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| Humpback Whales (Photo credits Christopher Michel) |
The IPPC recommends that every country halves its greenhouse gas emissions by the end of this decade if we are to stop global warming getting out of control. It's true that our government needs to do much more, much more quickly to make this possible. We have to hope that by voting wisely and letting the government know how important we think this is the next government we have in the UK will make reducing greenhouse gases and making the infrastructure of British society more sustainable their top priority.
Time to Consider
As responsible citizens we can all play our part and it's vital that we try to halve our own emissions over the next 6 years. This is why I'm using this blog to suggest as many ways as possible for us to reduce our own emissions.
Over the last few days I've looked at
If you're doing all or any of these things already, that's really great. Keep up the good work and don't be shy about talking about why you do these things and how you benefit.
If all this is new to you don't feel overwhelmed. Take your time and choose ideas which fit your lifestyle, your personality and your budget. Take it one step at a time and don't think it has to be all or nothing. Every little helps, as they say.
They also say we have to Act Now! Today is the best time to start out on our journey to reducing our carbon footprint (the amount of greenhouse gases our choices help to produce) and increasing our carbon handprint.
Carbon Handprint is an idea to help people realise that no contribution is too small. Anybody can make a difference to the environment, and the world will be a better place if we all try to do our bit.
Time to Act
If you can start to change one area of your life every month that would be ideal. However, I know that sometimes we need to take things more slowly, so go at a pace that suits you. If you feel like making one change a month that's great, especially when they're small changes. Making too many bigger changes at once could lead to burnout or feeling overwhelmed so don't overdo things. Six years isn't long, but one change every month in that time will be 72 changes by the end of the decade. Pace yourself to win the race.
Time for Government to Act
In some ways six years isn't very long to turn things round, though. Governments have known the transition to renewable energy was necessary for a good 30 years. It's now extremely urgent that we get to 50% renewable energy for everything in the next 6 years. To achieve a 50% reduction in GHG emissions no-one can open any new sources of fossil fuels, whether coal, oil or gas. The failure to do so will put an increasing number of human and non human lives at risk with each passing decade and is highly likely to end human civilisation, perhaps by the end of this century.
Time to Protect Nature
Protecting nature is an important part of fighting global warming. Halving our GHG emissions by 2030 also means a 50% reduction in everything that results in less CO2 being absorbed from the atmosphere. So we can't keep destroying forests and cutting down mature trees, killing any more peat bogs, destroying healthy grassland or wetland, damaging the delicate ecosystems on the ocean floor or endangering the balance of life in our oceans. If we keep doing these things more CO2 will end up in the atmosphere and global warming will get worse.
Did you know that whales store a lot of carbon in their large bodies? They also have a large influence on the ecosystems around them. As a result they play an important part in determining the temperature of the planet. We need more whales, so it's important that they should be protected everywhere.
Time to Find Allies
So we have to choose who we vote for very carefully, whether for local government councillors or for our Members of Parliament. Sometimes it's hard to know which politicians will help our country achieve the goal of reducing GHG emissions by 50% in the next six years.
If we also find ways to influence all these people when they make decisions that will shape our future that would help a lot too. We could attend council meetings to find out what's being discussed and to ask pertinent questions if we are given the opportunity. We could try to begin a correspondence with local councillors or our MP. Signing petitions can influence government decisions sometimes. Some people join peaceful protests. These can also influence decisions sometimes, but we've seen in recent years that politicians don't always listen to protests. The risk of being imprisoned for protesting peacefully has also become greater in the UK recently.
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