Ten Years to Save the World . . .

As I sit in the shade of the twisted willow in my garden, swealtering in the heat of one of Britains' hottest days, I am carefully sorting through the pile of papers, leaflets and business cards I accumulated at yesterdays 'Cities Action Summit for Climate Solutions' conference in London. The postman arrives with the usual pile of junk mail and a small parcel; it's the copy of Al Gore's book 'An Inconvenient Truth' that I had ordered from America some weeks earlier.

Maybe it's a sign. Although I have been involved with climate change issues since 1991, the mood at yesterdays conference was quite depressing even for eternal optimists like myself. While many of the experts were working successfully with sustainable solutions, and companies like Shell and BP were forging ahead with new renewable technologies, many - indeed most, seemed to think that it was already too late to turn things around, that it could be be all over for much of the human race in less than 50 years as we will be consuming the resources equivalent to 3 planets. The Deputy Mayor of London reminded us that we were all now consuming as much oil in a day as we were using in a year in the 1950's.

Reading through the pages of notes from yesterday, and more and more projections and figures, there can be no doubt that we are, indeed, in serious trouble.
As a Father and Grandfather, I shudder to think what the future will be like for future generations, but when I look at the legacy we are leaving our children, it becomes personal, close to home.

Everybody agreed yesterday that we desperately need is strong political leadership to face the challenges ahead, and we were reminded of a quote by Napoleon; ' A leader is a dealer in hope' . .
As an environmentalist, I have always been on a mission, but now it's personal and even more pressing, and I'm more driven and focussed to work on climate issues than I have ever been before.

Just 'Ten years to save the World' then, and all of a sudden, an appropriate title for the book I have been writing has emerged . . .

Graham Game - At large. Yesterday London, today Essex, tomorrow the World.