Kicking the consumerism habit

Dear Sir

I agree with John Vidal (Opinion 14/1) that the solution to reducing waste is less consumption. I’m less sure it can be done easily.

As Vidal points out, a lot of the the stuff we buy we don’t actually need. I would add that a lot of the stuff we need could be shared. For example, every house in my residential neighbourhood has a lawnmower but each lawnmower will stand idle for most of its lifetime before being needlessly discarded for a newer model.

Yet consumerism is so embedded in our psyche we seem incapable of kicking the habit of buying stuff. We know it’s bad for the planet, we know it’s not really making us happy but we can’t help ourselves.

We need intervention from governments (local and national) to help us break our consumption habit. Support could be given indirectly through funding social enterprises, community groups etc as part of a shift to a sharing economy. Incentives could be also be offered directly through taxation and subsidies to make individual choices clearer. Personally, I like the idea of a Tat Tax on throwaway products that do do not satisfy sustainability standards and a net zero discount on products that help achieve greenhouse gas emission targets.

We also need a sustained public education programme on the risks of consumerism and the benefits of consuming less. Perhaps an image of the blackened lungs of a koala on the box of a lawnmower might encourage us to share with our neighbours instead of buying for ourselves.

However, the thing that makes breaking our habits and reshaping our way of life so difficult is our politicians lack of imagination and wit to offer an alternative and their lack of courage and conviction to dispense the medicine and tough love we all need to break free from the grip of consumerism.

As Hurricane Dorian weakens we need Schumpeter’s Gale to blow

Hurricane Dorian and the devastation it’s power wrought as the Category 5 storm ripped and tore a path through the low-lying Bahamian islands was another portent of a climate changed future. Scientific consensus is clear: higher sea temperatures caused by global heating increase the strength and intensity of tropical cyclones like Hurricane Dorian, the fiercest storm to hit The Bahamas.

News reports from the ravaged islands will prompt an outpouring of sympathy for the lives lost to the storm and those forever changed in it’s aftermath. Emergency funds will be raised and relief efforts rolled-out by posturing wealthier nations. However, just like a tropical cyclone, the news cycle will quickly move through and global attention will weaken.

One year on from Hurricane Maria, which obliterated the island of Puerto Rico in 2017, Amnesty International reported that 166,000 homes were still being being re-built or repaired and tens of thousands of families were still living under blue tarpaulins. This in a territory of the wealthiest nation in the world.

At the start of the 2019 hurricane season, little had changed for the stricken people of Puerto Rica who were still waiting for the help promised by the US Government during peak news to materialise. According to figures published by Oxfam America’s policy experts, as of 31 May 2019, virtually nothing of the $20 billion of federal assistance allocated to re-build homes had reached the island and at least 30,000 households were living in fear of the fury of another storm ripping through the Caribbean island still sheltered only by a flimsy waterproof cloth.

After a cursory glance of morbid curiosity, we too quickly avert our eyes allowing the system to grind on and business as usual to continue. We extract, we burn and we consume to feed our materialism in unsustainable ways at an unsustainable rate. The cycle of consumption designed to feed the system we are harnessed to also feeds the strengthening ferocity of the tropical cyclones that cost lives and decimate coastal communities in Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Americas.

People left struggling for survival in the wake of devastating storms powered from seas warmed by global heating caused by our cycle of consumption need more than token gestures of sympathy and hollow political pledges. They need action from individuals and governments by 2030 to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C.

Chucking another few quid on the credit card or re-allocating money from aid budgets won’t quieten the storms or alleviate the insecurity of those living in cyclone regions. Fundamental change is needed to our mindset and the economic system we live within.

Individually, we need to recognise the butterfly effect of our every day choices: simple actions in a complex system can have significant consequences elsewhere. Nipping to the supermarket in the car today brews the storm that decimates islands and devastates lives in the Caribbean tomorrow.

However, individual choices can only change if there is an alternative choice available. Individuals need politicians to collectively find the will to dismantle the system of short-term individual material and wealth accumulation we are programmed to follow and build in its place a system of stewardship designed for long-term sustainability of life on our planet.

A storm with the ferocity of the strongest and most intense tropical cyclone will rage, fuelled, like warming seas increasing the force of an Atlantic Hurricane, by the wealthy and influential beneficiaries of the current system. Politicians will only withstand the battering from the full force of the storm if they are sheltered by honesty about the problems we are causing today and a vision of a better tomorrow for us all.

