August 2004
Effects of Climate Change
The monsoon flood which hit London and parts of southern England last week, causing sewers to overflow and thousands of dead fish to float down the Thames, was a salutary reminder of the potential effects of worldwide climate change in years to come.
As with all major environmental issues, the question everyone should ask is "what can I do about it?"
According to a recent ICM poll of 1,007 people for the BBC, most of us accept in theory that human activity is responsible for changing the world's climate. Yet although nearly everyone (85%) professes willingness to make changes to help the environment, far fewer (54%) believe it will make any difference. It is open to doubt just how many of those who say they would "use the car less" or "take fewer flights" will do so. Commenting on the poll, Friends of the Earth warns we are "sleep-walking to disaster". "The fact that the British public doesn't see climate change as really affecting life in the UK is not surprising as the Government has been extremely reluctant to make it a public priority and to tackle rising emissions from transport, households and commerce," said Friends of the Earth Director Tony Juniper.
Government's chief scientist, Sir David King, has warned that London will be one of "the first cities to go" if the planet's ice continues to melt, and in April Tony Blair himself described the threat of climate change as the world's biggest problem. Yet public scepticism will only be dissolved by a real shift in priorities.
Sir David has also said global warming is a greater challenge than global terrorism but the results of the ICM poll show that it comes well down the list of perceived problems - behind crime, poverty and health.
Although the public has an awareness of climate change, only 44% of respondents believe that changing their own behaviour would make a difference in reducing climate change - and when asked in what way they might be willing to alter their behaviour changing transport habits came in the bottom half of the list, along with paying more for petrol or flying.
Perhaps this goes some way to explain the frustration of those convinced that climate change is a huge threat. Until we believe it will make a difference to us and to our children, we are unlikely to take it seriously enough to do anything about it.
On this showing, more than half of us still expect climate change will leave us largely unscathed. So it remains a problem for someone else to worry about.
If individuals do not feel the need to act then some of the responsibility rests with the organisations they work for. Industry accounts for a much larger proportion of the causes of climate change and therefore has a responsibility to minimise their impact and educate their workforce on the issue and explain that they can make a difference.
If you want to make a difference through your organisation, reduce your waste and inform your fellow workers, contact Aneeta Patel for advice and support on environmental management and education.
Print this page