two degrees ~ Oxford Climate Society ~ 2017
Introduction ~ Rupert Stuart-Smith ~ Current President of Oxford Climate Society As I write this, Hurricane Irma is barrelling through the northern Caribbean, devastating some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the region. It is the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. Just a few days ago, Hurricane Harvey, the wettest ever to hit the U.S. brought deadly floods to Texas. In the next few weeks, studies may explain that these awful events were made x% more likely by climate change, or that what were once 1 in 100 year events are now 1 in 20. President Trump writes excitedly “Hurricane looks like largest ever recorded in the Atlantic!” The writers, artists and poets of two degrees demonstrate that climate change does not only exist within the scientific literature as a series of numbers, and it is not just something which happens to the polar bears or people in far off places who you may never meet. It affects everyone on Earth, threatening our most basic needs: food, water and shelter from extreme weather. Climate change involves each and every one of us, and especially the world’s most vulnerable communities, and the language we use to talk about it and its solutions must be inclusive and accessible to all. The UNFCCC, IPCC and COP have their place, but must be only one component of discussions on climate change. two degrees breaks down some of the barriers to dialogue on climate change, offering engaging pieces and considering where we and the natural world around us (and on which we rely) stand as the world warms. In our weekly lectures at OCS, we offer our members knowledge to equip them to play their part in efforts to minimise the impacts of climate change. We look to provide an event series that covers as wide a range of issues as possible, covering science and politics, and efforts to limit the extent and impacts of human-caused climate change.
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Our new programme, the Oxford School of Climate Change, will run from January 2018 and bring together some of Oxford’s students who are most committed to tackling climate change, in an eight-week seminar series covering a diverse set of climate issues and solutions. two degrees is a perfect complement to those series. It offers personal reflections on climate change through a variety of media types and engages in the injustice of climate change. Two degrees is not an ‘acceptable’ level of warming, a target or a red line. Behind the number, ‘two degrees’, lies real human suffering and considerable consequences for the natural world. Yet, with the arts, science and politics driving forward action on climate change we have a chance of avoiding its worst impacts and creating a fairer world in the process. If we concentrate our efforts in ensuring two degrees never becomes a reality, we will bring humans closer together and reengage with nature. two degrees will play a role in that.
Note from the zine creator and editor ~ Alice Boyd ~ Former Co-President of Oxford Climate Society Thank you very much to those who contributed to two degrees, to the musicians and poets who agreed to perform at the launch in October 2017, and to everyone who is reading this. It was an absolute pleasure receiving every piece of work, and then putting them together in this zine. I hope you enjoy flicking through! Julian Godding and I were co-Presidents of the society from 2016 to 2017. Over the year, and with the help of our fantastic committee, we welcomed an exciting range of speakers, and saw the society grow and grow. We cannot wait for the amazing programme this year’s committee has organised for 2017/2018. There is no better time for a bit of hope, and with more people engaged in the climate movement than ever, it looks like we’re in luck. 2
Abstract solar systems in ink ~ Emma Wagstaff ~
These ink paintings resemble something of a map of the solar system. They chart the movement of planets as they make their pilgrimage round the sun. The gargantuan orbital journeys that have been made for billions of years remind us as humans how small and young we are. The paintings work to put into perspective the scale of damage and change we have caused our own planet in such a short time.
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~ Charles Pidgeon ~ You’re global warming. Everyone is wasting millions of tax-payers dollars on climate research. But they haven’t realised that you’re global warming. The way you burn me and drown me in melting glaciers. The way you see my levels rise and tempest me with your tempting. Cheers dude. You’re nuclear fusion. All the scientists are trying to fuse hydrogens together. In Switzerland they’ve already done it once. If they can do it sustainably, it will be amazing, it will change the world. They just need you. You’re so good at confusion, nuclear fusion should be easy. I’m like helium when we’re together – lighter than air (helium is what fused hydrogens make). You confuse me and make me helium. Classic you.
