UK workers must work nine-hour week if carbon levels do not change to save environment

Studies from Autonomy publishing house show that if people working less it is possible to avoid an increase in disastrous global warming in the absence of policies against carbon and emissions. If the workers in the UK, where the study is located, were working for nine hours, carbon levels would be reduced. Similar studies have been confirmed by Sweden and Germany. 

The paper focuses on the emissions produced per industry in each economy but does not take into account other environmental advantages of reducing working hours, from less commuting to fewer goods produced and resources used. 

Will Stronge, director of Autonomy, pointed out that the need to include reductions in working hours is part of the effort to address the climate emergency and avoid exceeding 2C of heating at current levels of carbon intensity, as further confirmed by the OECD and United Nations data. 

Stronge said that «becoming a green, sustainable society will require a number of strategies – a shorter working week being just one of them. This paper – adds - and the other nascent research in the field should give us plenty of food for thought when we consider how urgent a Green New Deal is and what it should look like». 

Also, the rapid pace of labour-saving technology show how a shorter working week for all is possibile. «However, - he said - while automation shows that less work is technically possible, the urgent pressures on the environment and on our available carbon budget show that reducing the working week is in fact necessary». 

Emma Williams, exponent of the 4 Day Week Campaign, already fought for the reduction of weekly working hours, evaluating favorably the studies. «We welcome this attempt by Autonomy – she said - to grapple with the very real changes society will need to make in order to live within the limits of the planet. In addition to improved wellbeing, enhanced gender equality and increased productivity, addressing climate change is another compelling reason we should all be working less». 

Meanwhile, the support for a “Green New Deal” is growing in the Unites States and Europe, which aims for a rapid decarbonisation of the economy, creating secure, well-paid sustainable jobs.