Climate Change: The New Apocalypse [Podcast]

Climate Change is the new apocalypse: whichever way you slice it, the Climate Emergency is upon us. We must act now! Which is why I speak with Sir Winston Churchill when he made a call to arms in 1936, in response to an existential threat, the raising power of Hitler and Nazi Germany: “Owing to past neglect, in the face of the plainest warnings, we have now entered upon a period of danger … The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences … We cannot avoid this period; we are in it now.”

2. The summer of 2022 Pakistan saw temperatures cross 53 centigrade, making her southern towns the hottest places on planet earth. Then came a Biblical flooding that overwhelmed a third of the country, surpassing in magnitude the disaster of 2010. The flood left more than 33 million destitute; with 1,500 people dead, leaving Pakistan alone to pick up the pieces as it were. Pakistan’s tragedy is our tragedy. It is but a glimpse of what is to come to the rest of the world.

3. Never was a true word spoken: “Procrastination is the thief of time.” Let us be done with procrastination and make it a duty for every man to render himself serviceable to those around him to rise to the challenge that is the Climate Emergency; to a great number if possible; but if this is denied him, to a few; to his connections; or at least, to himself. But how are we to render ourselves serviceable? For the Climate Emergency is a huge challenge. We need help!

4. No one is more qualified to inspire our response to this challenge than Sir Jonathon Porritt CBE, a distinguished British environmentalist, broadcaster and writer. He was born on 5 July 1950, in London; to a distinguished father, the 1^st Baronet, Lord Porritt, who was the 11^th and officially the 1st “Home-grown” Governor-General of New Zealand; and his English mother, Kathleen Mary Peck. Lord Porritt served in the Second World War as a Brigadier in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and was also the bronze medallist in the 1924 Olympics (famously and most vividly portrayed in a film, ‘Chariots of Fire’) in the 100 meters race.

5. Jonathon Porritt was sent to Wellesley House School, Broadstairs, Kent; then went to Eton College, from whence he went to Magdalen College, at the University of Oxford, to read modern languages. He graduated with a first-class degree. After leaving Oxford, Jonathon first tried his hand at qualifying for the Bar of England and Wales, but found the experience boring; switching instead to teaching, which he enjoyed very much. He became a teacher at St Clement Danes Grammar School (afterwards Burlington Danes School), in Shepherds Bush, West London, in 1974. He taught at the school for 10 years, including serving as Head of English from 1980 to 1984.

6. As much as he loved teaching, it was his childhood appreciation of wildlife that seduced him into trying his hand at politics. He joined and became a prominent member of the Ecology Party (now the Green Party of England and Wales), becoming its co-chair in 1980. He subsequently became a full-time chair of the party, carrying out many changes in the process, thus making the party more prominent in national elections. Jonathon stood for parliament in the general elections of 1979 and 1983; he did not win, but received attention from national media. He was instrumental in growing the party membership from just a few hundred members to around 3000.

7. However, in 1984, Jonathon gave up both teaching and the chair of the Ecology Party; to become a director of Friends of the Earth in Britain – a position, he held until 1990 – a decision which in his own words, “was probably the best decision of my life.” For he transformed the Friends of the Earth into the face of “radical respectability,” by encouraging the organisation to promote practical solutions locally, as well as thinking globally. His tenure at the Friends of the Earth saw the charity’s membership grow from 12,700 to 226,300. Friends of the Earth is now a hefty international powerhouse of ideas and solutions.

8. Jonathon’s accomplishments in the cause of climate change and the environment are too many to mention here on account of space, but one may be cited. In 1996, Jonathon, along with Ms Sara Parkin OBE and Professor Paul Ekins OBE, co-founded Forum for the Future. Forum for the Future is a sustainable development charity, working in partnership with businesses, governments and civil society to accelerate the shift towards a sustainable future. The charity specialises in addressing critical global challenges by catalysing in key systems, from food to apparel, energy to shipping.

9. Jonathon is the author of many books on the environmental issues, including presenting television series on them; he has chaired the United Nations environmental and development committee for the UK. His greatest work by far, however, is his book, Hope in Hell: A decade to confront the climate emergency.

10. In this Episode, we discuss the topic: Climate Change: The New Apocalypse?

11. Look up Episode 008 of Conversations with Stephen Kamugasa, and please rate and subscribe to Conversations with Stephen Kamugasa podcast through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our guest thought leaders.

Recommended Reading:

1. Hope in Hell: A decade to confront the climate change emergency (Simon & Schuster, 2020, updated 2022). By Sir Jonathon Porritt CBE.

2. Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation (Penguin Books, September 21, 2021). By Paul Hawken.

3. The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet (PublicAffairs, January 12, 2021). By Michael E. Mann.

Editor’s Note:

A special “Thank You” to Dr Richard Kimblin KC, a barrister at No 5 Barristers Chambers (UK), whose specialisms is in Planning and Environmental Law; Dr Julian Agyeman, a Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, and a Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate at Tufts University in Greater Boston, USA; and, Mr Mark Boulton, an associate of Eco Church, Birmingham UK. Their kind contributions have made this podcast possible.