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4 Column CLIMATE by John Stewart STIR issue 05 It could be a game-changer, the flooding. It seems to have opened eyes to climate change where myriad arguments and international conferences have only failed. It’s perhaps not surprising this has happened as the floods have literally brought home to many people the reality of climate change. I overheard the comment: “The English call cold winters ‘bracing’, hot summers ‘a nice change’, but floods threatened their pride and joy — their carefully nurtured homes.” The floods seem to have also helped the Prime Minister rediscover his inner green self too. He’s not quite hugging huskies again but he told the House of Commons in January, “Colleagues across the House can argue about whether [the flooding] is linked to climate change or not. I very much suspect that it is.” Another person in little doubt was Prince Charles as he addressed a summit in early February organised by his charity Business in the Community. He said the flooding of the Somerset Levels was a “classic example” of what happens if society pays “little attention to the accumulating impact of climate change.” Dame Julia Slingo, the Met Office’s Chief Scientist, claimed that the variable UK climate means that whilst there is “no definitive answer ... all the evidence suggests there is a link to climate change.” And heavyweight Lord Stern, author of the influential 2006 Stern Report, stated that he now feels he did not make the case strongly enough back then: “Looking back, I underestimated the risks.” He has now urged politicians to see the floods and other extreme weather around the globe as a “wake-up call to act now.” I cite these examples to show that even the establishment is coalescing around the view that “Climate change itself is likely to determine the way forward ... Floods, droughts and soaring temeratures can be very persuasive.” human-induced climate change is a real threat that needs to be dealt with. When that happens — in any field — policy change is likely to follow. The Lord Lawsons of this world, and similar climate sceptics/deniers, are being shut out of establishment thinking. They are seeing their arguments drown in the flooded fields of Somerset. So here’s your starter for 10. Who said this? “It seems to me unarguable that man has an impact on the climate. It seems to me unarguable that climate change can have a devastating and damaging impact on societies and economies that are even less developed. And therefore it seems to me unarguable that we should seek first to lessen the impact that man might have on the climate, and secondly invest appropriately in measures to mitigate and protect individuals and societies from the impact of climate change.” A deep-green dreamer? No. It was Michael Gove, the secretary of state for education in the current government. He gave these words at the
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STIR issue 05 launch of Responsibility and Resilience in February, the pamphlet published by the Conservative Environment Network, for which he wrote a chapter. I have long taken the view that climate change, once accepted as human-induced and real, will not be an issue owned by the political left or right. People will certainly seek answers to deal with climate change from their own political perspective, and so those on the right will tend to favour market-based solutions while the left will stress the need for structural change. After the floods, all politicians will be much more confident that any measures they take to tackle flooding will have much more support from the public at large. The flooding has highlighted one other key difference emerging in how best to tackle climate change: whether the root causes of climate change need to be tackled or whether it is more realistic to mitigate its impacts. I suspect that this is the debate that will now dominate. The pressure on politicians to lead on mitigation will be significant. For many powerful interests, the stakes are high. The fossil fuel companies — and the oil-producing countries — will use their considerable clout to ensure that it remains business-as-usual for the oil industry. The aviation industry will resist any bid to tax its fuel. Other 5 industries will be equally resistant. The call will be to mitigate. Climate change itself is likely to determine the way forward. It is widely accepted that this year’s floods won’t be the last or the worst. We fully expect more summer heat waves, hotter than last summer. The changing climate has already made sceptics like the secretary of state for the environment Owen Paterson look like relics from Noah’s Ark. Last June he told BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions “the climate’s been going up and down” for centuries, pointing out that the earth’s surface temperature “has not changed in the last 17 years. The real question that everyone is trying to address is: Is this influenced by man-made activity in recent years?" The changing climate will also answer the question, to adapt or mitigate? Floods, droughts and soaring temperatures can be very persuasive. They brook little argument, particularly when they occur not just in little-known countries in Africa or Asia but also on the playing fields of Eton. l John Stewart has campaigned on environmental issues for more than 30 years. Most recently he chaired the coalition that defeated plans for a third runway at Heathrow. NETTLE BEER JOHN RENSTEN FORAGE LONDON This is the perfect drink for anyone on a budget. Ready to consume in just a week from picking, nettle beer always sounded to me like a nasty concoc- tion my Dad might have forced upon us in the ‘70s. How wrong I was; this amazing brew tastes like a cross between a wonderful rustic cider and an old style ale or sweet wine. I’m never sure how alcoholic it is; I have a hydrometer but rarely bother with anything so specific in any of my recipes. Nettles are a great “cut and come again” plant so if your local patch has got much too tall and the nettle tips too robust (and full of gritty crystals) you can cut them down and come back for the delicious new growth a couple of weeks later. Find recipes, tips and more www.foragelondon.co.uk or tweet @ForageLondon TO BREW Take about 50 nettle tops (roughly the top 6 to 8 inches), picked using rubber gloves and some good scissors, then wash and add to 6 litres of water (usually in two pans unless you have on huge one). Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes before removing the nettles (eat them as a veg or use to make a lifetime supply of pesto) and adding 500 grams of sugar and 25 grams of cream of tartar powder. Stir until the sugar dissolves and then let the liquid cool to tepid before mixing in 8 grams of brewers yeast, then leave in a sterilised bucket with muslin over the top for a few days before syphoning into sterilised bottles (if you have not done any syphoning before, this is the fun bit and just requires a bit of plastic tube. Check YouTube for demos but ignore most of what they say, it’s really simple). I usually leave it for three days but I have read of people leaving it up to two weeks … basically you need to let the first fermentation stage do its thing or your bottles will explode in dramatic fashion. There are loads of recipes on the internet to mix and match ideas to get the best result and taste (I have read of people adding lots of grated fresh ginger which sounds terrific as nettle beer does taste a bit like a ginger beer, too). This makes about a dozen normal sized bottles.

