climate crisis – Page 14

Counting on ….day 137

31st March 2022

This May, 5th, London’s local councils will be up for re-election. It is important that our local councillors know which things actually matter to us. The London Cycling Campaign has created an email letter to send to candidates asking them to prioritise various cycling matters that will create greener and pleasanter neighbourhoods. Richmond Council is already instigating many of these proposals but there is always scope for more if councillors feel it is something g we really want.

https://action.lcc.org.uk/climate-safe-streets

Counting on ….day 136

30th March 2022

The following Early Day Motion has been put forward by our local MP, Sarah Olney.

“That this House maintains an unwavering commitment to achieving net zero targets; acknowledges the urgent need to tackle high carbon emissions produced by homes across the UK; recognises the need for a comprehensive Government scheme to incentivise retrofitting to improve energy efficiency of homes and buildings; pledges that any future additional investment in energy production is directed to renewable sources of energy; extends the phasing out of Russian energy supply imports to include natural gas; and commits to making the transition away from Russian oil and gas a green one.”

Thank you Sarah!

Counting on ….day 131

23rd March 2022

Cars might seem essential for picking up shopping, delivering goods, or transporting children, but in reality there are many alternatives. Cargo bikes can just as easily fit the bill. Our local authority of Richmond upon Thames, has a hire scheme so residents can make use of cargo bikes for a minimal outlay – indeed the first two hours are free. https://www.richmond.gov.uk/news/march_2022/new_cargo_bike_hire_scheme

If we are going to achieve net zero carbon and save ourselves and the whole planet from a complete climate catastrophe, we need to make real changes to the way we live our lives. Schemes like this make it that but easier.

Counting on …day 130

22nd March 2022

The days are getting longer and milder – a good time to get back to cycling if you have had a winter break or to take it up as a new venture. Cycling is good for us mentally and physically as well as being far better for the environment than using a car. There are many sorts of cycles including specially adapted ones for people with particular disabilities, as well as e-assist cycles for those with less strength.

Counting on ….day 129

21st March 2022

As global temperatures rise it is probable that fruit trees and other plants will blossom earlier than previously. A research project is underway to collect date and plot exactly what is happening. Members of the public – citizen scientists! – are invited to contribute by recording when they see different fruit trees blossom in the local area. Results can be logged in at

http://www.fruitwatch.org/

If we are to adapt to the climate change that is already taking place we need this sort of information.

FruitWatch: Monitoring Fruit Tree Flowering Dates

The Green Tau: issue 37

17th March 2022

Natural Wealth

We usually think of wealth in terms of money. Maybe we have an image of a vault full of coins and precious jewels like that of Harry Potter’s at Gringotts Bank. Today I want to focus on natural wealth by which I mean the stock of natural resources that the earth provides for us. These natural resources range from water, air and soil, plants and animals, to rocks and minerals. The World Bank describes these things as being ‘natural capital’ which points to their use as means of generating something more. This is not an inappropriate concept. It fits with the repeated phrase used in Genesis chapter 1, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’. In creating the world, God was creating a thing that would grow and reproduce, diversify and abound, prosper and flourish.

What the two terms, natural wealth and natural capital, may point to is that natural resources can be misused diminishing wealth and productivity. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Soil

Soil is a natural resource to be found in all parts of the world. It should be valued as a key part of the world’s natural wealth. Soil enables plants to grow. Without plants we would starve and so too would all other creatures. Without plants, our atmosphere would suffer: carbon dioxide would cease to be absorbed and oxygen produced. Soil absorbs water preventing flash floods. Soil is home to wealth of biodiversity – moles, worms, ants, mites, fungus, bacteria etc. it is the nesting place for puffins and shearwaters, for rabbits and foxes.

Soil was not created ready formed. Soil is the result of the erosion of rocks creating small mineral particles; the decaying of plant and animal remains; the addition by water of further chemicals; and the digging, mixing, tilling action of creatures as diverse as ants and worms, birds and badgers. When soil is being newly formed such as on lava outcrops or newly exposed rock surfaces, or where shores have been exposed, pioneer species of plants will begin the soil making process, to be replaced overtime by other plants, insects and animals as the soil’s fertility increases.

However the wealth of the soil can be lost. If it looses its protective plant covering, it can be blown or washed away. If its goodness is used to grow successive generations of plants without that goodness being replaced, it becomes a non-fertile dust. If is infused with poisons (pesticides, herbicides etc) the biodiversity within the soil will lost and with it the ability of the soil to process and absorb decaying plant and animal material that gives the soil its fertility. If it is overridden by heavy equipment, its structure is crushed, spaces for air and water are lost and with it, the soil’s ability to support life forms. Across the world, as self destructive as it may seem, humans misuse the soil: deforestation; monoculture; use of increasingly large and heavy farm equipment; use of insecticides, herbicides and overuse of artificial fertilisers; destruction of the infrastructure for biodiversity (hedgerows, verges, copses); over grazing etc. All these contribute to the destruction of the soil.