Politicians need to make clear the need for urgent change and the change that urgently needs to made: energy efficient buildings must be built, gas heating systems need to be replaced, air travel must reduce, active travel needs to increase, farming practices must change, diets should be more plant based, less stuff must be consumed.

And they need to offer hope with a vision of a better tomorrow: new industries offering new jobs, new technologies needing new skills, different lifestyles improving health and well-being, different priorities leading to the re-vitalisation of forgotten communities, a stabilised climate offering communities, like those in The Bahamas, a secure habitat, threatened species thriving in biodiverse ecosystems.

In a hurricane, the eye is the region of mostly calm weather at the centre of the cyclone. The deep pressure in the small centre of the storm is surrounded by the eyewall, a devastating region of disaster with winds strong enough and rainfall intense enough to tear down, rip up and wash away everything in it’s path. The deeper the pressure in the eye the greater the fury in the eyewall.

Democracy is the eye of the storm for system change. We must each make personal consumption and political choices to deepen the pressure for change on political and business leaders. The pressure, if deep enough, will create the forces to blow down the structures of the current system and create the space for a new system of stewardship with sustainable goals at its heart to develop.

This process of destroying existing systems to allow economic renewal is not a new concept. Jospeh Schumpeter, an Austrian economist, described in 1942 the “gale of creative destruction” as the “process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionises the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one”. More recently, the idea has been used by social scientists to link creative destruction to sustainable development.

As Hurricane Dorian weakens in its path along the Eastern American seaboard it is time for Schumpeter’s Gale, with intense pressure created from our democratic choices, to blow strongly across the globe.

Rhythm is a Chancer Even for a Luddite Like Me

It’s good to be back.

Summer holiday activities (or in the case of my truculent eldest adolescent boy, summer holiday inactivity which excavated my emotional resources like a macro mining machine hollows out a Virginian mountain), preparations for the new football season and a quarterly VAT return on top of the usual day to day routine pushed concerns about the climate crisis to the corner of my mind.

I remained aware of news reporting on the effects of climate change being felt Pole to Pole and West to East. From summer wildfires raging in the Arctic circle to the changing characters of wind melting the West Antarctic ice sheet. From record temperature highs disrupting life in major European capitals to historic drought forcing villagers across Northern India to abandon their homes in search of water. From melting ice traumatising the daily life of residents in the Svalbard archipelago to rising sea levels threatening the existence of low-lying Pacific Islands.

Stories about the devastating effects of extreme weather events are constant and the explanation of their causes is consistent. The world’s leading scientists are insistent the torrent of extreme events is made more likely by human induced climate change. One news story cited research claiming the scientific consensus that humans are causing climate change is now more than 99%.

But climate concern is overwhelmed by the repeated patterns of daily routines, online algorithmic intrusions and twenty four hour news cycles. Twenty first century living has become a relentless rhythm of beeps and flashes generated by apps on mobile devices peddled as tools of freedom and convenience but actually designed to bind us to the game being played by business tycoons, media moguls and internet oligarchs.

I consider myself consumption conscious and technologically challenged yet even a tight-fisted, Luddite like me is swept along with the high tempo rhythms sequenced by the profiteers of the excessive, material lifestyle we are all bound to. Beeping notifications and flashing alerts are played at a tempo to keep us unwittingly tapping and swiping along to the rhythm of consumption orchestrated by those wielding their wealth to retain a tight grip on power.

Their methods remind me of the distractions and deceptions deployed by a skilful New York huckster who emptied my wallet of dollars on a late summer transatlantic trip to the Big Apple a number of years ago.

Coaxed to his funfair stall by fast talk and wise cracks whilst wandering through bustling Little Italy, I was artfully manipulated to spend a fistful of dollars throwing darts to win prizes I didn’t want. The trick was to get the darts in my hand. Once the first throw had been made I was unwittingly bound to the huckster’s game. The fast talk kept flowing, the darts kept coming, I kept throwing and the cost kept increasing until, I think, even an Italian New York wise guy took pity on my naivety and wound up the game. Twenty minutes later, as I sat flummoxed on a New York sidewalk staring despondently at a wallet emptied of dollar bills, my mind still swirled from the interaction with a master manipulator. The cuddly toy I clutched offered no consolation.

