‘Inaction’ on climate greatest threat, says OT minister

| 05/04/2019 | 16 Comments
Cayman News Service

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

(CNS): Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Foreign Office minister with responsibility for the overseas territories, has issued a warning that the greatest threat to the world is not climate change itself but “inaction in the face of that threat”. In an address to the UN General Assembly’s climate change meeting, the UK minister said the time for delay is in the past. With the most recent IPCC report setting out the facts in black and white, he said, “We have reached a critical moment for our collective climate ambition. There is absolutely no time to waste.”

The minister’s comments follow an address given by the Prince of Wales during his visit to the Cayman Islands, when he raised the importance of environmental issues. The address by the minister came with an offer by the UK to host next year’s UN Climate Change Conference, COP26 .

“If our bid is successful, we will bring to bear the full weight of our expertise, our influence and our ambition,” Lord Ahmad said. “We will bring civil society, the private sector, governments and experts together to encourage a spirit of shared enterprise; and we will set challenging goals that reflect the different global priorities.”

The minister warned that the impact of climate change is already “a matter of life and death” for many people, noting that millions around the world have been left without homes in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi following Cyclone Idai. He said that thousands in the Caribbean are still rebuilding their lives more than two years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

“We know that the impacts of climate change will cause more hardship, instability and conflict in the future. The most vulnerable will be hit first and hardest, but none of us are safe. All of us will be impacted and affected one way or another,” the minister warned.

“We must work together, pool our resources and draw on the best of human ingenuity to tackle this challenge. That means arresting climate change where we can; and it means adapting to changes that are already taking place,” he said, adding that the UK wanted the Climate Action Summit to be a catalyst for a new era of increased ambition.

See the full speech here

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Category: Science & Nature, Weather

Comments (16)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Realism…
    Watch your pocketbook as politicians talk about fighting climate change. If you are really interested in historic data please go here: https://sos.noaa.gov/datasets/blue-marble-sea-level-ice-and-vegetation-changes-19000bc-10000ad/
    Blue Marble: Sea Level, Ice and Vegetation Changes – 19,000BC – 10,000AD

    This is data with “simulation” using Google Earth. It is really cool. If you look at Florida you will find that it was mostly to partly underwater until the last 5,000 years. I checked for data on the Cayman Islands but there is no specific simulation for our country.

    Another site to visit is: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/global-warming/temperature-change

    I won’t show any other scientific data there is plenty for everyone to find on the net. Draw your own conclusions as everyone will have a different opinion about what they read and see. If we believe humankind can change earth’s climate then we are making great assumptions that science cannot support. Of we believe humankind can prepare for the coming climatic changes, the answer is possibly. However, we cannot prepare for all the changes that might occur and we surely cannot afford the cost to pay for the unknown.

    When we study the past, we can start to predict some of the future but the changes may not be what we were expecting. Mother nature, “the earth, sun, moon and yes, other planets, asteroids, etc., will have an effect that we cannot grasp.

    Let’s work on making life better now. Let’s be good caretakers of what we have now. And in doing so we will be working towards a better, more secure life in the future. The massive climate changes governments want us to pay for now and neither understood nor changeable. We can only change our present habits.

  2. Anonymous says:

    climate change deniers and their youtube based pseudo-science is the real cause for concern.
    the fake news era must end.
    to think people believe in a conspiracy involving thousands of scientists around the world is crazy when you actually think about it.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    The same folks scared to death about man-caused global warming are the same folks that believe human’s evolved from inorganic compounds. Why do they care about global warming at all? Human’s being humans is as natural as volcanoes spewing noxious gas, lightening caused wildfires burning out of control for decads and sea lions shitting up the coast. It all ends in a Super Nova anyway. Right?

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  4. Anonymous says:

    Many well educated, independent thinking, not-on-the-government-payroll individuals (Freeman Dyson, etc https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-ten-most-important-climate-change-skeptics-2009-7?r=US&IR=T) see this attempt to pass off computer modelling as real science as an alarmist hoax. The greatest risks here are giving bloated government more money to pass useless restrictions and the long-term damage to the credibility of the scientific community.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    What screwed up the climate here? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaeogeography

    Can a scientist/climate explainer please tell us What is the _correct_ climate of the globe?

    Thank you.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    The greatest threat to us are the governments of the world, with there constant wars, next would be the chemical company’s slowly killing us, shouldn’t forget the pharmaceutical company’s those are the real tricky bast…a.rds

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Given the UK’s contribution to climate change, in their conquest to become a super power, this is rich.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    We’re tired of this same old rhetoric. The earth is fine! We’re the ones that need fixing.

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  9. Cess Pita. says:

    Good job his family didn’t settle in Cayman he would never have got anywhere near the L.A., let alone become a minister.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    There’s inaction on all kinds of things, including the FCO upholding our Chief Justice’s ruling on Same Sex Marriages and holding the Legislature in contempt for subsequent statements that exceeded their parliamentary immunity. Roper has been conspicuously absent this week.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Cayman is too busy with gay marriage. A special kind of stupid.

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