Backward thinking and progress
At the beginning of the year I was under the impression that the UK was doing well in regards to reducing green house gas emissions, I read a few articles stating that we were set to double our targets outlined by the Kyoto protocol, granted this included emissions trading, but still I thought that sounds like pretty good progress. Now it seems that although the UK’s overall greenhouse gas emissions have fallen, annual net carbon dioxide emissions have risen since Tony Blair was in power, this means that it is highly unlikely that we will be able to meet our designated targets for 2010. This is a huge shame but at least we are heading in the right direction and leading change in respect to GHG emission reductions. However, this morning I read that the Foreign Office is preparing to submit a rights claim for 386,000 sq miles of seabed off the coast of the British Antarctic Territory. This move could jeopardise the Antarctic Treaty which prohibits military activities and mineral mining, supports scientific research, and protects the continent’s ecozone. The Antarctic is the world’s last great wilderness and is also the most fragile place on earth, without the treaty it is opened up to major disturbances from inevitable oil exploration. Attempts to claim stakes on the Antarctic seabed is totally irresponsible and a huge step backwards in our progress towards securing a sustainable future.
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