Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Politicians must use their energy to help the planet
PERSONAL responsibility is a great thing. It’s something us as consumers have been bombarded with for decades. Carbon emissions – here’s how to work out your personal load. Planetary heating – you need to do your bit to cut that too. Plastics galore – sure they make life easier.
I’m not saying we don’t all have a part to play in the climate challenges ahead, because we do.
And in no way am I advocating for people across Northern Ireland to down tools on these issues and stop playing their part because everything we do, even in this wee place, matters for the nature we share it with.
But I do want to know where the “personal” responsibility of businesses and governments that have brought us here comes into play.
While the world burns around us, sea creatures in California are drowning in oil, a seal in the Lagan has a Red Bull can stuck to its face and global warming is moving much faster than predicted, I don’t see any of the big companies or governments owning up to their role in the climate crisis.
Earlier this week, a Scottish court found in favour of BP after Greenpeace tried to void their licence to extract oil in the North Sea.
The environmental charity argued the total emissions from the consumption of the oil should be factored into any criteria for granting them a licence – and not just the emissions they create taking it from the ground.
UK permits are usually granted on how efficient the extraction process is, you see.
Greenpeace has vowed to appeal the decision, but for me their action has raised even bigger questions about whether the sum environmental impact should be considered when governments approve such works.
If big oil can get away with shifting the blame for their carbon emissions, they appear only too willing to take that opportunity.
But why do we let them away with it? I know they provide the fuel that keeps our cars on the road and while the price of an electric car is way out of reach for most of us, that’s essential to daily life in a region that ripped out most of its railways and made cars king.
But surely now’s the time for world governments to stop facilitating fossil fuel extraction. A report by Forbes in September outlined how the extraction of coal, oil and gas will need to be “sharply curtailed” to keep global warming below the 1.5C limit in the Paris climate agreement.
Their report followed a study by the Nature journal which found “nearly 60% of oil and fossil methane gas and 90% of coal must remain unextracted to keep within a 1.5C carbon budget”. That means a 3% reduction each year worldwide until 2050. As it stands fossil fuels account for 81% of the primary energy demand around the world, so it’s a huge job.
On top of keeping it in the ground, we are relying on businesses and tech to come up with clean energy solutions to heat our homes, drive our transport systems and allow us to put dinner on the table.
But in order to do that, they need the support of policy-makers.
In June 2018, the London-based Overseas Development Institute claimed G7 governments were providing £80billion a year to support oil, gas and coal development and consumption.
In June this year they said that despite promises to “build back better” after the pandemic those same nations “have been pumping more money into fossil fuels than they have into clean energy”, following a report by Tearfund Consortium.
Politicians here can make a difference when it comes to Stormont policy on fracking, petroleum licensing, mineral exploitation, the direction of travel on trains, supporting farmers to create biodiversity-rich lands, electric vehicle charging points, insulating homes and installing more environmentally and purse-friendly heating systems in homes.
There’s no reason planning policy couldn’t be changed to encourage more green space in developments or even allotments where families could grow their own food.
Or so that all new homes have the highest possible energy performance certificates – saving those who live in them money on their ever-growing gas, oil and electricity bills but also helping the planet.
Now’s the time to stop facilitating fossil fuel extraction
health treatment to nurses without them having to inform bosses.
“The nurses who contact us often just give their first names, and call after their shift when they know no one will overhear,” he said.
“They’re afraid. For every nurse who seeks help, hundreds don’t.”
One who sought confidential help went into a spiral of depression after working 12-hour shifts.
Kate (not her real name), a physiotherapist who had never worked with critically ill patients, recalled: “It was harrowing. I knew I was going to have to stand by as patients took their last breaths. I had a constant sense of dread.” Labour has called for a Care for Carers package, including a 24/7 phoneline for frontline healthcarers to access mental health support. The pressure on staff is not helped by a system in dire need of resources. Our Mirror poll found a third of those who needed treatment for mental health in the pandemic have been waiting for three months or more.
And FOI figures, obtained by Labour, reveal that one in 65 calls to 999 is now for a mental health issue. Last year at least 161,000 people with mental health issues were brought to A&E by ambulance. That is up 147% 2010, before the Tories began cuts.
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust had a 780% increase, while Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust had a 714% rise on 2010.
It was London hospital trusts which had the largest rise between 2019 and 2020, with King’s College Hospital receiving a 17% surge in mental health patients by ambulance and Chelsea and Westminster up 21%.
Sarah Pengilley, 34, who suffers from bipolar disorder, found support “evaporated” during the pandemic. She started suffering side-effects of her medication and when she could not get any help from her mental health team, ended up at A&E.
She was sent home but her symptoms worsened. She went back the next day for another six hours and on the third day a friend called 999. Tests showed her dose was too high.
She said: “One team appointment could potentially have solved it. It took two months for a review.”
The Government has earmarked £500million to deal with the health crisis, plus an extra £2.3billion a year by 2023/24. It says this will help an additional two million people, however there are an estimated eight million who have been told they do not fit the criteria for help and 1.5 million youngsters predicted to be affected in the next few years.
The Department of Health says that new 24/7 mental health phone lines, separate to 111, have helped three million people get support since May 2020. They also say just 2% of callers to the line need an ambulance.