30/08/2019

Politics-As-Usual Can’t Fix The Climate Crisis. Maybe It’s Time To Try A Citizens’ Assembly

The Guardian - 

Extinction Rebellion is calling for the approach that ended Ireland’s abortion deadlock to be used in the UK 
 ‘Extinction Rebellion is merely asking that the government agrees to establish a citizens’ assembly and give it the task of bringing forward proposals.’ Photograph: James Liu/Guardian Community
David Farrell
Professor David Farrell is the head of politics and international relations at University College Dublin. He was the research leader of the Irish citizens’ assembly.
The climate crisis demands an urgent, realistic and sustained response from governments around the world: such a response will inevitably require sacrifices from all of us. And there lies the rub for our systems of representative democracy.
How can politicians facing short-term constraints (particularly the need to be re-elected every few years) be expected to take the necessary decisions that require long-term and, probably, quite painful change on the part of the citizens who get to vote for them.
This is where a citizens’ assembly could help, as the experience in Ireland shows. The country’s ban on abortion was an intractable problem that generation after generation of political leaders had failed to resolve. In 2016, under intense domestic and international pressure, the Irish government established a citizens’ assembly and tasked it with coming up with recommendations. It met over the course of five long weekends spread across five months.
The 99 citizen members heard from expert witnesses, advocates and women who had been affected by Ireland’s abortion ban. In carefully facilitated roundtable discussions the members deliberated on the subject, producing a series of recommendations that were then sent back to parliament. A special all-party committee of parliament spent a number of months debating the recommendations. The result of this was the decision to have a referendum, which passed by a two-thirds majority in the summer of 2018.
In Britain, the Extinction Rebellion group believes that a citizens’ assembly could play a similarly important role in addressing the climate emergency. At the heart of a citizens’ assembly is random selection: in much the same way as for jury duty, regular citizens are selected at random. They have not run for office; they are not there to represent special interests. The citizen members are there to represent themselves, and thereby the greater population, of which they are a representative sample.
This is bringing “disorganised society” into the room – giving regular citizens a voice in helping to drive debates on important public policy.
These citizens, in turn, are put in the special position of informing and educating the political classes – helping our political leaders to work through the complexities of a difficult issue; informing them of aspects they might not have considered before; giving them a sense of where citizens might be prepared to go; even providing some degree of political cover.
What is laudable about the Extinction Rebellion agenda is that the activists are not pushing for particular policy decisions on the climate emergency: they are merely asking that their government agrees to establish a citizens’ assembly and give it the task of bringing forward proposals.
There are certain things that need to happen for this to work properly. The citizens’ assembly should be established by government, not parliament (because it is the government that ultimately calls the shots), but it should report back to parliament so that all political parties are given the opportunity to debate its recommendations.
The agenda should be defined carefully. An ideal way to ensure this would be to allow the assembly itself to clarify it owns terms, guided by the experts advising it.
It is critically important that the assembly’s recommendations are dealt with respectfully: this does not mean that they are necessarily all accepted, but they should not be ignored. The Irish model of having an all-party committee debate the report would be worth emulating.
Although government sponsors it, the assembly should be run independently of government (with methods such as tendering out the task to an agency with appropriate expertise). And the process should be run openly and transparently with all documents going online, live streaming of expert presentations, and full details of the key names involved in running and advising the process. Everything possible should be done to ensure that the process is seen as objective and above board.
‘The climate change emergency cannot be dealt with adequately in a few weekends.’ People on the The Mothers Rise Up march in London in May. Photograph: Guy Bell/REX/Shutterstock
And the process needs time. The climate emergency cannot be dealt with adequately in a few weekends. The citizens’ assembly needs time and space to allow the members to develop sufficient expertise on the topic to be able to deliberate in a suitably informed way.
One might be forgiven for thinking that the recent announcement by the select committees of the House of Commons that they will establish a citizens’ assembly on climate change this autumn is a sign that the political establishment has listened. But actually this is not the case: that is parliament acting – not government. The agenda has been tightly defined (focused on existing 2050 targets, which many now feel are not enough). The scope is also unrealistic (only two weekends of meetings, expertise provided solely by civil servants). There is a danger that this process will be tokenistic, inadequate, and provide parliament with the cover that the “climate crisis” box has been ticked.
This climate emergency requires a courageous response from our political leaders.
This is a real test for our system of representative democracy, built on the notion that our parliamentarian ne’er-do-wells are available for a good kicking every few years. Climate breakdown presents a real conundrum because it requires a long-term solution, one that goes beyond an election cycle.
A citizens’ assembly – given sufficient time, resources and expert assistance – offers one means to solve the problem of taking difficult, long-term decisions in a political system governed by short-term rules.

