All known and parsed: so why the governance failure?

In a letter in the Cambridge Independent last year - which was truthful and factual - however (for what I guess must be good reasons) the (rabid/gibberish) response, that they chose to publish, libelled-insulted-and-belittled-me. But, as local colleagues chose not to help with legal action, I gave up on the matter (as I imagined that I must have got it wrong).

But, just now, a few other emails (on 'talk-meetings' / 'protest' / 'green') prompt me to think that maybe the silence is unhelpful. (And that the libel in the paper was perhaps from Dark Forces / Evil).

It was clear in Perth (WA) that the prawns we caught would soon die off from Lawn Fertiliser (in the 1980's) and that watering Lawn's was utter madness (in a low rainfall area). As is the suicidal use in 2020 of oil/gas (14.4 kgoilgas/cap/day), 600 kg/cap/yr steel or 8 kg/coal/cap/day, and the 37.9 kg of offal totally wasted (?/afaik) each year per person in the UK. The shocking inequities in this consumption (which is utterly pointless waste, arising from perverse incentives, ?), and destruction of habitat, is something that perhaps would merit more realism.

But, when I suggested a photo essay (the allotted per capita per year barrel/s of oil_eq/sacks-grain/pulses/veg-oil/sides-animals/tanks-water/steel/plastic/bricks/appliances/cars, in EU/Aus/NAm and Sri Lanka/Kerala), and got no response, I imagined that it must be a bad idea.

There is Piketty (untrue anyway, but also it's only 'wealth' ie /tokens..), which is important in what people think, but may have little impact on people's aspirations (consider: 'if you are in a bus age 35, you can count yourself a failure': as Margaret Thatcher said in 1986, Hansard). Which are also notably absent from the media and debate. And from our local planning (the spec of our footprint parameters, fixed up until 2040 at least: everyone commuting 10 miles each way per day, for eg, stone age construction (?), etc).

The prawns (migratory) have long since died off from that place (?). Every house in Perth still has a lawn, supplied from fossil water and gas-powered desalination.

Liquor (booze) is a huge part of our retail economy, and many others...

We talk about these, like talking about it is a meaningful activity. In 'party meetings', 'media debates', 'protests', 'speeches', 'letters', 'greenpeace/friends-of-the-earth/msf/xr', parliament and the UN/etc. But the prawn situation was absolutely obvious, and nothing was done. (So the green party (and greenpeace/etc) was a waste of time! Or worse?).

What do you advise? I can't understand.

Secretary of the Interior, UCLA, 1971? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH1cZwSkc94

"We found 1.5 trillion barrells of oil" (1971)
Oil guy: "Let's burn it all!"

Mass Delusions: Insanity?

How does it come about that people believe, and act upon, destructive mass delusions?

We're social primates with strong (and instinctive/primal/programmed) social hierarchies, bonding and behaviours. Including automatic division in "them" and "us", common cognitions, and symbols thereof. In the celebration of the Chinese Communist Party's 100th anniversary everbody placed the four digits of each hand carefully on their knees. In the USA President's inauguration everyone had had their teeth whitened.

In religions mass delusions, sometimes abominable/sometimes very helpful with great adaptive benefits, are common. Social bonding and empathy/committment, expressed and reinforced through accepting delusions in common. Or "those hills are haunted by evil spirits" [They have high levels of accumulating/toxic heavy metal ores].

In the Boer War the British came to believe that they could impose upon on the Boer commandos.

In Afghanistan the USA/NATO/Russia fought wars from the belief that they could do the same.

In the French Revolution of 1789 and in the revolutions of 1848, all across Europe, people/leaders came to believe they would benefit by overthrowing the existing order.

Many people, including decision makers, came to believe that overthrowing Saddam Hussein, Muammar Ghaddafi and Ali Saleh, or attempting to overthrow Bashar Assad, would do good.

Where do these madnesses come from?

#MoreInCommon, #WhatDoYouWant?

Destruction of value: or the imaginary (destructive) economy

List of economic activities that do not create wealth (value)

• vandalism
• road traffic crashes and other accidents
• gambling (so called "gaming")
• broken Microsoft / windows (software "sludge")
• alcohol and drugs (addictions)
• scams and rip-offs
• violence and other crime
• automatable "jobs"

These are pure redistribution (often with destruction of value)?

