Save Oglet Shore & Greenbelt’s amazing campaigning in support of a motion brought by a Green Party councillor highlighted a serious issue, the proposed expansion of John Lennon Airport.

The UK is a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement, and recently hosted COP 26 in Glasgow, whose focus was how to implement it. That Agreement commits all signatories to holding global temperature increases to well below 2 °C, aiming for 1.5 °C. This means reducing global carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050. The UK government has a legally binding net-zero 2050 target.

Liverpool City Council has just released its net-zero 2030 plan and Liverpool City Region has a 2040 net-zero target. However, the delusion that it is possible to increase carbon emissions (expand airports and increase flights) and reduce them to almost zero, simultaneously, is alive and well in some quarters.

This issue is the essence of the problem we have as a society in dealing with climate change and its implications.

Those in favour of airport expansion would never dream of saying they were anti-science, or climate change deniers. They understand that if we don’t tackle climate change we’re making vast swathes of the planet uninhabitable, and destroying the chances of our children having a decent and prosperous future.

However, they don’t comprehend that to avoid this we must change our way of life to reduce our carbon emissions to almost zero. This means radically changing the way we do many activities. Business as usual is not an option.

Not expanding airports is one of the easy bits of climate action. If we can’t get this right, then we’re in for some turbulence.