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Greta Thunberg, Climate Change Activist, Sails Into New York City

BBC


Greta Thunberg sails into New York City

Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in New York after a 15-day, 3,000-mile (4,800km) voyage across the Atlantic.
She will be participating in UN climate summits in New York City and Chile.
The 16-year-old Swede sailed from Plymouth in the UK on a zero-emissions yacht in order to minimise the carbon footprint of her travel.
"Our war on nature must end," she told reporters shortly after arriving on Wednesday.
"I want to thank everyone... who is involved in this climate fight, because this is a fight across borders, across continents," she said.
When asked about the fires that have ravaged the Amazon rainforest in recent weeks, she said they were a "clear sign we need to stop destroying nature
Ms Thunberg was expected to arrive sooner, but rough seas slowed her progress. She has been documenting the voyage on social media.
As she departed the UK two weeks ago, she told the BBC that travelling by boat sends a signal that "the climate change crisis is a real thing".
When asked if she could make US President Donald Trump listen she answered with a simple "no".
"I'm not that special. I can't convince everyone," she said. "I'm just going to do what I want to do and what will have most impact."
On arrival in New York she had another message for Mr Trump: "My message for him is listen to the science and he obviously doesn't do that."
She will be present at the UN climate summit on 23 September and the COP25 climate conference in Chile in December.

The Swedish teen behind the climate strikes

The teenager has made headlines for her "school strikes" which have inspired a worldwide climate change protest movement.
Her first "strike for climate" took place outside the Swedish parliament in August last year.
Ms Thunberg travelled on the Malizia II, a high-speed, 60ft (18m) racing yacht with underwater turbines and no carbon emissions.
She made the journey with her father Svante, captain Boris Herrmann, Monaco royal family member Pierre Casiraghi and a Swedish documentary maker, Nathan Grossman.


Inside a training camp teaching climate activists how to protest effectively

Her boat had no shower or toilet, according to Reuters, and the sailing party ate freeze-dried food.
The teenager was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year.
Ms Thunberg has been diagnosed with Asperger's, a form of autism, which she told the BBC allowed her to "see things from outside the box".
"If I would've been like everyone else, I wouldn't have started this school strike for instance," she said.


Climate change: How 1.5C could change the world

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Wind And Solar Set New Generation Records Across Australia Grid In July

RenewEconomy -  | 


Wind generation set new records across Australia’s main grid in July, helping the combined output of “new renewables” – that is wind and solar – to also reach a new peak for the month.
The milestone was noted in The Australia Institute’s monthly National Energy Emissions Audit, published on Tuesday, which shows that average monthly wind generation set new record levels in both Victoria and NSW in July.


And across the entire National Electricity Market, wind power set a new peak output benchmark of 4,586MW at 9pm on July 14, when it was supplying 18 per cent of total generation.


The record wind levels also helped “new” renewable generation – that is, excluding the “traditional” renewables of hydro and biomass – achieve a record monthly share of NEM generation (Figure 8), even in a month that is typically poor for solar.


“(A) rise in renewables can be seen across Australia,” said Hugh Saddler, the author of the TAI report that also highlights the world-leading example that is being set by South Australia, on how to move ‘beyond baseload.’
“Our Audit shows that wind supplied a record 18 per cent of total NEM generation on 14 July, the equivalent output of over two Liddell power stations,” Saddler said, referring to the ageing coal clunker that is now due exit the market in April 2023, after intense pressure from the federal Coalition to keep it open passed its use-by date.
“Australia can quickly and affordably transition to renewables and storage, as demonstrated by South Australia, but investigations into so-called baseload energy, like nuclear, are a complete distraction by government.”

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BCA Rejects Climate Change Campaign

AFR - John Kehoe

The Business Council of Australia has written to institutional investors to hit back against claims by climate change activist groups that the corporate lobby group is blocking changes to tackle global warming.
In a letter to institutional investors sent this week, BCA chief executive Jennifer Westacott and president Grant King said they wanted to clarify that the group “supports strong action on climate change”.
Grant King and Jennifer Westacott have written to institutional investors to clarify the group's position on climate change. Wolter Peeters
Activist groups such as the Australasian Centre of Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) and Australian Conservation Foundation, both registered charities, have been “naming and shaming" firms including AGL, BHP, National Australia Bank, Origin Energy, Qantas, Rio Tinto, Santos, Westpac and Woodside Petroleum over their membership of industry groups and their level of support for climate change action.
Energy companies have also been slammed for using coal-fired power stations.
The ACCR has filed resolutions at shareholding meetings and pressed institutional investors such as superannuation funds to demand the companies quit or review their memberships of the Business Council of Australia, Minerals Council of Australia and Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association.
Member companies, particularly consumer-facing businesses which have minimal emissions and are committed to strong action on climate change, such as Telstra and the big banks, have been unnerved by the campaigns.
Ms Westacott and Mr King said in the letter to big investors the BCA is being targeted "because we have sought to be transparent about the costs and trade-offs required in the necessary transition to a low-emissions economy."
“If we are to finally achieve a durable climate policy, we must have an open and honest debate about the impact of the changes required to become a lower emissions economy,” they wrote.
“We support strong action on climate change combined with solutions to curtail the rapid growth in energy costs and measures to improve the reliability of electricity supply in Australia.
“This is a longstanding policy position and represents a pragmatic approach to a global issue.
“The BCA and its members believe this transition should take place at the lowest possible cost to ensure that Australia’s standard-of-living is not put at risk.
"Australian businesses and households must have access to energy that remains reliable, secure and affordable as the sector progressively decarbonises.”
The BCA has long supported a market-based price signal to limit carbon emissions and was a strong backer of the Turnbull government’s proposed National Energy Guarantee for the electricity sector, which was derailed last year by Coalition conservatives.
It backs Australia’s 26-28 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030 under the Paris international climate accord.
Industry representative groups are increasingly under pressure over climate change, as their disparate range of members clash over the level of proposed emissions cuts, coal, renewable energy and other energy policies.
BHP in 2017 delivered an ultimatum to the Minerals Council to stop lobbying governments to fund new coal-fired power stations or risk losing the company as a member.
BHP played a pivotal role in ousting Brendan Pearson as Minerals Council chief executive over his advocacy for "clean coal" after BHP revealed it had "material differences" of opinion with the MCA, the World Coal Association and the US Chamber of Commerce.
Mr Pearson is now a senior trade adviser to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
The Australian Financial Review reported in April that Rio Tinto had threatened to walk away from the Minerals Council over climate change, though today it remains a member of the council.