Now much older I should be much wiser to the type of age old tricks used to set the trap I fell into on a New York street all those years ago but I feel I’m allowing myself to be fleeced again by the distractions and deceptions of master manipulators. This time on a more serious and frightening scale.

The devices in my hand keep the beeps and flashes coming and I find myself inextricably caught up in the manipulators’ material game. As temperatures soared, wilderness burned and glaciers melted, I was more occupied over the summer by holiday club logistics, pre-season preparations and window cleaning VAT receipts than taking action on climate change and more troubled by the adolescent shaped dent forming in my recently refurbished sofa than the reconfiguration of polar ice caps.

This time though I am a victim of master manipulation on a global scale. We all keep throwing darts but, unlike the Little Italian stall holder, the hucksters in charge of the global game of wealth accumulation are not taking pity and winding up their game. The tycoons, moguls, oligarchs and politicians are instead upping the stakes to protect their interests. We need to see through their distractions and deceptions to break the binds and play another game with new objectives: the well-being of people, the creation of community and the sustainability of the planet.

Unless we do, the cost to my boys and their generation will be far greater than the sixty bucks I threw away in New York. We are throwing away their future.

July was hottest month ever

July 2019 will equal and possibly surpass the hottest month ever recorded according to temperature data gathered by the World Meteorological Organisation and Copernicus Climate Challenge.

“July has re-written climate history, with dozens of new temperature records at local, national and global level,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

A series of record high temperatures across Northern Europe caused disruption to transport and infrastructure and stress on people’s health and the environment.

Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom saw new national temperature records on 25 July, as weather maps were redrawn to include – for the first time – temperatures of above 40°C. Paris recorded its hottest day on record, with a temperature of 42.6 °C at 16:32, an unprecedented value since the beginning of measurements.

As the heat dome spread northwards through Scandinavia, it accelerated the already above average rate of ice melt in Greenland, in the Arctic and on European glaciers.

“Unprecedented wildfires raged in the Arctic for the second consecutive month, devastating once pristine forests which used to absorb carbon dioxide and instead turning them into fiery sources of greenhouse gases,” said Mr Talaas.

“This is not science fiction. It is the reality of climate change. It is happening now and it will worsen in the future without urgent climate action,” he prophesied.

This follows the hottest June ever recorded and is even more significant because the previous hottest month recorded in July 2016 occurred during a strong El Niño phenomenon, which contributes to higher global temperatures.

Unlike 2016, El Niño is not a factor in the record heat events experienced during the summer of 2019.

Johannes Cullmann, Director of WMO’s Climate and Water Department warned: “Such intense and widespread heatwaves carry the signature of man-made climate change.”

Cullmann added: “ This is consistent with the scientific finding showing evidence of more frequent, drawn out and intense heat events as greenhouse gas concentrations lead to a rise in global temperatures.”

In its Fifth Assessment Report, released in 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that “it is very likely that human influence has contributed to the observed global scale changes in the frequency and intensity of daily temperature extremes since the mid-20th century. It is likely that human influence has more than doubled the probability of occurrence of heat waves in some locations.”

Since the IPCC released its the Fifth Assessment Report, Earth has experienced its five warmest years on record from 2015-2019. The four warmest years on record were in the past four years and the heat trend continues unabated so far in 2019: the months January to May were the third warmest such period on record, June 2019 was the hottest June ever recorded and July is the hottest month ever recorded.

WMO will submit a five year report on the state of the climate 2015-2019 to the UN Climate Action Summit in September. The visible and increasing urgency of climate action will be in focus at the crucial summit convened by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

“If we do not take action on climate change now, these extreme weather events are just the tip of the iceberg. And, indeed, the iceberg is also rapidly melting,” Mr Guterres said when announcing the latest temperature data.

“Preventing irreversible climate disruption is the race of our lives, and for our lives. It is a race that we can and must win,” he underlined.

Climate change has been given a big head start and the finishing line is not too distant in the future. The Climate Action Summit in September must galvanise a concerted global effort from us all to speed up change and give ourselves a chance of catching up the climate crisis.

An Appeal to all Leaders of Scottish Political Parties

To all Leaders of Scottish Political Parties

I am a dad desperately worried for the future of my two adolescent boys. I am writing to you all beseeching you to form a cross party coalition against climate change.

