I Ain't Bovvered

I'm Sorry, I Haven't Got The Time

In 2009 we were told that the bill for every year of delay to reach a global agreement on energy and climate change is $500bn, on top of the staggering total of $10.5 trillion of investment needed [1].  Three years on that means that the increased global costs are of the order of another $1.5 trillion.

More pressing, a study also from 2009 states that “the…policies the UK is putting in place to deal with climate change will not come near to achieving the 80% reduction target by 2050”[2].  But share this information with most people and they shrug their shoulders and carry on as normal.

 

There are big problems ahead of us which cannot be ignored.

The author and “futurologist” Guy Hammond talking with Oxford University sees “7 Keys to the Future” when it comes to addressing the planet's most critical issues, largely based in technology and government intervention. [3]

Challenge / Key Drivers	Solutions for the future
1.     Managing world population	Access to contraception
2.     Solving the chaos caused by climate change	World government agreement
3.     Solving the energy crisis	The natural world: the Sun, wind, tides, waves, hydro, geothermal, bioenergy
4.     Alleviation of poverty and the search for peace	Ethical globalisation
5.     World health and life expectancy	A revolution in medicine
6.     The speed of technology development	Machine intelligence and morality
7.     Giving the “bottom billion” hope	Massive aid

This list, whilst interesting, unfortuantely gives us an excuse to say that I, as an individual, am powerless to make any significant difference the world's problems

We need to make it personal.

Mention to people that we can expect our electricity bills to be inflated for the next 20 years (to pay for low-carbon power generation); or that we need 30 nuclear power stations, not the 10 recently announced (if we are to avoid plunging parts of the country into darkness), most people have a strong opinions.

This is a sign of hope: people have opinions about things they believe will affect them.  Engage at that level, and maybe we will find a way that individuals can make a difference.

[1] IEA chief economist, Mr Fatih Birol, quoted in The Times, 11/11/2009
[2] “Climate Change: Have We Lost the Battle”, I Mech E, 2009
[3] “7 Keys to the Future”, Guy Hammond at Oxford University, http://www.sciencelive.org/