Since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was created in 1988, it has issued 6 reports synthesising the scientific results. It is now in its seventh assessment cycle, which started in July 2023.
Even without taking part in Climate research, or being a Policy Maker, or part of an advocacy group, the effect of Climate Change has become obvious over the past 3 decades, and was increasingly debated before then. After thirty years of little sustained, concrete action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, the whole planet is being affected by an avoidable disaster.
Here in southern England, we are only really seeing 2 seasons a year instead of 4. Winters are mild and no longer very cold, with much reduced rain and snowfall. Summers are becoming dangerously hot, with heatwaves and water shortages. We are seeing more ferocious storms, and erratic temperature swings over periods of a few days. It is not a healthy climate, and society seems poorly equipped to cope with it.
None of this is a surprise if you have been following the Climate Change story and reading first-hand the IPCC reports. However, most people don’t do that and instead rely on Politicians and the Media to tell them what is happening.
That gap between knowledge and informing has enabled some politicians and businesses to undermine the compelling story of anthropogenic climate change, creating the space they needed for a “business-as-usual approach” to maintain short-term advantage, profits and power…
… they have literally had us all fiddling while the world has begun burning.
And still they do it.
In the UK, some power and cash hungry politicians continue to advocate for extracting and burning fossil fuels, decrying “eco-policies” as being “mad” and “anti-public interest”.
Playing to the lowest common denominators in a recession (that they deny is happening), they twist the electorate with the idea that if they are elected they will reduce energy costs and be pro-employment. Laudable, to be sure… but heaping petrol (literally) on the already burning global environment is not the way to do it.
It is not a failure of Science to properly inform Policy Makers about Climate Change.
In its 6 reports so far, the IPCC has estimated the following trends of mean global temperature rises to the end of the 21st Century:
1990 : +1.5°C to +4.5°C
1995 : +1.0°C to +3.5°C
2001 : +1.4°C to +5.8°C
2007 : +0.6°C to +3.6°C
2014 : +0.3°C to +4.8°C
2023 : + 1.5°C to +4.4°C
The lower numbers are best-case scenarios, if everything went well and governments were working hard to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The upper numbers are worst-case scenarios, which our global leaders seem to be taking us all towards.
There is a lot of energy being stored in the environment by even +1.0°C… but unfortunately it sounds like a small number, so why should the under-informed public or scientfically illiterate politicians care?
We should all care because the IPCC reports have also been spelling the situation out in plain language ever since the first report. Here are some examples:
1990 : “We are certain … These increases [in emissions from human activities] will enhance the greenhouse effect, resulting on average in an additional warming of the Earth’s surface. The main greenhouse gas, water vapour, will increase in response to global warming and further enhance it.”
In dense language, they highlighted potential negative effects of this rise on Agriculture, Ecosystems, Water Resources, Human Settlements, Oceans, Snow Cover and Permafrost.
1995 : “… human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, land-use change and agriculture, are increasing the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases…
“Potentially serious changes have been identified, including an increase in some regions in the incidence of extreme high-temperature events, floods and droughts…”
2001 : “Concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases and their radiative forcing have continued to increase as a result of human activities….”
“… There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities.”
2007 : “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level.”
2014 : “Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems.”
“Many aspects of climate change and associated impacts will continue for centuries…”
“… Without additional mitigation efforts beyond those in place today, and even with adaptation,warming by the end of the 21st century will lead to high to very high risk of severe, widespread and irreversible impacts globally.”
2023 : “Human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming…”
“Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred. Human-caused climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. This has led to widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people.”
As an electorate, we must resist short-term calls to increase the rate of damage to the global environment.
We must resist the economic bribery that politicians and businesses seeking short-term advantage, profits and power place in front of us.
Throught ballot boxes, we can all make it clear to politicians that we take Climate Change seriously, and that we expect them to resolve both our enviromental and economic problems with credible plans that do not undermine each other.
In the UK, this means that the following political parties are currently unelectable:
UNELECTABLE: Conservatives
On 4/4/26, Kemi Badenoch said “… we need to get Britain drilling. It’s good for our financial security, our energy security and above all our national security.”
[ https://www.kemibadenoch.org.uk/news/kemi-badenoch-mp-we-must-get-our-oil-and-gas-out-ground ]
– I argue that our national security is not served by accelerating Climate Change.
UNELECTABLE: Reform UK
Party policy as at 1/6/26, “… Scrap Net Zero to Cut Energy Bills… Reform UK will prioritise energy security, expand domestic energy production, and scrap policies that drive bills higher while making Britain more dependent on foreign energy. Lower energy costs mean lower prices, higher wages, and a stronger economy.”
– I argue that the short-term economy is not the only imperative, and the nation’s interests are not served by accelerating climate change.
Good News – the Liberal Democrats are saying the right thing:
ELECTABLE: Liberal Democrats
On 24/3/26, Liberal MP Pippa Heylings said “I can confirm that the Liberal Democrat position is not to support new fields for exploration in the North sea.”
[ Hansard – Oil and Gas, Volume 783: debated on Tuesday 24 March 2026 ]
Meanwhile, other problems with the Greens and Labour are undermining their electability, despite sayingthe right things here:
Green Party – On 30/3/26, the Green Party said “… stop new oil and gas, close the loopholes, and invest properly in the transition to renewable energy.”
– however, the Greens also seem to have many other troubling Policy proposals.
[ https://greenparty.org.uk/2026/03/30/stop-new-oil-and-gas-close-the-loopholes-invest-properly-in-transition-to-renewable-energy-say-greens-in-response-to-badenoch/ ]
Labour Party – Current Manifesto commitment, that the government is standing behind, “… We will not issue new licences to explore new fields…” – “… they will not take a penny off bills, cannot make us energy secure”
– it is commendable that Labour are standing behind this commitment. However, even if they see off a despicable interjection from Tony Blair, they are not currently looking electable for the next Parliament.
Lee J. Russell, Author 