The heat has been turned up on climate change this summer, literally and metaphorically.

Summer temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere are reaching unprecedented levels: the European Heatwave resulted in the hottest June ever recorded, alert levels were again raised across Northern Europe last week as temperatures soared above 40C, the UK recorded its highest ever temperature on 25th July, in the same month Canadian meteorologists reported the temperature in Alert (the planet’s most northerly human settlement) reached 21C, more than 100 Arctic wildfires are burning uncontrollably (the fires emitted more CO2 emissions in June than Sweden does in a year according to WMO).

Scotland is protected from the worst effects of increased temperatures by its northerly latitude. The largest impacts will not be felt directly in our country but shock waves will inevitably radiate to Scotland from catastrophic global consequence of climate change.

There is evidence that temperatures in densely populated areas of the Global South are reaching the limits of human endurance. In the worst case scenario, deadly heat will drive mass migrations of billions. In a flight for survival, the concept of borders and nations will become obsolete.

The prospect of billions of people being displaced from their homes should put into perspective the constitutional battles of Brexit and Scottish Independence consuming so much political attention. Scotland agrees politicians have got their priorities wrong. 71% of Scots polled in a recent survey agreed climate change is more important than Brexit. 60% also said not enough was being done to prioritise climate change.

Rapidly shifting public opinion is not the only driver for courageous action on climate change: Prominent business leaders are calling for chief executives to drive a move to a low-carbon economy, scientific consensus that humans are causing global heating has passed 99%, climate emergencies have been declared by Scottish and UK governments and the Scottish Parliament has agreed a target to reduce emissions to net zero by 2045.

The forces for transformation to a net zero economy are lined up. You have the opportunity now to set in motion the actions urgently needed to place Scotland on a trajectory to net zero emissions by 2045 at the latest.

I am appealing to you to launch a cross-party coalition which places action on climate change above the politics of the electoral cycle.

The purpose of the coalition would be to foster a collective national effort to enable the actions and changes in behaviour needed for Scotland to fulfil its obligation to tackle climate change.
The coalition would signal a shift in mindset by making a joint declaration promising a collaborative, collective political response to the climate challenge.
The declaration would commit political parties to a climate coalition until the net zero target is reached.
The coalition would set out a vision of Scotland as a net zero economy and lay out a programme of measures to achieve emissions targets – a low carbon ‘green-print’ if you like.
The coalition would collectively promote the net zero vision to galvanise a national response to the climate crisis and reinforce the changes in behaviour needed to achieve the net zero target.
The coalition would enable efficient execution of the ‘green-print’ by expediting political decision making and responding quickly to new opportunities and threats.
The coalition would take collective responsibility for climate change action by regularly reviewing and transparently reporting progress towards the net zero target.
The coalition would form alliances with similar sized nations to share ideas and learning and extend global influence

I have no political experience. I have no climate change expertise. I am simply a dad fearful of the future for my boys. I am making the lifestyle changes I can. There is little more I can do than wish for those with political influence and climate change solutions to somehow find a way to net zero in time.

My wish for a collective political response may be idealistic. My idea for a climate coalition may be ridiculous. My hope that you will hear my heartfelt appeal may be naive. For the sake of my boys, I felt I had to try.

The heat is being turned up. I would appreciate your thoughts on how a collective national effort could be galvanised to keep temperature increases close to 1.5c and safeguard the future for my boys.

Yours Faithfully

Dad Against Climate Change

Holding out for a hero

Deference to authority is twined in my psyche like ivy wrapped round a tree trunk.

How it implanted itself and how it grew to colour my perspective on life is open to conjecture: perhaps it stems from the abrupt change to the rhythm of family life imposed by my domineering dad when he returned home from his long sea voyages, perhaps the seeds of deference were sown by mum’s fear of authority figures and threats of police action for misbehaviour, perhaps it is a primal instinct to fit into a group hierarchical structure or perhaps an innate preference of a quiet person happier for others to take the limelight of leadership.

However it took root and entangled itself, it led me, until later in life, to believe in the ability and trust in the motives of those in power. I assumed those elected to represent us achieved their status through demonstrating incisive intellectual ability and strong leadership qualities. I assumed, although I may not always have agreed with the decisions made, those in positions of power governed with integrity.

