April 7th, 2020
I’ve heard from Chris Stark, the CEO of the Committee on Climate Change, telling me not to despair! Apparently, the return of investors for ‘net zero’ projects now look better, in many cases, than the returns on oil and gas projects.
This is a bit difficult to hear when there is also news at the moment of some companies and investors ‘cashing in’ on the Covid19 epidemic…There will always be selfish, unashamed greedy people, I guess….
However chaotic the current UK government seems to us at this moment too, Mr Stark also says it ‘seems to have a good grip on the issues and are already asking the right questions about what needs to come next’. Good!
As you may already know, the COP 26 conference due to be hosted by the UK in Glasgow in November has been postponed to next year – now we have to hope 2021 will be the year to start the world on the right track, I guess…
Good news about a dent in the future of the coal industry too – the Fridays for Future protest last month (before lockdown in Germany) at Siemens’ annual shareholder meeting was so huge it was reported on by media from all over the world. Climate defenders made it clear to shareholders that Siemens’ collaboration with the Adani coal project in Australia is damaging not only the environment but the company’s reputation.
Now I’m going to extend my ‘mission’ against eating meat – to joining in the call that wild animals around the world should not be eaten. This would help prevent the spread of disease, and also address one of the major drivers of species extinction.
In the wake of the initial outbreak of Covid 19 in Wuhan, China introduced a ban on all farming and consumption of live wildlife, which is expected to become law later this year – thousands of wildlife farms raising animals such as porcupines, civets and turtles have been shut down. Unfortunately there are remaining loopholes, allowing the trade in wild animals for medicine, pets and scientific research. Ironically an injection has been produced as a coronavirus treatment that contains bear bile. Sorry. Disgusting, even to carnivores…?!
I’ll return to the more general, fundamental point – as Professor Cunningham, of the Zoological Society of London, said: “If we’re to stop another pandemic in the future, we must focus on causes as well as effects.
At the root of the problem is the destruction of nature, bringing animals and humans into conflict….
“It’s not just happening in China, it’s happening in many other countries and even in the western world. We like to have exotic pets and many of those are wild caught – we ought to be putting our own house in order too.”
The Wildlife Conservation Society is calling for a ban on wildlife consumption, the wildlife trade and the destruction of Nature.
Finally, I hope I still have a few readers (…?!). Thank you, and please continue to check my tweets at #grandmaglobal – there are a lot of petitions worth putting your name to… Please!
Grandmother's questions 