We don’t often write opinion pieces, but after reading Jeremy Clarkson’s recent UK Sunday Times column (link below) arguing that Net Zero is “inhumane” because he shouldn’t have to freeze in his own home, we felt compelled to respond.
His view — echoed loudly in the comments — is emotionally resonant, and we understand why. Many people feel that climate policy is unrealistic and requires substantial investment that diverts resources away from what they view as more urgent social priorities.
Buried in the comments we uncover the real challenge Net Zero faces: a fundamental misunderstanding of where emissions truly come from — and therefore where the solutions must lie.
One reader argued that the UK produces only 1% of global emissions, so cutting its output is pointless. That argument fails to acknowledge the world we actually live in. The UK’s direct emissions may be about 1%, but its consumption emissions tell a very different story. They import vast amounts of goods from China and the US – the world’s largest polluters.
Clarkson argues that he should be able to sit comfortably at home in the middle of winter — heating on, wearing a T‑shirt and shorts, tapping out his article on his laptop. He’s not wrong, but we also need to recognise that those clothes and electronics carry hidden emissions that simply appear in another country’s carbon ledger.
This is the uncomfortable truth: Our climate responsibility doesn’t end at our borders. And this is where Net Zero has been aimed at the wrong target.
Creating vast amounts of renewable energy is important — essential, even — but it tackles only part of the problem. We need to ask an upstream question: Why do we need so much energy in the first place?
The answer is deceptively simple: Because we consume too much, too fast, and treat products as disposable.
After spending the last three years deeply embedded in sustainability and supply-chain work, we’ve become convinced that true Net Zero progress must start with consumer behaviour and work backward from there. If consumers bought fewer things, waited longer between purchases, treated products with more care, and repaired rather than replaced, global production would fall — along with the vast energy and transportation demands that sit behind it.
And contrary to popular belief, this shift is not as hard as it sounds.
Companies traditionally optimize for speed and cost. They now need to widen selection criteria to include geography and carbon impact. Full-scale nearshoring may be unrealistic, but nearshoring around finishing factories is rich with opportunity and could reduce unnecessary transport emissions dramatically.
A personal example: my home printer recently broke after 18 months. HP was responsive and even sourced parts — but opening the casing to fit them would have destroyed the machine. So off to landfill it went.
This has to change. Manufacturers should build products to last longer, with repairability designed in from the start. Charge more for better quality. Make money from repairs. The annual cost of ownership stays the same, but the environmental impact plummets.
Most consumers aren’t ready for dense environmental data — but small, smart steps can work. Imagine product labels listing the total distance each component travelled to reach you. If two similar T‑shirts cost the same but one has 50% fewer transportation miles, that’s an easy, intuitive way to shift purchasing decisions.
As people grow comfortable with this kind of data, brands can disclose more.
Recycling capabilities vary wildly by city, yet products that require specialized processing are sold everywhere. Yoghurt cups are a perfect case: if a city cannot recycle a particular plastic, those products should not be sold there. Market pressure would quickly push brands toward universally recyclable materials.
We may not be able to nearshore major manufacturing, but we can optimize the way goods move from factories to consumers. Air freight is the biggest culprit here. Smarter, more efficient use of air transport is essential.
Environmental progress shouldn’t be pitted against economic growth. Capitalists shouldn’t panic — companies won’t collapse if consumers buy slightly less or if products last longer — they’ll adapt. Business models have always evolved in response to new expectations. Circular services, higher‑quality goods, repair ecosystems, and more efficient supply chains all create new forms of value. In many cases, these models strengthen customer loyalty and reduce volatility by shifting revenue toward long‑term services rather than constant replacement cycles.
Net Zero was never going to be achieved by governments mandating renewable energy alone. It will be achieved when we treat climate responsibility as a shared system involving consumers, manufacturers, and policymakers — and when we stop outsourcing our emissions, both literally and psychologically.
If we focus on what truly drives emissions — our consumption — and reshape supply chains accordingly, Net Zero doesn’t have to stay stuck in the rear‑view mirror. It can still be a destination we reach.
If your business is trying to understand its true consumption‑driven footprint — not just the emissions you report, but the ones hidden in your supply chain and purchasing patterns — we would be happy to help. At Zero Pro, our mission is to give companies tools that provide clear visibility into what they do and how they do it, so they can make informed operational decisions without relying on expensive, generic consulting. With the right starting point and a practical, auditable strategy, meaningful sustainability progress is possible far sooner than most people think.
Please feel free to comment and share views, even if they are challenging the article. We believe that we need to properly debate some of these issues to move forward and recognise that there is no magic bullet that fixes every problem. If you want to discuss directly with us we can be contacted on hello@zeropro.co
Follow ZeroPro on LinkedIn to receive regular updates in your news feed, or visit zeropro.co to understand more about what we do.
Clarkson’s Article (maybe behind a paywall): https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/jeremy-clarkson-net-zero-climate-change-fg2nxpb5z
Want to know more? Get in touch at hello@zeropro.co