30th September 2019
"There is a magic machine that sucks carbon out of the air, costs very little, and builds itself. It's called a tree.", says George Monbiot in 'Nature Now' a new 3+ minute film in which he and Greta Thunberg lay out very simply the problems we're facing and suggest positive solutions in 3 steps.
"A tree is an example of a natural climate solution - mangroves, peat bogs, jungles, marshes, sea-beds, forests, kelp beds, swamps, coral reefs, take carbon out of the air and lock it away" he explains. But these natural climate solutions can only make a difference if we also leave fossil fuels in the ground.
"Right now we're ignoring them", says Greta, "We spend 1,000 times more on global fossil fuel subsidies than on natural based solutions". George adds "Natural climate solutions give just 2% of all monies used on tackling climate breakdown. When we need nature the most we're destroying it faster than ever." They then lay out the bare facts that up to 200 species are going extinct every day and that much of our artic ice and soil have gone and many of our animals to. We need to:-
1) Protect (tropical forests are being cut down at the rate of 30 football pitches a minute). Where nature is doing something vital we must protect it.
2) Restore - much of our planet that has been damaged by nature can regenerate and we can help eco-systems bounce back.
3) Fund - stop funding things that destroy nature and pay for things that help it.
As Greta and George recognise, many people have already started to do this around the world but this needs to happen everywhere on a larger scale and they urge for individuals to join with other existing groups already doing things to defend and fight for nature. As Greta says conclusively: 'Everything counts, what you do counts'.
Nature Now was made by Tom Mustill of Gripping Films with support from Conservation International, Gower St, The Food and Land Use Coalition and guidance from Nature4Climate and Natural Climate Solutions. Please watch and share: