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If we want to save the world's most precious species and ecosystems, we have to fight climate change with the same urgency and dedication as we have the pandemic.
That's the view of Jersey Zoo CEO Dr Lesley Dickie, as she explains in her new column for Express...
"In the midst of a pandemic it’s difficult for people to get beyond the daily concerns. Who worries about things that will happen in 10 years if they are worrying about the next month?
A perfectly rational reaction. A pandemic also has some binary outcomes. Some people at higher risk will succumb to the disease, restrictions put in place to address it will result in the collapse of businesses and livelihoods, creating misery for millions, and further deaths. All too real consequences of this global virus.
Pictured: "We invest so little as a global society in protecting our big home. It’s not only confusing, it’s negligent."
Yet, here I am asking us to refocus again on the greatest challenges of the 21st century: climate change and biodiversity loss, because it’s not this pandemic. This pandemic is something we can deal with quickly. Our scientists are already far better at combatting it, from a hopefully imminent vaccine, to better treatment plans. The truth is that in just a few short months our chances of surviving COVID-19, if we contract it, have improved dramatically.
"This to me is a source of hope and we are a resourceful species. However, it is also because we decided to address it with enormous resources. Essentially, we threw money and expertise at the problem. Don’t get me wrong, portions of that money has been badly deployed in some countries, with underlying systemic issues, such as low numbers of hospital beds per capita, leading to worse outcomes. But by and large I believe we will win this fight. What I have far less faith in is our apathetic approach to those two larger problems.
For the majority of us it’s less binary in nature. What does climate change and biodiversity loss really mean to me? Who is dying of climate change? Well, quite a few people each year as it turns out. Through droughts, disease expansion, heat stress, wild fires, crop failures and so on. In most part these deaths, and the millions of lives made more miserable, are invisible compared to a pandemic.
If we are honest that’s because they tend to be poorer and not on our doorstep. Every now and then we see it more clearly and we are shocked, such as the devastating wildfires in Australia less than a year ago. This week a truly terrifying report revealed that there is now clear evidence that methane deposits frozen in the Arctic are being released, methane having an eighty times stronger warming effect than carbon dioxide.
Pictured: "What does climate change and biodiversity loss really mean to me? Who is dying of climate change? Well, quite a few people each year as it turns out. Through droughts, disease expansion, heat stress, wild fires, crop failures and so on."
Abrupt climate change is becoming a possibility, when previously it was confined to the movies. Yet, are we approaching this frightening problem with urgency and throwing our resources at it? Not even close.
Across the EU, governments spend on average between 0.2 and 1.4% of GDP on protecting nature. Nature, the platform upon which all lives are entirely dependent. Contrast this with the average person in Britain who will spend between 20-25% of their income keeping a roof over their head, recognising that a safe home is absolutely fundamental. We invest so little as a global society in protecting our big home. It’s not only confusing, it’s negligent.
What can we do? As citizens we need to ensure that our political representatives are giving the bigger problems the attention they deserve. A Citizens Assembly here in Jersey on climate change is being formed but all our voices need to be heard. Let us put the same urgency and dedication into solving the big problems as we have into this passing problem. For all our sakes."
