the cop26 the c0 p26 climate the cop26 climate summit in glasgow is almost here and one goal keeps coming up. met is almost here and one goal keeps coming urn-— zero is defined as the point where any emissions are balanced by absorbing an equivalent amount from the atmosphere. in other words a country reaches net zero when the c02 output matches that it takes out of the atmosphere. commitments are being made. china wants to reach net zero x 2060. the us by 2050 and the uk by 2052. in total more than 130 countries have set or are considering a net zero target and as the host, the uk is pushing its importance. we need to pledge collectively to achieve carbon you doubt the but the climate activist greta thunberg is unimpressed by what she is hearing from world leaders. "build back better", blah, blah, blah. cheering and applause. "green economy", blah, blah, blah. "net zero by 25 — 2050", blah, blah, blah. the demand is for more actions, not more words, and ahead of its hosting of cop26, i want to look at the uk and how it is approaching net zero, because there are concerns. we've cop26 coming up and the world needs to see real progress at that cop and one of the things that will really help is if the host nation is seen to be really serious about it, and that entails looking coherent, notjust having a few headline statements. now, borisjohnson has outlined some aspects of his net zero plan. this week, he announced all the uk's electricity will come from clean energy by 2035. already, he'd said no sales of new petrol or diesel cars from 2030. there will be a ban on gas boilers in new homes from 2025, too. and there are other commitments as well. but they may not be enough. back injune, we heard this warning from the chief executive of a committee that advises the government. when you look at the policies to deliver it, i'm afraid we are very off track — very, very substantially off track. really only about 20% of the policy commitments that the government has made would take us towards the goal of net zero emissions. in a report to parliament, that same committee noted: it went on: now, the uk government does not dispute that more detail is needed, and it's coming. and in a major speech this week, the chancellor of the exchequer rishi sunak did not mention how to fund net zero. in fact, he did not mention climate at all. so we'll have to wait for his spending review. and some argue the delay in releasing the net zero strategy has already created a problem — lord devon's chair of the same advisory committee we heard from earlier — and he told the guardian the delay has left a space for people to: ..and says that net zero: well, one of the people lord devon refers to is steve baker. he is an influential backbench conservative mp. and while they have quite different views of net zero, steve baker echoes the need for more detail. what politicians have not done — and enthusiasts for all of this have not done — is explain to the public just how real and impactful this will is gonna be. it will change the way we work, the way we relax, the way we transport ourselves, it will change even what we eat. no doubt there are going to be real and impactful changes and central to the discussion around them is cost. mark wallace of the conservative home website thinks steve baker has a point. i think people hear an awful lot of discussion about the importance of net zero. quite a lot less, as steve says, discussion about how. and almost no discussion about how the actual cost — the financial and economic implications. but there have been studies on this. the uk's independent office for budget responsibility says reaching net zero by 2050 could cost £1.11 trillion. it also said it would be cheaper to act than not to act. another report from last year concludes that: ..and adds: now, to clear, these are costs to be shared between the state, business and households. and not everyone sees the pursuit of net zero in terms of rising costs. this is the chairman of the conservative party. i don't believe that there is this trade—off between addressing the environment and the cost of living because i think if we get these measures right, we can actually save people money — for example, better insulation over time will reduce your energy bills. and if that is a positive projection for households, some see net zero as an economic positive on a national level. sam hall from the conservative environment network argues: and as we consider the uk and net zero, there is one issue that combines these national and household considerations. it's heating. domestic heating accounts for around 14% of all uk emissions. home gas boilers produce twice as much c02 — the main greenhouse gas — as all of the uk's gas—fired power stations — that's according to one recent study. those gas boilers need to go and they will be replaced with technology like heat pumps. the question is how? my newsnight colleagues turned to this. reporter: can you see 30 million | of these going into british homes| over the next 30 years? is it feasible at the moment, do you think? personally, no, idon't. i don't think we will get there. there's power issues as well as supply issues as well as labour issues. i can't get enough engineers for my company, and i'm only a small company. shifting the uk's heating will require labour, skills and persuasion. and for net zero to be persuasive, well, it will need to feel fair. that issue came up in this article by the conservative mp esther mcvey. she wrote: now, of course, many don't agree with that, but esther mcvey�*s article illustrates the broader point that if net zero does not feel fair, some won't buy into it. one recent survey found that half of people support making technological and lifestyle changes. a separate poll found almost half of uk adults support the plan to ban gas boilers. it is, though, hard to gauge this because people still have not been told exactly what they will have to do. what is certain, though, is that half the population on side will not be enough for net zero. as the business body the cbi puts it: we will see if more detail on what this involves helps or hinders that. and while we wait for that detail, there is a risk the focus on the long—term goal of net zero distracts from doing something right now. let's return to that clip of greta thunberg. this is all we hearfrom our so—called leaders — words. words that sound great but so far has led to no action. the un's language is different but its message is similar. it says: unless there is any doubt, that is not happening yet. the un says planned cuts by 2030 fall far short, and this is the uk's climate action champion. all of this is worth bearing in mind as we watch borisjohnson and his father stanley promoting the net zero policy. it's a goal that is at once hugely important and potentially irrelevant because net zero only matters if governments take action now to sharply reduce emissions and take action now to make net zero possible by the middle of the century. if that does not happen, by the time net zero arrives, it will be too late. despite the early fog, the sunshine has come out for many in the south and east but it is a tale of two halves because in the north and west we've had a band of cloud, bringing rain, petering out as it moves across england and wales, allowing late brightness in northern ireland and western scotland. for most it is pretty mild, temperatures above where they should be for the time of year. in the evening and overnight the cloud and weather front and the patchy rain easing south, blanketing the fall in temperature here. there shouldn't be as much fog although there might be the odd patch in the morning in the far south—east. further north, we've cleared the skies and behind it there will be chillier weather. skies and behind it there will be chillierweather. i skies and behind it there will be chillier weather. i press is building in, squeezing out the reign of the front and limiting cloud across the north we have tightly packed isobars so it's going to be a pretty windy day in the north of scotland. further south, pretty windy day in the north of scotland. furthersouth, claudia scotland. further south, claudia skies scotland. furthersouth, claudia skies prevailing. quite a grey start. some patchy drizzle or fog but gradually easing away. just dragging its heels across east anglia. for many, spells of sunshine. some showers over north and scotland where we have the brisk wind. we'll notice the drop in temperature, pressure over scotland, northern ireland and the north of england because we've changed the wind direction. despite that, we still have high pressure firmly in charge in the new week. yes, weather fronts in the north so there will be some patchy rain. it will be fine and dry for many even if a little cooler, with a risk of overnight frost. 0n cooler, with a risk of overnight frost. on monday, may be some patchy mist and fog but a good deal ofjoy and bright weather. until this whether front drifts further south and east, introducing more cloud. temperatures down on those we've seen through the week. 15 or 16 and under the cloud further north, distinctly cool. for the week ahead, a lot of dry and settled weather to come. there's more on the website. this is bbc news the headlines at 7pm... pressure grows on the government to help businesses facing soaring energy bills — as some of its own mps join industry bosses in asking for support. the education secretary vows to tackle persistant pupil absences "head on" — describing it as a key priority. us officials have held their first face—to—face talks with the taliban since they took power in afghanistan. women travelling home alone, could soon be offered protection from a free mobile phone app. campaigners say it doesn't go far enough. i don't think that that's the way forward at all. it's not that i don't support it, it's that i don't think that is going to help end violence against girls, such as for example making misogyny a hate crime. coming up in sportsday at half past six —

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