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THE G20 @ COP26, SCOTLAND, NOVEMBER 2021

THE G20 HOT HEADS A - Z 2020

These are the top twenty countries of the world that are causing the most harm to life on planet earth. They are oil addicts looking for ways to kick their dirty habits without having to go cold-turkey.

Their Neanderthal thinking is taking Homo Sapiens to the brink of extinction in the new Anthropocene age of self-harm. 

CHALLENGES 

We are facing difficult climate change challenges such as extreme weather events, social and economic uncertainties that demand high quality leadership.

Solutions will not come from 'true believers' and most certainly not from the 'skeptics' - for the extremities of climate change issues are (despite the devastation & headlines) not what matters.

Challenges of climate change are universal and as such, demand considered decisions, imagination, ideas and an empathy for what risk and uncertainty will do to the collective psyche.

For this reason we need leaders with courage, for often the policy solutions must be those that win votes from our children and grandchildren, not the parents.

This flies in the face of the essence of politics: getting elected. You can't get elected for looking after those who cannot vote, to the detriment of those who can!

FOUNDATION - Thomas Jefferson often referred to the term 'good government.' In his opinion, a Government ought to be judged by how well it meets its legitimate objectives. "Legitimate," being the operative word.

"A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. "

From the author of the Declaration of Independence.

BOLD LEADERSHIP

As of 2019, the one exception is the United Kingdom. Great Britain was the first of the Group to introduce legally binding targets in the Climate Change Act 2008 (as amended by the 2019 Order) and Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006.

At the moment the G20 are leading us to extinction because they operate policies to grow their economies to appease their wealthy backers and get richer themselves in the process.

Those policies are endangering the lives of our children. The proof of what we say is that we have dangerous global warming that is escalating. If the G20's policies worked, the world would not be facing a climate emergency. Chew on that!

It is rare for someone to enter politics without the ambition to succeed personally. We would ask those considering standing for office to do so to make a difference in the world, by working to achieve stability and understanding. Nobody minds politicians being paid for a job well done.

Continuous economic growth might seem great in terms of making the electorate feel good in the short term, but in the long term it will all have been for nothing as planet earth slowly burns to ashes along with all our paper money. How will the electorate feel then?

Any survivors will blame these and the preceding political Hot Heads for leading them to the brink with what amounts to weal leadership.

"Mmmm. Those crazy hippies might have a point. It is getting a little warmer than I'd Like."

SIX (SUGGESTED) STEPS TOWARD A COOLER PLANET

1. TRANSPORT: Phase out polluting vehicles. Governments aim to end the sale of new petrol, and diesel vehicles by 2040 but have no infrastructure plan to support such ambition. Such infrastructure should exceed the performance of fossil fuel filling stations, prolong EV battery life and provide power grids with a measure of load leveling. Any such system should seek to obviate the provision of millions of fast charge points where implementation could prove to be a logistical nightmare. This may involve international agreement as to energy storage format and statute to steer car makers to collaborate in part, in a world driven by competition for sales.

Marine transport can be carbon neutral given the right policies, with phased transition in specific stages such as not to unduly penalize present investment in LNG shipping and other recent MARPOL compliant IC powered vessels. Future cargo and cruise vessels should be at least in part powered by renewable energy, on the road to zero carbon, making allowances for technology catch-up.

Air travel powered by kerosene should attract hefty mitigation offset, where low carbon alternatives should be encouraged.

2. RENEWABLES:  Renewable energy should replace carbon-based fuels (coal, oil and gas) in our electricity for homes, factories, heating and transport. Coal and nuclear power plants should be phased out.

3. HOUSING: On site micro or macro generation is the best option, starting with new build homes that are both affordable and sustainable by design to replace crumbling housing stocks. Encourage building in timber to provide carbon lock from a renewable natural resource. Make sustainable housing a permitted development, taking out the need to apply for planning permission, will cut out council blockers (such as absurd legal costs) from the decision making process, to stamp out empire building agendas. Plans for a standard, or certified as acceptable design, would eliminate professional fees in the interests of low carbon building.

4. AGRICULTURE: We need to grow more trees to absorb carbon emissions from a growing population, air travel, and to build new homes. We should promote reductions in food waste and eating of foods that use less energy to produce. Educating children on these matters in schools and via campaigns such as no meat Mondays, should be part of ordinary study.

5. INDUSTRY: Factories should be aiming for solar heating and onsite renewable energy generation. EV parking and even service facilities should be part of new industrial estates as part of any building permissions.

6. POLITICS: - National governing bodies need to adopt rules to eliminate administrative wastages, to include scaling down spending on war machines, increasing spend on educating the public and supporting sustainable social policies that mesh with other cultures. This includes fostering policies and making funds available to close links in the technology chain to make up for lost time. Kleptocratic empire building must cease in the search for natural equilibrium.

G20 - Like it or not the Group of 20 most industrialized nations are leading us to an irrecoverable end. You can imagine that when these incredible creatures roamed the earth, that they thought they were invincible. It's hard to imagine these creatures existed, but they did and we can learn from them - if we want to survive.

If the G20 were to implement ways of reducing climate change on an urgent basis to reverse global warming, the remaining nations, flora and fauna would stand a better chance of surviving. We might even stop the melting of our ice caps, sea level rise and ocean acidity in due course.

