Thursday, 30 September 2021
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the climate crisis needs to be addressed — urgently. The statistics are stark and dangerous proof that without action we are approaching dangerous territory. We need to do what we can to halt the further apocalyptic destruction of our planet. In fact, I would argue, that historically we have gone far too long without attempting sufficient damage limitation. After all, it is human activity which is to blame for inflicting such gross harm upon the environment.
If scientists and politicians agree that it is so imperative to cut down on carbon emissions, I ask myself why they are hell-bent on creating a massive carbon footprint by flying delegates from 196 countries to attend the UN Conference on Climate Change to be held in Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November 2021. Of course these representatives will not be travelling alone. They will be accompanied by their respective entourage, as well as journalists and television crews of the countries from which they hail. I cannot be the only one who is struck by the enormous hypocrisy at play here. These people, who believe themselves to be an authority on climate change, are presumably all highly intelligent individuals. Have they learned nothing from what the Coronavirus pandemic has taught us about what is possible? IT technology has become increasingly sophisticated over the past twenty years. In this period video conferencing has been recognised as being convenient and reliable. Zoom calls are now part of our everyday lives. Humans are adaptable creatures and we have become used to talking to our colleagues and friends online. I appreciate that not everyone has the space they would like but, mostly, we have grown accustomed to the convenience of working from home.
Much has already been written about the reappearance of insects and wildlife in our gardens, parks and woodland due to the presence of fewer exhaust emissions as people used their cars less during the various lockdowns imposed. For a long time, also, fewer flights were taken than in pre-Covid days. These are things to be celebrated, yet I believe that the overall savings in carbon output which the reduction in such activities has brought about remains underreported.
Personally, I think man's efforts to do anything significant that will contribute to limiting the harm we are inflicting on our planet should be shouted from the rooftops and reported in every media outlet available to us. To see someone doing their bit to help save the environment will motivate others to do what they can themselves. The old cliché 'keeping up with the Joneses' isn't only about material gain that will put us on a par with our friends and neighbours. In the twenty-first century it has taken on a new meaning. We are collectively encouraged to recycle, shop more wisely, reduce our use of plastics, cut down on our meat intake and generally live more sustainable lives. Unfortunately, the term's former definition is also still being kept alive by online influencers attempting to induce young people to desire and buy material things they don't need, but believe are essential to keeping up with others in their peer group. Extolling the importance of further developing wind and water energy, making driving electric cars the new norm and continuing to promote the benefits of cycling whenever possible will go at least some way towards ensuring future generations will have a sustainable environment in which to live, grow and thrive. But it is not enough.
We hear and read, with frightening regularity, about extreme temperatures causing massive wildfires in California, Greece, Russia, Australia and elsewhere which destroy thousands of miles of terrain, wrecking crops and grassland and endangering lives and livelihoods. In other regions, such as Germany, Turkey and even in London, unusually intense rainfall is doing the same. Rising temperatures at the North Pole causes ice floes the size of Great Britain to melt, threatening the lives of polar bears and other creatures for which the region is home.
Some environmentalists argue that climate change began as early as 12,000BC, when the Neolithic Revolution began to have an impact on the Earth's resources. The way humans utilised the land affected its biodiversity and ecosystems. Cutting down trees for house building and firewood altered a region's biodiversity and, over the following centuries, brought about changes in the weather. In modern times the effects of climate change intensified with the Industrial Revolution. Smoke belching out from factory chimneys, turned the air hazy and grey in the process of manufacturing goods that would make our lives easier and richer, financially as well as intellectually and materially. Although coal mining has taken place in Britain since Roman times in a more primitive form, the way we think of it today really took off, in all parts of the UK — Scotland,Wales and sites around northern England — during the early 1700s and continued for the next 270 years before seeing a decline. Coal fuelled steam engines, heated people's homes and created jobs. It is an industry which altered the lives of everyone living in Britain during this period. The invention of coke in the early eighteenth century further increased the release of carbon into the atmosphere. Each additional development for the convenience of mankind brought more damage to the environment — aeroplanes, motor cars, ships, refrigerators, washing machines, the manufacture of plastics and other non-biodegradable materials. The list is endless.
