´óÏó´«Ã½

There’s been a lot of talk about ‘net zero’ ahead of the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow. It’s even just been added to the to the Oxford English Dictionary, along with eco-anxiety and global heating.

But what does net zero even mean? And what can we all do about it? As world leaders prepare to discuss the climate emergency, Woman’s Hour spoke to three women who’ve been exploring what the public understand by ‘net zero’ and the changes they want to see to get us there.

It’s a phrase many of us have heard bandied about in the past year or so, but many people are still unsure what net zero really means.

“Put simply, ‘net zero’ is the UK's target for climate change,” says Professor Becky Willis from Lancaster University, who is behind a study called the Net Zero Diaries. “The zero refers to greenhouse gases, so we know to stop putting greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to stop those dangerous changes to the climate. We do that through changes to the way we generate electricity, how we heat our homes, how we travel about and changes to land use and farming. So we need to stop emitting greenhouse gases and shift to the alternatives.

"The net part means that where greenhouse gas emissions are unavoidable, we need to find ways for carbon dioxide to be removed from the atmosphere. This could be through natural means like trees or through developing carbon capture technologies. But overall, once you balance out what’s being emitted with what’s being reabsorbed, the net result is zero emissions.

“We know that it can be done, there are solutions. But it means quite a few changes to our lives… What we've learned is that people are keen to play their part, but actually they're really confused about what to do.”

Pearl Hassan told Woman’s Hour she didn’t know much about climate change until she joined a local citizens jury in Leeds, aimed at reducing the city’s carbon footprint.

“One of the most astonishing things I found [would help] was just eating less red meat, like a couple of vegetarian meals a week. I didn't realise that animals in fields were producing all this methane gas and a lot of other people on the panel were the same.

“I don't think it's too much of a sacrifice,” adds Pearl. “Out of 21 meals a week on average, now I'm down to about three meals of red meat, then about seven vegetarian and the rest is made up of fish and chicken. So, we've made major changes in the way we eat.”

“One change that's been talked about quite a lot recently is how we heat our homes,” says Professor Becky Willis.

“At the moment, most of us heat our homes using a fossil fuel – gas - which emits carbon dioxide. We're going to have to make our homes much more energy efficient, warmer and cosier and better insulated, and we're also going to have to switch over to electric forms of heating like heat pumps.”

But how easy is it to make the change? A listener called Liz got in touch to say “I'm prepared to do anything required but I'm feeling frustrated. We wanted to fix solar panels but couldn’t find a firm with an audit trail that showed that slave labour wasn't used in the production process.” Another listener called Sara text Woman’s Hour to say “We're trying to find an alternative to our boiler, it's very difficult to find anyone to advise us properly… I feel the technology is not ready.”

“A fifth of the UK's carbon emissions come from the housing sector and most of that is gas,” says Aneaka Kellay, who works for a project called People Powered Retrofit in Greater Manchester, bringing homeowners and local tradespeople together to bring down emissions.

“There’s actually a lot more we can do than people realise. Most of the houses in the UK were built during the industrial revolution, they're quite drafty, they're quite leaky, they were designed for coal fires… There's loads we can do in terms of insulation, improving our windows, making that really airtight and draft proof and really reducing the amount of heat we need to keep warm.

“You can just start having a feel for where there are drafts in your home. Is your kitchen and your bathroom often cold? It's probably because there are pipes going in and out of the house and they haven’t sealed around them properly. That's fairly easy to sort out.

“Draft proofing a chimney is going to make a huge difference to your warmth,” adds Aneaka, who suggests putting special bags, balloons or ‘chimney sheep’ up an unused chimney as one cheap way to stop heat escaping.

“Another area is transport,” says Becky, “so we need to drive less, walk and cycle more - and there's health benefits there. And also switch from petrol and diesel cars, both fossil fuels, to electric vehicles.”

When the UK government published its net zero strategy recently, it spoke about ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030. “So it’s crazy that electric vehicles are more expensive than petrol and diesel cars at the moment,” says Becky.

Pearl adds: “I don't drive so I don’t have a car, but we have cars in the family, and I think car sharing is a brilliant thing to do. If you could give up some time to do car shares with people at work, that would take some cars off the road.”

She’s also a keen public transport advocate, but thinks the government need to act to make it “safe, reliable and affordable” for people all over the UK. “I think a lot of people would ditch their cars if they knew they could get to work on time, safely and quickly. Some places there's one bus an hour and you can't risk being late for work.”

“I did some research asking politicians why they weren't doing more and they said they were worried they wouldn't get public support for the changes,” adds Becky. “But actually, research shows concern about climate change is really high, and people want leadership from government, so there’s this sort of breakdown in the relationship between people and politicians.

“If the burden is all placed on you as an individual it feels very demotivating because it feels like ‘just little old me and there's a big world out there’. If you are making changes in your life that is brilliant, but also make sure you talk about them. Knock on your MP’s door, tell them that you want action on climate change. Talk to your friends and family about it and that way we won't feel alone and powerless.”

“I've spoken to a lot of people about it and some of my friends just aren't even interested at all,” says Pearl. “But some are very interested. There's definitely a mixed response. Some people don't believe in net zero, they think it's ‘a load of rubbish’, so it's going to be difficult. But being part of that jury was a real eye opener to me. I think if more people were aware of how serious it is then more people would get on board with trying to help as much as they could.”

“You tend to trust friends and family, you tend to want to get advice from people that you know, people like you,” adds Becky. “And if we did have those climate conversations much more widely it would help to build understanding, and trust actually, and the trust is really vital.”

“We can't blame the government for everything,” says Pearl. “As individuals we can all make a difference by making small changes throughout the week that will reduce carbon emissions.

“I've got solar panels, I know not everyone can afford those, I get that. I try and replace white goods with AAA energy efficient appliances. I recycle. Lower your heating by a degree. Just little things like that can make a massive difference.”

“Everything adds up,” says Becky, “but I would also say that that signal we send through those everyday actions is really important. It is frustrating to see some countries not stepping up to the plate, but the best thing the UK can do is lead by example and the more countries that are leading the way, the more that the economic benefits follow.

“There are real advantages to being the first mover on this, real advantages to our economy going green, jobs in the new zero carbon industries. And advantages to all of us personally, in terms of low carbon diets tend to be a lot healthier, we all know that walking and cycling are good for us. There are all sorts of benefits to acting.”

Listen to the full discussion on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sounds where you can also find episodes of Woman’s Hour you might have missed. Join the conversation @bbcwomanshour on and .