Campaigners say BCP Council is “all mouth and no trousers” as they marked the second anniversary since the Council declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency with a colourful and occasionally noisy march through Bournemouth town centre on Saturday.
Climate activists from a number of different groups including Extinction Rebellion, Friends of the Earth, Transition Towns, Zero Carbon Dorset, Christchurch Climate Action, and Global Justice Bournemouth marched from Horseshoe Common to Bournemouth Town Hall, carrying banners and flags and accompanied by a samba band.
Some of the activists wore masks with large lips and marched with bare legs embodying the saying “all mouth and no trousers”. Others wore rosettes and carried speech bubble placards proclaiming “I love shredding climate plans” and other satirical slogans.
Melissa Carrington, from Extinction Rebellion, says
“In the last two years BCP Council has done virtually nothing to cut carbon emissions or preserve nature. There is no plan to tackle emissions from the BCP area and the council has ditched its previous commitment to a Citizens’ Assembly. This is really short-sighted and means there is no prospect of informed public debate on the best way of reaching net zero carbon emissions.”
“We cannot build or consume our way out of the climate and nature crisis. We need really drastic action and we need it yesterday and yet the public remains excluded from having a say.”
Martin Price, from East Dorset Friends of the Earth says
“As Covid has shown, crises require urgent and radical action. If you engage with the public, they embrace change and work together to tackle the crisis. We see little evidence that the Council is willing to engage in public dialogue”
The demonstration comes after recent confirmation from scientists that nowhere is safe from extreme heat events caused by climate change as Canada experienced a devastating heatwave in June with temperatures reaching 49.6oC, which killed 700 people, melted power lines, buckled roads and sparked wildfires. Much of Europe, Russia, Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East also experienced record breaking high temperatures last month, and wildfires are currently sweeping through the USA and Siberia.
In recent days, Germany, Belgium, Austria, China, Oman, Nigeria, Turkey, Bangladesh, US and UK have all experienced severe floods caused by unprecedented levels of rainfall, killing hundreds, leaving many more homeless and causing billions of pounds worth of damage.
Closer to home, we have seen severe flooding in certain parts of the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area.
Wilma Hayden 26, a newly qualified social worker from Germany says
“The floods in Dorset and the West of Germany have really shaken me. I am scared of what’s to come and frustrated with our governments and local authorities for not preparing in the face of the climate emergency.”
Justine Marley, mother of two from Moordown says
“I’m really terrified for the future of my children. The recent flooding in Winton near where I live really brought it home to me how vulnerable we all are. We’re really not prepared for what’s to come.”
Scientists have said that climate impacts are exceeding their worst case scenarios and that humans are eroding our life support system, causing nature to decline globally at rates unprecedented in human history.
A leaked draft report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published by AFP news in June suggests that increasingly severe heat waves, fires, floods and droughts are coming our way. The report, which synthesises research from thousands of scientists over the last 5 years, warns that dangerous planetary thresholds, beyond which climate impacts may become unstoppable, irreversible or accelerate, are closer than previously thought.
Elizabeth Elwick, a grandmother from Bournemouth says
“As a grandmother I am genuinely scared of how climate change will affect my family. We all must do everything possible to make local and national governments take actions to mitigate against the chaos the world is facing.”
Ralph Doe, 69 , a retired teacher and bookshop owner from Bournemouth says
“I feel it is only a question of time before more climate-induced weather events affect my family, friends and myself. Humans have to pull together now to try to avert the worst impacts by decreasing fossil fuel use as much as possible. BCP council needs to contribute much more significantly to this global effort.”
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