THE UK CARBON FOOTPRINT AND GLOBAL HEATING

To achieve sustainable levels of global heating, humanity has to reduce its' "Carbon Footprint" - which is measured in "tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents" (that is heating equivalents) or tCO2eq's per year. These are well established, since 1896 and earlier. And, for the heating equivalents, we now have "budgets", for 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, or for 1.5 deg C of global warming. Set in billions of tonnes of CO2eq that we can afford to add to the atmosphere, to achieve those levels of heating.

Since I was born in 1961, the heating layer has gone from 318 ppm to 419 ppm today. So the "heating layer" - or concentration of CO2 - the main heating gas - has gone up by a third. Thus already achieving climatic records every year, and almost 1 deg C of global average heating. Hotter atmospheres carry more water.

Personally - I have a relatively efficient, small and well insulated home - so I use only 1000kWh of electricity and 3500 kWh of gas pp/yr. Or, in other words, 1.0 tonnes of CO2eq (at current emission factors). Plus 2.1 tonnes for my food (as I don't really eat beef/lamb* and I often have beans or soya). My footprint does however include around another 3 tCO2eq at work (owing to a very draughty Victorian building that, for most occupants, is too-hot and too-cold). But, I don't own a car and haven't flown anywhere for 9 years.

By contrast the averages, per person, for the UK are nearly 3 tonnes for gas+electricity, 5 tonnes for food (with over 3 tCO2eq for the average beef/lamb consumption alone), 3.6 tCO2eq/yr for a car, and over 1.5 tCO2eq for a short overseas holiday.

However according to the World Bank, looking at national boundary emissions, UK emissions in 2016 were only 7.1 tCO2eq per capita per year, whereas, according to what I compiled (above) from good sources, our footprint is more like 11-13 tCO2eq/cap/yr. So really, unless I am very much mistaken, we must "offshore" a lot of our emissions, in food/ manufactures/ and holidays.

*An excellent summary of food emissions may be found at www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46459714
**Published in "Place Matters, Issue 22, July 2020, DP-URC, Cambridge".

What would you - the British public - like to do for a living?

Please imagine you were able to earn a living in ANY feasible occupation of your choice...

What feasible occupation, if anything, would you MOST like to do?

UK-National-Representative-Sample

BY: YouGov (UK) plc

SAMPLE: n=2094 adults

DATE: 24th of July 2019

• 18to24 = Persons aged 18 to 24
• AdminAndAsst = Assistant and administrative staff
• DirsAndPropriets = Directors and proprietors
• Retired = Retired people

HiRes (pdf, 43kB)

How can we use the government's own tools to help ensure there is no return to unsustainables?

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Below are thoughts (links and snippets) on what you might do to COMPEL CLIMATE ACTION IN THE CORONAVIRUS RECOVERY through legal means

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A CAMPAIGN TO:"Use the government's own tools (Green Book, Valuations, Benefits/Costs analysis, etc) to help ensure there is no return to unsustainables" in THE POST-CORONAVIRUS ECONOMY?

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NEWS / ITEMS:

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Climate change: A new subject for the law | UNESCO | Mar 2019   https://en.unesco.org/courier/2019-3/climate-change-new-subject-law

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Governments and firms in 28 countries sued over climate crisis - report | Climate change | The Guardian | 4 Jul 2019 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/04/governments-and-firms-28-countries-sued-climate-crisis-report

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"We are seeing increasing public and business support for smart climate policies, including carbon tax proposals like the [bipartisan US bill] [..] introduced today [26-Sep-2019]" | said Andrew Steer, president of the World Resources Institute | https://www.wri.org/news/2019/09/statement-another-bipartisan-carbon-pricing-bill-introduced-house 

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And selfishly pursuing particular interests risks “damaging the peaceful coexistence and development of future generations” | said Pope Francis, in his Easter Blessing. |  https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-04/pope-easter-urbi-et-orbi-blessing.html

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The Netherlands Supreme Court, in the Urgenda case last year, ordered [in December 2019] the government to step up cuts in emissions.

