Climate change battle starts at personal level
A world-renowned environmentalist has come to Nelson with warnings – and also advice.
Sir Jonathan Porritt visited Nelson to give a talk on sustainability in the face of climate change for the Cawthron Institute’s annual Thomas Cawthron Memorial Lecture yesterday.
Porritt said his talk would be more pessimistic than his usual, thanks to the recent dire report on the changes humans needed to make to mitigate climate change.
‘‘It’s really shocked people. So I need to shock people, and then get on to the solutions,’’ he said.
‘‘It is already really bad, that’s the reality. It is already turning out as bad as scientists said it would be by now; if anything, it’s a bit worse.’’
Porritt said there were two way of looking at things as they were: assuming that warnings would continue to fall on deaf ears, or that the combined force of ‘‘rock-solid’’ science, public perceptions, and political will would generate a response.
‘‘There’s a much higher level of awareness and a much higher understanding of the need to change faster than you might imagine.’’
He said there were steps that everyone could take to contribute to climate change mitigation.
‘‘I never want to get the personal responsibility story out of proportion, because the big changes can only come when governments change policy and when business changes the way in which it creates wealth. But from a personal point of view, there’s a ton of stuff we can do.’’
He said actions could range from choosing electric vehicles – especially in New Zealand, where 85 per cent of energy comes from renewable sources – all the way
‘‘It’s getting the balance right with what we should be doing and what we can be doing.’’
Sir Jonathan Porritt
through to people making adjustments to their diets.
‘‘These are all small things, but they all do add up, and there’s no reason why here in New Zealand, which has a high average quality of life . . . there’s no reason why these personal responsibilities couldn’t be accelerated.’’
Porritt said the best response was not ‘‘absolutist’’.
‘‘One of the ways in which you can make a massive difference to your own personal carbon footprint is to stop eating as much meat, and particularly stop eating as much beef. ‘‘I’m not saying everyone needs to become vegetarian or vegan – I’m not one myself . . . It’s not an absolutist thing, it’s getting the balance right with what we should be doing and what we can be doing.’’