A Focus On Nature, Advent Calendar, Now for Nature
AFON
Donald Trump to Now for Nature – Jack Bedford
Welcome to our 2016 Advent Calendar series (#AFONAdvent)! This year, our theme is “The Gift of Inspiration”. For each day, one of our members has written a blog post about someone who has inspired them, and how that inspiration has lead to them being where they are today. Each member is a shining example of a young person who is acting Now for Nature. We hope that you enjoy the series and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
For people who want to work in conservation, inspiration can come from a variety of sources. A classic example for many in the field is David Attenborough. The great stalwart of natural history documentaries has been inspiring people around the world to appreciate nature for over 60 years, and undoubtedly many reading this will have taken up conservation or an interest in wildlife in part due to his work. David Attenborough is a great example of a positive motivator – his passion for the natural world and his outstanding ability to convey its fine details is infectious, and leaves his viewers wanting to take on the mantle of protecting the environment.
But I want to talk about someone who inspires me in almost the opposite way. Whilst I have been and continue to be encouraged by the positive actions of countless people to forge a career in conservation, I currently find myself motivated by a different figure: Donald Trump.
President-elect of the USA, Donald Trump (c) Gage Skidmore
Yes, the new President-elect of the United States has proven a bizarrely inspirational figure for me. This is because I am concerned about the way that Mr Trump has spoken about the environment. The President-elect has called human-mediated climate change a hoax “created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive”. He disagrees with the 97+% of climate scientists who believe that humans are significantly affecting Earth’s climate through the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) (and other greenhouse gasses) from burning fossil fuels and other emitting actions like deforestation. He actively wants to invigorate the production of coal in the USA, and the coup de grâce: removing America from the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement was a historic step taken by countries around the world to acknowledge the threats posed by climate change, and work together to tackle the challenge head on. The current US President, Barrack Obama, was instrumental in ensuring the deal was reached, persuading China to back the plans, as well as other countries and world leaders. Now, Donald Trump wants the US to back out of the deal.
America is the second-biggest emitter of CO2 in the world, behind China. If the US were to stick to the agreements, reducing American emissions could have a massive impact felt around the whole world. Without a commitment from the US to actively reduce their emissions, will other countries stop bothering? Even if everyone else plays their part, will the goal of limiting temperature rises to 2OC be achievable without America pulling their fair share? It will take President Trump 4 years to actually remove the USA from the Paris Agreement, and hopefully he may decide not to live up to this campaign statement.
Whilst all of this may seem to be doom and gloom, I actually find myself inspired by it. It shows that we all have to work harder, as conservationists, environmentalists, citizens, to tackle environmental issues such as climate change. We need to do a better job of explaining the science of climate change, the impacts and the consequences, and bring more people to understand these threats. In a time when the next President of the United States is a climate change denier, it’s foolish to think he is in the small minority. And we also need to work harder, to make our voices heard. If the USA does try to leave the Paris Agreement, I hope that as citizens of the world, we’ll speak up, and hold Mr Trump accountable. I plan to.
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