The climate and environmental crises: two global crises, with seemingly little global action. The countries of the world have set themselves goals to work towards, most notably in the 2015 Paris Agreement. And the chances of reaching those Paris goals might seem slim right now - but just as the climate crisis itself has its ‘tipping points’, so might our response to it. Green technology is becoming affordable, citizens are taking to the streets to demand more government action, and innovative developments small and large are popping up everywhere around us.
The aim of this blog is to zoom in on those developments, as well as to unpack and summarise ongoing discussions on topics such a reforestation and rising sea levels. We will look at global developments but focus on two countries specifically. Our respective home countries, separated only by the North Sea: the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Two big polluters, similar in many ways, very different in others. What if we compare and contrast? Can we learn something from each other's successes and debates?
We will summarise and reflect on the most interesting, important, surprising, motivating or otherwise useful insights from a range of Dutch, English and global sources including newspaper articles, scientific studies, documentaries and government statistics. We will focus on one topic at a time: we could be writing about solar panels in one post, and about cycling culture and infrastructure in the next.
The idea for this blog was born out of sheer curiosity. We are highly concerned about the climate crisis and environmental degradation, combined with government inaction. Yet we also see the rise of wonderful technological innovations and grassroots community projects. Discussing these issues from a Dutch versus a British point of view, we noticed how these different perspectives can help in understanding certain issues.
We are not climate scientists, nor are we investigative journalists. We do not claim to know everything and the writing of this blog is a journey - we learn as we write. So if you find that we have included incomplete or outdated information, or if you have any insights to add, please leave your comments!