All sorts of events on both the world and domestic front were staged this month. There was COP 29, COP 16, the March for Clean Water and the much talked about budget from our government to name a few. How much was achieved?
COP 29 was held in Azerbaijan, which like the previous host UAE has an economy which is built on oil and gas exports. COP is laughingly sold as the process by which the world will transition away from oil, gas and coal. Even in our local parish committees this would be seen as a conflict of interest and you would be asked to leave any meetings that involved self interest. But in Azerbaijan, not only did they stay in the room, President Ilham Aliyev added some pricelss gems which should have banned him from the convention; he described oil and gas as 'a gift from God' and went on to accuse 'Western fake news media', charities and politicians of 'spreading disinformation' (BBC news). It does beg the question, how are the host nations for COP conventions chosen? He did also point out the hypocrisy of Western nations who buy his gas and then lecture him about torching the planet (politico.eu). A fair point. And then there was Elner Soltanov, head of the Azerbaijan team, caught in the process of making gas deals whilst at the convention. Is it any wonder that citizens all around the world don't take climate breakdown seriously? Unless of course you are one of the smaller indigenous cultures whose lives and lands are now destroyed, it's easy to dismiss and deny climate breakdown, after all, our government doesn't seem to take it seriously.
And onto COP 16 - the UN's biodiversity conference. According to the Guardian, some saw it as a success because a much wider audience had attended (almost doubled from the previous cop 15), and engaged in acknowledging the 'critical importance of nature and diversity' but others expressed dismay at the failure of any action to stem the crisis. It ended in chaos, with smaller countries having to leave before major debates and decsions took place. 'We really question the lack of legitimacy of discussing such an important issue at the end of the COP,' the Brazilian negotiator Maria Angelica Ikeda said, shortly before discussions of resource mobilisation were cut off. "We should have started discussing these issues at the beginning...We should have decisons guaranteeing that we have the resources we need"
And I wonder how much these conventions cost in terms of carbon emissions? 'In 2021, COP 26 was criticised for having the largest carbon footprint of any COP todate. The average delegate at COP 26 produced a footprint of 3.42 tCO2e, comparable in size to the average annual footprint of individuals in countries such as India, Brazil or Egypt. The overall carbon footprint of the conference was comparable to the annual emissions of a small island nation such as Samoa' (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
And now to the Clean Water March held in London early in the month where 1000s of protesters from a wide range of groups and charities and individuals came together to protest about the appalling state of water in the UK and the fact that polluters get away without any accountability. Chris Packham spoke at the rally, mentioning the 'parlous state' of our rivers. His disappointment with the present government was heartfelt, 'Rachel Reeves gave a budget in 2024 whilst Valencia was being flooded and people were losing their lives and she didn't use the word climate or nature once in that budget', he called the omission, 'scary'
Meanwhile, back here in the field, nature was trying to cope with day after day of continual rainfall. Storm Ciarin arrived in the early days of the month and although temperatures were still warm for the time of year, large waves crashed around the coasts of Cornwall, rivers burst their banks leaving flooding across the county and thousands of homes without power and fallen trees blocking roads. Mushrooms appeared all around the edges of the newly cut and planted part of our field. Stubble Rosegill is one variety, often found on 'nutrient rich, disturbed habitats' (wildfooduk.com), which fits the events going on here. There might be a Fragrant Funnel in there, I'm still working on identification - and Bright violet Primroses appeared in small clumps - although it is uplifting to catch splashes of colour this time of year, these should not be out untill the New Year and it doesn't feel right. But a small moment of magic on the last day of November was gifted to me; I lay on the damp grass at dusk and watched as a Kestrel hovered in the breeze above me, just the two of us. A quiet moment, away from the insanity of the international conventions. Life, for the moment still goes on.
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