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Wild Call ~ Charles Pidgeon ~ I heard the Call of the Wild. I answered the Call of the Wild. Wild called me on an emergency payphone ‘Who’s calling me?’ I said ‘It’s me, Wild, help me please!’ she whimpered down the line. ‘I’m sorry you’ve got the wrong number.’ My husband asks me who it was: ‘Bloody telemarketer’, I reply.
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Climate change and colonialism: joining up the dots for a truly effective climate justice movement ~ Lily MacTaggart + Rivka Micklethwaite ~ Climate change and colonialism are inextricably linked, and this connection is slowly creeping into the consciousness of western climate activists. But this realisation is not happening quickly enough, or altering the ways campaigning is carried out. OUSU’s Climate Justice Campaign’s focus this academic year has been educating ourselves and others on the inextricability of colonialism and climate change. We feel it’s important to share what we’ve learnt. Huge thanks to our educators Suzanne Dhaliwal, Dalia Gebrial, Billy Ray Belcourt, and Benny Wenda, who have opened our eyes to the colonialism of fossil fuel extraction, the racism of climate change, and the dire ignorance of these structures in the climate movement. In December 2015, 50,000 people marched through the streets of London to put pressure on governments meeting at COP21 to reach a deal which genuinely addressed the climate crisis. The march would be led by Wretched of the Earth - those who will be the most affected by climate change. It represented a coalition of grassroots organisations, mainly from indigenous communities, who were marching for their lives. For these people, climate change is not an obscure threat or a debate about 2 or 3 degrees temperature rise. People in these communities are already feeling the effects of climate change, vulnerable because of their livelihoods and proximity to increasingly volatile weather, which threatens stability, wellbeing and ultimately lives. The foregrounding of these communities in the march was vital - a majority white movement in the UK was recognising its duty to people of colour, people in the global south and indigenous communities by putting their voices first.
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But the plan was not carried out. On the day, the Wretched of the Earth bloc was moved much further back in the march to allow for NGOs like Greenpeace to lead it (although they managed to get to the front anyway in the end). This represents so clearly the ways in which indigenous voices and the voices of people of colour are silenced within the climate movement. NGOs are unwilling to listen to accusations of racism, so are not safe places for people of colour to work, and thus the cycle of exclusion goes on. Indigenous groups at the COP21 protests were also pushed out from the organisation of the main day of action. I was privileged enough to be invited to a healing ceremony led by some of these groups on that day, and the solemn remembrance of the victims of climate change felt much more appropriate than the joyful bouncing cubes of the main march. The healing ceremony was broken up by the French police, despite the fact it was a religious ceremony of remembrance being led in a completely peaceful way. The aggressiveness of their actions compared to the beauty of the ceremony we had just been part of was shocking. However, for most indigenous communities resisting climate change violence is a much greater threat than the unpleasantness we witnessed from the Parisian police. Many of you will have heard of the Standing Rock community’s resistance of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the atrocities carried out there against peaceful protestors by Obama’s administration, but this is nothing new to indigenous activists. The assassination of Berta Cåceres, a Colombian activist against power station projects, in March 2016 shows the risks that people on the front lines of climate change face, not just from climate change itself but from repressive governments and societies which lash out at people of colour and indigenous people because they are protesting and because institutional racism means they are already vulnerable.
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This brings us to the crux of the climate change-racism network of oppression. It is not new for people on the front lines of environmental destruction to be ignored, for their suffering to be overlooked because of racism – this has been happening throughout the history of colonial resource extraction, which itself has fuelled climate change.. Extraction is carried out on indigenous lands thanks to the tradition of colonialism which means that indigenous people’s land rights are not recognised and their ways of life are not valued. Extractivism is a philosophy which negates the importance of indigenous lives and puts them at the service of white colonisers, and at the service of profit. The history of colonisation is one in which whatever indigenous people and people of colour have can be taken for the convenience of the colonising people, and this includes oil, coal, gas and tar sands. It is also tied to the history of industrial capitalism, and the global division of labour and living standards that we have today. Indigenous people have been resisting extraction on their land since before climate change was an acknowledged issue. This is why some of the solutions favoured by branches of the climate movement, such as carbon capture, are ultimately racist; they allow for the continuation of extraction and therefore ignore the thousands of lives threatened by these processes. Like the call for a cap of temperature rise at 2 degrees, which will be devastating for many people in regions already vulnerable to climate change, the emphasis on emission alone indicates that a primary concern among too many activists as well as policymakers in the West is the point at which climate change will threaten life as we know it – not the submersion of islands far away, or the violence inherent in the system that has produced climate change.
