Marlborough (and Devizes) were represented in Glasgow over the past couple weeks at COP26. Nearly, but not quite by our previous MP, Claire O’Neill (formerly Perry) as she was originally given the role of ‘President’ of the COP before it was taken away and handed to Alok Sharma.
So not by our former MP, rather by the local Extinction Rebellion movement, with Jo Ripley helping lead the Marlborough group of Devizes and Marlborough Extinction Rebellion, join the massive crowds of protestors in Glasgow demanding climate justice.
The Extinction Rebellion supporters message was that politicians’ rhetoric of the “last chance saloon” is undermined in the UK by the government’s enormous and expensive road building programme, the consideration to open a new oilfield off Shetland, the continuing funding of new fossil fuel projects around the world, the recent budget that makes internal flights cheaper, and more. And undermined globally by the failure of any agreement at the summit to stop the exploration of new fossil fuels, and their use, despite the warning from the International Energy Agency earlier this year there must be no new investment if we are to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees.
“COP26 has not kept ‘1.5 alive’” Jo told marlborough.news, adding “there is acknowledgement and more consensus than ever by most countries (with notable exceptions) that their plans are not good enough – and they’re absolutely not – they’ll lead to a catastrophic c2.4C of global heating”.
Does this affect us? Pretty conclusively, even from our Prime Minister the answer is an emphatic ‘Yes’. And while the actual warming of the planet surface and atmosphere is key and measurable, so is the effect of the Global warming on the underdeveloped and poorer states of the world who are on the front line of climate breakdown.
Unless some real action is taken, how many more years will The Maldives – for example – still remain in a habitable form as nowhere on this group of atolls in the Indian Ocean is more than 2m above the level of the sea?
Jo also pointed out that, extraordinarily this was the first COP agreement to include the words “fossil fuels” – the root of why the world is hurtling towards an existential crisis.“
It says much of the enormous lobbying power held by the many fossil fuel companies who were there in force,” said Caroline Smith, also in Glasgo w from the Marlborough area. “I went there to join other activists in voicing our fears about the terrifying lack of political will to end fossil fuels. I took to the streets out of frustration that my MP and our government are not listening to the science – we have been warned it is “code red” for humanity and we need action now to have any chance of staying below 1.5 degrees.”
Danny Kruger launches group to support the River Kennet and other major rivers in the South
