The climber’s guide to tackling climate change...just start at the bottom and work to the top
Talk of climate change is everywhere – nearly as much as Brexit.
But talk is not enough if we are to help the planet. We might be tempted to think there is no point doing anything on a local level if planes still fill the skies, fossil fuels continue to be guzzled and renewable energy is viewed by some as trendy.
However, it is at a local level that attitudes can be changed, thereby making our leaders choose ever-better environmental policies.
As I leave Carlops to begin a hike through a delightfully quiet corner of the Pentland Hills, all seems good with the world on a sunny day. What set me thinking was the electricity wires strung across the first field. A good thing because people in the remote farms have power – or bad because of the way the power is generated? My conclusion was that it would be better to put the wires underground and create the energy by renewable means. Not easy? Well, we can afford a lot of things in a first world country, so why not that?
Further up the glens, cattle and sheep are seen before the Bore Stane is reached. This bealach with a straggle of pines and larch is a pleasant place to rest before the final push up East Cairn Hill. Livestock are getting a bad press in the climate change debate. Perhaps awareness of the pressure their production places on the environment may lead to attitudes towards how we eat meat. Why not?
It is not just big changes that are needed. Little things can
make people look at the big picture. Why, for example, at committees and press conferences do we always see bottles of water on tables? What is wrong with a jug of tap water?
Reaching the top of East Cairn Hill – with its huge Bronze Age cairn further on – made me consider the current campaign for more national parks in Scotland, supported broadly by The Scots Magazine.
It may sound obvious but surely national parks are a way of making environmentally-sound decisions at a local level? In turn, they help improve our approach to climate change on a global scale by making everyone think of how we use and treat the world.
If that sounds a little simplistic, that’s because it is. Like many problems, it is only once the need for change is accepted that real progress can be made.
When going downhill, try to relax your body and allow your stride to get a little shorter and faster. This lighter step helps absorb the impact on the knees and back.