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The case of the Dakota Access Pipeline is well known and illustrates this case very well, and it is typical of how extraction is forced upon indigenous communities. The pipeline was originally planned to go through a white neighbourhood, but there were complaints from the people living there because it would be disruptive and unsafe to live near. The plans were then moved to go through indigenous lands. When this was resisted, government force came down hard upon protestors causing hundreds of casualties. All this to subdue people who were defending their most fundamental right - that to water. Not only this, the lands in question were traditional sacred lands of local people, which would be completely violated by such a development. From Alberta to Colombia to the Niger Delta, indigenous people are fighting with everything they’ve got to keep the fundamental rights to life which are still under threat from those who colonised them hundreds of years ago. This is why the climate movement must be committed to fighting racism, and not be separated from other antiracist struggles. We must call for decolonisation, not in a purely academic sense but in the physical returning of land to indigenous people. We must strengthen the call for freedom of movement across borders – climate change has already begun to force people from their homes and the numbers will only grow. We must allow people of colour and indigenous communities on the front lines to lead our activism, including considering the impacts of our actions on these people.
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For instance, at times when communities are in negotiations with oil companies for basic rights, the actions of white protesters hijacking conferences can completely undermine this and mean communities are put into an even more vulnerable position. Even online solidarity activism can be dangerous, for instance sharing live stream videos which might compromise people legally. It poses many challenges to organising and to what we are used to, but we must learn how to take the lead from these communities – to rethink how we organise and what we demand, whose voices we amplify, and how we do it. We are not just fighting climate change, but centuries old systems of oppression, and that is why we call for climate justice. We should be taking the lead from frontline communities anyway. These people are not victims, but are strong and well organised and should be the beating heart of the climate movement as they are the best people to resist climate change and oppression from the point of extraction to the impacts of temperature rises. They should be at the front of our marches and on the panels we organise. When the healing ceremony I attended in Paris was broken up, the tension mounted. I could sense that white Western activists including myself were ready to resist the police. But the people leading the ceremony got us all to join hands, and we walked off singing. It was so much more powerful and defiant than provoking a confrontation with the police. The climate movement has ignored people of colour for far far too long; and the movement will never achieve any sort of climate justice until we learn our lessons and seek to dismantle our own white supremacy, letting those who actually matter in this crisis lead and be heard.
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Many many thanks to Suzanne Dhaliwal, Dalia Gebrial, Billy Ray Belcourt, and Benny Wenda, as well as OUSU’s Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality (CRAE). For information on climate justice events, including those which address the links between climate change, colonialism and racism, follow The Climate Justice Campaign on Facebook. We meet every week - message the page for details!
Further reading: Adamson J., Evans MM., Stein R. (2002) The Environmental Justice Reader: Politics, Poetics, and Pedagogy Eds. The University of Arizona Press, Available at: http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/Books/ bid1456.htm Deaton J. (2017) Environmental Justice Groups Show How to Organize in the Age of Trump, Nexus Media News, Available at: https://nexusmedianews.com/environmentaljustice-groups-show-how-to-organize-in-the-age-of-trump715ec510b636 Dhaliwal S. (2015) Why are Britain’s green movements an all-white affair?, The Guardian, Available at: https:// www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/28/why-arebritains-green-movements-an-all-white-affair Klein N. (2016) Let Them Drown: The Violence of Othering in a Warming World, London Review of Books, Available at: https://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n11/naomi-klein/let-themdrown
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~ Clarisse Pierre ~ Mini icebergs on volcanic beaches are a beautiful sight: a fragile, magical combination of fire and ice. We take them for granted, indeed, they do make great photographs. But they also reflect something much bigger, the fact that the landscape is changing, and it’s changing fast. Warming temperatures are causing more and more chunks of ice to break off from the Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier, cross the lagoon, and spill into the Atlantic Ocean. Will we finally wake up to the cries of nature?
