my hand a simple light bulb but this
light bulb is a symbol of innovation and
creativity Bing is driven our modern
society since it was invented like in
the Industrial Revolution but it’s also
a symbol of our stupidity and our
unwillingness to take action I’ll come
back to that there are multiple crises
human-induced crises threatening the
planet at the moment deforestation
nutrient loading pollution climate
change if left unchecked they will
destroy our civilization the fact is
we’re addicted to economic growth and
the unrestrained consumerism that drives
it the bulb is not the elephant in this
room we are including me we drove here
tonight we went on holiday for Easter
Italian soup French shoes American
iPhone I see you just out of interest
how many of you have switched all your
old incandescent light bulbs for
energy-efficient LEDs show of hands
please
less than less than half you notice I
didn’t raise my hand how many of you
have switched their energy supplier to
100% green energy show of hands
less than a quarter there’s a lot of
now survival is one of the basic human
instincts however over the duration of
human history many civilizations have
destroyed themselves the Mayans the
Greeks Romans and so on this
civilization the modern civilization is
the first civilization that actually
knows was destroying ourselves also we
know how to stop it we’re doing it on a
global level and we’re doing it faster
the topic of my speech tonight is going
to focus on climate change it equates
the story of the frog in hot water you
may have heard it if you put a frog in
boiling water I haven’t done it it jumps
out but if you put a frog in warm water
and heat it up slowly it boils death
where the Frog the water is our planet
and the heat is the co2 emissions we are
consciously heating up our planet and
we’re loving it I’m enjoying it now I
could stand here today and show you
multiple graphs and proof that co2
emissions rising means temperature
rising human induced climate change if
I’m going to assume in this audience
that you agree with the 97% of
scientists who believe that climate
change is human induced leave it at that
coming back to addiction the first step
to solving addiction is awareness now
we’ve been aware of climate change
science for over 100 years however we’ve
only recently been in the 1980s been
aware of the catastrophic consequences
that they could bring us this graph is
from 1982 no co2 emissions no real
temperature change co2 emissions from
humans and it forecasts approximately
two degree temperature rise by 2030 the
irony is this graph was presented by
ExxonMobil
in 1982 and as you know they went into
denial ever since and as you know and I
certainly know
the second step on the road to recovery
from addiction is not denial we need to
take action and we need to take action
urgently
but again ironically this was a
statement from 1991 by by shell 30 years
later we’re burning fossil fuels faster
than ever
co2 emissions are accelerating and there
is massive financial subsidies to fossil
fuels in fact currently it’s three times
fossil fuels in red three times what
renewables receive in the blue bars so
is it Paris in 2015 at the cop21
when countries unanimously agreed to
hold temperatures below two degrees aim
for 1.5 degrees that’s the green but
subsequent to that the countries then
need to take action they call it effort
sharing so which country does what
action when but of course efforts
showing you know they will only take
action that serves their own
self-interest and the result is that the
blue bar of business as usual is
incrementally improved by the pink bar
which is what the countries have agreed
to do so instead of two degrees we are
that is the elephant in the room we are
unable individually or collectively to
take action this graph shows you where
we’ve come from the start of the
Industrial Revolution and where we are
today
this is co2 emissions accumulating the
atmosphere heading towards the 1.5 and
then the two-degree budget so where we
stop there 2015 is about one point two
degree temperature rise which we’ve
reached already but I’ll leave it to you
to judge whether you can think you think
we can slow this down stop it and even
but hopefully makes you think when will
we reach 1.5 and two degrees
well carbon tracker estimate that a
current emissions will reach it in six
years and will reach two degrees in
about less than twenty years it’s
interesting to note that two degree
temperature rise is not a comfortable
level it’s just a level below which
scientists believe they can’t guarantee
they believe will hold climate change it
will not be irreversible or catastrophic
however two degrees Laxus into increased
floods droughts migration disease and
sea level rise basically the apocalypse
two degree temperature rise lockers into
a two point five meter sea level rise
making large parts of London New York
now there is some good news it took me
till slide 15 to get to the good news
but here is the good news
the last two years we have decoupled co2
emissions from economic growth so we can
continue growing our economy whilst
reducing co2 emissions in orange and the
reason for that is we are undergoing a
massive energy transition out of the six
main drivers of human induced co2
emissions energy is the largest and it’s
there where we’re making the largest
impact it is an economic transition that
we’re undergoing a huge disruptive
energy transition solar and wind power
or energy technologies the more you
install the lower the price goes fossil
fuels are energy resources the more they
use them the harder is to get them the
more expensive they get solar power has
reduced in price ninety nine percent
since nineteen seventy six and over 80
percent in the last eight years and it’s
continuing to fall by over 10%
cent per year and will do for the next
10 years it is now cheaper than any
other power source in most regions of
the world even the Museum of coal in
Kentucky us is powered by solar for
economic reasons not environmental and
last Friday for the first time since
fossil fuels were started to be burnt
for electricity the UK electricity
system was coal free again for economic
reasons clearly with threat with
challenge comes opportunity here is the
opportunity a massive business
opportunity this is a solar-powered
growth over the next decades renewables
are now installing more power per year
than fossil fuels the IEA are
traditionally conservative fossil fossil
fuel organization forecast that solar
power could install by 2050 6000 tera
hours of production it’s about 15
percent of global electricity
consumption I believe that we could and
should bring that forward to about 20-30
solar power creates jobs in the US alone
over 260,000 people are now employed in
the solar industry that’s twice coal one
in 50 new jobs are in the solar industry
and renewables are changing the energy
in three ways the 3ds we call them
firstly decarbonisation renewables wind
and solar are clean both locally and
globally secondly decentralization not
only the solar power alleviate poverty
but it also provides access to
electricity for the 1.2 billion people
who don’t have it and finally
decentralized this is energy
independence solar power is fast and
easy to install
and it allows you to generate your own
power you can self consume electricity
off your roof like yourself consume
vegetables from your garden so we can go
far with solar this is a plane called
Solar Impulse it flew around the world
without fuel but the question is can we
change fast enough now with uncertainty
of course comes hope however I believe
leaders are not leaders they’re actually
followers it’s up to us to take action
both individually and persuade decision
makers to take action we need to take a
precautionary principle solar power is a
no regret solution but will we survive movie well the bulb is now in your hands