2 July 2005

The people must lead on climate

By Jacqui McCarney

All discussions on Climate Change have become very focussed on next week's G8 summit.

And by now, most people are fully awake and aware of the severity of the threat posed by climate change. The extensive media coverage has meant that only the eccentric, the mad or the very young can still be in ignorance of the imminent threat to our planet and way of life. The deniers are either wholly irrational, in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence, or very cynically protecting the oil industry.

A Guardian poll last month showed that 83% of us are worried enough to believe that Tony Blair needs to challenge George Bush on his refusal to help combat climate change, and 73% believe that consumers need to take action. Yet, only a committed minority 26% have made a substantial personal step to help counter the effects of climate change. Why the difference between aspiration and action?

Well we are waiting. We are waiting for leadership and to be told what to do. There are hopes from the G8, not just on the plight of Africa, but on the plight of the planet. Tony Blair, has made clear his determination, but before discussions even begin we learn that proposals on climate change have been watered down by the White House. The extreme US administration has objected to the statement "Our World is warming" and "in large part to human action", and thereby deny the basic science of climate change.

Politicians actually have the least power in this situation. They are too hampered by playing political games to be able to take the necessary action. So while they can be in no doubt of the seriousness of global warming, they are extremely anxious not to upset business interests and are under huge pressure from big business. For them, the immediate political risks are as terrifying as the imminent Armageddon of catastrophic climate change.

In the mean time, the planet burns, and despite endless talk of meeting targets, carbon emissions from the UK have actually increased in the last couple of years.

Locally too, we see little if any evidence of climate change been taken seriously. Lacking nerve to take decisive action, the local Councils are waiting for their queue from "the adults" in Whitehall. Meanwhile, it's business as usual. For example, County and district Councils, and the new Visit Norwich Ltd, are encouraging cheap flights, road building and massive development and expansion of our region, with little thought given to the effects on the environment. These local politicians, myopic, in their singular focus on business interests, are doing nothing real about mitigating climate change.

History has shown that when radical change is needed, it comes from the people themselves. It was ordinary people taking to the streets, demanding and campaigning, who led to the ending of slavery, the emancipation of women, the end of Apartheid in South Africa.

Where is the movement to save the planet? Like Make Poverty History, we need a global Save the Planet people movement.

But we must not wait for this, before taking action. When our children or our grandchildren ask, what did we do when there was still time it will be shameful to say we did nothing. We are all citizens of the earth and are individually responsible for climate change.

Here are five actions, we can all do:
  1. Switch off electrical appliances at the wall. Appliances on standby pump one million tons of carbon into the air per year.
  2. Buy local goods - foods flown in from all over the world create huge levels of emissions. Make sure imported food has come in by ship.
  3. Stop using plastic bags and return unnecessary packaging to the supermarkets. In Austria female shoppers changed legislation by dumping packages at supermarket check outs and forced supermarkets to operate a packaging take back service.
  4. Stop using cheap flights - the largest growing source of CO2 emissions. Cheap now, the real cost will be catastrophic.
  5. Use cars less - cycle or walk instead. Two thirds of all car journeys are less than two miles and could be easily covered by cycling or walking with huge health benefits. Change to a small car with low petrol consumption and share your car by offering lifts to others in your village or town.
What will come out of the G8 for the climate? We have been warned by the politicians not to expect much. The planet can not wait while the politicians dither. History is calling us to act now.