Iceland, at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon (2017)
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Put the burner on low ~ RĂŠmy Oudemans ~
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The Golden Toad ~ Julia Koskella ~ The golden toad Last sighted in 1989. The year I was born. That fateful year of walls falling, internets’ first rising, and oil spilling... Oil spilling. Spilling in historic Exxon fashion. On my birthday, March 24th 1989, spilling into the virgin seas, just for me.. Welcome. Surely there is no place for oil in water. And as I enter the world it is as if I am made a place for... By the golden toad. Last sighted in 1989. The year I was born. One more oil spill than the toad could take. Too dark a future to witness its golden lustre. Blotted out. Forever. An oily smudge of forgotten. Growing up with The Frog Prince, A fairy tale... The princess Julia, I am that princess, drops a golden ball down a well. Lost, my golden ball of joy and innocence. Retrieved by a toad, a deal made... Can’t I keep my golden ball? Isn’t there space for my childhood bliss, ignorance, let me stay there where beauty is golden and frogs are cherished as princes..?
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No says the toad. The golden toad. Last sighted in 1989. The year of my birth. There is no place for innocence in this world. No place for the golden toad. May it live on in another world, where frogs speak and golden balls are cherished forever and there is no place... For oil in water. There is no place for oil in water. Water is for frogs and life and humans and all the other wild beasts. If the golden toad made room for me with its life. May my life make room for the water. And all its wild beasts.
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On the Privilege of Nature ~ Harry Holmes ~ I grew up, and still reside out of term, in rural West Yorkshire. One of the biggest things that has stood out for me during my first few terms, is the belief of many at the university that Oxford is full of nature. Whilst Oxford does have its many green patches, it does not change the fact that it is a city. Its centre is a portrait of greys and browns framed by the sky. I come from a village planted squarely in a sea of green. For me, Oxford is urban. The large proportion of Oxford students who come from cities such as London, and their praise for natural areas I do not see, made concrete in my mind the realisation that many people are alienated from nature in the UK. One of the greatest gifts you can give others is accessible nature. Most of my childhood holidays and weekends were spent walking through fields, forests and along rivers. And in many places of the world this is the experience of others as well. What distinguishes rural areas in the UK from many others in the world is simply this; we have never had to fight for our nature. Case in point; Dian Fossey was an activist and researcher in the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda, a lifetime campaigner for the study and care of the Mountain Gorilla, a contemporary of Goodall and Galdikas and an established author. She was found in December 1985 dead after being attacked in her cabin. The case was never solved and justice has never been served for her murder. The nearby Virunga National Park in the DROC, subject of the popular Netflix documentary, Virunga, remains a battleground between conservationist forces, poachers and oil companies.
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One of the things which stood out to me about Fossey’s life was the final words which she left behind: “When you realise the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future.” These words epitomise what it means to be a conservationist and an environmentalist. They ring true in 2017 as accurately as they hit home in 1985. Global Witness, an international NGO, has continued to track violence towards environmental campaigners. Its Deadly Environment report highlighted that, in 2012, three times as many environmental activists were killed as in 2002. They go on to state that “on average two people are killed every week defending their land, forests and waterways against the expansion of large-scale agriculture, dams, mining, logging and other threats.” Without strong national and international accountability, these attacks and murders will only continue to rise as environmental crises deepen. This is why I find the experience of conservationists and environmentalists within Great Britain to be one of privilege. Hopefully, I would never be shot for my opposition to fracking in the UK, but the same cannot be said worldwide. We must be careful as young environmentalists to avoid treating the green movement as homogenous worldwide. In the very nation we study in, our focus is divestment, transitioning the economy and promoting such things as sustainable diets. Whereas in other places, such as Virunga, the battle for the planet is fought daily with blood and tears.