All soil, cultivated or not, needs to be protected. Where it is cultivated it needs to be carefully tended and fed, and its structure and maintained.

Forests

Forests are another key part of the natural wealth of the planet. Forests stabilise and protect soils. They are home to a great variety of different plants (more than just trees!), animals, birds, insects and many other living things. They provide humans with timber for building (homes, railway tracks, bridges etc), for furniture, tools boxes. Timber for making paper and card, for making fabrics (eg viscose). Fruit, nuts and saps for food, as well as saps that are used to make rubber and resins. Many forest plants have medicinal uses. Forests provide shade which can be used to protect vulnerable crops (eg shade grown coffee). Tree cover can protect the soil for either drying out or being washed away, and sylvan farming techniques utilise this value of forests. Forests slow the flow of water so reducing the risks or scale of flooding. Forests absorb carbon and contribute considerably counterbalancing the excesses of carbon dioxide generated by human lifestyles.

And yet the wealth of our forests is being diminished.

‘Forests cover 31 percent of the global land area – 4.06 billion hectares… Between 2015 and 2020, the rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares per year, down from 16 million hectares per year in the 1990s. Agricultural expansion continues to be the main driver of deforestation and forest degradation and the associated loss of forest biodiversity… Large-scale commercial agriculture (primarily cattle ranching and cultivation of soya bean and oil palm) accounted for 40 percent of tropical deforestation between 2000 and 2010, and local subsistence agriculture for another 33 percent.’ https://www.fao.org/state-of-forests/en/

Oil

Oil, like coal and gas, is a substance formed over many millennia in very precise circumstances that coincided hundreds of millennia ago. It is a highly adaptable material that can be used not just as an energy source, but also to make products as diverse as lipstick and fertilisers, and of course, plastic. Plastic has proved a very useful material being cheap, light, non perishable, highly mouldable etc. However oil was formed by locking away carbon deposits over hundreds of thousands of year but which we are now released into the atmosphere in just three centuries. This rate of release is far more greater than the ability of the atmosphere to safely contain it. Oil has become the biggest human pollutant. Oil extraction, through oil leaks etc is also a cause of localised pollution. And in addition we are now aware of the polluting effects of the plastics we have produced – micro particles of plastic have been found in all parts of the planet as well as in animals, fish, birds and human beings. Oil whilst appearing to offer many benefits, has and continues to damage the earth.

Unlike soils, which can be rescued and regenerated, and forests that can be replanted and restored, oil – and other minerals that we extract from the earth – is a non renewable resource. For those those things for which oil-based products are beneficial, we should make every effort to recycle and reuse all that we do have.

Natural wealth is a gift from God, a gift of creation. We should not squander or degrade it. Rather we should cherish and nurture it. This should determine how we use that wealth, how we care for the soils and the forests, how we use – or rather don’t use oil -and how we recycle and reuse plastic items.

Whilst the level of care given to our natural wealth may vary between nations (and this could be for any number of reasons such as economic policies, poverty, heritage), the distribution of natural wealth across the planet is independent of national boundaries and its distribution could be viewed as inequitable. Some countries have large areas of fertile soil conducive to growing wheat, corn or rice. Others have soils and climates conducive to the growth of forests. Some countries have large reserves of minerals such as iron ore, lithium and gold. Some countries have large reserves of fossil fuels. Some have tides, rivers and reservoirs suitable for producing hydro electricity, or climates suitable for wind and solar power. More recently we have realised that some countries have reserves of natural wealth that excel as carbon sinks: forests, peat bogs, mangroves, kelp forests. What we have not perhaps resolved is how we share this global wealth fairly – other than through economic markets – or how we share the responsibility of caring for this wealth, and ensuring that we pass it on us diminished to future generations.

Whilst wealth and money are not, per se, the same thing, putting a monetary value on natural wealth helps countries and people to recognise the value of natural wealth and to shape their actions accordingly. The World Bank has been working on an Ecosystem Accounting framework that allows countries to assess the services contributed by natural wealth and give them a monetary value. By having a standardised system countries can calculate how the natural wealth contributes to their GDP. “This is a huge step towards seeing nature as an economic asset that needs to be managed and preserved to ensure sustainable growth. For example, the Government of Cambodia asked the World Bank to provide the economic rationale behind preserving 65% of the country’s forests as protected land. While some benefits were obvious, it did not have the economic analysis to fully justify such a wide-ranging decision. Using ecosystem accounting, the World Bank team supported the Government of Cambodia in quantifying a suite of services that forests offer – water, agriculture and hydropower, ecotourism and carbon storage – for the Pursat River Basin in the Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia. The analysis revealed that economic gains from preserving the forests was five times higher than cutting them down for charcoal production or agriculture. It also found that the benefits to other economic sectors derived from forest ecosystems are 20 times higher than the cost of maintaining them”. https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/giant-leap-towards-measuring-natures-contributions-economy

