Make a greener post-COVID world:

This is our chance

BY WILLIAM LYTLE-MCGHEE Climate Action Powell River

So how does climate change fit in to ‘build back better’?

It is centered on the fact that COVID-19 has shattered many parts of the established economic systems that sustain us. A lot of money is and will be spent on bringing those systems back to health. We have also been given the message that all of humanity can be existentially vulnerable under unexpected or even unaccepted circumstances. We need to listen to the science!

At the same time we hear ‘we need to get back to normal’ which can be translated into ‘business as usual’. In terms of climate change and its implications, that wasn’t and isn’t working in our favor, short or long term.

The thinking is, if we are going to dedicate a lot of resources to restoring our social support network, which is basically what an economy is, we need to allocate those resources to change that will mitigate and adapt to the climate problem as best we can at this late date, in order to minimize the damage.

So where are we now with the climate ‘problem’? Without a doubt it is a planetary dilemma. The atmosphere has no borders and flows and mixes indiscriminately. It, along with the oceans, is the ultimate common property of all life as we know it.

At present we are NOT on course to avoid the worst predictions. According to NOAA and NASA, the most prominent agencies monitoring the gas content of the atmosphere, we have exceeded and continue to exceed 400+ parts per million CO2.

"It is time we started acting seriously to deal with the climate situation as an emergency. Building back better is a guiding principle that may well help achieve that."

Antonio Gutierrez, Secretary General of the UN, recently announced a series of ‘demands’ to the countries of the world:

• Put a price on carbon.

• Phase out fossil fuel financing and end fossil fuel subsidies.

• Shift the tax burden from income to carbon, and from taxpayers to polluters.

• Integrate the goal of carbon neutrality into all economic and fiscal policies and decisions.

• Help those around the world who are already facing the dire impacts of climate change. The clear message is that all of us need to get a firm grip on our own carbon emissions, and manage our individual situations much as we manage our money. Efforts by governments and corporations can only achieve so much. Each of us now needs to make changes in order to minimize our personal emissions. Many communities, such as Powell River, have declared ‘climate emergencies’. It is time we started acting seriously to deal with the climate situation as an emergency. Building back better is a guiding principle that may well help achieve that.