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For those who are interested in this I would recommend reading the report by Global Witness; Deadly Environment. Yet, perhaps the greatest discussion of those dying and struggling for environmental protection remains The Eco Wars by David Day. A life changing book that lists the casualties of the environmentalist movement in the late 20th century. Whilst this violence is scary, what fills me with an even greater terror is the environmental future. Some of my fondest memories as a child were the walks along Malham Cove, a huge cliff formation in North Yorkshire. My brother and I would run along its top, scaring our parents half to death chasing each other next to an eighty-metre drop. We could see most of Yorkshire on a good clear day, though admittedly there were few of these. The Cove was formed from an ancient glacial waterfall but until recently no water had flown over its lip. Yet, due to increased rainfall and abnormal storm coverage in 2015, the waterfall poured again. Neither my dad or his parents ever remembered this happening before, it was both a natural wonder and a clear danger. For the first time in my life, I saw the direct effects of climate change, the beauty and power of radical change. It was my privilege that I had managed to avoid seeing this for so many years.
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For many of the people fighting to save the environment worldwide, climate change is an experience they are born into. My fear is that our children in the UK will be born into that world. I hope I will be the last to see Malham Waterfall return but I am sceptical. Generations to come may not just be protesting outside Westminster but fighting like Fossey and the guards of Virunga. If we do not use our privileged security to campaign for environmental protection today, we may not have it in the future. We must recognise the suffering of our fellow eco-activists and campaign for their protection, for their present may well be our future. If we are silent today, there may not be an opportunity to speak in the future.
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The thing I exclaimed whilst Raphael was running his first marathon OR Geography ~ Will Spence ~ I must’ve been about ten When I was first Introduced to The Water cycle. If only Those lessons Had been about a new invention Called “The Water Cycle” That allowed you to bike Across seas. Or rather A blade With which to harvest rain; With additional hammer A symbol For the USSR (The United States of Scythed Reservoirs). A water sickle. Or rather An attempt To use cannons Of droplets To purge Gangnam Style. A water Psy cull.
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Or rather A children’s playground Where a roundabout, Seating artists Who control the totality Of their work, Spins and spins. An auteur cycle.
Or rather Some raging battles In a Yorkshire place With the aim of Mentally preparing it For the struggle ahead. A war to psych Hull. Or rather The exclamation After glimpsing An unpleasant bunion, Pausing for a while, And then uttering your Intent to murder. “Wart!” Errs, “I KILL!” Instead Of this multitude of interesting things, I was taught About evaporation And clouds And seas And acid rain formation And how to fall asleep in class. Don’t get me wrong, These days I understand its importance. I promise you. I’m just proposing They rename it as “The bore-ter cyc-dull”.
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~ Lizzie Shelmerdine ~ With photos from: Gusev_Spirit, Kremlin.ru. Theresa May is taking advantage of Brexit to abandon the EU ban on bee-killing pesticides, despite petitions with half a million signatures imploring her not to. The chemicals, known as neonicotinoids, were banned in the EU in 2013 but have been approved for use in the UK under May’s government, with Michael Gove’s assistance as environment secretary. The danger posed to bees and other pollinators by these pesticides means their use puts the UK on course for causing a serious dearth of many of the world’s most vital flowers and crops.
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#D12 @2pm - Diary Entry - 12/12/15 ~ Alice Boyd ~ “On 12 December, thousands of ordinary people were in the streets of Paris to show that we will continue organizing for climate justice — no matter what heads of state decide.” - d12.paris Breakfast in the basement. Just us again!!! Little patisserie and fruit. Had a black coffee (I’m so adult). Walked to L’Arc de Triomphe (a good long walk) through Tuileries Garden (grit in my shoe! Lots of runners and female body builder statue), Place de la Concorde (brightly coloured wheel + more grit) and up the Champs-Élysées (big ol high street with oblivious people and McDonalds toilets…). The guns. Brutes of police fellas, riot shields, machine guns + stern looks… where are the activists? Mum scared. Act natural, let’s sit down for a coffee. Nice old couple, lady had lots of piercings and an old BBC accent. Talked to us about the training her and her partner had done - pepper spray, tear gas, and the likes, what to do when being battered by a police officer. But now the demonstration is legal - BUT STILL THE POLICE! D12 began! We get red flowers and there are so many people!!!! We find out there are thousands, over 10,000. Loads of people dressed in red. We hold this super long banner (Bill McKibben later posts a photo of it and I’m in the picture!!!). So much chanting and the band begins to play (drums, brass, wind, accordions, AMAZING) and we wave the banner up and down.
