A guest blog by Karine Nohr
With the General Election looming, what are political parties saying about the Environmental Crisis? I made the mistake of turning on the radio to hear Farage displaying complete ignorance about the economics of the issue. Nearly 20 years ago the very important Stern Review, released by the UK Treasury. concluded that; ”.. the evidence gathered by the Review leads to a simple conclusion: the benefits
of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting.”Nigel Farage isn’t the only politician to fail to understand this. Last September, Sunak announced that he was delaying a ban on new combustible engine vehicles for cost reasons! The Climate Change Committee said that these changes were likely to increase energy bills and motoring costs and make climate targets even more difficult to meet.
Since the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill was tabled in 2020, pleas from
scientists have only become louder. We should be future-proofing. The idea of a bright future seems to have evaporated. As the urgency of taking serious steps becomes increasingly obvious, the political response becomes increasingly pathetic. Where are the grown-ups who can do joined-up thinking?
Our current political system is going to need radical reform. Many Government departments seem to think in silos, without joining up the dots. Some changes that could be introduced are no-brainers, and yet politicians continue to prevaricate, talk nonsense and avoid commitment. A clear 10-year plan for Home Insulation, for example, would be a quadruple winner: providing training and jobs for many people, cutting long-term heating costs, providing warm homes, reducing greenhouse emissions, reducing sickness and hospital admissions. Herein lies a big problem
with our political system: short-termism. Simplistic promises of MPs are
designed only to see them through to the next Election. Our political system
is not up to the task of the radical changes required to properly address the Ecological and Biodiversity Crises. Another no-brainer of joined-up thinking is around quality school
dinners. The Food Commission has just published a report that says that UK
children are getting smaller, fatter and sicker, due to a combination of poor
diet, food insecurity and poverty. Other factors include the aggressive
promotion of junk food, which tends to be briefly filling but of very poor
nutritional value. Obesity brings with it a litany of health problems, from
heart disease to diabetes to joint problems and more. Our NHS is already on its
knees and the obesity epidemic is storing up a multitude of problems for the
future. Industrial agriculture and declining soil health are all key to the falling nutritional value of food.
Considerable evidence shows that better-fed children can concentrate on their lessons and so benefit far more from their education. Sourcing better quality food is partly dependent on better farm practices, with less pesticides and good soil care.
Providing healthy free school dinners of good nutritional value would go a long way to addressing the accelerating rates of health issues, and contribute to the well-being of
the future generation, making them more resilient to what will be required of them in
the radical changes, due to the Climate and Ecological Emergency, which they will
inevitably face, whilst also levelling up, whilst also being a part of healthy soil
management and agricultural policy, lower health costs, better quality of life issues
and long-term costs. Reduced pesticide use would positively impact biodiversity and
river pollution.
Yet another example of joined-up thinking would be a reliable, affordable and
sustainable public transport system. This would reduce car use, traffic, road
accidents (nearly 30,000 people are killed or seriously injured in car collisions every
year in the UK), whilst also reducing greenhouse gases and pollution. Reduced air
pollution and reduced accidents would significantly reduce demand on the NHS.
If people were enabled to truly understand the multiplex issues, then the necessity for radical change becomes clear. Singularly lacking from our Government
has been the encouragement for all of us to be properly informed and have useful
debate, not oversimplifying with mindless rhetoric and moronic soundbites, but with
substantiated information, which we can discuss in our communities, our educational
centres, our families and our workplaces.
Many solutions still need to be formulated. We need legislation that obliges
companies to report on their polluting and on their impact on Nature, or tightening
rules on greenwash and so so much more. Addressing the complexities has to be a
work in progress. Humanity has never had to deal with the immensity of the climate
and biodiversity crises. Let’s take it upon ourselves to talk about the problems, strive
to understand them as best we can, and push our politicians to be brave and act
with intelligence and integrity. Now is the time to exercise your democratic rights and
insist on some clarity about your chosen candidate’s position, before deciding who to
vote for.
Here are the remaining hustings:
Monday 24th June
Christchurch, Pitsmoor are organising a hustings for Brightside and Hillsborough on Monday 24th June, 7.00 – 9.00pm, at Christ Church, Pitsmoor Rd, S3 9AW.
Tuesday 25th June
7.30-9.30pm General Election hustings organised by Christ Church Central on Fitzwilliam Street. The evening will be chaired by Tim Davies (Minister at Christ Church Central) and Clare Smith-Keary (Trustee).
Bring your questions and listen to candidate responses.
Wednesday 26th June
The Sheffield Trades Council are organising city-wide [party reps] hustings on Wednesday 26th June, at 7.00pm, at the Central United Reformed Church, Norfolk Street, S1 2JB.
Thursday 27th June
Central and Hallam Hustings 7.30-930pm
Crookes Church Eco Group St Thomas Church S10 1UL.
Friday 28th June
6.30-8.30pm All Saints School Granville Road. NEU organised hustings on Education.
Monday 1st July
7pm ISRAAC, Vestry Hall, 54 Cemetery Rd, S11FP Sheffield Central
Constituency.
Tell the Truth Sheffield 
Great article- thanks Karine!
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