A pioneering climate scientist and a solar trailblazer have been crowned winners of a global award showcasing solutions to environmental problems.
Prof Robert Jackson (pictured) from Stanford University, US, was instrumental in highlighting the contribution of methane – a potent greenhouse gas – to global heating. Cutting this, he said at the Blue Planet Prize, held in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, “would have a more immediate impact” than cutting CO2.
The scientist shared the award with the UK’s Dr Jeremy Leggett, who quit a job in big oil to launch Solarcentury, a pioneering solar company. He is also the founder of Highland Rewilding, which has a scalable plan to build low-carbon, affordable housing using timber sourced from regenerative woodlands.
“We cannot expect to communicate with people facing the cutting edge of inequality using the language of environmental disaster,” said Leggett, after receiving his award.
“We must argue for the lower energy bills, more affordable homes, and growing job numbers that would result in increasingly nature-based economies. Fossil-fuel phase outs would then happen by default.”
Read more: 12 obvious ways to reduce emissions that nobody is talking about
Image: Blue Planet Prize
