UK report treats five major climate crises

The report by the UK-based Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said that the multiple environmental crises have reached a critical stage due to human impacts and now threaten to destabilize society and the global economy as well.

Five crises of the environment

The IPPR report claims that both politicians and policymakers have failed to grasp the gravity of the multiple crises facing the globe. The interacting factors in the environmental crises include: climate change, mass loss of species, topsoil erosion, loss of forests, and the acidifying of our oceans. The report claims that the destabilization of the environment is happening at a pace that is unprecedented in human history.

Shifts in understanding that could help avoid catastrophe

The report authors warn that the window of opportunity to prevent a catastrophe is quickly closing. There are several shifts in understanding needed to tackle the problems.

The scale and pace of environmental breakdown

The report claims that since 1950 the number of floods across the globe have increased by a factor of 15. Extreme temperature incidents have grown by 20 times.

While climate change does come up in policy discussions, other issues are not given much notice. One example is the fact that topsoil, crucial for agricultural production, is being lost 10 to 40 times faster than it is being restored by natural processes. One can add to this that since the middle of the last century 30 percent of all the world's arable land has been so eroded that it has become unproductive. The report estimated that by 2050, 95 percent of the earth's surface could become degraded.

2.2 million tonnes of topsoil in the UK is eroded annually and more than 17 percent of arable land shows signs of erosion. In East Anglia 85 percent of fertile peat topsoil has been lost since 1850. The remainder is at risk of also being lost over the following 30 to 60 years.

The report claims that many scientists think that we are entering a new era of very rapid environmental change. The report claims: "We define this as the 'age of environmental breakdown' to better highlight the severity of the scale, pace and implications of environmental destabilisation resulting from aggregate human activity."

Expert commentary on the crises

Simon Lewis, Professor of Global Change Science at University College London agrees that the IPPR report is correct to say that environment change is happening at an ever-increasing rate and threatens to destabilize society. Lewis said: "Future problems with food supplies could cause price spikes that drive civil unrest, while increases in levels of migration can strain societies. Both together could overload political institutions and global networks of trade. This century will be marked by rapid social and environmental change - that is certain. What is less clear is if societies can make wise political choices to avoid disaster in the future."

Another expert , Harriet Bulkely a professor of geography at Durham University said that the IPPR report was a good interpretation of the current evidence, but raised the question of how strong evidence had to be before it would prompt government action. She said that often the government would say that it needed strong evidence to justify policy. The question is how much more evidence is needed before government takes the required actions. However, the need for evidence-based policy can often be used to delay action.

The UK government response

A UK government spokesperson claimed the government was committed to leaving the environment in a superior state to when they came into power. This would be done through the terms of the government 25 Year Environment Plan and a forthcoming Environment Bill. The spokesperson claimed that over the 25 years of the plan the government would replenish depleted soils, rid the surrounding ocean and rivers of rubbish and also cut greenhouse gases. It would clean the country of toxic pollutants, and develop cleaner more sustainable sources of energy. The government also promised to create a new environmental body, the Office For Environmental Protection.

Even the US military is concerned about climate change

A top US navy commander commented on the issue as reported in a recent Digital Journal article: "Admiral Philip Davidson, who heads the US military's vast Indo-Pacific Command, told lawmakers he concurred with a recent assessment from the US intelligence community that listed climate change as a global threat." Hurricane Michael last year wrecked Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. It will cost more than $5 billion to rebuild.

The IPPR

According to Wikipedia: "The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is a left-wing[1] think tank based in London. It was founded in 1988 and is an independent registered charity.[2] IPPR has offices in Newcastle, Manchester, and Edinburgh.[3][4] Funding comes from trust and foundation grants, government support, and individual donors.[5]"

Previously published in Digital Journal