In middle age, I now blush at my naivety.

The geopolitics of the Iraq war undermined my blind faith in political leadership. Since then my misplaced trust in politicians has been ripped down by a catalogue of selfish, weak and short sighted actions:

2007 – undemocratic transition of power to an unelected leader

2008 – protection of ‘business as usual’ following worst financial crash since the Depression

2009 – UK parliamentary expenses scandal

2010 – trading principle for power in a coalition government

2011 – ideological imposition of austerity

2015 – political cowardice promising an EU referendum

2016 – dishonesty and illegality dominating EU referendum campaigning

2017 – ineptitude of Brexit negotiations

2019 – transition of power to an undemocratically elected leader

This timeline defines an era of political egocentrism dominated by personal ambition and hubris in which ideology and party were prioritised above sustaining societal well-being and safeguarding future generations. Man-made climate change, the most serious issue faced by humanity, has received little attention whilst politicians play their petty power games.

Despite my distaste for their antics, I have to hope politicians can rise above personal ambition and party politics to provide the vision, imagination and inspiration needed to lead the nation through the climate emergency to a sustainable future.

Despite their negligent response so far, I have to believe leaders who can muster a collective effort in the battle against climate change will emerge from this discredited crop of political duds to safeguard a future for my boys.

It is a daunting responsibility to place on the shoulders of a group of people I belatedly realise are no cleverer, no wiser and just as fallible as the rest of us. This realisation is disquieting for somebody like me who seeks authority figures to respect.

For my peace of mind, I need leaders in whom I can place my faith. I am desperately holding out for a hero to rise Phoenix like from the ashes of a scorched political landscape to energise a national endeavour which will save the planet for my boys.

I need a caped climate crusader. Instead I have been given a bumbling Brexit buffoon.

Must do better

Handing over a school report to my parents never caused me anxiety. My test results, with the exception of Art (drawing a straight line was difficult for me) and Music (I could never hit a note), were above average and I was generally considered “pleasant and conscientious” by those writing my report.

So, I never experienced the feeling of dread I imagine would accompany the trudge home from school with the additional burden of a poor report weighing heavily on my mind. Only the most defiant school kid would not feel shame at handing over a report of under achievement containing a list of failing grades and a litany of constructively worded criticisms urging them to do better.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) handed out its report card to the UK Government this week and Ministers, like errant teenagers receiving an underwhelming report of under achievement from their exasperated teachers, must have buried it at the bottom of their red boxes hoping nobody would ask to see it.

The CCC’s two 2019 progress reports to Parliament on Reducing Emissions and Preparing for Climate Change contain very little for the government to be proud of.

“UK action to curb greenhouse gas emissions is lagging far behind what is needed, even to meet previous, less stringent, emissions targets.” chastised the CCC in the progress report before listing the woeful failures of the UK Government in tackling climate change:

Current policies and plans are insufficient to meet carbon budgets covering 2023-2027 and 2028-2032.
The government has delivered just 1 policy action out of 25 recommended by the Committee in 2018.
Just 7 out of 24 indicators showing underlying progress were on track in 2018

The report from Baroness Brown of Cambridge, Chair of the CCC’s Adaptation Committee, was equally scathing: “The UK is not ready for the impacts of climate change, even at the minimum expected level of global warming.”

Only a handful of sectors have plans that consider a minimum of 2°C.
12 of 33 sectors have no plans for long-term climate change at all.
None of the 33 priority areas score well in reducing vulnerability and exposure to climate risk.

Chair of the CCC Lord Debden said like a disapproving school master to an immature school child: “It’s time for the Government to show it takes its responsibilities seriously.”

Many years later, with the benefit of maturity, I realise I coasted through my high school years. I was able enough and respectful enough to keep life easy for myself, teachers and parents. The bar was set too low and I was happy to clear it without having to stretch myself. I now look at those reports with a tinge of regret and a feeling of missed opportunity. I know I could have done more.

Despite my lack of academic ambition I like to think, even as an immature teenager, I would feel enough embarrassment from a shockingly substandard report to pull my socks up, get my head down and work my backside off to regain my self respect.

The CCC 2019 progress reports to Parliament offer a little positive feedback on the “well-intentioned ambition“ to provide the UK Government with an acorn of self respect from which its response to climate change can grow.

