Floods struck much of Britain in June and July 2007. The impact was severe, affecting hundreds of thousands of people in England and Wales. Meteorologists said it was the most serious inland flood since 1947.
The Pitt report, which reviewed the impact of the floods, reported that 13 people lost their lives; approximately 48,000 households and nearly 7,300 businesses were flooded; and billions of pounds of damage was caused. In Yorkshire and Humberside, the Fire and Rescue Service launched the ‘biggest rescue effort in peacetime Britain’.
Across Gloucestershire, 350,000 people were left without mains water supply - this was the most significant loss of essential services since World War II. Other critical infrastructure was damaged and essential services including power supplies, transport links and telecommunications were disrupted.
Climate change - the abnormal variations of the Earth's climate and its subsequent impact on people and the environment - is a stark reality for Britain.
Many initiatives - both governmental and non-governmental - are underway to deal with climate change. Last year, a new Department of Energy and Climate Change was established to move the country to a low carbon economy and achieve a global climate change agreement at a Copenhagen summit in December this year.
The UK government is committed to an 80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; a 34 per cent reduction by 2020, just 11 years from now; and a further commitment to raise the 2020 level even more if there is a global deal at Copenhagen.
The risks of climate change pose the most critical and pervasive environmental threats ever to the security of the human community and to life on Earth as we know it. According to the Global Humanitarian Forum, a think-tank of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, climate change is already responsible for 300,000 deaths a year and is affecting 300 million people. Local and national initiatives alone will not solve climate change; its causes and effects are international and demand international action.
Having enjoyed an easy run on the world's resources for centuries, Britain and the other richest countries have to acknowledge their principal responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
All countries must participate in solutions, though those which have contributed most to the problem must accept the main responsibility. Yet some seek to shift the onus for reducing their emissions to the rapidly growing emerging economies. This is disingenuous at best and hypocritical at worst. The South African Environment Minister likened this argument to being invited to join someone for coffee and then being asked to split the bill for a full three-course meal!
Newly-emerging developing nations cannot be denied their right to grow; nor should their development be hampered by the imposition of undue costs and constraints.
Climate change demands a radical shift in the mind-set, which dictates our priorities. Values are at the heart of this transition. Climate security and moral security are two sides of the same coin: one cannot be achieved without the other. Our profligate use of energy must be brought under control. This is feasible, but it will not be easy.
Both the climate crisis and the economic crisis are inextricably linked. The root causes are greed, our exploitative actions towards others and the abject failure to realise our tenuous dependence on the Earth's limited natural resources.
The fact that people should live in harmony with nature is part and parcel of all faiths and spiritual beliefs. But faith-based groups have been slow to recognise the importance of climate change.
Climate change is not an issue best left only to politicians, UN conferences and protocols, talk fests and forums, natural science or the market.
Initiatives of Change has a major role to play in dealing with climate change. Its founder, Frank Buchman, challenged that change should first start within oneself. This is the heart of the climate crisis. The principles of IofC can be used to empower people and communities to realise and take action to change our own profligate attitudes - within us, towards each other, and to the environment.
As a global issue, climate security can only be achieved by global cooperation. Buchman also challenged individuals not to be content with personal change, but to take action to deal with pressing and critical problems facing the world. IofC can play a key role in galvanizing people of faiths together to engage in the climate change discussions and - above all - take action. This could trigger the process of transition to a sustainable development pathway, in which a new economy in Britain and the world can produce a fairer and just society for all.
Don de Silva
Well-known information technology specialist, environmentalist, journalist and author. A former official of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), he has pioneered and established numerous world initiatives on communication for sustainable development.
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