There’s nothing special about the UK that means we need to cut emissions faster than other wealthy, industrialised nations. A 10% cut in national domestic emissions in a single year is simply the scale of short-term reduction that the most recent science tells us is needed across the developed world if we are to stand any chance of meeting the huge emissions cuts that are required in the longer term.

The present levels of ambition amongst the governments of the rich world are still very far from matching the challenge we face: one recent analysis showed that the emissions targets of all these countries, when put together, add up to somewhere between an 8-14% cut in emissions by 2020. Even if carried out in full, these plans would still not give us any hope of preventing the 2˚C global temperature rise that most countries have agreed would be an unacceptable level of warming. We badly need to raise our game here if we are to prevent global catastrophe on an almost unimaginable scale - and 10:10 represents a very simple and effective way to begin to do that.

In any case, the first 10-20% cuts are the easiest to make: these first steps on the road to full decarbonisation are all about eliminating waste and increasing efficiency. The kinds of measures we’ll have to take to achieve them will be good for our economies, increasing productivity and buying us time to roll out the new technologies in renewable energy and sustainable transport on the scale that will be needed further down the line.

10:10 has begun as a national project to cut Britain’s emissions, but the big picture clearly shows that 10:10 is needed where you are too. To find out more about how we can help you to pick up 10:10 and run with it in your country, just email world@1010uk.org. We’ll be delighted to do what we can to get things going.