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The cyclists come through - so many! Mum tears up. We move down and see a couple of activists climbing up a tall bank tying red fabric to the top. They’re like monkeys! We walk down to the front of the demonstration and find these beautiful angels who hold the front. Then these huge inflatables are piled up making a big red line and they count down, weird warped jungle noises and ticking of clock coming from many portable speakers and megaphones, eerie, comes to zero and the inflatables are hit backwards and bounced along the thousands and thousands up this main road to the arc. It’s beautiful. Mum and I need to eat. We are feeling a bit weak and woww overwhelmed. We go to a bistro and have lunch. And have tea. We decide to walk towards the Eiffel Tower as lots of climate people there. We get there and it is SO BEAUTIFUL! The blue of the sky is starting to show through making this weird alien effect making the sky look crazy. The Eiffel Tower looks impossibly beautiful and we hear this shrieking chanting from a stage surrounded by many activists. We walk under the Eiffel Tower and walk around there for a while. I need a wee so we pop into a restaurant as all the public ones seem to be closed. The guy there doesn’t want me to go, but I sneak round. Mum tells me that if I ever work in such a place and someone really needs a wee, I should pay it forward. We walk over the bridge and up the stairs opposite. We see lots of statues that have been dressed in red and been given banners to hold. Incredible. I sing a lot.
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We then do an incredibly long walk back to the big wheel which is now lit up like a peacock’s bum. We are buzzing but both our legs and feet are achy so we get the metro for the rest to Gare du Nord What a lovely two days. I am so happy. I am now on the train and mum is napping beside me. I’m about to get started on our notes for Silent Spring, a book for geography. So much work but feeling energised again!
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The Next Refugee Crisis Is Just Around The Corner. We Need To Prepare For It. ~ Julian Godding ~ August 2016, I spent a few weeks working in the refugee camp in Calais known as ‘The Jungle’. The amount of policing, fencing and havoc at the normally quiet port would suggest there was a whole country’s worth of people in the camp. However, the population of the Jungle was only 10,000. But this article is not about these refugees, it is about the mass migration that is about to accelerate out of control due to climate change, expected to displace up to 200 million people by 2050 according to prominent British environmentalist Norman Myers. The comparatively minute number of refugees already causing political and social upheaval all over Europe highlight that these climate refugees are a serious issue that we must address. Climate and Policy According to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951, a refugee is narrowly defined as a person who; “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country” This definition does not give the protection of refugee status to those who must flee their homes due to natural disasters, destruction of wildlife, flooding and submersion of land or any other environmental cause that many would see as viable reasons for seeking asylum.
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These events cause millions of people to leave their homes every year, but, as it currently stands, they will find it extremely hard to resettle in another country due to their legal label as migrants. There is an enormous protection gap that is trapping a large amount of the world’s population in some of the worst environmental conditions we have ever seen. The first step should be to set up an international organisation to represent these people who are now shamefully isolated. Part of the reason the refugees in Europe have become such a humanitarian crisis is due to a lack of existing legislation relating to mass migrations. We should be vigilant and be prepared for climate refugees rather than turn to isolationism and xenophobia. Climate and Conflict It is notoriously difficult to accurately qualify people as climate refugees, but projections for mid-century refugees range from 25 million to as high as 1 billion. Looking specifically at direct causes such as natural disasters, in 2014 alone almost 20 million people were displaced including 542,000 from Bangladesh due to flooding. Further, many of the world’s most recent conflicts, and the refugees that come with them, have the effects of global warming as a contributing pressure leading to civil unrest. The widespread drought and food insecurity in Nigeria were major contributors to the socio-economic condition that led to the emergence of Boko Haram and the violent insurgency in the North-East of the country. Food insecurity and price volatility also helped to initiate the Arab-spring uprisings. For now, most migration that occurs in affected countries happens internally due to temporary causes and one-off events.
