Climate crisis – live: Email carbon footprint ‘not a worry’ while activists protest Biden hiring oil figure

Follow the action as it happened

AOC speaks at climate protest for Biden's early hires

A report published in the FT yesterday claimed officials involved in preparations for next year’s UN COP26 climate change summit have been “looking at research suggesting that if you reduced those emails by just one a day, you would save a lot of carbon”.

But experts have said otherwise. Prof Chris Preist, a researcher of sustainability and computer systems, told The Independent: “People should not worry about their email footprint too much because they only have a small effect on it and it’s a relatively small part of their own footprint.” 

Meanwhile, climate activists rallied yesterday outside the Democrat’s headquarters in Washington DC in protest of Joe Biden’s early hires of key staff with connections to the oil and gas industry.

Politicians including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez marched alongside protesters. AOC, as she is commonly called, said at the rally: “We’re going to organise and demand that the Biden administration, which I believe is decent and kind and honourable, keep their promise.”

• PM’s plan not ambitious enough to reach UK’s net-zero target
• Will sending fewer ‘unnecessary emails’ tackle the climate crisis?
• Blue whales returning to South Georgia after near extinction

See below for our live coverage as it happened.

Key Points

• ‘Unnecessary emails’ unlikely to effect UK’s carbon footprint
• AOC joins climate activists in protest against Biden’s early hires
• France given three months to fulfil climate commitments
• ‘We need to think about the kit itself’: Climate expert weighs in on email debate
• Global map of bees created for first time
• PM’s plan not ambitious enough to reach UK’s net-zero target

[20 November 2020 12:19 · Sam Hancock]

That’s all from us on the climate blog for today, thanks for following along.