As we helplessly and hopelessly observe the world becoming more politically polarised, here and in Israel, the US, Spain, India, and the only place that seems to have missed out on this polarisation is Orwellian China. Brutal wars are going on in Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, and Mali. The new cold war is the stand-off between democracies and the authoritarian cabal that include China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. We are also seeing the rise of religious nationalism, in many parts of the world including in the world’s most populous nation, Modi’s India.
We continue to strip the planet of its limited resources and use GDP in other words consumption, as the only measure of human flourishing. We live in an era where the value of labour is being eroded and capital is the new master of the universe. Income and wealth inequality is growing, not just nationally but globally. The International Monetary Fund in the 2022 World Inequality Report highlighted that 1% of the world’s population owns 38% of the world’s wealth while 50% owns a mere 2%. It is this 50% who have next to no healthcare, little access to education, whose mineral resources are being plundered and where the climate crisis is burning up valuable arable land and the molecule that preserves us H2O, is no longer universally available. Aquifers that took thousands of years to fill are being consumed by farmers particularly in the US at an alarming rate. What is on the way is a migration crisis on a scale that the Bible could not have envisaged. Governments are gaslighting the electorate about their commitment to net zero, particularly around the speed of transition from fossil fuels to renewables. This is obvious when the climate crisis does not appear on Rishi Sunak’s list of 5 pledges, otherwise known as politically populous BS. He further undermines his phoney commitment to the climate crisis by issuing 100 oil exploration licences in the North Sea, under the guise of energy security.
He has made the political calculus that stopping the boats, which he is failing to do, is a vote winner rather than engaging the nation in a Normandy Landing-like effort, not to save the world from fascism but to save us from ourselves. When I mean us, I mean the Western industrialised democracies who knew as far back as the 80s knew the link between the use of fossil fuels and a warming climate. The World Inequality Report also highlighted that just 10% of the world’s population accounted for almost 50% of the world’s carbon emissions but it will be almost 50% of the world’s population that will suffer the consequences of it. This simple bit of data puts the moral onus on the US, Europe, Canada, Australia and less so China and India to pick up the tab and keep warming below 1.5 degrees to prevent a “tipping point”. Take this on board, the International Energy Agency reported that an average American fridge uses more energy in a year than an individual living in the global south, some 3 billion people. At this stage we need to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, however, Antonio Guterres General Secretary recently said that “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator,”
The Secretary General’s comments can be seen in terms of the new normal, global temperatures hitting the mid-40s across the globe. The AR6 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Report makes for depressing reading. It takes a data and science-based approach, detailing the devastating consequences if we as a species fail to act to mitigate the effect of climate change. For example, the IPC Report highlights that if the planet’s temperatures rise by 3°C from the pre-industrial era, 1.3- 1.5 billion people will be exposed to drought water stress, and desertification, 29% loss of biodiversity, up to 90 days per annum with temperatures exceeding 35°C and a more than doubling in the burnt area across Mediterranean Europe and the US. All this will negatively impact food productivity and thus food security, inevitably leading to war and famine on an unimagined scale. Also, note that NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in an April 2022 report said they expect that the average global sea level will rise by more than 30 cm by 2050. The impact on countries like Bangladesh and other areas in the global south will be catastrophic. This does include the impact of global warming now, such as glacial retreat unmatched in 125000 years and summer Arctic ice coverage smaller than at any time in the last 1000 years. The challenge is that with every fraction of a degree change in temperature future risks escalate rapidly and intensify climate-related threats.
What is clear is that we as a species have the scientific knowledge, technological and financial resources to mitigate this crisis by keeping warming below 2°C. Key solutions have been identified by the IPCC report, none of which is rocket science; get fossil fuels out of the energy mix, rapidly upscale investment in renewables, decarbonise cement and plastics, shift to electric cars, decarbonise shipping and aviation, change our approach to mass global tourism by doing local and we must stop deforestation. Eat LESS meat, we kill around 70 billion, yes billion animals annually, creating 15% of global carbon emissions. In the US alone, each person eats on average, a staggering 126 Kg per annum. We must break our addiction to fast fashion which accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions more than aviation and shipping. Last but not least, we need to strike a new balance by changing our behaviour in respect of our relationship with the planet and each other. A simple contribution is to reduce our food waste which today represents a staggering 1/3 of the food we buy.
The investment required to save our home, estimates vary, 100’s of billions of dollars to 2030 and 4-6 trillion from 2030 to 2050. These are large numbers but when you put them in context to global GDP which is expected to be about $112.0 trillion, it represents around 5% of global GDP. Remember the world spent something close to $10 trillion during Covid and global spending on arms is $2.5 trillion annually. What is clear is that we have the technology and the resources to save our species, other species and the biodiversity that makes us unique in this solar system. The issue is, do we have the will, and do we see our lives through the eyes of future generations or as Frank Gaffikin described in his, masterful book The Human Paradox, intergenerational justice? We have people who fail or refuse to see the human impact on the world around us, an epoch called the Anthropocene. Yes, we still have flat earthers and those on the political right who believe that this is a conspiracy theory to stop the ascent of man and those on the religious right who are outright sceptical about the climate emergency or believe this is God working in mysterious ways, pretty dam mysterious. Let’s be clear on this issue, there will be no divine intervention or a Red Sea event.
We the people must challenge greenwashing governments and corporations by first getting our heads out of the “environmental catastrophism” doomism and denialism that is all around us. The media, governments, educational establishments, and institutions both local and transnational must make a greater effort to firstly, radically improve climate emergency awareness, which leads to better emotional engagement and finally to climate action. Remember governments only act when we have, a politically engaged and better-informed electorate, so stop moaning about Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion.
Let me finish with a quote, a question, and a bit of parental advice.
The quote,” You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today”. Abraham Lincoln
The question, Hindu scripture tells us we are in Kulyug, the end era, not Armageddon but a trajectory. Humans have regarded themselves as the “cognitive elite”. So, big the question is, will we as a species ever evolve to a level that allows us to collaborate and confront the greatest existential threat to humanity, the climate emergency?
The parental advice, “How many more Cops will you need before urgent action is taken? I cannot help, I know this is tough love and you are all members of my family, so please, start acting like one, NOW!!!” MUMMY EARTH.
Suneil Sharma
28th July 2023
The Gob 
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