The richest nations will find it harder than poorer nations to put the brakes on as they vie for energy and food security to foster their ambitions. They like making money and think they are in competition with the other 19 nations of the Top Twenty, to outperform them in the rankings as some kind of cold war tactic to take over the rest of the world economically - that is raising the earth's temperature. Hence, it is a Heat or Hot War.

The economic race, or Hot War is creating a decidedly unstable situation that is spiraling out of control in terms of greenhouse gases. The sensible thing to do is to cool down economic growth, so reducing global warming. We must find an economic formula that sits well with the natural world. This is called a Circular Economy, meaning that we can all live and prosper sustainably. Without killing species and upsetting ecological balances.

CANCER KINGS - Any reasonably intelligent person would make the link between the burning of fossil fuels and climate change, and the link between diesel particulates and lung cancer. Only a complete fool would not understand what scientists are telling us. On the other hand, politicians are some of the best poker players around. To bluff in a poker game you have to be adept at lying. Politicians are some of the best professional liars, after lawyers.

At the moment China and India are accelerating their economies in a game of catch up that we are sure all parties would endorse so long as sustainability is observed. China and India are the manufacturing houses of the world where everyone else is sourcing cheap products. In a world of free trade there is nothing wrong with that. We would though urge these two powerful nations as climate change allies to pay especial attention to delivering goods using renewable energy, also concentrating on sustainable housing and agricultural best practices. This will avoid unnecessary carbon dioxide emissions. We would also recommend that their countries should include an energy service network for efficient transport - that will allow them to maintain their positions as lead manufacturers.

We need to stop building more inefficient houses and factories. We need to work to conserve what we have aiming for carbon neutrality.

The remaining countries in the world should of course reciprocate and salute the bravery of any G20 nation for doing what is right. We are all in this together.

The World needs a Climate Action Plan to coordinate the efforts of member nations in becoming carbon neutral. The advantages are that where it is tempting to grab another quick buck while there are no penalties, as the temperature continue to climb we will be unable to manage a growing population on a shrinking land mass.

The G20 (or G-20 or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for governments and central bank governors from:

Argentina

Australia

Brazil

Canada

China

European Union

France

Germany

India

Indonesia

Italy

Japan

Mexico

Russia

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

South Korea

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States 

Founded in 1999, the G20 aims to discuss policy pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization. 

The G20's membership does not reflect exactly the 19 largest national economies of the world in any given year. The organization states:

"In a forum such as the G20, it is particularly important for the number of countries involved to be restricted and fixed to ensure the effectiveness and continuity of its activity. There are no formal criteria for G20 membership and the composition of the group has remained unchanged since it was established. In view of the objectives of the G20, it was considered important that countries and regions of systemic significance for the international financial system be included. Aspects such as geographical balance and population representation also played a major part."

COWBOY POLITICS - The Malboro Man character - used from 1954 to 1999 in magazine, television and billboard adverts - was portrayed in a natural setting with only a cigarette. It was initially conceived by Leo Burnett as a way to popularize filtered cigarettes, which at the time were considered a feminine commodity.

Winfield said that he wore his own clothes for shoots and never wore make-up. The Oklahoma native was one of the last Marlboro Men alive. Some were authentic cowboys like him while others were actors.

Other ex-faces of the tobacco brand include David Millar, who died of emphysema in 1987, and David McLean, who died of lung cancer in 1995. Another who pushed the product, Wayne McLaren, died before his 52nd birthday in 1992 and Dick Hammer - better known for his role as Captain Hammer in the TV show Emergency! - passed away from lung cancer in 1999, aged 69.

Eric Lawson who played the iconic cigarette-puffing cowboy during the late 1970s passed away aged 72 from respiratory failure last January. The Marlboro Man was scrapped in the late Nineties, when state governments banned the use of humans or cartoons in U.S. tobacco advertisements. Winfield was born on July 30, 1929, in Little Kansas, Oklahoma.

CLIMATE CHANGE  COP HISTORY

DESERTIFICATION COP HISTORY

BIODIVERSITY COP HISTORY

UN CLIMATE ACTION PORTFOLIOS

1. Finance
2. Energy Transition
3. Industry Transition
4. Nature-Based Solutions
5. Cities and Local Action
6. Resilience and Adaptation
7. Mitigation Strategy
8. Youth Engagement & Public Mobilization
9. Social and Political Drivers

ABOUT GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the market value of all final goods and services from a nation in a given year. Countries are sorted by nominal GDP estimates from financial and statistical institutions, which are calculated at market or government official exchange rates. Nominal GDP does not take into account differences in the cost of living in different countries, and the results can vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's currency. Such fluctuations may change a country's ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference in the standard of living of its population. The figures quoted here are only a guide.

ENERGY CRISIS - Although some countries act as though there is no energy crisis, in fact they have departments for such matters. These departments are there to advise for how much longer they can abuse their positions in world politics, to take advantage of other countries and keep on killing species and warming the planet - before their positions as kleptocrats are compromised. It is a balancing act between the interests of the wealthy versus the interests of planet earth and the poorer members of society.

STATE LEADERS

Mauricio Macri
Malcolm Turnbull
Michel Temer
Justin Trudeau
Xi Jinping
Emmanuel Macron
Angela Merkel
Narendra Modi
Joko Widodo
Giuseppe Conte
Shinzō Abe

Enrique Peña Nieto

Vladimir Putin
Salman
Cyril Ramaphosa
Moon Jae-in
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Theresa May
Donald Trump
Donald Tusk