"It is much easier to set targets than take action to meet them. "
Personally, I suspect the world will "wake up" when it realises that green energy can actually be lower in cost than fossil fuels and can create jobs.
This is especially true if investment is switched to renewable energy rather than fossil fuels. The main breakthrough needed is low cost storage of renewable energies like wind and solar. This would be an absolute game changer.
I hope we wake up soon enough.
Look at TVs and cameras. 20 years ago who would have envisaged TFT screens and digital cameras? In 20 years from now we will probably look back and think, "did people really drive cars powered by petrol and diesel?".
One thing the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us all is just how well we can communicate without travelling. I suspect more of us with use things like Zoom for meetings rather than travelling for hours by plane, train or car. I also suspect that people will work from home more, maybe Mondays and Fridays and go into offices less often. We will still have offices and shops, but fewer. More of us will shop online.
Changes are coming.
See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56837927 .
There will need to be investment on an unprecedented scale in the electricity distribution network if in 20 years time all cars are electric. Most substations on moderate housing estates have a 500kVA transformer and probably serve a couple of hundred properties. They will be quickly swamped if everyone charges their car on arriving home. That doesn't include voltage issues with small section underground cables. It also raises the question about houses with no off street parking, imagine walking down a street with terrace houses - how the heck are they going to run a cable to the car? Electric cars are good but it will be more than 20 years before they can properly replace diesel / petrol fuelled cars. The low voltage distribution network will have to be replaced entirely if we are to charge cars at home.
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