I’d like nothing better than for the answer to the headline on this blog to turn out to be a resounding “no”. But nothing in the cast of leading characters, attendees and past history gives reason to believe the climate summit known as COP28 will, to mangle a Rolling Stones lyric, get us anything like what we want, let alone come close to what we need.… Read the rest
This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving, six weeks before our American neighbours have theirs. We also beat them to the idea by 43 years. The Pilgrims feast dates to 1621. Sir Martin Frobisher’s expedition to find the northwest passage held one in present day Nunavut in 1578, to give thanks for the safety of its fleet.… Read the rest
Paddling my kayak along the granite shore of the lake where I currently reside, I came upon a small group of young merganser ducks. They may, or may not, have been siblings. Mergansers have a characteristic that is common among humans who have the least to share and sadly, often rare among those who have more than enough.… Read the rest
For decades famine, drought, strife and corruption have been so common in parts of Africa that outsiders could, to an extent, be excused for seeing them as normal. It is well past time on many levels for the comfortable complacency of willful ignorance to give way to a harsh reality; the divide between “them” and “us” has been well and truly breached.… Read the rest
Nothing so neatly epitomises how skewed priorities have become as the “Barbenheimer” movie delirium. If the gush of praise, analysis and other commentary is any indication, a doll and a shade of pink embody deep lessons and cultural significance. The other half of the conjoined title ought to be an admonition of how little progress Western culture has made since inventing the means to destroy it and pretty much everything else.… Read the rest
In a world beset by a seemingly ever-metastasising Pandora’s box of life-altering, if not ending threats, for those with the means and responsibility of eliminating, or at the very least ameliorating them, the French philosopher Voltaire offers a worthy piece of advice: “No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.”… Read the rest
Trying not to dwell on the state of the world is well nigh impossible, but limiting contemplation seems to me to be essential for sanity, not least because the growing list of conundrums covers the gamut from naïve, through shameful to ridiculous.… Read the rest
Political perfidy, economic irresponsibility and disagreement over acceptable social norms and speech have become so pernicious that those who favour a sensible and civil middle ground, need some help to stay sane in the hope of reason eventually prevailing. To that end, I offer this advice from the gold standard of crisis management, Winston Churchill: “Stay calm and K.B.O.”… Read the rest
Summits, which typically have more to do with words than actions, are habitually known by their acronym, which leaves the field wide open for re-interpretation. I therefore suggest that in the case of the major players in COP27, the “P” — which stands for “Parties” — be replaced with the plural of an archaic English epithet: “poltroon”.… Read the rest
Watching the palette of the changing leaves that have graced the rolling forests girding the lake where I spend the summer flutter down, I found myself thinking that if the participants of the upcoming COP27 climate change gathering did the same thing, metaphorically at least, it would be time well spent.… Read the rest