This week Cat Turner, Secretary of IoM Friends of the Earth, takes note of how major figures in two world Governments (the US and the Isle of Man) are showing their commitments to combatting climate change.
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Something good – really good – happened last Tuesday.
President of the US Barack Obama spoke for nigh-on 40 minutes on his determination to combat climate change, even if that means annoying Congress, and he didn’t pull many punches.
In fact, ‘I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that’s beyond fixing’ is what he said.
This is a great step forward, for all that it’s (so far) only words. Words matter, intention matters, and of course, action needs to follow.
His words show that even in those entrenched spaces where the fiction of a climate change debate is still perpetuated, the story is moving on.
In a smaller way, on our smaller stage, something not dissimilar happened in May.
Two Council of Minister reports – one on renewable energy, the other on infrastructure and the environment – were put to (and accepted by) Tynwald. Both had the term ‘climate change’ writ large and often on them, in a clear and decisive way that hasn’t been seen before in such documents.
Obviously, the island has moved on from debating whether manmade climate change is happening, and/or matters. And obviously, where the island leads, the US follows!
I’m kidding, of course, but it does seem that at least one stage of the battle to bring about much-needed change – that of denial and prevarication – is nearing an end, the world over.
Obama’s speech was, in fact, a terrific one. He focused on this generation’s duty to the future, stressing our ‘moral obligation’ to today’s children and reminding listeners that ‘[y]our children’s children will have to live with the consequences of our decisions’.
Among the ambitious actions in his plan are:
– New rules constraining old and new power plants in the harmful emissions they can produce. This in itself is helpful on a planetary scale, as old, dirty plants make up 40 per cent of all US greenhouse gas emissions.
– Pledging that the Federal government will draw 20 per cent of its power from renewables by 2020, and setting brisk renewables targets on energy on public lands, and on federally subsidised housing (it’d be great to see such urgent and specific government targets implemented here!).
– Setting up loan guarantee arrangements for renewables projects.
– Improving all types of energy efficiency and upping fuel economy standards, especially for heavy vehicles.
– Importantly, ceasing US funding of overseas fossil fuel energy projects unless they include carbon capture technology. I hope investment managers, including those managing fund portfolios through the Isle of Man, are taking note, but decarbonising of investment portfolios isn’t yet being much discussed here.
On one key issue, that of the Keystone XL pipeline (another project big enough to have a global warming impact), he was less than definitive – but did say that it should only be approved if it ‘does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution”.
‘The pipeline’s effect on climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project will go forward,’ he said. This is exactly the sort of language we need to be hearing from our own ministers when deciding whether damaging and economically rickety energy sources such as fracking (see last week’s column) are being proposed.
Our contribution to the world’s ills may on the face of it be small, but that didn’t stop us being ahead of the game in preventing money laundering or terrorist funding – and it shouldn’t stop us from working to prevent global vandalism, either.
World environmental groups have, in the main, responded warmly to this landmark speech. Indeed the Climate Reality Project (of which I’m myself a member), went so far as to call it a ‘muscular plan’.
The Green Column applauds muscle, courage and vigour, properly applied!
The proposals were great reading not only climate-wise, but also in their potential for the US and world’s economy and wellbeing.
Obama didn’t just focus on mitigating carbon pollution – he also gave weight to adapting to changes that are already underway, with all the activity (and jobs) this entails.
He noted that superstorms, record heat, asthma rates and drought are already taking a toll – and the prolonged European winter, and subsequent flooding, are also a result of this warming, through the changes it’s bringing to deep ocean currents.
In 2012 alone, extreme weather caused the US$110 billion in damages – a fact not lost on some reinsurance vehicles whose cash flows are handled through the Isle of Man.
Everything connects, including our financial industry, and we plan poorly if we don’t take account of the twin spectres of excess and unmitigated portfolio carbon risk (the risk to investment portfolios managed by unresponsive investment managers) and weather wierding (insurance claims resulting from immediate or knock-on effects of more, and more extreme, weather events).
While it was a little galling to hear Mr Obama talking about ‘leading the world’ in combatting climate change, when the US has been shockingly slow to co-operate with international efforts to date, he was otherwise realistic.
‘The planet will continue slowly warming for some time,’ he said. ‘The seas will continue rising. It’s going to take some time for the climate to stabilise.’
But he had tough words for those who would deny that climate change is a problem.
‘I am willing to work with anybody to combat this threat on behalf of our kids. But I don’t have much patience for anybody who argues the problem is not real.
‘We don’t have time for a meeting of the Flat-Earth Society.
‘We may not live to see the full realisation of our actions, but we will have the satisfaction of realising the world we leave for our children will be better off for what we do.’