for it. The Behaviour Change report says more financial incentives should be available. Even if we could all afford it, going electric wont get us to net zero, because 47 of our electricity still comes from fossil fuels. To get to net zero, all of it will need to be low carbon. And to meet the extra demand from electrifying heating and transport, well need to quadruple our supply of clean energy. Remember those bug burgers i made earlier . Well, its almost the end of the experiment, so ive brought them up to the paviers for a special barbecue, along with a range of veggie burgers. Dinners ready weve got a delicious mealfor you. Come out here. Ive got for you a range of alternative burgers, 0k . And we have, as a very special treat, a bug burger. With bugs in it. Ive tried it, and it is delicious. The question is, will the paviers be able to tell which one is the bug burger . And, more importantly, will they like it . We want to know which is which. Thats the bug burger. Is that the bug . Thats the bug burger, yeah i think it tasted really nice. I think id have it again. Id rather have a chicken burger. Claudine laughs. Whether insect burgers become a permanent addition to the menu remains to be seen, but how have the paviers done when it comes to cutting their Carbon Footprint . A few days later, their two weeks are up, and it is time for the moment of truth. Mike is back to reveal the results. Hello hi welcome. Good to see you. So, what is the total reduction that youve achieved . Mike . Well, over these two weeks, youve cut nearly a third of your Carbon Footprint. Wow, really . Thats brilliant, that is. Thats amazing. That is actually very impressive. If you could carry on the changes that youve made over the whole year, i estimate that that could add up to a 13 tonne saving. By taking the bus and using an electric car, the paviers cut the Carbon Footprint of their travel by the equivalent of two tonnes over a year. And just by using the hob and hot water less, they cut their gas use by what would add up to a tonne a year. But most impressive of all, by reducing their meat and dairy, theyve cut their food footprint by three quarters, a whopping ten tonnes over the year. It is a total reduction of 13 tonnes, the equivalent of driving around the world almost twice. Every little bit that we do helps, and if everybody does what weve done, that would make a huge impact on this countrys carbon. The result shows how much we can achieve through our personal choices. But it is not zero, and however hard we try, there is a limit to how much individuals can do. We have quite a lot of personal freedom and personal choice to change our personal emissions. But when i talk about big steps that need to be taken, they are national level. So, does the government have a plan . They have a plan of sorts, but not nearly at the level of ambition that would be required. Every bit of policy now needs to be refreshed. This is the moment to make that happen. So, the next year will matter immensely. We asked the Government Department responsible for coordinating Climate Change policy for an interview. No one was available, but in a statement, they said. The statement said the uk was the first country to make a legally binding commitment to go net zero by 2050, and added. But of course, its notjust the uk. To get to net zero globally, all countries need to make huge changes. When do we want it . now across the world, at Climate Change matches like this, millions of people are demanding that their governments do more. 0ur experiment shows that individuals can make a difference if they change their lifestyles, but it also shows that government has to play a role too. Unless it takes action, we simply wont reach net zero in time. This is bbc news welcome if youre watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. Im mike embley. Our top stories after a visit from the us Vice President turkey agrees to a five day pause in fighting in northern syria. 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