An unwelcome world record

Henry Rummins

02 June 2011

Alarming news this week.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released a report showing that global carbon emissions have reached record levels - despite the worst recession for decades.

Worse, experts at the IEA have said that this leaves any chance of keeping global temperature increases under two degrees at virtually nil.  Many politicians see this as the ceiling before the world suffers dangerous climate change.

Depressing indeed - but is still there cause for hope? 

I've always been optimisitic about humanity. We're a creative and ingenious bunch - whether the challenge is abolishing slavery, reaching the South Pole or getting a man on the Moon. All these challenges must have seemed insurmountable in the beginning. To many of those early pioneers, it must have been tempting to give up hope.

The same can be true of tackling climate change. Yes, we'll need to make changes in our lives to cut carbon emissions, especially how we produce and use energy. But it's certainly possible - and could bring enormous benefits, especially in creating tens of thousands of new jobs, at a time we really need them. 

A hundred years ago, if someone had said that there'd be a huge network of oil rigs and coal mines, refineries and power stations, electricity pylons and petrol stations to supply everyone in this country with plentiful energy, they would have been laughed at.

So I'm hopeful that fifty years from now we'll have seen a similar transformation - except this time with elegant armadas of offshore wind turbines dotting the coast and electric cars zipping us from A to B.

However, it's also becoming clear that in the future we might have to consider an insurance policy against rising temperatures.

Geo-engineering - things like findings ways to take carbon out the atmosphere or even blocking the sun's rays by making clouds more reflective - could help prevent climate change's worst effects. But it means tinkering with natural processes on a vast scale and with unknown consequences.

That's the thing about insurance policies: generally no-one wants to be faced with a situation where they have to claim with no guarantee of a payout.

So we'll keep pushing for the Government here, and leaders in other countries, to agree to tough action to curb emissions and tackle climate change. There's still time.

Henry Rummins, Communications and Media team