For every positive’ story, there is of course a negative’ downside –so we will get that out of the way first! The current debate onclimate change has seriously under-estimated the problem facing us as aplanet. Greenhouse gases have been altering the climate for agreat many years, and the effects of those prior emissions have stillto work their way through the system into their final’ form.Even if we are able to curtail our current rate of greenhouse gasemissions (the current strategy proposed by Kyoto), the amount ofgreenhouse gas concentration actually already in the system will stillmean that the temperature of our planet increases. However,inherent in the so-called Global Warming’ are feedback loops which canbe triggered and which would then lead to effects independent of anyefforts to curtail carbon dioxide emissions — in fact it is likely thatcurrent strategies could lead to runaway global heating, rendering ourplanet uninhabitable (for further information on feedback loops see:www.meridian.org.uk — article on Feedback Crisis in Climate Change’and article on Global Warning’ both accessible from the home page).

The positive side of this is, of course, that it is becomingincreasingly impossible for politicians, and indeed the general public,to ignore this looming catastrophe. Today we recognise that thosein possession of the most accurate information share the greatestresponsibility for ensuring its most effective application. So itis now imperative to recognise that there now exists a state of globalemergency in which we should declare that excessive greenhouse gasesare an eco-toxin with potentially catastrophic impact on the globalbiosphere. We must now develop an emergency strategy to move ourglobal society towards a zero or negative carbon economy within theshortest possible time-scale and develop the most effectiveinstitutional instruments to manage the transition.

Politicians do not lead’ in democracies. They follow courses ofaction that are socially sanctioned by their people. We thereforehave the most tremendous opportunity to influence ourdecision-makers. Lobbying plays its part, but the most effectiveintervention we can make is to take responsibility for change in ourown lifestyle. We need a groundswell of people acting with theirfriends and neighbours to lead by example, reforming energy use, wasteproduction etc. — in short moving from the consumer society to theconserver society. Lifestyle change must be matched with changein values, in beliefs, and in those deep unconscious drivers of theenough is not enough’ syndrome. Local neighbourhood action –people working together in replicating small cells and clusters — hasthe power to change our society amazingly fast. Fast enough, infact, to be able to reach critical mass in time to avert the worsteffects of the global emergency’.

Now is the time for all people to come to the aid of the planet.
The future of the world is now in our hands.

www​.meridian​.org​.uk