The Tories and Rishi Sunak’s Autumn Budget

involved - it was agreed that to prevent livelihoods being damaged, the further rise in temperatures must be hindered. The agreement was to work towards decreasing global temperatures by 1.5 degrees. Each country involved committed to a plan to reduce their emissions, and to a meeting that would be held every five years to discuss further progress on each plan. When reflecting on whether many improvements were made over the last couple of years, we can now say that the promises to decrease temperatures were not fulfilled. This has resulted in the hope of being able to achieve what we wanted to be slowly declining.

COP26’s aims and the UK

The aims of COP26 are to secure global ‘Net Zero’ (where the amount of carbon being produced is equal to the carbon taken in by plants in nature) by 2050, and to keep a reduction of 1.5 degrees within reach. Countries involved with COP26 are asked to submit ambitious plans for how they will reduce emissions by 2030.

Some of the UK’s proposals that have been discussed at COP26 include utilising taxes to fund green initiatives. The government has been investing in low carbon structures, for example using solar panels and hydroelectric power systems to create energy instead of fossil fuels in order to become a sustainable country. The British government also seeks to decrease deforestation and encourage citizens to switch to electric cars. These actions have been taking effect; between 1990 and 2016 the UK cut greenhouse gas emissions by 41%.

The Adaptation Action Coalition

The ‘Adaption Action Coalition’ was founded in 2021 in order to accelerate global plans on adaptation to achieve an ecosystem that is stable by 2030. The Coalition was developed by the UK, Egypt, Bangladesh, Malawi, the Netherlands, and Saint Lucia. It demonstrates real world action in response to risks our climate may be under, as well as showing adaptations that countries can make and evidence to support how it is helping.

The Council also develops action plans that countries can implement to reduce emissions and improve the natural world. The coalition focuses on small areas to develop an awareness of how the world is changing and to maximise the success rate throughout the country. In short, the programme was created to try to catalyse our actions towards decreasing the global temperatures through reducing our emissions and improving the environment around us. 38 other countries are now a part of the Adaptation Action Coalition.

Impact on our earth…

The burning of fossil fuels, destruction of nature, our feelings of dominion over the natural environment - all release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Thus, the stability that the earth depends on has become unhinged. This results in storms, floods, forest fires, air pollution, the list goes on. The change in temperature around the globe is due to the increased greenhouse gases people have released into the atmosphere.

There is a chain of disasters around the world caused due to our actions in day-to-day life, and although it may not directly affect people in this school, we should still all work together to make change. Raising awareness about these disasters will help convince people to work towards saving this planet and making it a better place for not only future generations but also our generation. Making small changes and sacrifices everyday can cause a huge change in our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment.

Climate change is not felt equally across the earth, the people who have done the least to escalate this problem are being affected the most. That is why we must work together as a school to try and help those who have been impacted and give back what was taken away from them. Small actions of change are enough to change the course of the future. If everyone makes changes to adapt their way of living, the whole world will benefit.

The UK’s gain is other countries losses

Although it may seem like the UK has effectively tackled climate change, The UK’s plans fall short, and the poorer areas are being impacted the most. The UK is outsourcing a significant

proportion of its emissions to poor countries. An example of outsourcing is the production of fast fashion clothing and mass manufacturing of electronics made in other countries and imported into the UK which increases other countries emissions. Another way the UK has had a large effect is through the waste deposited creating landfill in other countries. This may pollute surrounding waters, meaning people in deprived areas are drinking unclean water that could lead to disease. The UK should take ownership of its own problems instead of putting the onus on other countries and causing more people harm.

Is that which is right because God commands it? Or does God command that which is right?

Jaan Walia, Year 8

This article was an entry for the 2021 ISRSA essay competition.

I somewhat agree with the first statement because religion is extremely prominent in many countries. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all monotheistic religions and therefore rely on the moral authority of one higher spirit. The Bible, the Quran, the Ten Commandments, and Jesus’s Beatitudes are all examples that support the belief that God makes the rules and we as humans follow them.

Some religious people look to God to pardon their sins and give them a fresh start, which only further reinforces the notion that God is omnipotent and can decide right and wrong. This notion is called ‘Divine Command Theory’. Many people feel that their morality will be kept intact if they are obedient to their God and follow God’s rules. This theory leads us to contemplate religion and moral authority’s part in society. Is something erroneous or dishonourable if it goes against God's word?

On the contrary, the second statement is true up to a point. The number of atheists or simply not that religious people is immense, and they don’t tend to follow the moral authority of God at all, or as devoutly as very religious people. Marxism, for example, holds the belief that we obtain our moral compass from the people around us and who we look up to. This may be why families all have the same values, because they have grown with each other and rely on each other for a sense of right and wrong. These values can involve political views, interests or thoughts about what constitutes an unethical act.

Therefore, people might follow the word of God, but is the word of God derived from the people? It has been proven that certain people influence others, maybe even more so than God. Social media, celebrities, parents, and friends are all examples of platforms and people that influence us on a daily basis.

There are supporters and critics of both beliefs that contribute to their credibility. Plato, Kai Neilson, and J.L. Mackie have all voiced their opinions against Divine Command Theory. In his dialogue Euthyphro, Plato states that “if something is morally right just because God commands it, then morality becomes arbitrary”. This means it is based on a random decision or a whim rather than any logic or reasoning. The dialogue also states that given this, we could inflict pain and torture on others because we are morally obligated by a higher power to do so – for example, some terrorist groups are influenced by their own religious beliefs and what they think

Moses descends from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, Ferdinand Bol, 1662