Climate change is happening now. As the world’s climate changes the UK is likely to experience hotter and drier summers more frequently, and wetter and warmer winters - which is bad for our environment, the animals that we share the planet with, as well as other benefits we get from nature such as food production. We are also more likely to face extreme weather events like floods and heat waves. The recent heat waves of 2003, 2006 and 2018, and the winter floods of 2015/16 were the most extreme ever to hit England. At the same time, England’s population is growing - leading to the need for more homes, workplaces, transport, energy, drinking water and drainage infrastructure. We need to feed more people and provide water for ourselves, farming and industry - which has led to us dredging, damming and polluting our rivers and groundwaters as we expand, but continuing down this path without reducing our environmental impact is not sustainable.
In order to prevent the worst impacts of climate change we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions as fast as possible, and contrary to popular belief,  we can make a difference as individuals by making small changes in our everyday lives that together combine to make a huge difference.

Your carbon footprint is a way of showing your carbon emissions compared to other people and other countries. Carbon emissions, in this case, means greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. We produce these gases through things like burning coal, oil and gas for energy and cutting down trees. So your individual emissions are calculated from the energy you use personally for electricity, heating and travel, as well as the energy that’s required to produce your food and everything else you buy, whether it’s made in the UK or abroad. But you can reduce your impact through efforts such as recycling plastic, reducing food waste, planting trees, or buying your food locally to name a few.

You can use the WWF Footprint Calculator here, and find out where you can reduce your carbon emissions by making small changes to your everyday routine.