Recent years have seen diminished concern about climate change. Public support for climate policies and urgency around achieving net zero has declined. Despite this, a significant majority still believe in the importance of addressing climate change. I am in this significant majority.
The Union of Concerned Scientists list twelve of the effects of climate change:
- Global temperatures are increasing
- Ocean temperatures are increasing
- Soil temperatures are increasing.
- Oceans are more acidic
- Humidity is increasing
- Arctic sea ice extent is diminishing
- Springtime snow cover is going down
- Glaciers are shrinking
- Forest fire season is longer
- The seas are rising
- Weather is becoming more extreme
- Plants’ and animals’ ranges are shifting
For the UK there is another effect that should concern us – the slowing of the massive flows of warm water that come up from the tropics to make our climate much milder that other lands at the same latitude. These flows are slowing. If they slow further or stop, we will suffer a severe cooling of our local climate despite the global warming trend.
An obligation to reduce our greenhouse emissions
Climate change should be a major consideration in housing policy. First is our obligation to reduce our carbon footprint – our emissions of greenhouse gases.
The remaining carbon budget—the maximum amount of CO2 humanity can emit to stay within specific global warming limits—is critically low. As of 2026, the Potsdam Institute estimate that within three years of current emissions, a rise in global temperatures 1.5C will be locked in. The budget left for 8.3 billion people works out at 16 tonnes CO2 per person.
When the embodied carbon in the goods and services we import is counted, the carbon footprint of UK citizens is near the world average. It is 8.6 tonnes CO2 per UK citizen per year. Globally that’s three years left before the budget for 1.5C is exhausted and only 20 years before the budget for 2.0C is also exhausted.
Global warming of 1.5°C is associated with significant risks and impacts, and exceeding 2.0°C would pose even larger and escalating risks to ecosystems and human life. A 1.5C temperature rise is considered dangerous, while a 2.0C,rise is generally viewed as catastrophic. The difference between the two is significant, representing a step-change in the severity of climate impacts rather than just a small increase.
A growing attitude seems to be that as the UK is a small proportion of world population, and therefore a small proportion of global greenhouse emissions, we should let bigger countries shoulder the burden of cutting emissions. Our government, ostensibly at least, has a policy of cutting UK emissions to “net-zero” by 2050. However, critics, environmental researchers, and opposition figures have frequently accused the UK government of showing reluctance to count certain emission sources—specifically international aviation, shipping, and imported goods.
We should do better and design ways of life that place little burden on the Earth’s climate- not just for the relatively small global impact the UK’s restraint would make but to show other nations how low carbon living can be attained.
Planning for a changing climate
The acceptance of the reality of a changing climate is not universal in the UK, although it is widespread but there is an increasing minority, who believe that the threat is exaggerated.
Whether exaggerated or not, there are potential risks, such as heat waves, much colder winters and global food shortages. We should plan for them. We must design homes that do not overheat or get too cold. We should plan for local food production.
I wrote earlier:
The UK is generally self-sufficient in only a few specific food classes, primarily producing enough to meet domestic demand in liquid milk, barley, and sheep meat. The UK produces around 60% of its total food consumption, but it relies on imports for a large portion of its fruit, vegetables, and, increasingly, poultry. The UK is not even fully self sufficient in potatoes and wheat.
The new version of the York Local Plan should aim at increasing local food production. Various thinkers have considered this approach. For example, Place 54 Architects, won a Wolfson Prize examining the idea of Market Garden CIties, where market gardens are incorporated into urban designs.
Local food production is rapidly evolving in 2026, driven by technological innovations in vertical farming, the localization of supply chains, and a shift toward sustainable, urban-centric agriculture. These methods are designed to minimise transport, enhance food security, and offer year-round, nutrient-rich produce while reducing environmental impacts.
The York Local Plan should incorporate food production.
A Plan for York 
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