In August 2021 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its sixth Assessment Report. It makes depressing reading. Produced by hundreds of the world’s top scientists it claims the climate crisis is unequivocally caused by human activity and is evident in every region around the globe. Climate change, the report says, cannot be reversed. The damage already caused is so great that it can only be mitigated by a small degree. If present levels of carbon emissions were maintained it would get much worse. Action to keep global heating below 1.5 celsius has to be taken immediately. This is the danger level specified in the International Treaty on Climate Change, the so-called 'Paris Agreement', adopted at the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP21) in December 2015.
The IPCC report further tells us that globally sea levels have already risen by twenty centimetres and are likely to continue rising. Melting ice in the Arctic, pouring trillions of tonnes of water into the world's oceans, is creating an imbalance in the oceans' levels of oxygen and acidity. Carbon dioxide levels in the air are now at their highest for at least two million years. As if all that were not shocking enough, we're told that fossil fuel burning and the destruction of forests are contributing to the unprecedented rise in temperatures witnessed all over the world. Incidents of flash flooding have become more frequent since the 1950s, affecting more than ninety percent of the world’s regions. Drought is increasing in regions from Africa, to Asia and South America. The number of major hurricanes and typhoons recorded around the globe has risen by an estimated sixty six percent since the 1970s.
Back in 2015 few eyebrows will have been raised at the news that delegates and their entourages from 196 countries around the world were jetting into Paris to talk about .... erm .... climate change. Six years ago face to face diplomacy was still deemed acceptable and necessary. Every delegate attending world conferences like this one, or the G7, G8 or G20 summits, will tell you that many of the most important points of negotiations are hammered out, not in the main hall with hundreds of other people present, but in small side rooms outwith the main conference. Now, however, we have the shared experience of the Covid pandemic. Video conferencing technology has shown what can be achieved without adding to the global carbon footprint. Zoom and Microsoft Teams facilitate so-called 'break-out rooms' to enable separate discussions, away from the main event. We know it can be done. The onus rests on every single one of us. Surely, climate change professionals ought to be the first to embrace the possibilities which new technology offers. The world needs to act before it is too late. Excuses and playing for time are no longer acceptable if we wish to give our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren the lives they deserve. But then, with a government that appears less than fully committed to setting out the roadmap by which the necessary reductions in carbon emissions may be achieved, what hope do we realistically have?
I realise that one insignificant individual holding forth on the hypocrisy of several hundred people getting on planes to fly to Glasgow to attend COP26 which — at the time of writing — is a month away, is not going to make any difference, but it feels cathartic to be doing so. If just one person reading this essay is given pause to reflect on the reality of what I have said, it will have been worth my while. I wish I had the power to do more to stop COP26 from going ahead in Glasgow and convincing its organisers to hold it online, but sadly I don't. Does it help knowing I am doing the best I can to contribute, in a small way, to halting further exacerbation of climate change? Not really. Besides what I already do — not owning a car, a television, a dishwasher, not buying new clothes, turning my domestic heating on only when absolutely necessary to keep pipes from freezing in winter, not eating meat, keeping my waste to a minimum and recycling what I can, there is little more I can do. I am only one small voice, one individual, living on a small Scottish island. An island that is brim-full of talent. Art, crafts, music all flourish here, but perhaps most impressive of all is the innovative exploration of wind and tidal energy that happens here. More people here drive electric cars than elsewhere in the UK. I would love to have the power and influence to save the world. As that is not possible I shall quietly relish my good fortune at being able to call Orkney home and, along with the rest of the world, try to keep the faith and hope it will divert us from the road to Hell.
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NOTES
IPPC sixth Assessment Report
https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6Full Report https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1
Closing the Gap: The Impact of climate Commitments on Limiting Temperature Rise
https://www.wri.org/research/closing-the-gap-g20-climate-commitments-limiting-global-temperature-rise_________________________________________________________
