OPEN LETTER
Dear Mr Brown,
With a disappointing UN Bali conference behind us and a weak final text for politicians to disagree over, there is yet again real evidence that the political process is stalling any meaningful progress while global warming is speeding along at an ever increasing pace.
We therefore urge you , our Prime Minister, and your government to take a more active role nationally and internationally and help drive the political process forward.
Tony Blair’s 2005 statement that “No country is going to cut its growth of consumption substantially is the light of a long-term environmental problem.” goes to the heart of our concerns because it so clearly demonstrates how politicians and leaders the world over perceive global warming.
However, please consider the point that if the political establishment does not reach an effective agreement within a few years, we will soon be faced with a planet that will not sustain human life. At that point, I am sure, very few will applause the decision to expand airports, motorways or build new coal fired power stations, which your Government is currently driving forward.
When faced with a long-term environmental crisis of planetary proportions, I expect my Government to do everything in its power to avert the crisis. The priority must be to stabilise the climate at all costs and to safeguard the planet for future generations. Yet, the Government has failed to act swiftly, hiding behind a largely symbolic and ineffective Kyoto protocol, stating “business as usual“ though it is clearly not a strategy that will guarantee that we emerge unscathed from this increasingly complex and dangerous climate challenge.
And while we do not want to see economical growth impacted (our generation more than anyone understands how a healthy economy has provided prosperity and welfare for so many) we believe and are prepare to accept that stabilising the climate will have to come at a cost. The Western world in particular has enjoyed a very expensive lunch for a long time. But it is not a free lunch and we have to accept that we, the rich nations who for decades have polluted the most, will have to help settle a large portion of the bill.
Capitalism, the greed and exploitations that comes with it, has brought us to the brink of extinction. And we do not believe that capitalism, even when encouraged to progress in a ’green’ direction by Government, have the health of the planet at heart or can be trusted to avoid irreversible climate change.
Governments across the world must take responsibility for driving forward rapid changes. Changes, which are based on sound environmental decisions. It is far from adequate to set-up a telephone hot-line or web-site where individuals can calculate their carbon footprint. And is it far from adequate to build additional coal fired powered plants, as it being considered by the UK right now.
How can your Government justify to the rest of the world, that the UK, one of the worlds largest CO2 polluters of all times, consider building additional power plant of the most polluting type. What message is this sending China, India, Brazil or for that sake the USA and Canada?
And while we applause that you have asked your ministers to include the carbon price in all future policy decisions (reported in the Guardian 22/12/07), we have to question if this goes far enough? It is not the cost to the UK that is important or at stake here. It is, as we have tried to argue in this letter, the long-term cost and damage to the planet. The cost of people in other countries suffering because of the UK Government’s environmentally flawed decisions. If these costs were factored in, I am sure that the 2007 carbon price of £25.50 would be a lot higher!
We expect strong leadership from you Prime Minister, that you make the right decisions that will help our planet through the looming crisis. Without this leadership, we will no longer be able to support your Government and will ask all our members and supporters to help ensure that your Government does not continue to enjoy the power entrusted to you.
Yours sincerely,
Carbon-info Management Committee