What Happened At The BBC Global Climate Debate?
By Kaelin Carey
Who was there?
Gina McCarthy -White House National Climate Advisor
Kwasi Kwarteng – UK Secretary of State for Business
Múte Bourup Edege – Prime Minister of Greenland
Diego Mesa Puyo – Colombian Minister for Energy and Mining
What was discussed?
The Absence of Vladimir Putin (Russia) and Xi Jingping (China)
Kwasi Kwarteng said he felt that COP26 can still have very good results even if China and Russia aren’t there to discuss climate change. Basically, the world can still save the planet without two big climate contributors being present.
Gina McCarthy showed deep disappointment for the lack of two of the world’s biggest leaders at COP26, saying that although the world can move on without them, fighting climate change is a global effort and that “they ought to be here.” Múte Bourup Edege said that climate change is a global issue which the more developed countries like China and Russia need to help fight.
Should governments start pushing veganism?
Gina McCarthy said that the idea of taxing meat isn’t right and that “you can’t tax people’s behaviour,” basically saying that being vegan is a choice and shouldn’t be forced upon people. Múte Bourup Edege said that due to climate change, biodiversity in Greenland is getting hit hard and fish are becoming harder and harder to find, essentially saying that some Greenlanders have already had to find different alternatives to fish because of climate change. Kwasi Kwarteng said that it’s not up to the government to force people to change their habits, Diego Mesa Puyo agreed.
Has climate change affected the speakers personally?
Gina McCarthy says that she has had family members’ houses be ripped apart due to harsh weather conditions, but it hasn’t affected her personally. Kwasi Kwarteng said that he has witnessed so many floods and people in devastation, which is similar to Diego Mesa Puyo, who said he’s witnessed people who have been harmed by flooding and harsh weather conditions.
How can we clean the world of coal?
Diego Mesa Puyo said that coal should be used so long as you can do it sustainably but that there are many jobs within Columbia that will be lost if coal is stopped completely. Kwasi Kwarteng said that they need to find a new type of clean energy to stop using coal, carbon captures were his main point of discussion.
Gina McCarthy said that coal is “not the fuel of choice” for Americans and that it is already being used less. Instead, America is investing in clean energy. Múte Bourup Edege said that it is up to the bigger, developed nations to stop using coal in order to save the planet.
How is the UK government encouraging people to buy electric cars?
Kwasi Kwarteng said that the UK Government is planning to incentivise the cost of electric cars. Gina McCarthy said that more electric cars need to be made so that the costs can be driven down. This is a big issue as electric cars cost a lot of money and people need to find a way to help people pay for them.
Conclusion
There were many other issues discussed surrounding topics, like why Joe Biden had a 80+ car motorcade in Italy while talking about saving the planet, and other things like the countries working together to take down climate change. They also talked about the big impact global warming has on nations like Colombia where they had their first category 5 hurricane due to climate change.
Sources
BBC ONE
BBC Scotland
