Last Friday in Wymondham, I took part in a panel discussion on climate change. The evening was titled Climate Change Is Here: What Now and was organised by CHAIN Norfolk. It helps that one of my friends is part of their committee and although she did not directly ask me to take part on behalf of the Lib Dems, I think she was secretly pleased that a local councillor would be part of the discussions.
So as well as me, the local MP came along, a Labour representative, former Green Party MEP Catherine Rowett and Dr Hayley Pinto from CHAIN, both who are far more knowledgeable than me on climate change.
We had a packed audience and I was nervous about public speaking even though I had prepared my speech, tweaking it and researching over a period of weeks prior to the event. (I noted wryly that I was the only one holding a paper copy of my speech while the others spoke off the bat. Perhaps this was to conserve paper?)
I listened while the Conservative MP set out his stall, trying to say Norfolk was on the cusp of great things technology wise and how wonderful the government were doing in terms of green technology. If you didn’t know better you could be taken in by his polished speaking, trying to engage with the audience by using a family anecdote.
But we know better. We have so got used to Tory spin and comment that we only really realise it now if it is absent. His attempt to colour the evening as a non-political one was wide of the mark, we were there because we represented national parties and the audience wanted to know where we stood on the issues of global warming and climate change.
Catherine Rowett (in the photo with me) was more interesting but was clearly not happy that we are still not taking proper action when it comes to climate change. I have to be honest and say I didn’t pay much attention to the Labour guy, partly because I was nervous about my own speech but also because I don’t think he said anything of particular note.
(When I stood up to speak, they had to adjust the microphone stand and for a moment I thought I would have to speak up to the mike, the way Liam Gallagher used to when he sang with Oasis. It also probably helped my nerves that I had to wear my glasses to read my speech so when I glanced up at the audience now and then, I was actually just seeing a blur.)
Anyway, I started with a quote from former scientist Margaret Thatcher, also known as being a politician, who over 30 years ago said climate change was a danger to humanity. And I said that 30 years ago, as a young mother, I did consider that someone would solve this problem before we got to be on a sticky wicket.
Yet here we are. On a February evening in a little market town in Norfolk, facing the effects of climate change because it is here and it is how we adapt to the situation now which will challenge us.
I have long thought that when we were warned we had 11 years to stop the irreversible heating up of the planet which would have a catastrophic impact on our environment, we were already too late. The scorchio summer we had last year in the UK is something we had better get used to. People point to the hot summer of 1976 and say this is not evidence of climate change. But I absolutely disagree.
There are scientists whose life work is about this subject and the warnings they issue is not because they want to hog the limelight, grab their 15 minutes of fame and saunter off into the sunset. They warn us because they have blooming well studied this stuff and know what they are talking about.
As climate change activist Greta Thunberg says our house is on fire, yet no-one has even considered to call the fire brigade, never mind wait for them to turn up.
In my speech I referenced ways we can ALL do our bit, look at changes we can make to our lifestyles to give our children and future generations a chance at life on our planet the way we have been lucky enough to know it.
A quick search online brings up numerous ways we can make changes. Not one or two of us but whole communities, neighbourhoods, towns, cities, countries. Because this isn’t something that can be solved by a few well meaning passionate people, we ALL have to play our part.
Meanwhile, we need policy and decision makers who are brave enough to realise the system needs to change. As a member of the Green Liberal Democrats, I accept that the way for change to happen politically is to work collaboratively with others who realise the need to do something is now.
And this isn’t the Conservative party.
They have had plenty of time in charge (I use the word loosely because their antics over the past decade or so have shown just how self-centred and arrogant they are), to have made a real difference. The only reason they even look at climate related issues is because other parties make it difficult for them to ignore. Don’t forget that South Norfolk Council refused a LibDem motion to call a climate emergency THREE times and have only now produced a draft environmental policy (with major input from my fellow LibDem colleagues)
The key to all of this – as ever – is education.
And not just teaching our children but to educate ourselves as well. Consumerism is actually toxic for our planet, we take far more than we need and we certainly do not tread lightly on this Earth. We have poisoned our natural world and Mother Nature is fighting back, teaching us a lesson we may not recover from.
But as I said in my speech, adaptability is our greatest strength. We DO have the means to change things around but we need people who will commit to the cause, people who show up and not just on a February evening in Wymondham and spin us a line about how wonderfully they are managing the environmental crisis facing us.
It’s time to wake up and realise we all need to be on this journey together.
Not just those who are firmly committed to the cause, but also reach out to those who are unsure, oblivious to the seriousness of the situation.
And the time for that is now.
*Check out http://www.climatechain.org for all kinds of information and what you can do to halt the advance of climate change. I also asked the organisers of the event that were they to do this again, they should allow for minimal time for politicians to talk and maximise Q&As from the audience
Hello this is Wymondham calling 