The largest ever climate report is a waste of time
On Monday the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) unveiled their landmark report: AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. The report outlines the most up to date insight into understanding the physical aspects of the climate system and, most importantly, the impact climate change is having on our world.
There are some brutal truths outlined in uncharacteristically, for scientific research, brutal honesty. The report offers unequivocal proof that we, as a species, have heated the planet to the point where there is not one region now not affected by warming, flooding, burning or drought.
The report compels governments, businesses and citizens alike to take immediate action to, quite literally, save our planet. Immediate action? Have we not heard this before? I seem to remember a plethora of organisations urging immediate action to the betterment of the planet at legislative and consumer levels for years. So, how is it we are still in this appalling mess?
It’s simple, it’s also going to be hard to hear. The reason we are in this mess is the same as the reason we have not got out of it yet; you. You and me and your partner, your parents, friends and, of course, Boris. Ok, maybe that last one was a bit much.
My point remains, however. We are the problem but, crucially, we are the only solution. The IPCC and UN as well as other important groups within this topic are pleading with governments to act, change their ways and invest in decarbonising. Despite this, they don’t. ‘But Why, Tom?’ I hear you ask. Well, to answer this we must look at the role of a government.
The role of a government, in actual fact, is not to reform health care, end child hunger or reduce the budget deficit. No, the real role of a government is to get itself re-elected. A government has a rigorous job interview every four years where you and everyone on your street plays the role of an Alan Sugar-esque judge, jury and, potential, executioner.
Governments aim to please, they do this so as when we are faced with the delightful choice of two major parties in the ballot booth we choose theirs.
If we all begin to heed the warnings of the IPCC report and decarbonise ourselves the governments focus groups and PR guru’s (though thankfully not Dominic Cummings) will see this as a topically popular thing to do and so, to win our favour, they will start to prioritise decarbonisation too.
So, how can you decarbonise right now?
Perform a life and home audit, are there any areas you could quite easily make ‘greener’? Energy for your home currently coming from a gas station? Boiler still running on oil or gas? Insulation not up to scratch? Still putting coal on your fire? Pension being invested in deforestation or fossil fuel production?
These can all be rectified within a matter of minutes.
Doing so will not only mean you are saving the planet but also begin to turn governments heads in the right direction. It will also mean that the years of incredible research shown in the report were not waste of time, that they were the catalyst to a better future.