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4

Column

CLIMATE

by John Stewart

STIR issue 05

It could be a game-changer, the flooding. It seems to have opened eyes to climate change where myriad arguments and international conferences have only failed. It’s perhaps not surprising this has happened as the floods have literally brought home to many people the reality of climate change. I overheard the comment: “The English call cold winters ‘bracing’, hot summers ‘a nice change’, but floods threatened their pride and joy — their carefully nurtured homes.”

The floods seem to have also helped the Prime Minister rediscover his inner green self too. He’s not quite hugging huskies again but he told the House of Commons in January, “Colleagues across the House can argue about whether [the flooding] is linked to climate change or not. I very much suspect that it is.”

Another person in little doubt was Prince Charles as he addressed a summit in early February organised by his charity Business in the Community. He said the flooding of the Somerset Levels was a “classic example” of what happens if society pays “little attention to the accumulating impact of climate change.”

Dame Julia Slingo, the Met Office’s Chief Scientist, claimed that the variable UK climate means that whilst there is “no definitive answer ... all the evidence suggests there is a link to climate change.”

And heavyweight Lord Stern, author of the influential 2006 Stern Report, stated that he now feels he did not make the case strongly enough back then: “Looking back, I underestimated the risks.” He has now urged politicians to see the floods and other extreme weather around the globe as a “wake-up call to act now.”

I cite these examples to show that even the establishment is coalescing around the view that

“Climate change itself is likely to determine the way forward ... Floods, droughts and soaring temeratures can be very persuasive.”

human-induced climate change is a real threat that needs to be dealt with. When that happens — in any field — policy change is likely to follow. The Lord Lawsons of this world, and similar climate sceptics/deniers, are being shut out of establishment thinking. They are seeing their arguments drown in the flooded fields of Somerset.

So here’s your starter for 10. Who said this?

“It seems to me unarguable that man has an impact on the climate. It seems to me unarguable that climate change can have a devastating and damaging impact on societies and economies that are even less developed. And therefore it seems to me unarguable that we should seek first to lessen the impact that man might have on the climate, and secondly invest appropriately in measures to mitigate and protect individuals and societies from the impact of climate change.”

A deep-green dreamer? No. It was Michael Gove, the secretary of state for education in the current government. He gave these words at the

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