The presentation covers the climate emergency, the threats posed by climate change including mass extinction, the solutions available to address it, and the work of Extinction Rebellion. It urges action such as joining Extinction Rebellion, and provides suggestions for immediate actions individuals can take to help address the crisis.

1. We Can Make Change Happen

2. Hippie Rubbish or Hard Science?
Ask questions, fact checking and the odd heckle will
keep me on my toes!

3. Talk Agenda
• Introduction
• The Climate Emergency
• It’s seriousness and impact
• The solutions
• Extinction Rebellion
• XR’s Strategy
• What you can do today
• Activist stories from Soph and Jo

4. The Climate
Emergency
THE BIGGEST THREAT HOMO SAPIENS HAS EVER FACED
Saddleworth Moors, 2018

5. Speaker Introduction:
from the cradle of the industrial world to the front
line of the climate crisis

6. What about the 21st Century?
Saddleworth Remembers:
Disasters of the 20th Century

7. Climate Change: An Existential Threat to our
Economy, Society and Civilisation

8. The Greenhouse Effect: Keeping our Planet
Warm and Habitable
Without gases like carbon dioxide
and methane the Earth’s average
surface temperature would be about
-18 °C
The greenhouse effect and can be
measured by satellite and in a lab
But in the last 150 years the Earth’s climate has
been rapidly changing…

9. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are
rising rapidly…

10. Global temperatures are rising rapidly…

12. Natural Factors can
be Ruled Out

13. The 40 Billion tons of greenhouse
gases emitted annually from
burning fossil fuel is the cause of
the changes that are underway
How do we know for sure…?

15. There have been 5 mass extinction events in the
Earth’s history…
In as little as 20,000 years, these events have seen the Earth’s temperature rise by up
to 7°C and a loss of 75-95% of all life on Earth
This events are with volcanic activity or asteroids, but they are driven by rapid climate
change

16. The Holocene Extinction
In the 650 million year history of animal life
on Earth, the current event represents:
• Fastest ever rate of extinction
(200 species a day)
• The fastest ever sustained rise in
atmospheric CO2 levels
• Possibly the fastest ever rise in
temperatures (5-10°C by 2150)
• Fastest ever rate of ocean
acidification

17. At current rates 75% of all species on the
planet will be extinct by 2100
Including the largest and most magnificent
creatures ever to exist

18. What the UN’s IPCC are Saying:
• The Earth must stay within
1.5 Celsius for human
civilisation to be able to
reasonably adapt
• Global CO2 emissions must
be reduced by 45% in 2030
and net zero by 2050
https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-
warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/

19. The 2015 Paris Climate accord only commits the world to doing about
20% of what it needs to do and US president Donald Trump is pulling
out of the agreement

20. Beyond the Worst Case Scenario
• Recent observed data on many key indicators of climate change has outstripped the worst
predictions of a decade ago
• Scientific conclusions have been very conservative due to political pressure
• The net zero 2050 target is almost certain to been brought closer

22. “Climate change: Arctic permafrost now
melting at levels not expected until 2090
Series of 'anomalously warm
summers' caused ground to thaw,
researchers say”
14th of
June

23. Greenland Ice Melt: the canary in the coal
mine
Greenland: June 2019
The beginning of August 2019
saw unprecedented ice loss. 55
billion tons in 5 days.

24. July 2019 was the hottest month on Earth since the arrival of
Homo Sapiens. Instrumental temperature records were broken
right across every continent in the northern hemisphere

25. Unprecedented Arctic
wildfires have so far
burned an area the size of
Great Britain and released
around 175 million tons of
CO2 (As of September 1st)
The smoke cloud covered an area
larger than the European Union as
of August 14th

26. The “Doomsday” seed vault built in the Arctic to withstand any
catastrophe, has already been flooded by melting permafrost
(2017)

27. Runaway Climate Change

28. “Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in
thousands of years. Climate Change. If we don’t take action the collapse of our
civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.”
Sir David Attenborough

29. A number of recent scientific and
academic papers have suggested that
without action on climate change,
civilisation will collapse, as early as 2050

30. Why are we in the dark about climate change?
There’s 40 years between CO2 emissions and
their effects. Impact of 70% of emissions still
to be felt
Many climate change impacts
are an exacerbation of existing
economic, social and natural
problems rather than solely
attributable
The Fossil fuel industry spend at
least $1 Billion dollars a year on
climate denial or obstruction
Key UN climate science report
summaries have to be vetted by
politicians from every country which
has led to the downplaying of
scientific findings
The 5 million annual fossil
fuel deaths (as of 2012) are
largely in the global south

31. Early Impacts of Climate Change
Between Now and 2030
Impacts on household and
Businesses:
• Food prices drop in agricultural yields
• Increased insurance costs
• Increasing health impacts and costs
• Property/infrastructure damage
• Reduced access to public services
• Reduced profits and restricted business
activity
Cost to government:
• Increased demand for public services
• Increased flood and extreme weather
damage and defences
• Increased pressure for
migration/asylum
• Increased security and defence
spending

32. Without action
catastrophic natural
disasters in Western
countries will be
occurring frequently
by 2050

33. The most dangerous threat of climate change is the global insecurity and
conflict that will arise as agriculture yields collapse and extreme climate events
combine to destabilise on a scale never seen before

34. In periods of social
breakdown and armed
conflict, the rights of women,
children, LGBTQ and other
minority groups always
diminish. The climate crisis will
be no different