The British Government, too, is developing the use of ecosystem accounting. ‘The Office for National Statistics estimate that England’s woods and forests deliver a value of services estimated at £2.3 billion annually. Of this figure, only a small proportion – 10% – is in timber values. The rest of the value derives from other more ‘hidden’ benefits to society, such as human recreation and air pollution removal, which improve health, and carbon sequestration which can help combat climate change’. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/natural-capital-tool-launched-to-help-protect-the-environment If followed through, this should ensure that we – as a nation, as a society, as landowners and as business enterprises – do actually value and safeguard our forests and woodlands.

As individuals we can speak out for and protect our world’s natural wealth –

Be an ethical consumer
Be an ethical investor whether that is with direct investments or via investments made on your behalf by your pension fund provider, insurers, bank etc.
Support nature conservation schemes, nature friendly farming research, alternative energy etc
Be a campaigner, make your voice heard
Visit and enjoy local nature reserves and green or blue spaces.

Visit https://greentau.org/2022/02/24/eco-tips/ for more tips on being a sustainable consumer.

Counting on …. Day 119

11th March 2022

The crisis in Ukraine has highlighted our dependency on oil and gas, whilst at the same time the IPCC is again highlighting the urgent need to rapidly reduce our carbon emissions. This is the time to cut back on our use of fuel for heating homes and water, and for driving cars. We can also contribute by cutting back on flights and imported goods, rather aiming to shop locally.

Green Tau: issue 36

8th March 2022

Suddenly the war in Ukraine is revealing anew our (in the UK and across the world) dependency in gas and oil and our lack of self reliance in the supply of energy. This week the IPCC issued its most recent support on the world’s position vis a vis the climate crisis and things are not looking good. We are as individuals, companies and governments are not reducing our carbon emissions at anything like the rate needed to safeguard a comfortable future, nor are we doing enough to adapt to those dangers of climate change that are already locked in by our current lifestyles. Surly this is the time to be urgently and radically addressing our production and consumption of carbon emitting energy.

The Need for Fossil Fuel Divestment

Oil and coal both began their existence about 300 million years ago as dead plant materials or marine life. When conditions allowed for anaerobic decay, the first stage of formation began. Later after another 200 millions of years of compression by overlying layers of debris, and exposure to high temperature found at geological depths, the decaying material slowly formed either seams of coal, or reservoirs of oil and/or gas.

The earliest records of coal being mined and burnt date back to about 200BCE when it was being traded in China as a fuel. In the UK coal was mined and used by the Romans to heat water for their baths as well as for smelting metal. In the mediaeval period the burning of coal in London was prohibited because of the issues of pollution. It was in the 1700s that the demand for coal rapidly increased as part of the industrial revolution – and has continued to increase across the world. Peak coal production probably occurred in 2013, when 8 billion tonnes was demanded. Since then global demand has been declining but that is not to gainsay that in some countries demand for coal is still rising.

The use of oil in the form of asphalt and pitch has been in use for at least 4000 years whilst the refining of crude oil to create, initially, lubricating oil, dates back to 1848. Since then the processing of oil has led to the creation of all sorts of materials – plastics, paints, fabrics, lipstick and nail varnish, weed killers and fertilisers – as well as its use a fuel for heating and for powering all manner of vehicles. Demand for oil has been even greater than that for coal. Peak oil is widely considered to be imminent but as the date can only be seen in hindsight, its actual date is not yet clear. World oil production was 88.4 million barrels a day in 2020 and 99.5 in 2019.

Coal, oil and gas are major emitters of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are the root cause of the climate crisis. To contain the adverse affects of the crisis, these emissions need to be reduced to a net zero level by 2050. The International Energy Agency produced in 2021 a report – Net Zero by 2050: a Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector – outlining the means by which such a target can be achieved. These include an end, as of 2021, to any further investment in new fossil fuel projects, no further sales of new internal combustion engine cars after 2035, and a net zero emissions global electricity sector by 2040. By 2050 fossil fuel use would be solely in goods where the carbon produced can be embodied, such as recyclable plastics, and in a limited number of areas where carbon emissions can be captured and where there is no other alternative resource. (https://www.iea.org/news/pathway-to-critical-and-formidable-goal-of-net-zero-emissions-by-2050-is-narrow-but-brings-huge-benefits) The IEA was clearing stating that no new oil and natural gas fields were needed in this net zero pathway – all necessary supplies of fossil fuels can be met from existing extraction sites.

