COP27

An evening with someone called Mike Berners Lee yesterday was something of a coup for Friends of the Earth Rhuthun/Ruthin and the U3A. Looking at the profile of attendees and it very much looked like the 'wealthy retired'. These are not just people who throughout their lives have (like me) abused our planet and (like me) need to make amends rather swiftly. They seem to be those who now have the resources in retirement to live comfortably if they choose. For them, the cost of living crisis is probably an irritation rather than a threat. 

The FOE Ruthin website is very out of date. The latest post is dated December 2021 and it refers to COP26, not 27

We should be very grateful that they are standing up but I do wonder how FOE can attract and convert those who consume the most and who generally care the least: younger people, middle class and working families, the rank & file members of society who continue to live as if we've learnt nothing over the last 40 years. Or even over the previous 27, for this is the number of annual COPs we've had, yet we seem to be no nearer a palliation than at COP1 in 1995.

In three hours' time, some fellow Ruthinians will pass by in their BMWs or Audis and in their over-blown sports utility vehicles on their commutes without a care in—or for—the world. They probably have no choice because that is the society we've created for ourselves. Our own choices make a difference but they're not enough. We need sustained government action, from Bae Caerdydd and from Westminster. The chances of that after COP27 remains slim and, no doubt, life will carry on as normal, till 'normal' isn't possible any more. 

Meanwhile, it's left to those with the assets associated with a prosperous retirement to fly the flag.