Restraint – The Green Tau

Counting on 2026 …. Day 75

8th July

Allwood in his book Promise the Earth (1) advises that we not only reduce our consumption of meat and dairy but also of rice in order to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. (2) Traditional rice growing in flooded paddies produces both methane and nitrous oxide – both powerful greenhouse gases which have a particular high impact on temperatures rises in the short term. Emissions from rice growing have doubled in the last 60 years. (3) Work is ongoing to develop rice growing techniques that reduce emissions and ensure more sustainable water usage.

Shaping our diet to be both healthy and environmentally friendly does prompt us to think – and investigate – about where our food comes from and its impact on the environment and its contribution to the wellbeing of those who produce it.

For example choosing to eat what is in season and what is grown locally, enables us to reduce resources used and emissions produced in the transport of our food. Buying locally supports our local economy and can help us build up a relationship with those who produce our food. Buying ultra locally could mean we actually see how the produce is grown or how the livestock is reared.

Equally we can choose to buy fairly traded products such as tea, coffee and chocolate so that we can be confident that those who have grown these foods have been well paid within a safe working environment. You can use Ethical Consumer (4) to research which makes and brands are best.

For more thoughts – https://greentau.org/tag/fairtrade/

(4) https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/shopping-guide/tea

Counting on 2026 …. Day 73

6th July

Following on from the last post if as a nation we can’t afford – or maybe even more pragmatically don’t have enough time – to electrify our freight network, then we as individuals must curb our consumption of products that require freight transport.

This might be not replacing household goods as frequently – making TVs, kitchen appliances, mobile phones etc last longer.

This might be not adding buying as many extra pieces of clothing or pairs of shoes – we can wear what we have for longer, repair or adjust them as necessary, or swop with others.

This might be not buying as many consumables – whether that is books, electric fans, toys and knick knacks, etc – but rather buying what we need and what we know will have a long life.

This might be choosing to buy local made products, locally grown foods.

Counting on 2026 …. Day 72

3rd July

Nothing in life is ever simple! Allwood highlights this when talking about how we trade off decisions. But this is not local carrots versus organic imports, but more about what we do when the alternative is unaffordable. He gives two examples – one at a national and one at an individual level.

“For example, nationally, if we can’t afford to invest in new infrastructure for electric freight, we must learn to live with less freight.”

“In households, if we cannot afford an electric car, then we need to start voicing our concern now, to suppliers and to local politicians, to ask for help on our journey to phasing our use of petrol cars, by supporting cost reductions or better provision of public transport.” (Both p. 134)

Why? Because the environment, the climate cannot accommodate us producing yet more emissions. If we don’t stop, the cost will be temperature increases approaching 4C and the consequences of extreme heat + droughts + severe cold + poor harvests and food shortages + disruption to transport + more climate induced medical emergencies + failing public services etc.

The trade off tells us that the cost of not cutting emissions will always be more than we can afford, and that restraint will always be the better option.

Might there be merit in deferring action in the hope that things might improve, or that new technologies may come long? Allwood tackles this response through out the book: and no, the science tells us things will not improve if we wait, and no, there is no new technology that is going to be available at scale and in time to address the crisis. 2050 is only 23 years away and in the time scale of technological developments that is minuscule.

Counting on 2026 …. Day 71

2nd July

Thirdly Allwood highlights the importance of ‘gathering good information’ to aid our decision making. (P133). Here the problem can be how to avoid green washing! And I think equally not being sucked in by advertising generally. Advertising is designed to make us buy more, not because it is good for us, but because it boosts profits.

I find the Ethical Consumer a good source of information – https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/

You might find Mike Berners Lee’s book ‘How Bad are Bananas: the carbon footprint of everything’ a useful read. https://howbadarebananas.com/

Allwood himself includes a resource section in the appendix. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/promise-the-earth/31E27442471A864A6582BA751ECD239F

Counting on 2026 …. Day 70

1st July

Allwood next focus is on domestic equipment/ infrastructure. What we have does affect our emissions. A small efficient freezer/ television/ car will produce fewer emissions than a larger one. When we need to replace such items, we can choose one with lower emissions. But equally we should bear in mind that buying new also has an emissions output, and that making things – phones/ TVs/ clothes etc – last longer can be a good saving off emissions and resources.

The same approach can be used in the workplace.

When it comes to local and national infrastructure, we may wish to lobby local councillors or MPs to ensure that they too are making decisions that a) reduce emissions and b) that make sure such infrastructure is readily available for everyone and not just those who can afford it. eg the cost of travelling by public transport should not be more than the cost of going by car.

