One of the few pluses to come out of the Covid pandemic has been a worldwide reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

Due to the reduction in emitting activities, there was a 6.4 per cent reduction (2.3 billion tonnes) in emissions worldwide. Emissions caused by aviation dropped by 48 per cent on the preceding year.

The UN Environment Program estimates that a cut of 7.6 per cent will be needed each year for the next decade if global warming is to stay below the 1.5 degrees level required to stop devastating effects.

In 2018, the inter-governmental panel on climate change report warned that there were 12 years left to effectively save the world and stop run away damage.

Time is of the essence, with the world making very slow progress. The reduction of the past year provides a temporary respite, the problem being that when the world economy gets back to normal, the emissions level will return to the previous damaging levels. Indeed, it could even be worse as things go into overdrive to make up for lost time as it were over the period of the pandemic.

What is required is fundamental change in the way that the world economy operates, so the processes will see those CO2 reductions occur.

At local level, Redbridge Council passed the climate emergency motion that myself and Jo Blackman brought forward in June 2019. A corporate panel was established to look into how that declaration could be made a reality. The panel recently reported, with councillors now waiting to see a plan for practical implementation.

Transport was found to be one of the major areas for emissions creation in the borough. Plans to implement Low Emission neighbourhoods in Wanstead and South Woodford, as well as the School Streets schemes across the borough are the sort of measures that will help bring emissions and pollution levels down.

Things are beginning to happen, if slowly. Hopefully, as the pandemic reduces, so the work to make Redbridge and beyond cleaner, greener places to live will continue apace. What we all need to remember is that 12-year deadline to save the world. We are already a quarter way through the timescale, yet the work has hardly started.

Paul Donovan is a Redbridge Labour councillor for Wanstead village and blogger. See paulfdonovan.blogspot.com.