The Climate Column

Midsummer madness

Patrick Dunne

One theme of this month‘s Herbology News is ‘change’, so let‘s talk about climate change.

Seven months ago, Glasgow hosted COP26. I will forgive you if you don't remember it too clearly. What was the outcome? What was the promise? What is the lasting image? What is the legacy, half a year later?

For me the image is of the British Prime Minister (maybe ex-PM by the time this goes to press) puffing up a speech with his trademark lofty rhetoric, before flying by private jet to a men-only London club where he mingled with Conservative Party donors. It’s an image that sums up so much of our current government’s approach to climate. Let’s be honest, most governments have behaved like this for decades; warm words, long-distance promises, non-binding selfregulation, followed by self-congratulation before rich (mostly white) men ensure nothing really changes in relation to fossil fuel exploitation.

In the past few months, we have seen the release of the new IPCC report, AR6. The report’s message has been somewhat lost in the maelstrom of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and, in the UK, between the various dumpsterfire scandals that are engulfing the incumbent government. The report is wide-reaching and interesting. It should be the focus of global attention. In the Guardian (04.04.22) Fiona Harvey wrote: The world can still hope to stave off the worst ravages of climate breakdown but only through a ‘now or never’ dash to a low-carbon economy and society, scientists have said in what is in effect a final warning for governments on the climate.

A final warning. That is as stark as it gets.

Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, tweeted: Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels. Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness.

No one could deny the report can be challenging to read. Firstly, it’s difficult to find. The IPCC website is a bit of a nightmare, with seemingly endless reports and links to decades of research. And when you do find AR6, it isn’t clear how this new report relates to what was released in February, or last year— what does ‘AR6’ even mean? Having read the previous reports, and presented and helped deliver readings of 2018’s 1.5 Degrees report to audiences in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, I have to say that the accessibility and official communications around these reports are a mess. Occasionally impenetrable, regularly confusing, elitist and infuriating, it is no wonder most of our media limits itself to reprinting the official press releases or short synopses of each Summary for Policy Makers. It may interest you to know that it is the language of these Summary for Policy Makers sections that is picked over and approved by all the author nations. It is this section of each report that is approved by the big polluters, exploiters, beneficiaries of the current fossil fuel system. It is this section that is then reprinted and quoted in the news cycle that accompanies the release of each report.

Now that AR6 is in the public domain, though, what can we make of it? I would certainly recommend you try to engage with this report. It is vital we have access to the warnings and science it contains if we are ever going to force change, regardless of how unlikely such change now seems. Amy Westervelt delivered a brilliant explainer in the outstanding podcast, Upstream. I urge you to listen. It is damning, and frightening. It is a near final warning that we must reduce emissions, end extraction and exploration, and change the economics and politics of capitalist growth if we are to have a liveable future. We must do more if we are to have a fair and just one. It will be no surprise to readers of this publication that, here in the UK and globally, we are mostly heading firmly in the wrong direction.

These months of late evenings and warm weather make for pleasant gardening, outdoor socialising, bird watching, and getting out into nature. Sometimes it is possible to forget all the bad things happening in the world, the state of the climate, fossil fuels. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to ignore that the big producing countries and companies are using the war in Ukraine to push for new oil fields, new areas of exploitation, and less regulation. Earlier this year, campaigners stopped the proposed Cambo oilfield. Now the government is arm in arm with the oil industry, forcing through legislative policy— known as ‘Jackdaw’ — which seeks to exploit new areas. This is being touted under the banner of energy independence, in the face of dependence on Russian gas. You can be sure the UK government’s new energy policies mention nothing about reducing fossil fuel dependency (either domestic or foreign), effecting a just transition, or enabling the domestic insulation that would reduce our emissions in a meaningful way.

Meanwhile, our news reports yet another bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, as India broils in a heatwave that threatens life and health and shows no signs of abating (AFP Delhi, 28.04.22).

These are scary times. We mustn’t get distracted and befogged by the scandals and the sleaze. The climate is breaking down in front of us. Those whom we have elected to serve us are not only letting us down, they are encouraging the industries that imperil our very lives. Do what you can.

References:

AFP, Delhi (2022) ‘Extreme heatwave in India and Pakistan causes power and water shortages’, article in The Guardian newspaper, 28.04.22

Guterres, A. (2022) Post on social media platform, Twitter: https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/status/15 11294073474367488

Harvey, F. (2022) ‘IPCC report: ’now or never’ if world is to stave off climate crisis’, article in The Guardian newspaper, 04.04.22

The IPCC‘s Sixth Assessment Report: Mitigation of Climate Change (known as AR6) is available here: www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/

For Amy Westervelt’s podcast, see: www.hottakepod.com/about-us/