Counting on 2026 …. Day 69

30th June

Allwood proposes as a starting point we find a way of measuring our progress – otherwise how ill we know if we are reducing our consumption by 25% or 50% or 75%? – and suggests keeping a record of, say, how many litres of petrol, kg of beef, or cubic meters of gas, we consume. Then the task of restraint. “Perhaps we can take a train to avoid buying a tank of petrol, upgrade our windows or turn the thermostat down … take local [European] holidays to reduce our use of aeroplanes.”

Allwood also reminds us to look out for unconscious habits. “If the works canteen [local cafe/ pub] always has a red-meat dish, we might eat it without noticing. But if it is on offer only once a week, we would learn to value it differently and perhaps we would eat red meat only if we have looked forward to it ….” (Both page 131)

Such restraint should be seen from the perspective that they are actions that show care for our planet and for our neighbours.

Counting on 2026 …. Day 68

29th June

The key message of Allwood and Davison’s book (1) is the need for us all as consumers to show restraint. If we are to live in a world where temperatures increases stay below 2C we absolutely have to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. To do this we have to consume less of everything that produces these emissions and less of most things that use electricity as we will not be able to install sufficient capacity in electrical generation and distribution if we are to power everything currently powered by fossil fuels.

Allwood presents us with a timeframe of action. We need to reduce our emissions by a quarter by 2028, by a half by 2035, by three quarters by 2042, and by 2050 there will need to be in place legislation that prohibits creating greenhouse gas emissions. (P129). To achieve those targets, we (ie as individuals, households and as nations) will need to begin planning now.

It is a challenging message that needs us to radically alter our daily lifestyles. However Allwood is as clear that consuming less doesn’t mean being unhappy or having to live substandard lives.

Over the next few days I will consider 5 key areas of change highlighted in the book.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/promise-the-earth/31E27442471A864A6582BA751ECD239F

Counting on 2026 …. Day 67

26th June

Love

“Ultimately, love is the reason we do one thing and not another. What we love determines how we act.” (P139) Those this does beg the question, what do we love? The answer might be money, power or self.

As an alternative, Davison suggest we might “see love as the criterion by which are actions are judged.” (P140) Do our actions express a God-like love?

Davison then explores an often overlooked issue – “What difference does my contribution make?”

One answer is that even that small difference is worth doing if it is the right or just thing – think of the parable of the widow’s mite. (P141)

Another is that we are in this together. (P142) My small contribution is part of our communal action and therefore part of a bigger whole. It is as communities that we best give and receive love, and as communities that we will best make the changes we need to make to safeguard our common future.

And again Davison reminds us of the core focus of the book (1), restraint. Love will always help us exercise restraint, and as regards our future, love will help us exercise restraint in the net zero lifestyles that we must embrace.

Promise the Earth: a safe climate in good faith by Julian Allwood and Andrew Davison. https://www.cambridge.org/gb/universitypress/subjects/religion/religious-ethics/promise-earth-safe-climate-good-faith

Counting on 2026 …. Day 61

18th June

For the next few days I will pick up on Davison’s comments re the seven virtues.(1)

Davison considers courage as the strength by which we overcome our fears and if need be make sacrifices for the good of others. Nevertheless this is not about being miserable or seeking out hardships. Rather it is about taking our fair share rather than leaving other to bear the bulk of the burden. “Courage” he writes, “is a spur to action…[I]t is those of us with the most who need to make the largest change. There is good news in that: those who should change the most are those with the greatest resources to make it happen.” Page 27

Where the early Christians needed courage to stand by their faith even when others were pursuing other gods and cultural practices, maybe as modern day Christians we need courage to stand by our faith when it tells us we need to apply restraint in what we consume in the face of a system and culture that favours consumerism.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/promise-the-earth/31E27442471A864A6582BA751ECD239F

Counting on 2026 …. Day 59

16th June

I’m currently reading Promise the Earth: A Safe Climate in Good Faith by Julian Allwood and Andrew Davison. (1)

The main thrust of Allwood’s argument is that, with less than 14 years until the 2050 deadline that scientists give for protecting us against the worst outcomes climate change, we don’t have time to rely on technological interventions such as carbon capture, hydrogen power or sustainable aviation fuel. Instead we must embrace a programme of restraint. ie we need to reduce substantially what we consume where and whenever that uses fossil fuels or adds to carbon emissions. But as he repeatedly says, this does not mean a life of lack and misery for there is so much to enjoy in life – friends and family, meals, walks in the country side, gardening, cycling, the arts etc etc.

The four key areas for restraint that Allwood highlights, are our use of:

gas for heating air and water at home;
petrol or diesel in cars;
fossil-fuel-powered aeroplanes; and
consumption of beef, lamb, rice and dairy foods. (Page 194)

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/promise-the-earth/31E27442471A864A6582BA751ECD239F