While many concentrate on the elections on May 4 and the coronation on May 6, we, people and government, should not take our eyes off the climate issues which are, in a way, more important in the long run. If no big changes happen, now or in the near future, all of us will be seen as irresponsible by the generations to come. Greenpeace is calling out the chaos, calling for the plastic crises which kills ocean life and they demand climate justice.
Climate change has effected many, including Rye fishermen. They explain that Russia has extinguished vast peat bog fires. These are often the result of peat being extracted to fuel power stations which leaves the land dangerously dry. Greenpeace is taking the government to court for issuing new oil and gas licences. They also would like to create awareness that nearly seven million households are now living in fuel poverty in the UK and want to expose the links between fossil fuels and soaring energy bills.
Greenpeace suggests that there are a few simple solutions that can be immediately implemented with a £5.3 billion fund from government to insulate homes to make them more efficient; to commit £3.37 billion for heat pumps for the rest of their ruling time, to decarbonise heating systems; and rapidly invest in renewable energy with solar / offshore wind (cheaper than oil and gas). They believe that all this can be achieved through a proper, ambitious windfall tax on energy companies who are due to make in excess of £170 billion in profit in the next two years. One particular company over the last 50 years or so has created 10 times the carbon pollution of the Philippines because no one tells them to stop drilling.
In a ground-breaking project in 2019, Greenpeace scientists turned their attention to plastics in UK rivers. They collected and studied samples of thirteen major waterways and found dangerous plastic clogging the waters in all of them. It kills wildlife and poisons the land and the oceans, worsening the climate crises with 99% of plastics made from oil and gas. Banning plastic cutlery is not enough
It is time for everyone to consider climate issues now and act.(information from Connect 2023, greenpeace.org.uk)
Interesting documentaries: 2018 Climate Warriors, 2020 Kiss the Ground, BBC4 on IPlayer: Restoring the Earth (it was shown April 11).
For anyone interested, Greenpeace is expecting at least 1,000 people outside Houses of Parliament, between April 21 to 24, to send their message and welcomes anyone able to be there with them.
Image Credits: Heidi Foster , Chris Lawson .