“The UK is the first major economy to set a net-zero emissions target and intends to host the world’s leaders at next year’s landmark climate conference (COP26). These are historic steps forward and position the UK at the forefront of the global low-carbon transition, “ said Lord Debden in a more avuncular school master tone.

The compassion of those assessing the UK Government’s performance in the area of climate change in 2018 extends to providing guidance to a government clearly struggling to come to terms with the emissions targets it has been set.

General recommendations are made to put in place a national strategic plan and embed net-zero policies that provide clear and stable direction across all levels and departments of government.

More pointed advice is given to the new Prime Minister: “ The new Prime Minister will need to lead the UK’s zero-carbon transition from day one, working closely with First Ministers in Wales and Scotland and in Northern Ireland, once appointed.”

The government’s card has been marked. It has been told very clearly by Lord Debden it has a lot of work to do over the next 18 months to catch up: “Reducing emissions to net zero by 2050, requires real action by Government now.”

My acceptance of academic mediocrity was significant only to me. The consequences for my boys’ generation of the UK governments failure on climate change are unthinkable. I hope the government and the new Prime Minister feel enough embarrassment from the CCC’s 2019 report to Parliament to heed the warnings and advice given and resolve to act now.

Our card is also marked by the CCC in it’s 2019 report: “Over half of the emissions cuts required to reach net zero require people to do things differently.” We should each make an honest appraisal of how we are doing and set our bar higher. Begin by writing to your MP asking them to make sure the government starts handing its climate change work in on time.

Transition from Business as Usual to Climate Emergency has begun

Sirens did not sound and rescue services did not heroically leap into action after Nicola Sturgeon used her address to the Scottish Nationalist Party conference on April 28th to declare a climate emergency. However, the First Minister’s words signalled an important change in priorities.

The declaration came after escalating protests by young people made clear the increasing public concern about the catastrophic consequences of climate change.

“A few weeks ago, I met some of the young climate change campaigners who’ve gone on strike from school to raise awareness of their cause,” said Sturgeon in her speech to Conference.

“They want governments around the world to declare a climate emergency. They say that’s what the science tells us. And they are right.

“So today, as first minister of Scotland, I am declaring that there is a climate emergency. And Scotland will live up to our responsibility to tackle it.”

The declaration preempted recommendations on long range emissions targets from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), the independent advisory body on climate change to UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments.

The CCC published a report, Net Zero – The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming, four days after a national emergency was declared in Scotland.

In their report, the CCC recommended that the Scottish government should set a net-zero date of 2045. This means within the next 25 years any greenhouse gases put into the air from everyday activity like heating homes, travelling and producing food must be taken back out from things like planting more trees or using technology to capture carbon from the air.

The report concluded net zero is only possible if clear, stable and well-designed policies to reduce emissions further are introduced across the economy without delay.

The Scottish Government responded to the CCC’s advice by announcing a small but significant change to tax policy on flying.

The SNP committed in their 2016 Holyrood election manifesto to replace the existing UK Air Passenger Duty with an Air Departure Tax (ADT) for Scotland. The pledge included a commitment to halve the tax on flights from Scottish Airports before abolishing it completely.

The controversial tax plan had already encountered legal issues and the UK Government and Scottish Government agreed that introduction of ADT will be deferred beyond April 2020.

Derek McKay, Scotland’s Finance Secretary, remains committed to taking on the tax raising power but the UK Government will maintain the application of Air Passenger Duty until a solution is found to an issue with tax exemptions for the Highland and Islands.

Advice from the CCC and Nicola Sturgeon’s declaration of a climate emergency forced another significant shift in policy from the Scottish Government.

McKay confirmed after publication of the CCC report: “Following the updated advice from the UK Committee on Climate Change – and the new 2045 target for net-zero emissions proposed as a result – we have taken the difficult decision that reducing ADT is no longer compatible with Scotland’s new emissions reduction targets.”

Business leaders accused the Scottish government of “an alarming U-turn on their promise to abolish Air Departure Tax.”

Liz Cameron OBE, Director & Chief Executive, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, condemned the change in policy: “This decision will do nothing to reduce emissions. Instead, it will cut Scotland off at the knees in terms of connectivity and a competitive playing field.”

The Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport also criticised the announcement, warning the U-turn would harm the country and could lead to airlines reducing the number of flights.