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Heathrow third runway: UK government actions ruled "illegal" | Friends of the Earth  |  https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate-change/Heathrow-third-runway-UK-government-actions-ruled-illegal  

A change in the wind? Heathrow expansion policy ruled unlawful in victory for climate campaigners | Hogan Lovells Publications | 16 March 2020    https://www.hoganlovells.com/en/publications/a-change-in-the-wind-heathrow-expansion-policy-ruled-unlawful-in-victory-for-climate-campaigners

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Legal action launched against UK's HS2 project by Chris Packham.     www.ft.com.  | 3 Mar 2020 | He is seeking a judicial review ...

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‘Model statute’ to hold governments to account on climate change | Launched by International Bar Association | 18 February 2020   https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/model-statute-to-hold-governments-to-account-on-climate-change/5103130.article | 

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FACTORS/CONSIDERATIONS:
- Climate : Paris Agreement
- Duty of care 
- Town & Country / Planning Act 
- Climate Change Act
- Stakeholders (future/children, remote/foreign). 
- Driving forces (consumption, myopia, preferences, perverse incentives, population). 
- Covid19 : recovery : shutdown : benefits [retain] (/costs) [avoid]. 
- Only 9% of Britons want to return to "normal" in post-coronavirus life | news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-only-9-of-britons-want-life-to-return-to-normal-once-lockdown-is-over-11974459 | survey human likes by thersa.org.uk. 
- Health, fitness & well-being. 
- UNDHR [?]. 

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ACTIONS [?]:

• Write to leaders; 
• Blog; 
• Request sensible (action) policy; 
• Fund legal challenges; 
• Donate to activist charities (eg FriendsOfTheEarth.org.uk); 
• Check your (district;county;state;nation's) plan for compliance; 
• Pay for a professional to check compliance; 
• Join legal challenges; 
• Campaign among your congregation, to do the above.

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A FEW HOPES FOR POST-CORONAVIRUS:

• Less traffic on the roads (and therefore less pollution), because of many more people working from home. This should be easier for people once schools are open again.  
• Staggered (or flexible) working hours to spread traffic over a longer period, again reducing traffic (and perhaps also pollution).
• More nature and less cruelty.
• More sharing of cars, both for journeys to work and for school drop-offs.
• More walking and people travelling by bicycle, for work and leisure.

"How to make a resilient recovery" from Covid19, from the Committee for Climate Change, @theCCCuk:

• Climate investments for economic recovery + jobs.
• Promote positive, long-term, behaviours.
• Tackle climate and the ‘resilience deficit’ therein.
• Embed fairness.
• No lock-in of GHGs /or of increased risk.
• Incentives to cut emissions in taxation policies.

www.theccc.org.uk/2020/05/06/take-urgent-action-on-six-key-principles-for-a-resilient-recovery/

Green Recovery from COVID-19: A COP26 Universities Network Briefing:

• adopt +ve behaviours.
• #cleantech.
• education + training.
• fairer and more just #society.
• #harmony with nature.

www.zero.cam.ac.uk/stories/green-recovery-covid-19-cop26-universities-network-briefing

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What do you hope for, for the post corona-virus world? [a research topic]

What do you hope for, for the post corona-virus world?

Do you, possibly, know of someone who might want to fund a Covid-19 / aspirations-for-the-world survey?

Or, possibly, just the ZA and IN modules thereof.

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PROPOSED QUESTIONS:

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This question has three, separate, open answer sections - about what you desire for the world - from the perspective of i) your FOOD ii) your KIN and iii) from the perspective of your LIVING or WORK. 

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So, what do you hope for from the world, after the corona virus crisis has gone?

• from the perspective of your food.
• from the perspective of your descendants (including kin or relatives and great-grandchildren).
• from the perspective of your living or work.

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What goal would you most like to achieve in the next five years?

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To be published in:

• a journal paper (more ambitiously).
• a press release (and, sometimes, news articles).
• for my own edification.
• in tweets / social media / blogs.
• and, like two out of my four previous national-representative-studies (farming, worklifebal; susthopes; workdesires), eg osf.io/e7xnu