When Dealing With Climate Change Winning Slowly is the Same as Losing

The title of this posting includes the phrase “winning slowly is the same as losing,” a comment that Bill McKibben of 350.org recently stated. McKibben has been a leading voice in the United States pressing for action by all levels of government, industry and individuals to institute behaviours and policies to mitigate global warming. Unfortunately, with the return of Donald Trump and his band of unqualified cabinet members to the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, we are about to experience the beginning of a climate change nightmare.

It is not just Trump that is leading the charge away from actively tackling the human causes of climate change. Other governments or soon-to-be-elected ones are pointing to regressive policies that will only exacerbate the warming trend for both the atmosphere and oceans. For example:

• In Canada, the Liberal government that introduced carbon pricing is in freefall at the polls with the government-in-waiting calling for a “carbon tax election.”
• The recent COP, number 29 in the series, held in Azerbaijan, a country dependent on revenues from its fossil fuel operations, showed just how reluctant the wealthy countries of the world were committed to act on climate change and assist poor countries to weather current and future damage caused by extreme weather events, sea level rise and atmospheric warming.
• In Europe, the EU’s leading countries, Germany and France, are facing political crises that likely will lead to future anti-climate action parties forming their governments.
• The fossil fuel industry continues to perpetuate its greenwashing with messages of commitments to achieving net zero emissions by mid-century while their actions say otherwise. The fossil fuel industry appears to be hellbent on exploring for more oil and gas and pumping as much of it out of the ground from now to when we all start choking on the fumes.

Under Joe Biden, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other policies and legislation, although not putting a price on carbon, have provided significant incentives to begin to move the country’s carbon emissions in the right direction.

Trump, however, will likely gut or reverse many IRA initiatives and policies. His cabinet picks for the environment and energy are climate change deniers and closely aligned with the fossil fuel lobby. What may save the U.S. from itself is action by state, city and municipal governments still committed to mitigating and adapting to climate change.

What say the people?

A recent global survey by the UN Development Program and the University of Oxford involved more than 73,000 from 77 countries who responded in 87 different languages. Those surveyed were asked 15 questions. Their answers show that the global public is far more committed to addressing climate change than its governments.

Here is a sampling of the results:

• 86% of respondents stated that countries needed to work together on climate change even if they disagreed on other big issues like security and trade.
• 81% wanted their governments to restore nature by planting trees and protecting wildlife from human activity.
• 80% wanted their country to strengthen its commitment to address climate change.
• 80% wanted schools to teach about climate change to prepare the next generation for the future.
• 79% believed richer countries needed to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.
• 78% want more protection for people at risk from extreme weather.
• 76% stated they were extremely, very or somewhat worried about climate change’s effects on the next generation.
• 71% wanted their country to very or somewhat quickly replace the use of coal, oil and gas for energy with renewables.
• 70% indicated that climate change was affecting big decisions about family, work, where to live, and what to buy a little to a lot.
• 53% stated they were more worried this year about climate change than in the previous year.
• 43% said extreme weather events were getting worse.
• 32% stated they thought about climate change daily.

Achim Steiner, the Administrator of the UN Development Program, in assessing the poll results stated:

“The Peoples’ Climate Vote is loud and clear. Global citizens want their leaders to transcend their differences, to act now and to act boldly to fight the climate crisis…This is an issue that almost everyone, everywhere, can agree on.”

Let’s hope governments take note.