Joel Pett USA Today 2009
Expecting that world leaders will adopt meaningful strategies to halt climate change is wishful thinking.
In the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Madrid, Spain, the majority of delegates came from the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This group consists of 197 parties and 165 signatories and they are sourced from existing governments.
There in lies the problem.
With popularism on the rise, so comes nationalism and an: “It’s all about me” approach to world issues.
Take Donald Trump’s America First foreign policy as an example.
Politicians aren’t concerned about the future of the world, only their own future prospects at the next election.
As Todd Stern — the US Climate Change envoy has said:
“Climate change is not a conventional environmental issue … It implicates virtually every aspect of a state’s economy, so it makes countries nervous about growth and development. This is an economic issue every bit as it is an environmental one.”
A possible solution would be to take the power of these decisions away from the politicians and give it to the scientists. Both sides of parliament would, in a bipartisan election, vote for a group of eminent scholars. This would be the group that would devise the strategies and goals for our future wellbeing.
They would be unencumbered by political divisiveness and bring a rational, science based logic to the plan moving forward.
Obviously if this idealistic system was to work it would have to be adopted on a world wide basis.
I doubt that this could ever be achieved.
The other alternative is for people power to decide and that means that there needs to be more climate change activists and increased demonstrations – in other words revolution.
This may well work as has been seen by the reaction to seventeen year old Greta Thunberg’s growth of influence. She and her ‘School strike for climate change’ movement must be doing something right to have scared conservative world leaders and political commentators to the extent she has.
On December 12, 2019, Donald Trump, in reaction to Greta being named Time’s Person of the Year, tweeted:
“So ridiculous,” then followed up with, “Greta must work on her anger management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!”
So this so called world leader’s approach to climate change is to ridicule a teenager for having an opinion that differs from his.
Given the right incentive this people’s revolution could also extend to involving sport’s lovers.
On December 27th the ABC wrote:
“Extreme heat due to climate change could send cricket’s Boxing Day Test into extinction, researchers say.”
This article warned that if temperatures continue to rise, sporting events like the cricket would have to be greatly modified or even moved to another season.
There were crowds of over 200,000 at the Boxing Day test in Melbourne – they would not be pleased.
Then there are the other international public summer events like tennis, golf and the Grand Prix.
A sure way to put the average Australian offside is to threaten their sporting fixtures.
And there is the participation in summer sports by the Aussie sports lover. Just imagine the outcry if venues were to be shut down on days of extreme heat due to health risks. Tennis, basketball and netball courts closed while athletic fields, golf courses, cycle paths and even beaches would all be off limits on days when the air quality was poor.
It’s therefore no wonder that the authors of this particular article, the Australian Conservation Foundation, were encouraging Cricket Australia to take stronger climate change action.
I started to write this blog in December, before the full extent of the early bushfire season was evident. Since then, as the fires rage and spread from state to state, more news about the effects of climate inaction are hitting the headlines.
On January 9, 2020, news.com wrote this article:
“Australians believe there’s a climate emergency and want the country mobilised like it was during the wars.”
This introduced a research study, carried out by the Australia Institute, and done in November, 2019, before the bushfire crisis. It pointed out that almost two thirds of Australians want action on climate change.
Also on January 9, the ABC wrote:
“Australia suffers tourism blow from bushfires and air quality as US Department of State updates travel advisory.”
This was just a week after Tourism Australia launched a lavish television campaign, staring Kylie Minogue, aimed at getting more tourists to visit.
Then the next day, on January 10, the ABC’s TripleJ Hack wrote:
“Are we looking at the end of summer music festivals as we know them?”
This was as a result of four music festivals, Lost Paradise, Falls Festival, Day on the Green and Rainbow Serpent, either being cancelled or postponed due to bush fires or poor air quality.
Our government is even copping flack from overseas politicians, as seen in this Age article from January 10:
“British MPs attack Australia’s climate change efforts as bushfires rage.”
Australia’s emissions reduction targets were criticised as being inadequate and the Morrison government was urged to lift its game on climate change.
As British Labour’s spokesman for peace and disarmament, Fabian Hamilton, put it:
“Any group of individuals who can look at those figures and continue to deny that global warming and climate change are real issues are equivalent to those people who still insist that the world is flat.”
He went on:
“Yet, sadly, such individuals include the current President of the United States, Donald Trump; the current President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro; and – I say this with great regret, given what his country is currently experiencing – the current Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison.”
Even the European press is having a go at our government’s policies. This article in Deutsche Welle, the German state owned newspaper, wrote on January 10:
“The 2020 Climate Change Performance Index ranked Australia last out of the 57 countries for its climate policy, describing Morrison’s conservative government as a ‘regressive force’.”
Our politicians aren’t just being lambasted overseas but here in Australia. That’s if the latest opinion polls have any bearing on the matter.
This headline was in news.com.au on January 13:
“Scott Morrison suffers a brutal poll setback as another firefighter dies amid the Australian Bushfire crisis.”
The revolution has already started, with both the Liberal party and Scott Morrison taking a hit in the polls. And there is one thing that governments, on both sides of the floor, agree on and that’s public opinion.
Rupert Murdoch has suddenly found a conscience by pledging $5 million to the bushfire appeal. But whatever you do, don’t mention ‘climate change’.
And now his son, James, has come out and strongly criticised News Corp’s stance on the climate crisis denial.
The future of the world shouldn’t be decided by ‘Old Farts’ like me but the people that climate change will really effect – the next generation.
And if the effects of climate change play out, as they have so far this year, then that change will come sooner, rather than later – despite what the politicians think.
We must take the politics out of climate change.
