‘The world is burning, but there is still hope’

Earlier this month the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its latest report and the verdict was damning.

Newspaper headlines and politicians’ Tweets alike left us in no doubt: ‘The world is on fire’; ‘This is a wakeup call’; ‘We’re running out of time’. Cliches? Yes, but true nonetheless.

Words are one thing however and action is another. Tackling climate change gets more urgent by the day, and delay is now a bigger problem than denial.

There are no magic solutions currently available and we cannot afford to wait on them being invented.

So, in the absence of an instant solution, what does a Liberal response look like?

Action at all levels

The national Lib Dem policy – a comprehensive plan for carbon reduction passed in 2019 – can be found here. There will be no significant change to the problem without the will at Westminster and beyond. We must all do what we can to persuade our leaders to act and act now.

But we cannot wait just on national, or international action. From the choices, we all make in our day-to-day lives, to civic groups in the city, to the council itself, we all need to do what we can here in Bristol.

A city that drives change

Bristol has a history of innovation and is a centre of technological and creative excellence. When Liberal Democrats were in the administration, we developed a number of initiatives – from increasing recycling rates, to investing in renewables, to exploring hydrogen technology – designed to create a greener city.

The city must again look at ways to reduce its carbon consumption, and those of its residents: make it easier to reduce car use, make it easier to recycle, make our buildings more energy-efficient, facilitate alternatives to gas central heating, reduce plastic usage (and therefore waste): the list goes on.

Cities can drive change, innovate, and inspire. They can act as beacons to other cities and can influence best practices and national policy. Bristol should – and could – be a leader again.

Bristol Energy Cooperative secured funding for the city’s first hydro-electric generator at Netham Weir

Facilitate not alienate

Whilst individual choices may be constrained by cost, convenience, time, or availability, many people know the types of actions that are required. We need to make it easier to for people to do them.

The Liberal approach seeks to educate and empower people to make better decisions, and to disincentivise damaging decisions. Nobody responds well to being harangued about the choices they make, lectured about their lifestyle, or forced to do things without rationale or explanation, so carrots will be needed as well as sticks.

A Liberal approach would also seek to ensure that big companies made the changes required to make consumer decisions easier – reducing plastic packaging and replacing it with reusable and/or recyclable alternatives.

Hope not despair

The situation is desperate – that cannot be stated enough – but we must avoid a culture of despair that results in people throwing their hands up, acknowledging defeat, and continuing as before. Instead, we need leadership at all levels to make individual choices easier to make. The world is burning, but there is still hope.

Andrew Brown says there is still hope – photo courtesy of Bristol City Council

Andrew Brown is a Lib Dem councillor for Hengrove and Whitchurch Park ward

Main photo by Ruby Sims

Read more: How we can support progress towards a net zero city

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