Who is Responsible for Emergency Climate Action? We All Are.

By Mike Hembury — SOAPBOX

“Unless there are rapid, sustained and large-scale reductions of climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions, including CO2, methane and others, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C compared to pre-industrial levels, as enshrined in the Paris Agreement, will be beyond reach.” — UN Climate Change Secretariat

In the light of the recent IPCC report on the state of the planet, and the catastrophic trajectory of projected climate change, Antonio Guterres, the General Secretary of the United Nations, was unequivocal: “This is Code Red for Humanity”.

Code Red, in this instance, means basically, things are bad, emergency level bad, and getting worse. We need immediate, emergency climate measures, right now, if we are to avoid all the horrific consequences of a runaway climate disaster, shooting past the mark of 1.5°C of warming, towards a future of pain, suffering and death for all living beings on the planet.

The IPCC report was splashed across the media. Even conservative papers, like the British Times, ran headlines. It was big news — for a couple of days. And now? Business as usual.

Of course, it’s no surprise that governments wedded to this or that version of neo-liberal orthodoxy are at best sluggish — and…