Health campaigners today backed calls for Britons to make changes to their everyday lives as part of the national effort to tackle climate change.
A Government-commissioned report advised people to turn their home heating down to 19C, eat less meat and dairy products and take fewer flights.
The Committee on Climate Change, chaired by the former Tory environment secretary John Gummer, also called for a ban on new petrol and diesel cars by 2035 and an official commitment for the UK to cut greenhouse gas emissions to “net zero” by 2050.
This would be achieved by scrapping gas boilers, planting up to three billion new trees and converting vast areas of farmland to forest.
Nicky Philpott, director of the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, which represents the medical royal colleges, said: “Threats to health from increasing heat are becoming more frequent and more dangerous.
“Heatwaves are associated with increased rates of heat stress and heat stroke, exacerbations of heart failure, and acute kidney injury from dehydration.”
