FEATURE
THE EMISSIONS ISSUE
DOIN’ IT FOR
THE KIDS
CLIMATE CHANGE IS NO LONGER
SOMETHING FOR THE CRANKS AND
WEIRDOS TO STRESS ABOUT. IT’S HERE. SO
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
arlier this year,
youngsters from more
than 112 countries
skipped school and took to the
streets to demand stronger
action on climate change.
And it’s easy to understand
why this sector of the population
feels so motivated. After all,
these children – our children
and grandchildren – are going to
be the ones to live with the
effects of climate change. As will
their children, and
grandchildren.
The topic of climate change is
nothing new. In fact, it has been
talked about for more than 100
years – in 1896, Swedish scientist
Svante Arrhenius predicted rising
temperatures from coal burning
(although, admittedly, he saw it
as a positive for both agriculture
E
and the colder European climes).
A 1956 New York Times
editorial was one of a number that
acknowledged greenhouse gas
emissions from energy production
would lead to environmental
change, but it wasn’t until more
than 30 years later that the
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) was set
up, in 1988, in an attempt to
address climate change.
Over the following three
decades we’ve seen committees
formed, agreements committed
to, targets set and promises made.
We’ve seen Al Gore’s An
Inconvenient Truth bring the
issue to the populous, and many
‘sceptics’ realising that this might
actually be something we need to
be concerned about.
But the effect has been limited.
10 GEMCELL.COM.AU JUN – JUL 2019
In fact, emissions continue
to grow.
In 2018, global emissions rose
2.7% to a record high of 37.1bn
tonnes. India and China saw an
increase, of 6.3% and 4.7%,
respectively, while the Oceania
region is ranked the highest in the
world when it comes to emissions
per capita.
Greenhouse emissions in
Australia increased in 2018 by
0.9% to 559m tonnes. While
there has been a significant
increase in renewable energy, the
impact has been offset by
increases from mining, natural
gas and diesel transport.
CHANGING TIMES,
CHANGING MINDS
Of course, the whole issue has had
its sceptics. It’s been denounced
as a hoax, a political conspiracy.
Donald Trump Tweeted in 2012,
“The concept of global warming
was created by and for the
Chinese in order to make U.S.
manufacturing non-competitive.”
Closer to home, Tony Abbott’s
position has evolved somewhat.
From being quoted only a few
years ago as saying “climate
change was absolute crap,” and
that “climate change is probably
doing good,” he was quoted in
2019 as saying, “Climate change
is real, mankind makes a
contribution, and we should take
sensible action to deal with it.”
Despite differing and evolving
views, the research and evidence
now tells us the problem is indeed
legit, we have limited time to
minimise its long-term impact, and
that whatever action different