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Climate Change Is Likely To Devastate The Global Food Supply. But There's Still Reason To Be Hopeful

TIME - Amanda Little

A couple of urban farmers organising crates of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables on a truck, ready to take them to market. Tom Werner—Getty Images
Amanda Little
Amanda Little is a professor of journalism and science writing at Vanderbilt University and the author of The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in A Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World.
The most troubling paradox of the 21st century may be that human population is expected to climb to 9.7 billion by midcentury — yet the global food supply is predicted to plummet.
The Special Report on Climate Change and Land released earlier this month by the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change, penned by experts in more than 50 countries, details in stark terms “the risk to millions of people from climate extremes, desertification, land degradation and food and livelihood insecurity.” Another recent IPCC report predicted a 2 to 6 percent decline in global crop yields every decade going forward — that’s potentially millions of acres phasing out annually — due to drought, heat, flooding, superstorms, weather volatility, shifting seasons, insect infestations and other symptoms of a warming planet. According to Jerry Hatfield, the director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, the single biggest threat of climate change is the collapse of food systems: “Other threats — flooding, storms, forest fires — may be more sudden and severe in certain regions, but disruptions in food supply will affect virtually everyone.”
For most of us, this still feels like an abstract problem. The industrialized world on the whole is enjoying a more abundant, diverse and accessible food supply than ever before in human history. The supermarket that’s located a few hundred feet from my house is open 19 hours a day, seven days a week, and stocks more than 50,000 distinct food items deriving from countries as far-flung as Zimbabwe. Many of us are more worried about too many food options, not too few of them.
But disruptions in supply are already evident almost everywhere food is grown.
Last month, the heat wave that swept Europe scorched old vineyards and new cornfields alike. When Bordeaux reached a record 106 degrees Fahrenheit, France’s Minister of Agriculture said the country’s coveted wine production would decline up to 13 percent in 2019. The soy and corn farmers in the American Midwest, meanwhile, faced a very different problem: sodden fields from unusually heavy spring rains were too wet to plant, resulting in billions of dollars of lost crops. Climatic pressures in recent years have also damaged or destroyed millions of acres of olive groves in Italy, citrus and peach orchards in Florida and Georgia, apple and cherry orchards in Wisconsin and Michigan, avocado farms in Mexico, coffee and cacao farms in dozens of equatorial nations. Water-intensive dairy and livestock operations are suffering the world over.
While threats to food production are varied and region-specific, a single story connects them: Climate change is becoming something we can taste. This is now a kitchen-table issue, literally and otherwise.Climate change also intensifies the existing problems in industrial food production, many of which are (in an ironic twist) themselves root causes of climate change.
Food waste, for example: more than a third of all food grown globally rots on the field or in transit or is thrown out. Rampant soil degradation has lead to the overuse of synthetic fertilizers that, in turn, evaporate into the air to form nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Pesticides have been causing mass die-offs of bees that play Oscar-caliber supporting roles as pollinators in food production; now climate change is making life even harder for these beneficial insects.
What, we must wonder, lies ahead? Will future historians look back on our current agricultural moment and see it as Dickens did Europe in the late eighteenth century—an age of belief and incredulity when “we had everything before us, we had nothing before us”?
We have good reason to believe we’re headed toward nothing. By the middle of this century, a 2014 IPCC report reads, the world may reach “a threshold of global warming beyond which current agricultural practices can no longer support large human civilizations.” But that fate hinges on a key assumption — that current agricultural practices won’t change. And if my research has taught me anything, it’s that farmers, scientists, activists and engineers the world over are radically rethinking food production.
I spent the past five years exploring the lands, minds and machines, working on the future of food, traveling from small apple orchards in Wisconsin and tiny cornfields in Kenya to massive Norwegian fish farms and computerized foodscapes in Shanghai. I investigated new and old ideas, from robotics, CRISPR, alternative meats and vertical farms to edible insects, permaculture, fertilizer management and ancient plants. I learned through research in more than a dozen countries and as many states that human innovation, which marries new and old approaches to food production and land management, can build climate resilience and redefine sustainable food on a grand scale.

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