Influence

This past Monday I participated in a conversation with a friend over a summary of Thomas Homer-Dixon’s thoughtful book, Commanding Hope. It was a good way to celebrate Earth Day and it was pleasing to hear that several participants were involved in local initiatives. We talked about the challenges of where to enter the climate conversation without becoming completely discouraged about the lack of inaction.

So it was worthwhile to stop by my local independent book store - it is their day tomorrow on April 27th by the way - and I try to patronize them when I can. It was good to find a book by Toronto’s former mayor, David Miller, who moved on to work with several major cities in the world and tell a positive story of what cities are doing. He reminds me of what a former colleague used to say about the arts. It’s important to act locally where the action is.

After all, these things are the local government responsibilities: planning and development, clean water, parks and recreation, housing, public transit and public health - and more. They affect our lives directly every single day. Miller also looks at how city concerns and responsibilities connect with the major environmental issues; official plans, energy and electricity, existing buildings and new ones, and management of waste. Miller provides lots of evidence of how cities worldwide are dealing with these matters in a positive way. Since these are places that most people in the world live, they matter. The book is called Solved and an earlier edition has just been reissued. It’s a worthwhile read.

I know my local city councilor through his excellent monthly newsletter and I have met him in person. He has my support. A friend remarked that another one never answers calls or responds to questions. There is a solution to that one. VOTE!

Recycling?

Living in a big building and looking out on five huge bins for pick on the street below, I’m well aware of how much stuff I and my fellow apartment dwellers are throwing out in god faith that it matters. Yale Climate Connections recently exposed a few myths:

• Just putting stuff in the recyling bin - even when following local guidelines - does not guarantee that recycling happens. Much of it still ends up in the garbage. To make it worse, the triangular symbol for recycling isn’t trademarked and anyone can use it.

• Recycling is not the best thing we can do. Three things that would be better are: not driving a car, not flying somewhere, and not eating red meat. It also wouldn’t hurt to vote for the party that cares the most about the environment. The last one here probably hurts the least and matters the most.

• Reduce, re-using and recycling are not equally beneficial. The first two are much more valuable.

• Not everyone can recycle - and some have bigger priorities - for example indigenous communities trying to keep oil rigs or coal plants off their land

• Education is weak about the impacts. There is very different experiences for those who have to live near land fill sites. We all need to be educated re greenwashing and call it when it happens.

Promises?

I’ve been away from writing here for some time since I am working on other projects. Nevertheless I feel compelled to share some things to watch at the coming COP28 Climate summit from an article in the Guardian. the Cop28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, is the CEO of the UAE’s state oil company, Adnoc. He contends that only someone in the fossil fuel industry can call the others to account.

He is also head of a renewables company. But here are some of the problems:

• Adnoc has a terrible record in reducing emissions. They have huge expansion plans.

• The United Arab Emirates also fail to report methane emissions for almost a decade.

• The industries spend their profits on new exploration. It is clear that new resources become much more challenging to find - and getting them out of the ground costs energy in the process. That means our costs will rise to help them stay in business.

• Renewables can’t come fast enough to save us, if they don’t change to renewables themselves.

So we can watch this rather bizarre scenario and see what happens!

Undiplomatic

António Guterres came to the job as Secretary of the United Nations after, among other things, serving as the Prime Minister of Portugal. Usually such leaders learn to be diplomatic. As Bill McKibben observes, he abandons when it comes to talking to fossil fuel providers on climate change. Here are some examples:

“We must end the merciless, relentless, senseless war on nature.” He adds

• We need disruption to end the destruction.

• No more baby steps.

• No more excuses.

• No more greenwashing.

• No more bottomless greed of the fossil fuel industry and its enablers.

• Your core product is our core problems.

Among his fellow straight talkers are Pope Francis Al Gore and McKibbon himself. But my local daily newspapers didn’t join them this weekend. There were marches all over the world, including Toronto asking for the end of fossil fuels. The morning news today contained nary a story nor a photo in print or on screen. Our own party leaders seem not to be undiplomatic - but silent. It’s small wonder that the young roll their eyes at us,

Report Card

The Parish Agreement 2015 was the best one to date on climate change. I still remember the enthusiasm of one person I know on his return from the COP Conference compared to previous ones he attended. There is a great story in the book, Not Too Late called “How the Ants Moved the Elephants in Paris”.

The Climate Vulnerable Form was formed in 2009 and composed of the countries who stand to lose the most from climate change. While rich countries wanted global warming limited to 2 degrees centigrade, in the long term, it meant that the vulnerable would still lose their right to food, health, shelter, and water. They asked for an increase of 1.5 degrees. Everyone would have to work on carbon reduction - and the largest countries would have to work better and faster. One hundred countries had supported them, but the recommendation hadn’t made it into the proposed final goal.

The CVF broke into action - having the Eiffel Tower light up with the the goal “1.5C” and a statement read into the record, which ended , “The parties which stand in the way of recommending a sound decision base on the information available will be remembered by the children of today for the failure of Paris, and we will shout it to the rooftops.” Eventually even Saudi Arabia chimed in and agreed.

It is now 2023 and heading into the next COP conference soon. The most recent report commends what has been done. We can take a minute to rejoice that the rise of greenhouse gases as slowed. In 2015, we were then on track for a rise of 4C degrees if we did nothing. Then we have to face that it is not enough. By 2100, we had reduced the pace to 3 degrees Celsius. Many countries have made promises - largely still on paper. If these are followed through, the predictions are a rise of 2-2.4C by 2100. That takes us back to the fears of the CVF as the real scenario.

The Climate Action Tracker has been created to measure our progress. SCroll down on the tracker to find out progress. Here are Canada’s for the year 2050:

• Our policies and action: Highly insufficient. We’re contributing to a future 4 dgree world

• Our target: almost sufficient for a 2 degree world

• Our target against taking our fair share - insufficient for a less than 3 degree world

• Financing climate change - Highly insufficent.

  Our overall score: Highly insufficient.

  Get angry if you like. But act. Elect people who support the right policies and get the right people on the bus. Keep the wrong people off it. This applies anywhere you have a say - with government, with corporations, in communities and community groups. We have voices. We need to raise them.