The imperative is to invest in alternative renewable energies, materials and technologies. Many Christians, individuals and organisations, are doing this as part of their commitment to the care of God’s creation. In the run up to COP26 37 faith institutions in Britain affirmed their decision to divest from fossil fuels investments – ie that they would withdraw from any investments that supported fossil fuels and would maintain that position thereafter. This groups included the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland; the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church; the Presbyterian Church of Wales; the Presbyterian Church in Ireland; 15 Catholic dioceses in the UK and Ireland, including the Archdioceses of Glasgow, St Andrews & Edinburgh, Birmingham and Southwark; and from the Church of England, the Dioceses of Truro and Sodor & Man. This latter group has since been joined by the dioceses of Bristol, Oxford, Norwich and Durham. (https://brightnow.org.uk/news/global-faith-divestment-announcement-cop26/)

Bright Now, part of Operation Noah, campaigns on the issue of fossil fuel divestment and actively encourages all parishes and churches to get involved in this campaign, which has at its heart the care of God’s creation. In the parish where I live, Parish funds are (in common with most Anglican churches) invested with CCLA Investment Management Limited, part of The CBF Church of England investment Fund – and as of July 2020, CCLA no longer holds any fossil fuel investments. However my local diocese, The Diocese of Southwark, which holds money on behalf of its parishes, has approximately £2.7 million in fossil fuel investments. This is the largest such holding pertaining to any of the Anglican Dioceses.

As individuals we may feel we have no fossil fuel investments but (as with my church connections) it is highly likely that we do, even if only indirectly. Many of the companies who supply us with mortgages, insurance, pensions etc also hold investments in fossil fuels. The campaign group, Make My Money Matter, contends that swopping our pensions to a green provider is the most powerful thing we can do to reduce carbon emissions – UK pension funds invest £2.6 trillion on our behalf! (https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/21x/) It is important that we as consumers ask how our money is being used when we hand it over to the care of others. Our money should be being used to create a better, kinder, just and peaceful world.

Counting on …day 109

1st March 2022

Today is Shrove Tuesday. Shrive comes from the Old English to write, and thence to assign or prescribe, and from that to confess. Today would be a good day to list all the things that we feel are out of kilter in our lives and in the lives of our society, with perhaps a particular focus on those relating to our care of creation.

The Green Tau: preparing for Lent

1st March 2022

Lent is the forty day season of preparation for Easter; preparation for the new life that we share with Christ through his resurrection.

Lent is marked by Christians as a time of self examination, penitence, self denial and moderation, spiritual discipline (usually involving prayer and study/ reading) and alms giving. More generally it is seen as a time for giving up on a luxury we enjoy or giving up on a vice which has become an unwanted habit. The climate crisis has prompted some to use Lent as a season for fasting from carbon.

Lent begins with Jesus in the wilderness, where with nothing to eat, he is totally reliant on his relationship with God. We might also think of other wilderness. The wilderness that lay outside the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve faced the challenge of tending and filling the earth so that it might bloom and flourish as it had in the garden planted by God. The wilderness between Egypt (where the prevailing system had been one of slavery and oppression) and the Promised Land. Here too the exiles had to learn to trust and learn from God how they should live, how they should adapt to a new environment.

Lent can therefore be the time when we should focus on how we tend and care for the environment, on how we pay attention and respond to God’s will, so that we can flourish in harmony with God’s gift of creation.

Jesus’s time in the wilderness occurs straight after he has been baptised by John in the Jordan. John too had chosen to locate himself in the wilderness, knowing its symbolic status as a place of encounter with God and a place of repentance. John called on the people to own up to their sins, to change the way they lived, to transform their lifestyles, and to prepare the ground for the new era – the new creation – that the Messiah was bringing. John’s challenge was tough: the rich were to share their wealth, officials were not to cheat, and soldiers were not to abuse their power. Every tree that did not bear good fruit would be chopped down and burnt!

Should we too see Lent as the time to call truth to power? To point to both what is wrong in the way we live and to what the dire consequences will be? Is it time to stand up in the wilderness calling on everyone to prepare for a new way of life, a new beginning, a fresh start? John and Jesus were charismatic activists. They spoke out, they told stories, they acted out their message. They spoke the truth. They healed and consoled people. And they showed people the right way.

This Lent we need to be up front and open in talking about the climate crisis. We need to talk about it with our friends and neighbours. We need to both console and inspire. We need to show in our daily lives how we can live differently. We need to repeatedly demand change from those in power, MPs and local councillors, business leaders and investors, local businesses, manufacturers and retailers. We need to be vocal in our churches and in the streets (a poster in your window or on your gatepost). Now is the time to repent and change if we are to avert great disaster and instead to welcome in a new age of hope.

Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Mark 12:29-31

Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9

At core the message is simple: Love God, love your neighbour. Learn these words, teach them to your children, talk about them, repeat them at home and abroad, know them you sleep and when you rise, imprint them on your heart, display them on your gate post and door post, wear them on your sleeve.