Climate change is real, but what do we do?

-      Robert McLean.

Climate change is happening, it’s real, it’s impacting on all species, among them humans, and most countries have signed up in recognition of what is an unfolding catastrophe.

The May issue of "Habitat" has
a thoughtful piece by former
ACF president, Ian Lowe.

There appears to be broad acceptance that human behaviour is responsible for the damage caused to the Earth’s atmosphere manifesting itself as changes in Earth’s weather patterns.

Yes, it seems there is a consensus that something needs to be done and that is where views and opinions really begin to diverge; that is where the rhetoric ignites; that is where you will find the essence of the controversy and complications of how we should respond to climate change; how serious it is; and how far we should to mitigate and adapt to the unfolding difficulty.

The idea of risk varies so much among people and while the lives of billions could easily be changed for the better, a smaller number, yet still in the billions and despite what many say, still resist those changes.

Most of the world’s nations were at Paris in December last year at the United Nations COP21 climate change conference, agreed that sweeping action was needed and earlier this year signed documents in New York to activate their commitments and reach their stated goals.

Many have lauded what happened in Paris and New York arguing that is was the first time the world communities stood as one in agreeing that global temperatures should not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Many have lauded what happened in Paris and then followed up in New York, seeing it as a first for the world community in its recognition of climate change and agreeing to particular positive and measurable steps to counteract the difficulty.

They have been particularly excited about the fact that the process will be subject to five yearly reviews and in a moral sense enforceable.

Some not so enthusiastic about the Paris/New York events point out that even if all the commitments are fulfilled then the world will see a temperature increase of nearly three degrees (2.7C) on pre-industrial levels.

A few things are clear – we need to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions to zero immediately (that won’t happen); we need to achieve negative emissions within just years, that is draw emissions down some way and store them (that won’t happen); we need to change our lifestyles to dramatically slow our fossil fuel energy use and resource consumption  (that won’t happen); rejig the world’s economy so the focus is on people rather than profit and growth (that won’t happen); create and build communities that are both resilient and ready to live in a world with a seriously disrupted climate system, but unless we see huge changes in governance that won’t happen.

Yes, there is a consensus that climate change is real and it is happening, but there is not a consensus about what the communities of the world should do about it.



Former ACF
president,
Ian Lowe.

Yes, an agreement that climate change is bringing new and unimaginable changes is a critical step, but that agreement will be for nought unless we can agree on what we do next.

Some argue that this is a process that cannot be rushed as we are dealing here with the wellbeing of the world community and some three decades ago that would have been a commendable view, but we no longer have time and we need to move quickly.

Writing in the May issue of “Habitat”, the former president of the Australian Conservation Foundation president, Ian Lowe, said:

“The first step on a journey toward grounded hope is to get real. We must face the fact head on and acknowledge what climate change means, then grieve for what we have already lost and grapple with what we will lose in the future. We must own our despair, not avert our eyes and let it numb us. Getting real is painful, but it is easier to bear when we share it with others.

“Luckily, the human capacity for hope, courage, determination and imagination is as renewable as the wind and sun.

“As we acknowledge the realities of climate change, we can start to think about our deepest values and work out what we care about most of all. We can create a powerful vision of what we want the future to look like,” he wrote.

Just as the Paris/New York decisions are embedded with a divisiveness, so is the idea that we agree “a powerful vision of what we want the future to look like” for while one sees growth and profit as the foundation upon which that vision rests, another can see only trouble.