The anti-capitalism movement predicts rising sea levels, desertification, wildfires, water shortages, crop failures, extreme weather, millions of people displaced, disease and increased conflict/wars.
This week has been all about climate change. Extinction Rebellion (XR), a grassroot anti-capitalism activist movement against climate change and environment disasters, is holding a two-week global protest from 15 to 29 April, to disrupt capitals and draw attention to the ‘Global Emergency’. XR predicts rising sea levels, desertification, wildfires, water shortages, crop failures, extreme weather, millions of people displaced, disease and increased conflict/wars. In London, blockades with music and dancing, have enjoyed gridlocking traffic at Oxford Circus, Parliament Square, Vauxhall, Waterloo Bridge, and Piccadilly Circus with an XR village of tents, table tennis and theatre at Marble Arch. XR’ s argument is, “under our current system, we are headed for disaster. Catastrophic climate breakdown will cause food collapse, destroy communities, kill millions, and render many more homeless. Mass extinction of wild species will lead to ecological collapse, and when they go, we go. Destruction of natural habitats will lead to genocide of indigenous peoples and the loss of our planet’s life support systems.”
XR’s spokespeople have appeared on all the national television channels demanding a “citizens’ assembly to oversee the changes, as we rise from the wreckage, creating a democracy fit for purpose”. To make their point XR eco-warriors glued themselves to trains and Jeremy Corbyn’s front wall. On Thursday, at 9.30 a.m. the Metropolitan Police reported 428 arrests in relation to XR in London.
XR has an efficient social media communication system that appears to have called in reserves as soon as arrests reduced their number. Transport for London shut down the Wi-Fi on the London Underground to disable communications. Neither the Government nor the Parliament have commented, probably because they are all on Easter holidays. XR plans further civil disobedience, internationally.
Central Bankers Mark Carney, François Villeroy de Galhau and Frank Elderson published a joint OpEd in The Guardian to advise on the risk and preparations necessary for carbon emissions to reach net zero by 2050. They say governments may be responsible for policy, but the private sector will be responsible for the smooth transition of a low carbon economy. They refer to the report ‘A call for action: Climate change as a source of financial risk’ by The Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). The NGFS, a coalition of the willing and a voluntary, consensus-based forum provides six non-binding recommendations for central banks, supervisors, policymakers and financial institutions, to enhance their role in the greening of the financial system and the managing of environment and climate-related risks. NGFS recognises there is a strong risk and that climate related financial risks are not fully reflected in asset valuations. Calling for collective leadership and globally coordinated action, they believe the role of international organisations and platforms is critical. Their recommendations reflect the best practices identified by NGFS members to facilitate the role of the financial sector in achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
- Integrating climate-related risks into financial stability monitoring and micro-supervision
- Integrating sustainability factors into own-portfolio management
- Bridging the data gaps
- Building awareness and intellectual capacity and encouraging technical assistance and knowledge sharing
- Achieving robust and internationally consistent climate and environment related disclosure
- Supporting the development of a taxonomy of economic activities
The detail on the steps to achieve this financial stability is published on the Banque de France website.
A new UK Space Agency directory showcases the range of UK expertise in satellite technology and how it can help tackle problems such as illegal deforestation, disaster response and food production from space. This is produced under the International Partnership Programme (IPP), a five-year, £152 million programme run by the UK Space Agency. IPP uses the UK space sector’s research and innovation strengths to deliver a sustainable, economic and societal benefit to underveloped nations and developing economies. Projects within IPP span themes including: improving agricultural development, enhancing disaster response, increasing resilience to climate change, reducing maritime pollution and illegal
fishing, and reducing deforestation. The objective is to raise awareness and interest in the usage of space solutions in developing countries. The primary audience is potential users and customers of these space solutions, including government, private sector, donors and NGOs.
Recent global warming has been confirmed by Atmospheric Infra-Red Sounder (AIRS) demonstrating that previously reported results of recent global warming, as depicted in many ground-based data sets, is confirmed in the totally independent satellite-based AIRS data set.The study reported by J Susskind, G A Schmidt published on IOPScience demonstrates that the Earth’s surface has been warming globally during 2003- 2017, and that 2016, 2017, and 2015 have been the warmest years in the instrumental record, in that order.