CONSUMING TO DESTRUCTION

Dr Shahrar Ali, Green Party candidate for the European Parliament London region said,"The government may be busy congratulating itself for facilitating consensus at the G20 summit. But there has been wanton disregard of the climate change emergency."

"By ignoring the systemic causes of financial instability and promoting economic growth at all costs, the G20 leaders unwittingly conspire to bring the devastating harms of climate change ever closer."

Dr Ali continued, "The recent film Age of Stupid showed just how oblivious go-getting entrepreneurs could be to the unsustainability of their actions. Just see how the managing director of a low cost airline could have his supposed moral purpose coloured by the prospect of a fast buck."

"No, G20. Until or unless the cost to the earth is factored into the economic equation, through the promotion of sustainable green industry and a rejection of over consumption, there can be little cause for celebration."

Brent MPs Criticise Omission of Climate Change From G20 Talks

Two of our local MPs spoke out in the House of Commons yesterday G20's failure to include the issue of climate change in their talks.

In the debate that followed the G20 statement, Barry Gardiner asked Alistair Darling, "Given that the world currently consumes each year the resources that the planet takes one year and four months to renew or replace, does my right hon. Friend agree that it is just as important that the G20 should have examined not only the credit bubble and fallout in the global economy, but the credit bubble in the global environment?"

Sarah Teather put the failings of the G20 more baldly in the Easter Adjournment Debate where she made an extended contribution. Reflecting on the Brent screenings of The Age of Stupid she said, "As the G20 meets today, having bumped climate change off the agenda, I cannot help but think that we almost certainly do live in the age of stupid. Not only has the G20 bumped climate change from the agenda, with the decision to look at it at the Copenhagen conference later this year, but it will have failed—at least I expect that it will have failed; we await the Chancellor's statement later this afternoon—to link the fiscal stimulus that so many countries are arguing for with the green economy. That most certainly is a very stupid thing indeed."

Later in the debate she said, "The G20 may have junked the environment this week, but we have time before Copenhagen in December to lay the groundwork for a serious climate deal that could make a huge difference. We need our Government to take a lead on that now, and to be at the forefront of climate negotiations. We must have a serious commitment to cut emissions by at least 30 per cent., not the 20 per cent. with time off for carbon trading that came with the European Union deal. We must also put developing countries' concerns at the heart of the climate change deal. We have grown rich in part by polluting. We must now repay that debt to the developing world by financing and sharing technology so that countries can access clean and green energy and develop in a sustainable way, and we must help developing countries to adapt to the damaging consequences of climate change that will, unfortunately, happen regardless of what we do."

Link to Barry Gardiner's Question and Darling's answer

Link to Sarah Teather's Contribution to Adjournment Debate 1

Link to Sarah Teather's Contribution 2

THIS FILM WILL LEAVE ITS MARK ON OUR PSYCHE

Brian Orr, Chair of Brent Green Party, saw The Age of Stupid at the Tricycle Cinema last week and took part in several of the discussion sessions. This is his view of the film:

I was very taken by the The Age of Stupid. I saw it as a 'collage' of seven fascinating documentaries, cleverly woven together by a bit of science fiction that allowed for some seductive 'climate change facts' to be slotted in. It provided little in the way of answers, nor did it provide an orderly analysis along the lines of An Inconvenient Truth, but the material would stimulate most people into thinking, 'Hey, there's something fundamentally awry here."

It is pretty clear that a high proportion of those who have seen the film were moved emotionally. Only time will tell how far the film will leave its mark on our collective psyche, but it certainly won't be forgotten for a long time. It should remain in the environmentalists' armoury for a good few years yet.

Click here to see what Ed Miliband thought of the film