35. Timescales for Impact on the Global North
• 2020s (1.25 °C )- the last decade of relative stability and prosperity
• 2030s (1.35 °C )- the beginning of serious economic impact and public
panic
• 2040s (1.5 °C )- First signs of serious scarcity of basic commodities and
global instability
• 2050s (1.8-2.0 °C )- The beginning of serious breakdown of global
economic, industrial and political systems
• 2060s-90s (2.5-5 °C )- Mass displacement, large scale conflicts and
permanent state of emergency driven by unprecedented climatic and
geographical change

36. What if we just
turned a blind eye
and imagined that
everything will be
fine…
If the laws of
physics
changed…
If natural and
mineral resources
became infinite…
If starvation, injury and
destitution no longer
cause pain…
Do they really think that the
children of today will look
back in the future and
forgive the suffering we
inflict upon them

37. The worst possible Brexit
scenarios are a drop in the
ocean compared to dangerous
climate change

38. Creating A Prosperous Future

39. • Humans are not volcanoes or asteroids, we are agents of
thought and foresight
• We absolutely have the power and capacity to prevent climate
breakdown
• Science is clear about what needs to be done
• An unprecedented level of public support is being driven by
Greta Thunberg and the children's’ strikes and Extinction
Rebellion’s unprecedented campaign of civil disobedience and
David Attenborough’s hard hitting documentaries
We Can Stop Dangerous Climate Change

40. A Low Carbon FuturePeople will be
much healthier
with better diets
The UK will be
self-sufficient in
energy and food
Britain will
have more
wildlife,
forests and
other natural
habitats
again
The low carbon economy
will generate millions of
jobs
There will be safer,
cleaner roads, much
more cycling and
pedestrianisation
The UK’s housing and
public transport will be
low cost and of high
standard
By 2050 the UK will at
the start of a hydrogen
and fusion driven
economy
The world will
be a lot more
stable as the
worst of climate
change has
been avoided

41. We Already Know How to Fix it
• We have the engineering knowhow and
technology-each day that passes it is getting
cheaper and better, faster!
• We know which industries/activities to withdraw
investment and subsidy from and to tax more
heavily
• We know which industries/activities to subsidise,
invest in and to tax less
• So we have the money
• We know what legislation, regulation and policy will
get us there
• Humans are innovative and determined in the face
of adversity
• We will be healthier, happier and more secure

42. A Just TransitionThe richest 10% are
responsible for 50%
of global emissions
so they must bear
50% of the cost of
transition
The tens of millions
of new jobs required
to drive this
revolution should be
available to the
poorest and those
from declining fossil
fuel companies
Finance and resources
must be made available
to those most at risk
from the impacts of
climate change; namely
the poor and working
class of the globe

43. Turning the Tide: Mobilising a Response to the
Climate Crisis and Extinction

44. We Have Already Driven Change
• Wales, Scotland and the UK declared Climate emergencies along with 46
local authorities
• The BBC and the Guardian have changed how they report climate change
and even the right wing media is engaging
• The media and the public are talking about the climate crisis more
• Wales is altering its agricultural subsidy system to pay for better land
stewardship
• Seismic testing in Cardigan bay has been suspended
• The M4 extension has been shelved
• Over a hundred thousand people active in Extinction Rebellion in the UK
alone and 1350 have been arrested to force change
• 1.5 million children are striking every month
• The UK government has adopted a net zero emissions target by 2050

46. • Extinction Rebellion launched in October 2018 to address
the threat of the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency
• We have been using civil disobedience, education and
community engagement to get the government, corporate
world and financial institutions to enact the changes
necessary to prevent dangerous climate change and to halt
biodiversity loss
• Research says that on average only 3.5% of a population is
required to be active to enable systemic change
• XR uses entirely peaceful means
Who are XR and what do we want?

48. Workers sometimes have to go on strike and cause
economic disruption to fight for their rights…XR has been
forced to do the same thing for our children's’ right to
live!

49. We Have Already Driven Change
• Wales, Scotland and the UK declared Climate emergencies along with 46
local authorities
• The BBC and the Guardian have changed how they report climate change
and even the right wing media is engaging
• The media and the public are talking about the climate crisis more
• Wales is altering its agricultural subsidy system to pay for better land
stewardship
• Seismic testing in Cardigan bay has been suspended
• The M4 extension has been shelved
• Over a hundred thousand people active in Extinction Rebellion in the UK
alone and 1350 have been arrested to force change
• 1.5 million children are striking every month
• The UK government has adopted a net zero emissions target by 2050

50. Things you can do today
• Go to Uswitch online and make ECOTRICITY your supplier (it takes minutes)
• Sign up to GREENPEACE or FRIENDS OF THE EARTH online and give them money
• Introduce a couple of meat/dairy free days a week to your diet
• Have a conversation about the climate crisis at least once a day
• Write to your MP, MEP and/or AM and ask them to take more action on climate change
• Offer your car as a lift share or walk to work
• Use the Ecosia search engine and they plant a tree every 45 searches
• Take your money OUT of BARCLAYS and HSBC and open a NATIONWIDE or COOPERATIVE bank
account
• Or lastly… Join Extinction Rebellion

51. The Pale Blue Spot: A Special Place in the
Universe

52. The Sandpile Model
One tree per person, per day, for one
year = 2,701,000,000,000
A conversation with my nephew Benjamin and
taking my niece Chloe to school
The miracle of our existence
Four reasons why
I believe I CAN,
WILL and HAVE
to save our world
Saddleworth Moor