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However, as global warming starts to inflict more permanent damage we will start to see international refugee crises on a frightening scale. A greater appreciation and investigation into the link of climate change with socio-economics should be prioritised so that predictions can be made to help create a coherent strategy and help those most at risk.
Map showing countries most at risk from civil unrest arising from environmental changes Climate and Inequality Unfortunately, the countries affected most by global warming tend to be the most impoverished. Since addressing the internal instabilities of these countries seems to be of no concern to many major political powers, neither are the ecological ones that caused them. This is epitomised by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s statement at a climate conference in Indonesia “The issue of equity is crucial. Climate affects us all, but does not affect us all equally.�
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For islands in the Pacific and Caribbean, limiting global temperature increase to 2°C is not just an aim to avoid the most disastrous effects of climate change, it is the point at which they will cease to survive. Rising sea levels in the Maldives, which are just a few metres above sea-level, have been a primary concern for President Nasheed who said people in his country did not want to “trade a paradise for a climate refugee camp” to try and implore governments to act upon their emission targets. If sea levels rise 23 inches, the whole archipelago will rest beneath the sea forever. With 16 islands already abandoned, the Maldives have already bought land in Figi to prepare for the mass migration that unfortunately is most likely inevitable. The novel move to include smaller nations in climate talks proved extremely successful at COP21 in Paris for moving talks forward. Their role should be increased further. Political unrest, civil war and mass migration may not be what we usually associate with climate change but that is soon to change. So far, they are consequences that have been completely ignored in international climate conferences, with the agreement at COP21 not even mentioning the words “migrant” or “refugee”. Yet, we are potentially looking at refugee crises on a scale we have never seen before. Globalisation and climate change are the hidden cogs of disorder. They challenge the status quo and require much more in the way of dynamic policy than we see today. As we look to future global conferences, let’s hope to see the development of models to help understand the complex relationship of conflict, socio-economic conditions and climate; detailed plans on how to prepare those most at risk; and concrete policy recognising some of the most vulnerable in our society, all included on the agenda.
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What do golden sandy beaches, glistening sea ice, and a UK garden have in common? ~ Beth Thompson ~ When we think of species being threatened by climate change, our thoughts often drift to far off places. We think of polar bears roaming in the Arctic, or turtles basking on beaches in the Pacific; we very rarely think of places closer to home. But the reality is that climate change is having an effect globally, including here in the UK. These species are just a few who are at risk, either directly or indirectly, because of climate change and a variety of other factors (Wildlife Trust 2017; Kerr 2015; Fitzer 2014; Longergan 2007).
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) – studies carried out in North America and Northern Europe suggest that bumblebee species are not tracking their climatic habitat, as warming occurs; and as a result, their ranges are declining.
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Common Seal(Phoca vitulina) – evidence has been presented to suggest that there have been declines of up to 10% per year in the common seal population. The exact reasons for the decline could range from increased competition with grey seals for a limited food supply, to increased predation from killer whales, though climate change has not been ruled out.
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Six-spot Burnet Moth (Zygaena filipendulae) – relies on grassland and dune habitats which are sensitive to both environmental change and physical disturbances. Both of these habitats are declining in the UK countryside.
~ Lorenzo Vilona ~ Roses are red Greenhouse gasses are green Recycle your plastics And don’t be mean
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Wind Mill ~ Vincent Daunizeau ~
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Why haven’t we solved the climate change problem? ~ Shane Kelly ~ We’ve known about climate change for decades and some great minds have worked on tackling the problem. Cumulatively a lot of hard work has been done, so why are we still facing the same problem? Grint (2008), suggests that we have been looking at the problem in the wrong way, by trying to solve it like a puzzle with a single-line solution. But since climate change is a much more complex problem, traditional linear problem-solving techniques are inadequate. To have any chance of success, we must take into account a wealth of variables including socioeconomic factors and complicated chemistry. But, due to the great size of the problem, any solution can have impacts in unexpected ways. Levin et al. (2012) described climate change as a ‘super wicked problem’, categorised as having the following ‘wicked problem’ characteristics:
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1. No unique “correct” view of the problem; 2. Different views of the problem and contradictory solutions; 3. Most problems are connected to other problems; 4. Data are often uncertain or missing; 5. Multiple value conflicts; 6. Ideological and cultural constraints; 7. Political constraints; 8. Economic constraints; 9. Often a-logical or illogical or multi-valued thinking; 10.Numerous possible intervention points; 11.Consequences difficult to imagine; 12.Considerable uncertainty, ambiguity; 13.Great resistance to change; and, 14.Problem solver(s) out of contact with the problems and potential solutions.
