What should be done about climate change?

[Rfthyhuj]

There are many people on another thread salivating at the idea of the five climate change protestors going to jail. I’m not an expert, but I know enough to understand that global warming is already having catastrophic effects on the world’s poorest.

What can the world do? What can the UK government do? I believe that we should up aid funding to allow developing countries to invest in green technology. I’ve never thought about it in huge detail, but am really shocked at the vitriol shown to the protestors for attempting to raise awareness of how serious the situation is. I don’t want another debate about the protest or the prison sentence, but am really interested in hearing about what people believe should happen to create change and avoid disaster?

It's not the developing countries that need green technology, they're not the ones causing the climate crises. The developed world could make changes, but won't because people are fundamentally selfish and that won't ever change.

Larger countries like china and the US need to cut their emissions drastically. There is a lot of smoke blown by just stop oil in the UK, but until larger countries act we haven’t got a hope of reducing it.

There are many people on another thread salivating at the idea of the five climate change protestors going to jail...am really shocked at the vitriol shown to the protestors for attempting to raise awareness of how serious the situation is.

I said this on the other thread - if JSO's aim is to raise awareness then they have succeeded. But what is the end-point of that awareness? Is it to effect change?

If it is to effect change, then why would you go out of your way to inconvenience people, disrupt their lives and in some cases actively harm them because they lose a day's pay for not being able to get to work, by delaying their ability to get medical treatment? In what way do you think the voting public will see all of this mayhem and think "yep, this lot have got the right idea, they have my support"?

Nothing. Most of it is bullshit.

Climate is a natural phenomenon. The earth’s climate has been constantly changing since day one. It is being used to tax and control people

Lookjaz, I agree. The protesters image by destroying property, they are going to help. Greta thumberg,youngster, loving being arrested. I have read 2 books, got one now by a scientist at the Faraday institute, which says it's exaggerated.when I was growing up,my late df refused to allow aerosols because he said we would destroy the ozone layer. Now apparently, the hole has closed up and we are overheating. Houses built on flood plains....will er....flood! These latest numpties want ALL oil production banned. So they have to give up their mobile phones,all their clothes.

Nothing it’s bollocks.

People need oil because they use it. The real problem is the rising rates of consumption which drives the need for oil. Right now it is like banning all fast food outlets because they cause obesity.

Lots of things can be done. reduce fast fashion, control pet ownership (yes a Labrador dog has the same footprint as a SUV including building), better infrastructure to reduce the need for cars, a diet with less meat in it, reduce sea pollution etc but people are not interested in doing that as they cannot assign blame to an ‘evil entity’.

No, this is wrong. Developing nations absolutely do need to make use of green technology.

China, India, Brazil, Iran, Indonesia, and Mexico are all in the top ten emitters.

https://www.wri.org/insights/interactive-chart-shows-changes-worlds-top-10-emitters

It's too late to do anything now.

Without governments and major corporations acting, nothing we do is ever going to make a difference

Developing nations absolutely DO need to be on board. They might not be big consumers of resources but the aspiration is there.

This. With bells on. It makes no difference when we'll probably all be nuked in the future anyway.

This speech at the Oxford Union sums it up for me perfectly...

Too late now to change anything. Don’t have children or encourage your children not to have any. It’s only going to get worse. We fucked up.

Do you really not believe the science?

Well, the rich and privileged can stop jetting around the world whilst lecturing the little people who generally create a fraction of the carbon footprint anyway. Stop the use of SUV's.

I find it very hard to take it seriously when those who lecture me have far, far bigger carbon footprints

You sound like Boris Johnson during covid while Vallance pulled his plonker. No I dont believe in politically motivated science.

Last yea was the hottest on record, and all 10 of the hottest years on record have occurred in the past decade. The ice caps are visibly melting.

What’s causing it, if not fossil fuel emissions changing the chemistry of the atmosphere?

I agree we're in trouble. I agree something needs to be done. China is in the top 10 emitters because many developed nations - including us - have outsourced their production.

My question still stands: what do JSO achieve by disrupting ordinary people's lives? How does that encourage people to consume less?

Those people will have the money to ensure their houses can withstand floods and to install air conditioning. They won’t be affected by the migration crisis. It simply won’t affect the rich the way it will everyone else, so I’m not sure we’re wise to wait until they act.

This thread isn’t about the protest. Although I will say the news of the prison sentence has made me do a bit of a double take and think about how seriously we should be taking global warming.

I know it's not about the protest. Your OP says you are interested in hearing what people think needs to be done to get things to change. But the rest of your OP makes it clear that you are asking this question, in the context of being "shocked at the vitriol" aimed at the protesters who were "attempting to raise awareness of how serious the situation is".

Logically, the act of raising awareness is tactical - it's intended to achieve a more significant strategic outcome. Why is why I am asking my question. Context for this - as I said in the other thread - I don't see that they are raising awareness in a meaningful way because they aren't achieving any change.

There's a lot of talk about raising awareness. It's too high level and too remote for many people to feel they need to give it head-space. If you're in tenuous rented accommodation staring down the barrel of another S21 notice, and trying to work out whether you can replace the kids' shoes before payday, you aren't going to be giving much thought to global heating because your focus is on keeping a roof over your family's head and everyone clothed and fed. And when you do come to buy the shoes, you're going to go for whatever you can manage in your budget and you aren't going to care if that means shoes made and imported from China.

To achieve a meaningful change it requires mass support. Disrupting an ordinary person's life by delaying them getting to work so they don't get paid, or stopping them from getting to a medical appointment they have waited months for, is not getting these people on side. Instead of "raising awareness" what about "what can you do"? Bring to life some of the practical things that people can do to help. But most of all, if you are a protest organisation, think about whether your behaviour means that you are shooting yourselves in the foot and actively undermining the message that you claim to care so deeply about...

How far back do we actually have data for? Hundreds of years? Thousands? Millions?

No we don't. We have a minuscule snapshot. That's not evidence of anything in my book.

I agree. It's just something to keep people in work and cause people to be outraged. Makes no difference to anyones day and in a million years or whenever it would make a difference something else will have happened.

Climate science is conclusive.
Anthropogenic climate change is a fact.
That's not what OP is interested in discussing.
But you know this, of course.