“Climate change, biodiversity loss and resource depletion are not isolated problems”

Two weeks ago The Conversation’s Imagine newsletter looked at “our hot, lonely, plastic planet”:

By the end of 2024, nearly 200 nations will have met at three conferences to address three problems: biodiversity loss, climate change and plastic pollution.

Colombia will host talks next week to assess global progress in protecting 30% of all land and water by 2030. Hot on its heels is COP29 in Azerbaijan. Here, countries will revisit the pledge they made last year in Dubai to “transition away” from the fossil fuels driving climate breakdown. And in December, South Korea could see the first global agreement to tackle plastic waste.

Don’t let these separate events fool you, though.

“Climate change, biodiversity loss and resource depletion are not isolated problems” say biologist Liette Vasseur (Brock University), political scientist Anders Hayden (Dalhousie University) and ecologist Mike Jones (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences).

“They are part of an interconnected web of crises that demand urgent and comprehensive action.”

As we try to ‘think global, act local’, the Sid Valley has of course several organisations trying to address these three issues – including the Sid Valley Biodiversity Group, the Climate Awareness Partnership Sidmouth (CAPS) and the Sidmouth Plastic Warriors – and many of these issues often overlap. 

When international bodies get together, it seems to be more difficult to work in an ‘interconnected way’. So, following the COP biodiversity summit in Columbia which finished at the weekend, the scientific consensus seems to be that politicians are not ambitious enough to save nature. Problems are already being cited in the lead up to next week’s COP climate conference in Azerbaijan, where a climate advocate has been put in prison. And with an election, uncertainty about the U.S. stance on plastics in the run up to the INC-5 meeting on plastics in Korea next month is not helping.

However, again, thinking globally and acting locally might at least mitigate too much despair. It might also come up with some coordinated results.

Over the weekend, the second Dorset climate change conference attracted hundreds of attendees; as was said, ‘We can’t stand idly by – and that the issues can be addressed at a local level:

Dorset’s second community-led ‘conference of the parties’, Dorset COP, was hailed a success as hundreds gathered for the event last weekend at Bournemouth University. The university’s new vice-chancellor, Prof Alison Honour, opened the event alongside Lois Betts, the university’s sustainability manager, as well as local MP Jessica Toale and event organisers. The full day of speakers, events and workshops was attended by MPs, councillors, businesses, community groups, charities, students and residents from across the county.

Jessica Toale said: “I was really pleased to open this inspirational event. There’s no more profound a challenge or driver of global instability than climate change. While the annual climate COPs are really important international conferences, we cannot tackle climate change without local, community-level action.

“That’s why this local Dorset COP was such a brilliant event – bringing together local people, businesses and policymakers to look at what the big issues are and how to address them. From renewable energy and carbon capture to the circular economy and sustainable transport. I’ll be working with changemakers here in Bournemouth West and the new Labour government to address some of these huge challenges – including cleaning up our seas and rivers, moving us towards a zero-waste economy and ensuring nature’s recovery.”

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