Tackling our carbon footprint in the year ahead
HAPPY New Year; I hope 2019 will be a good year for you and yours.
The year ahead is going to be an eventful one regarding climate change. Shortly before Christmas, environmental news contained little festive cheer. Naturalist David Attenborough described climate change as the greatest threat to face humanity in thousands of years. Former US vice-president Al Gore said we are facing the single most important moral choice that humanity has ever faced.
For the second year running, Ireland’s performance on climate action in response to global warming was ranked the worst in the European Union. Globally, we came 48th out of 56 countries rated in the Climate Change Performance Index rankings.
At the United Nations Climate Conference in Poland, there was criticism of Ireland for failing to live up to commitments made to achieve the goals set by the 2015 Paris Agreement for member states of the European Union. There was an admission by our government that we will almost certainly fail to meet our agreed commitment for 2020 emissions reduction resulting in hefty fines to be paid out of the public purse.
To make matters worse, recent reports suggest that the targets that we are failing to achieve under the Paris Agreement are too low and that much more urgent action needs to be taken.
Some commentators enthusiastically projected that in 2019 we would change from being laggards to being leaders in the battle to halt rising mean global temperature. While that may have been a tad ambitious, we do need to step up and to start catching up by making changes to the way we live if we are to become the low carbon and climate resilient society that we need to be.
Minister Richard Bruton has promised ‘ huge changes’ in climate action in Ireland; changes that will prompt a ‘revolution in how we live’. While the specifics of his forthcoming Climate Action Plan to be published in February remain to be seen it would be great if he takes onboard the many common sense proposals put forward by the Citizens’ Assembly in their April 2018 report.
Getting there will be expensive, painful for some, and politically unpopular; remember the protests over water charges here at home in 2016-2017 and the ‘yellow vests’ movement in France before Christmas. The challenge ahead is to try to maintain the standard of living while, at the same time, finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
The reason why we humans keep pets is because we enjoy them as companions (the post-modern term for pets is “companion animals”). Yet paradoxically, we often find ourselves living such busy lives that we don’t have time to spend just being with our pets. We forget about the pleasure of lying on a bed with a purring cat beside you, or going on a long walk with the sole company of a dog. Animals can make the very best companions if we give them a chance: they communicate with emotions and body language, not with words, and that can be refreshing for us humans, living as we do in a world of noisy chattering. So not only would it be good for our pets if we gave them more attention: it would also be good for our own peace of mind.
2. Give us good food, but don’t give us too much.
Around two thirds of all pets are overweight or obese, and this leads directly to shorter, less enjoyable lives. Pets aren’t good at self restraint when it comes to eating, but they shouldn’t have to be: as owners, it’s our job to control the amount of food they eat. So when they put on weight, it isn’t their fault: it’s our responsibility. If you care about your pet, make sure that you feed them the correct amount, of the right type of pet food, so that they live nutritionally optimal lives.
3. Look after our health properly
Pet health is not rocket science: it’s veterinary science. Joking aside, the science is important. These days, especially with the internet and social media, it’s easy for people to believe half-truths and downright lies that are peddled as “the real truth”. There are crazy conspiracy theories about harm caused by modern medicines and pet foods, but they are never based on science. Some people like the idea of “pure” and “natural”, and that’s understandable. But there’s no reason why pure and natural should not be allied with good science at the same time. Science is based on the principle of cause and effect, observed and proven by repeated experience. It is difficult for pet owners to assimilate the science of pet health; vets study at college for at least five years to learn this stuff. Vets know what causes good pet health, and it makes logical sense to put that into practice. In summary, the best way to look after your pet’s health properly is to engage with your local vet. Take your pet for a once yearly health check; talk about the various aspects of their lives, and ask for your vet’s opinion on how to get them into optimal physical condition.
4. Include us in your financial planning
There’s no public health service or medical card system for pets: if they have accidents or fall ill, you need to pay the costs of getting them treated yourself. It’s predictable that most pets will need veterinary help at some stage in their lives, and if you don’t plan for this, your pets will suffer. The most effective way to prepare is to take out pet insurance: you pay a small monthly sum and the pet insurance company promises that it will cover the costs if your pet needs the vet. If you won’t take out pet insurance, you should put a monthly sum aside in a special “pet fund” in anticipation. The aim is to avoid a situation where a vet is saying: we can help you, but it will cost €2000 (or whatever), and your response is “I can’t afford that, so I can’t give my pet the help they need”.
5. Love us as the animals we are
To give pets the best lives, we need to treat them as dogs, cats or whatever they are: find out what the real needs of their species are, and make sure that you supply those. They are not little humans and we should not treat them like “fur babies”, pretending that they are little people.
Resolve to be your “best self ” for your pets this year.