Gordon Dewar told The Scottish Sun: “This decision jeopardises our standing in the world, our international outlook, jobs and investment.

A report commissioned by Edinburgh Airport in 2016 forecast a cut in APD could result in an additional 4.6 million passengers by 2021, creating 10,000 jobs in the tourism sector and adding £300m in value to the Scottish economy.

Economic benefits from flying, however, come at an expensive environmental cost.

Aircraft emit a range of greenhouse gases directly into higher levels of the atmosphere which scientists believe increase their effects on climate change. Growth in air traffic has increased emissions from flying by 70% since 2005. Scientists predict continuing high growth could mean aviation accounts for 15% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The CCC advises emissions from aviation can no longer be ignored.

Climate campaigners welcomed the news that the planned tax reduction would be scrapped.

“This change of heart is excellent news. When you are in a Climate Emergency the first thing you should do is stop all the things that will make the situation worse.” commented Friends of the Earth Scotland Director Dr. Richard Dixon.

“Cancelling the ADT cut demonstrates that declaring a Climate Emergency is a serious commitment, more than just words.”

Sirens did not sound and emergency service workers did not heroically leap into action but, by scrapping a planned reduction in tax, the Scottish government has begun the necessary transition from business as usual to climate emergency.

No news is not good news in a climate crisis

In a climate change catch up, I take look at the bad news, good news and no news is not good news items that caught my attention over the last week.

In the bad news, Big business as usual continued apace with Heathrow Airport making its case as the saviour of future economic prosperity in the UK . Heathrow’s “preferred master plan” looks beyond the construction of a third runway in 2026 to an airport nirvana in 2050; an international connectivity hub with capacity for 130 million passengers and 740,000 flight movements per year. The disaster plan, sorry, “masterplan” is endorsed on the Heathrow expansion plan website by a former director of the UK’s chief ‘business as usual’ lobby group. “A new runway at Heathrow is really fantastic news,” said Paul Dreschler, former president of the CBI. Forget the climate science, with an endorsement like that the Heathrow expansion plan has my full support.

The extra planes needed to fill the increased capacity at Heathrow’s air passenger paradise were ordered at the Paris Air Show which took place this week in…err..Paris. It was a busy week of sales in the French capital. The key players in the industry announced contracts and promises worth $75 billion. ‘Business as Usual’ may have netted a few individuals sky high commissions but at the future cost to us all of sky high emissions. ‘Business as Usual’ may have hit a few executives’ annual sales targets but it puts future net zero targets at risk for us all.

Those closing the deals at the Air Show probably missed the latest bad news from climate scientists. Research published in the journal Science Advances revealed melting of the Himalayan Glacier has doubled since the turn of the century. The study shows that only global heating caused by human activities can explain the ice loss. Scientists leading the research predict dire consequences for the 1 billion people living downstream from the Himalaya mountains in South Asia. “It looks devastating and there is no doubt in my mind, not a single grain of doubt, that [the impact of the climate crisis] is what we are seeing,” said Prof Joerg-Shaeffer from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth observatory.

In another sign of the accelerating climate crisis, a scientific expedition discovered permafrost at outposts in the Canadian Arctic is melting 70 years before predicted. “What we saw was amazing,” Vladimir Romanovsky, a professor of geophysics at Alaska Fairbanks university, told Reuters. “It’s an indication that the climate is now warmer than at any time in the last 5,000 or more years.”

I wonder what Paul Drechsler, former director of the CBI thinks of the news from the Himalayas and Canadian Arctic.

In good news, Britain is set to achieve a historic electricity generation milestone this year, with more electricity generated from zero carbon sources than fossil fuels.

According to National Grid, owners of the electricity transmission network in England and Wales, annual power generation data from the last decade shows, for the first time, Britain’s reliance on cleaner energy sources (wind, solar, nuclear, hydro power and storage) will overtake fossil fuels (coal and gas fired power generation). The revolution in clean electricity generation has seen the reliance on energy sourced from fossil fuels fall from 75% in 2009 to 46% this year. In May, Britain clocked up its first coal free fortnight and generated record levels of solar power for two consecutive days, powering more than a quarter of the country’s daily electricity consumption.