Wednesday, January 15th, 2020Joel Pett USA Today 2009
Expecting that world leaders will adopt meaningful strategies to halt climate change is wishful thinking.
In the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Madrid, Spain, the majority of delegates came from the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This group consists of 197 parties and 165 signatories and they are sourced from existing governments.
There in lies the problem.
With popularism on the rise, so comes nationalism and an: “It’s all about me” approach to world issues.
Take Donald Trump’s America First foreign policy as an example.
Politicians aren’t concerned about the future of the world, only their own future prospects at the next election.
As Todd Stern — the US Climate Change envoy has said:
“Climate change is not a conventional environmental issue … It implicates virtually every aspect of a state’s economy, so it makes countries nervous about growth and development. This is an economic issue every bit as it is an environmental one.”
A possible solution would be to take the power of these decisions away from the politicians and give it to the scientists. Both sides of parliament would, in a bipartisan election, vote for a group of eminent scholars. This would be the group that would devise the strategies and goals for our future wellbeing.
They would be unencumbered by political divisiveness and bring a rational, science based logic to the plan moving forward.
Obviously if this idealistic system was to work it would have to be adopted on a world wide basis.
I doubt that this could ever be achieved.
The other alternative is for people power to decide and that means that there needs to be more climate change activists and increased demonstrations – in other words revolution.
This may well work as has been seen by the reaction to seventeen year old Greta Thunberg’s growth of influence. She and her ‘School strike for climate change’ movement must be doing something right to have scared conservative world leaders and political commentators to the extent she has.
On December 12, 2019, Donald Trump, in reaction to Greta being named Time’s Person of the Year, tweeted:
“So ridiculous,” then followed up with, “Greta must work on her anger management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!”
So this so called world leader’s approach to climate change is to ridicule a teenager for having an opinion that differs from his.
Given the right incentive this people’s revolution could also extend to involving sport’s lovers.
On December 27th the ABC wrote:
“Extreme heat due to climate change could send cricket’s Boxing Day Test into extinction, researchers say.”
This article warned that if temperatures continue to rise, sporting events like the cricket would have to be greatly modified or even moved to another season.
There were crowds of over 200,000 at the Boxing Day test in Melbourne – they would not be pleased.
Then there are the other international public summer events like tennis, golf and the Grand Prix.
A sure way to put the average Australian offside is to threaten their sporting fixtures.
And there is the participation in summer sports by the Aussie sports lover. Just imagine the outcry if venues were to be shut down on days of extreme heat due to health risks. Tennis, basketball and netball courts closed while athletic fields, golf courses, cycle paths and even beaches would all be off limits on days when the air quality was poor.
It’s therefore no wonder that the authors of this particular article, the Australian Conservation Foundation, were encouraging Cricket Australia to take stronger climate change action.
I started to write this blog in December, before the full extent of the early bushfire season was evident. Since then, as the fires rage and spread from state to state, more news about the effects of climate inaction are hitting the headlines.
On January 9, 2020, news.com wrote this article:
“Australians believe there’s a climate emergency and want the country mobilised like it was during the wars.”
This introduced a research study, carried out by the Australia Institute, and done in November, 2019, before the bushfire crisis. It pointed out that almost two thirds of Australians want action on climate change.
Also on January 9, the ABC wrote:
“Australia suffers tourism blow from bushfires and air quality as US Department of State updates travel advisory.”
This was just a week after Tourism Australia launched a lavish television campaign, staring Kylie Minogue, aimed at getting more tourists to visit.
Then the next day, on January 10, the ABC’s TripleJ Hack wrote:
“Are we looking at the end of summer music festivals as we know them?”
This was as a result of four music festivals, Lost Paradise, Falls Festival, Day on the Green and Rainbow Serpent, either being cancelled or postponed due to bush fires or poor air quality.
Our government is even copping flack from overseas politicians, as seen in this Age article from January 10:
“British MPs attack Australia’s climate change efforts as bushfires rage.”
Australia’s emissions reduction targets were criticised as being inadequate and the Morrison government was urged to lift its game on climate change.
As British Labour’s spokesman for peace and disarmament, Fabian Hamilton, put it:
“Any group of individuals who can look at those figures and continue to deny that global warming and climate change are real issues are equivalent to those people who still insist that the world is flat.”
He went on:
“Yet, sadly, such individuals include the current President of the United States, Donald Trump; the current President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro; and – I say this with great regret, given what his country is currently experiencing – the current Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison.”
Even the European press is having a go at our government’s policies. This article in Deutsche Welle, the German state owned newspaper, wrote on January 10:
“The 2020 Climate Change Performance Index ranked Australia last out of the 57 countries for its climate policy, describing Morrison’s conservative government as a ‘regressive force’.”
Our politicians aren’t just being lambasted overseas but here in Australia. That’s if the latest opinion polls have any bearing on the matter.
This headline was in news.com.au on January 13:
“Scott Morrison suffers a brutal poll setback as another firefighter dies amid the Australian Bushfire crisis.”
The revolution has already started, with both the Liberal party and Scott Morrison taking a hit in the polls. And there is one thing that governments, on both sides of the floor, agree on and that’s public opinion.
Rupert Murdoch has suddenly found a conscience by pledging $5 million to the bushfire appeal. But whatever you do, don’t mention ‘climate change’.
And now his son, James, has come out and strongly criticised News Corp’s stance on the climate crisis denial.
The future of the world shouldn’t be decided by ‘Old Farts’ like me but the people that climate change will really effect – the next generation.
And if the effects of climate change play out, as they have so far this year, then that change will come sooner, rather than later – despite what the politicians think.
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