The Guardian view on climate politics: net zero must stay as policy

theguardian.com:

The danger posed by heatwaves in Europe should be taken more seriously. On the continent, the headlines are about forest fires. In the UK, the story is about the country grinding to a standstill. Both views mask a deadly truth. High levels of heat are a killer, one seen retrospectively in the data on excess deaths and hospital admissions. It was only in 2008 that statisticians concluded that as many as 70,000 people died as a result of a heatwave in Europe in 2003. By foolishly telling people to “enjoy the sunshine” Dominic Raab, the UK’s deputy prime minister, proved that there is no challenge he would not rise to.

It is disappointing that the next UK prime minister will be chosen by a Tory party membership that cares very little about dealing with the climate emergency. Global heating will make lethal summer temperatures more common and more extreme. In the cabinet, Alok Sharma remains a rare Tory voice of reason. It is a worry that at least one of the contenders in the Tory party leadership race thinks that the choice for Conservatives is either to be a party of net zero or a party of low taxes.

Any leading politician who thinks this trade-off is right – especially during what could be record-breaking heat in Britain – is not fit to be prime minister. However, this may not be the biggest problem the world faces. Joe Biden had a plan to put the United States on to a path that was an improvement on Donald Trump’s antagonism, but it was not good enough. The United Nations warns that limiting global heating to 1.5C is necessary to avoid the worst of the climate crisis’s impacts. But Mr Biden put the US on track to 2C. However, even this modest target was opposed by Republicans and centrist Democratic politicians. Last week,