John Pettigrew, CEO of National Grid, said: “The incredible progress that Britain has made in the past ten years means we can now say 2019 will be the year net zero power beats fossil fuel fired generation for the first time. Having reached this landmark tipping point, the question is what are we doing today to get to net zero as quickly as possible?”

Good question John.

Teachers provide one of the answers in another sign of the growing consciousness of climate change. According to the findings of a poll commissioned by Oxfam from YouGov, teachers want their pupils to learn more about the climate crisis and are calling for environmental training so they can prepare children for a rapidly changing world. 70% of teachers polled agreed radical change was needed to make the education system “fit for the times we live in” and called for environmental training to help them educate students on the subject.

Another poll found public concern about climate change is at an all-time high. New research found that “climate anxiety” is exacerbated by a perceived lack of urgency around addressing the problem and the impact this will have on future generations. Nearly seven out of ten (69 per cent) of Brits who are concerned about climate change said it was because they believe it’s not being addressed urgently enough.

The research also identified a demand for clearer information on what action is being taken to reduce emissions. Nearly three in five (56 per cent) Brits worried about climate change stated that more information from government and businesses about what action is being taken would help address their concerns, and almost half (49 per cent) would like regular reporting on Britain’s progress in tackling climate change.

It seems the old adage ‘No news is good news’ has, like coal, had its day. In a climate crisis, no news is not good news.

Government announcements this week on the climate crisis did not offer any news on real action being taken to reduce emissions.

MPs in the UK Parliament announced plans to hold a Citizens’ Assembly on combatting climate change and achieving the pathway to net zero carbon emissions. Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark welcomes the Citizens’ Assembly: “Ending our contribution to climate change can be the defining decision of our generation in fulfilling our responsibility to the next, but it will require the effort of a generation to deliver it.”

The sense of urgency amongst our MPs to begin this “effort of a generation” is palpable….they announced the Assembly is likely to begin in the Autumn. It’ll give them a chance to enjoy their summer holidays first, perhaps flying from Heathrow to a location in the sun.

The announcement from Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, was even more underwhelming. Sturgeon’s big announcement was there would be an announcement. The First Minister, speaking ahead of the World Forum on Climate Change held in Glasgow this week, revealed plans to give people, businesses, industry and the public sector across Scotland the chance to be part of a “Big Climate Conversation” would be launched next week.

The Citizens Assembly and the “Big Climate Conversation” are both designed to give members of the public the opportunity to learn about and discuss a topic before reaching conclusions that would be used to inform political debate and Government policy making. These are welcome but it’s real news on actual policies that people need to reduce climate anxiety.

No news was reported this week that I could see on action being taken by government to reduce emissions and help address the concerns of climate anxiety. In a climate crisis, no news is not good news and bad news is very bad news…despite what Paul Drechsler, former director of the CBI might say.

BBC guilty of climate delay

“These schoolchildren have grasped something that seems to elude many of their elders: we are in a race for our lives, and we are losing. The window of opportunity is closing; we no longer have the luxury of time, and climate delay is almost as dangerous as climate denial,” said Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, in March after tens of thousands of young people had again taken to the streets to protest at inaction on climate change.

The words came to mind as I watched ‘Our Prime Minister’, the debate between candidates for the Conservative party leader and, by default, our next Prime Minister aired by the BBC on Tuesday night.

Politicians are in the cross hairs of young climate protesters but last night the BBC showed they are also failing to respond to the dramatic climate challenge.

The production team were culpable for not allowing any meaningful challenge on our next Prime Minister’s climate change credentials. The programme was top heavy on Brexit with half of the debate taken up recycling the same tired rhetoric about leaving the European Union. The biggest issue humanity has ever faced was positioned way down the programme’s running order. The question on climate change was the second to last and was given less than five minutes air time.

To compare this editorial decision to another high profile show, scheduling the question so late and leaving so little time for discussion ranked imminent climate and ecological breakdown the same as a dull, meaningless draw on BBC’s flagship Saturday football show, Match of the Day. With time running out we were never going to get anything else but climate change platitudes from the Prime Minister wannabes.

Like the politicians they are supposed to hold to account, BBC journalists are fixated on Brexit whilst the planet hurtles towards climate and ecological breakdown. I trust the Beeb above any other UK broadcaster but last night, by reducing climate change to a bit-part in the Brexit drama, they showed they too are culpable of climate delay.