(as described by Horn (2007)) Along with the following additional characteristics:
1. Time is running out. 2. No central authority. 3. Those seeking to solve the problem are also causing it. 4. Policies discount the future irrationally.
It is a problem faced by everyone as individuals and as groups (such as businesses and governments) and we are really only beginning the journey of tackling it. However, time is far from plentiful and the effects have already been devastating.
References: Grint K. (2008) Wicked Problems and Clumsy Solutions: the Role of Leadership. In: Clinical Leader I(II) Levin K., Cashore B., Bernstein S., Auld G.(2009) Playing it forward: Path dependency, progressive incrementalism, and the “Super Wicked� problem of global climate change Horn RE., Weber RP (2007); New Tools For Resolving Wicked Problems: Mess Mapping and Resolution Mapping Processes, Strategy Kinetics L.L.C.
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The little things matter – live positively ~ Jake Backus ~ En-vi-ron-ment is something, which sustains us every day. Our food, our clothes, the air we breathe, the goods for which we pay. The cost of our consumption, though, is more than pounds and pence, Our actions on the climate have a long term consequence Wildlife and diversity; sea levels could now rise, Too much rain or long term drought, a shortage of supplies. There’s lots to do, but don’t despair, it’s all within our grasp To change the way we do things and to do it very fast. The biggest killer in the world is not AIDS or cancer It’s apathy and ignorance for which there is an answer. So think today, what’s possible, for you to do your bit To change your life and educate –take personal leadership.
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Small things make a difference when ev’ryone lends a hand Six billion actions every day have impact on our land It isn’t dull and boring, ‘least it doesn’t have to be It’s best to face the future than to just hang on and see With inspiration, coolness, fun, we all now have a choice We vote with our behaviours and it’s this that is our voice. We have the power of veto, and with our vote comes power To business and the government, say, this is now the hour.
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Books at two degrees ~ Rupert Stuart-Smith ~ The Story of Stuff ~ Annie Leonard Heat: how to stop the planet burning ~ George Monbiot The Two-Mile Time Machine ~ Richard B. Alley Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World ~ Emma Marris The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History ~ Elizabeth Kolbert The Revenge of Gaia ~ James Lovelock Blood Oil ~ Leif Wenar The World We Made ~ Jonathon Porritt
Plays at two degrees ~ Alice Boyd ~ 2071 ~ Chris Rapley, Duncan Macmillan The Skriker ~ Caryl Churchill Lungs ~ Duncan Macmillan The Encounter ~ Simon McBurney, Complicite The Children ~ Lucy Kirkwood Earthquakes in London ~ Mike Bartlett
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Songs at two degrees ~ Julian Godding Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)~ Marvin Gaye Big Yellow Taxi ~ Joni Mitchell Mother Nature’s Son ~ The Beatles Apeman ~ The Kinks Last Great American Whale ~ Lou Reed An Endless Sky of Honey ~ Kate Bush When the Music’s Over ~ The Doors Don’t Go Near The Water ~ The Beach Boys On Melancholy Hill ~ Gorillaz Gimme Shelter ~ The Rolling Stones Apocalypse Dreams ~ Tame Impala Pink Moon ~ Nick Drake Journey in Satchidananda ~ Alice Coletrane, Pharoah Sanders When There Is No Sun ~ Sun Ra Raga Kausi Kanhara ~ Ravi Shankar Blackbird ~ The Beatles
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