Who is delaying climate change action?

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TL;DR

Hot take

All the worst people.

Outright climate change denial is so passe, it’s only the true crackpots that deny climate change in 2024. There’s plenty of people delaying climate change action - actively, or passively and it’s the same result.

Explanation

We can stop arguing with outright climate change denialists, they are a fringe group these days as the public overwhelming accepts the need for climate change action. Climate action delayers are people in positions of influence who say they are acting fast but are not, or clogging up the system and preventing change because of an obsession with the way things have always been done. Think Diane Feinstein lecturing children that she knew what she was doing about climate change.

Climate change delayers are in two main groups - those who signal they are actively doing something about climate change, like politicians and CEOs but who then put in place goals or plans that are not in line with what the science says we should do. For example, politicians who support the expanded use of natural gas under the false premise that we need to transition from coal via gas. The time for that has passed. Other examples include CEOs who make great pledges but then walk them back after having achieved not much at all. We can all pledge we want to compete at the Olympics, the pledge is the easy part.

Mainstream climate change delayers also argue the cost of action is too high, the costs associated with climate impacts aren’t going to be as bad as we think they are. They sell books and go on podcasts and talk-shows. They’re smart - they know there’s money to be made calming down financial markets, insurers and governments who are scared they need to make drastic action to avert climate catastrophe. Some of them are just techno-optimists who think the world will just need more air-conditioning.

The second group I would describe as a bit more passive - the people enabling this to happen because they don’t care, or are just happy their “side” of politics is in charge and support whatever they do. I would also include the media in this group - a lot of media, particularly political media fails to report on climate change in terms of the science, but in terms of political horse-trading. For example, when the Australian Labor Party was elected into power in Australia in 2022 they did so on a policy platform of 43% emissions reduction by 2030. They chose this target of 43% because it was the most palatable to sell to the electorate, not because it was what the science called for. This 43% target was lower than the 45% target they had as policy three years earlier. That’s right, as the climate crisis got worse, their target got lower.

In Australia in particular there is focus on domestic emissions (good) but total disregard for the emissions we’re exporting. Fossil fuel exports contribute to key measures like GDP and make our balance of trade look good. They help large companies make a lot of profits. Ultimately the emissions are all released into the same atmosphere even if they are burnt in Japan or somewhere else. So when a government that claims to have “ended the climate wars” passes legislation that further enables gas exports, or approves the expansion of coal mines, it makes you wonder if the climate actually won that war. Critically the politicians in this example (Albanese, Bowen, Plibersek) think they’ve solved the political problem of climate change - not actual climate change. This is climate change delay. Have the public feel comfortable that the government is taking serious and drastic action on climate change, but just tinker around the edges.

Another insidious form of climate delay is a type of greenwashing that focuses only on the new things - like deploying renewable energy, or enabling more electric vehicles but overlooking the decommissioning of the old things. It’s easy to announce new solar and wind projects, but the more important part is when are we turning off the old coal and gas infrastructure? A bit like gamblers only counting their wins, politicians take this road because often they don’t have the control or answers to hard decisions that require deep systemic change. Adding new renewable energy is great, it is better than deploying more fossil fuels but simply adding renewables to what we’ve got doesn’t reduce emissions form the current state. It’s a start, but it’s a very long journey.

Who is delaying climate change action?

TL;DR

Explanation

Further reading