'Climate change is leaving young people with a dying planet'

Lobby group issues plea to Manx politicians

Tynwald members have been told by an environmental group to take action on climate change or face civil unrest, as the Island and Britain experiences some of the warmest weather on record this week.

The Climate Change Coalition is made up of members from the Island's political parties and charitable organisations.

It says it wants to work with government rather than against it, as long as it reduces carbon emissions, invests in renewable energy and protects the Manx Biopshere status.

The coalition says it is 'imperative' these goals are achieved, otherwise 'it is the end of our way of life as we currently know it'.

On Tuesday (26 Feb), five of its members spelt out these aims in a presentation to the Island's politicians, with the hope that its formation can help guide government policy in its efforts to mitigate climate breakdown.

According to the group's Alice Quayle, there were a few 'obstructive' members, who 'don't care and can't be bothered'.

"Some people [Tynwald members] just don't get it." she says, "they just don't get the general idea that this is a good idea economically."

Joney Faragher agrees: "There was a small but vocal minority who wanted to maintain the status quo for whatever reason and they were very reluctant to accept that we are at a period of transition."

Election 2021

According to Andrew Bentley - Isle of Man Green Party councillor for Derby Ward in Douglas - of the 24 MHKs, 12 of them had no reference to the environment in their manifestos, a number which he expects to be far different come 2021.  

"I think something we will be hoping for, as a coalition" he says, "would be that everybody had a stance at the next election in their manifestos and they can be scrutinised on their doorstep about."

Ms Quayle too believes climate change isn't an issue 'that isn't going to go away' and that the MHKs are 'going to have to address it'. 

Budget 'fire-fighting'

This is the start of a period of 'very rapid transition and civil unrest', according to Ms Faragher, and she points to the school strikes, extreme weather hitting the headlines and scientific bodies issuing their urgent warnings, as examples of this.

In light of Alfred Cannan's budget for 2019, she has called the £3.3 million allocated for climate change mitigation as 'fire-fighting', and says government 'hasn't really given much thought to runaway climate change.'

But it's not just about protecting against the weather, Devon Watson says one of the effects of a warmer planet with rising seas would lead to mass migration, or climate refugees, in vast numbers fleeing to Europe.

"So when Bangladesh doesn't exist anymore because it's underwater, you're going to have 180 million people who are going to need somewhere to go."

Mr Watson believes the current political infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle such an influx of people, especially after what he called the 'kick-off' during the debate around the proposal to bring 25 Syrian families to the Island.

"This is the biggest event in human history and being on the Isle of Man doesn't mean we're isolated from it."

Intergenerationally, climate change is particularly significant and will 'spark conflicts' among the age groups, he says. 

"A lot of young people have grown up in the wake of the financial crash that has left their economic futures dire at best.

"Housing is unaffordable, university is unaffordable and now they're also going to be left with a dying planet.

"You see a very clear divide on the sort of people who are taking action on this, who are motivated on this, and those who think it really isn't an issue at the end of the day."