Fighting the Earth’s emergency

With less than a week until COP26 begins in Glasgow, our event together with Environment APPG sought to bring together parliamentarians, scientists, and the Earth Emergency film creators to raise awareness of the climate action needed to tackle climate change. 

Yesterday we co hosted an online event with Environment APPG, led by Environment APPG Chair Anthony Browne MP and APPCCG Chair Caroline Lucas MP, sharing clips from the Richard Gere narrated film Earth Emergency followed by a discussion and Q&A with the film creators. 

The expert panel included APPCCG Vice-Chair Anna McMorrin MP, Professor Dann Mitchell from Bristol University, Earth Emergency Director Susan Gray and Earth Emergency Producer Bonnie Waltch. 

The event opened with remarks from Anthony Browne MP and Caroline Lucas MP who then led the discussion.

We were shown three separate clips from the Richard Gere narrated Earth Emergency film which outlined and explained how climate feedback loops work, how we can turn them around to cooling the earth by cutting emissions and the climate action needed from the public and parliamentarians. 

What are Feedback loops? 


Fossil fuel emissions from human activity are driving up Earth’s temperature – yet something else is at work. The warming has set in motion nature’s own feedback loops, which are raising temperatures even higher. An example of a feedback loop is the warmer atmosphere thaws permafrost, which emits carbon dioxide and methane, which in turn warms the atmosphere further. Estimates suggest that the thawing of permafrost could release 150 billion tonnes of carbon by the end of the century.
 

Each clip was followed by a short discussion and Q&A session with general questions introduced by Caroline Lucas MP and questions from the audience.

Each of the parliamentarians drew attention to the upcoming climate summit COP26 in Glasgow noting that this is an opportunity for the world to come together for climate action, with APPCCG Vice-Chair Anna McMorrin MP stressing the need for persistent pressure on parliamentarians even after COP. 

Our expert panellists also discussed: 


•    The role of filmmaking in increasing awareness on environmental issues.
•    How Parliamentarians and the public can work together to support ambitious climate action. 
•    How human activity sets in motion Earth’s own natural warming mechanisms, releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and further warming the planet. 
•    The importance of COP26 and priorities for the summit.
 

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