Boris Johnson & Climate Change. Waiting for things to happen
Boris Johnson described the UN report on the impact of climate change (9th August)as ‘sobering’. It was lunchtime and that suggested perhaps that he had already been following a Churchillian regime that morning (i.e alcohol for breakfast).
At least however he managed to appear to take the matter seriously, which is rare for Johnson and also marks him out from a swathe of right-wing politicians, including some in his own party, who don’t think the matter deserves serious consideration.
Of course its unlikely Johnson will do anything beyond words.
As Sonia Purnell notes in her biography of Johnson, Just Boris, he has developed, as in other areas a method of moulding his views on climate change to what he thinks is the current mainstream.
She writes:
He was once noted for scorning the global warming agenda, with caustic rants about the cult of climate change. Since then he has flipped sides so many times that petrol-heads and eco-warriors take turns to denounce him.
We might expect better from Labour who after all at the 2019 General Election had a well thought through policy around a Green New Deal. Keir Starmer has written recently about climate change but whether he actually backs doing something I suspect may be only marginally more likely than Johnson.
As ever action from below by climate activists, trade unionists and others will be essential
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