{"id":13567,"date":"2016-11-17T15:38:15","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T15:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/?p=13567"},"modified":"2017-02-20T11:41:04","modified_gmt":"2017-02-20T11:41:04","slug":"a-letter-to-leonardo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/a-letter-to-leonardo\/","title":{"rendered":"An open letter to Leonardo DiCaprio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Leonardo<\/span><\/p>\n

I just watched your excellent film on climate change,\u00a0<\/span>Before the Flood<\/span><\/em>. \u00a0I\u2019m writing to applaud you for highlighting the urgency of this issue, but also to ask you to think again \u2013 especially now the election is over – \u00a0about who the heroes and villains are.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"glacier-tongue-983891_1920\"The movie contains great sequences – Arctic ice melting, your interviews with Barack Obama and the Pope – but it also recycles the conspiracy theory that oil and gas companies are all out to obstruct progress. \u201cFossil fuel companies manipulate and dictate the science and policies that affect our future,\u201d you say.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leonardo, this belongs with alien abductions and Elvis sightings. You\u2019re dismissing an entire industry in one sentence when it contains a lot of people who are every bit as concerned about this issue as you are. \u00a0There is a very different story to tell.<\/span><\/p>\n

Calling for action<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

BP, for example, acknowledged the risk of climate change around 20 years ago<\/a> and led an exodus of oil and gas companies from the Global Climate Coalition (GCC)<\/a>, a lobby group that opposed change. Far from obstructing progress, many oil and gas companies are urging governments to do more. Last year, for example, the heads of BP, Shell, Statoil, Total and others\u00a0<\/span>wrote to the UN<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>calling for a price on carbon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Far from bankrolling sceptics, several energy companies fund world-leading independent climate research teams such as the BP-backed\u00a0<\/span>Carbon Mitigation Initiative<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>at Princeton University.\u00a0\u00a0 Ten major oil and gas companies have formed the\u00a0<\/span>Oil & Gas Climate Initiative<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>which this month announced an\u00a0<\/span>investment of $1 billion<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Companies like Total, Shell and BP have large renewable energy arms.<\/span><\/p>\n

If this is all PR, it\u2019s the most expensive PR campaign ever. But it\u2019s not. There are good reasons why these firms support action on climate change.<\/span><\/p>\n

The right side of history<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

First, they need good relations with governments, consumers and others worldwide, many of whom want to see progress. Second, a move to a lower carbon economy offers opportunities – in renewable energy and in providing gas as a substitute for coal. It\u2019s been calculated that switching all the world\u2019s coal-fired power plants to gas could\u00a0<\/span>cut global greenhouse gas emissions<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>by around 10%. \u00a0Third, smart companies want to be on the right side of history. Many of them have existed for a century and they want to be around for another.<\/span><\/p>\n

Demonising these companies may boost protest groups, but it does nothing for the climate. As a liberal, I am ashamed to see environmentalists turning what should be an inclusive, positive movement for change into a tribal, negative campaign. By whipping up hostility instead of hope, they are adopting the tactics of demagogues.<\/span><\/p>\n

A fairer challenge to Big Oil companies is why they don\u2019t stop producing fossil fuels and shift into renewables. And the simple answer is that they\u2019d go bust. Renewable energy may be competitive in some situations \u2013 like a sunny day in LA \u2013 but generally it isn\u2019t. If the big companies abandoned fossil fuels and put their investment into loss-making businesses, their investors would sell and they\u2019d be taken over by others who would probably care a lot less about the climate.<\/span><\/p>\n

The villain is all of us<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite all the debate, the world still gets 85%<\/a> of its energy from fossil fuels. Over two centuries, they have powered the industrial and digital revolutions \u2013 homes, factories, cars, computers, hospitals, schools – and the planes that took you around the world to make your film. If fossil fuel providers didn\u2019t exist, we\u2019d invent them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The villain isn\u2019t the fossil fuel companies, Leonardo. It\u2019s us. It\u2019s society. It\u2019s each of us that enjoys the benefits of a civilisation fuelled by cheap hydrocarbons.<\/span><\/p>\n

The companies can\u2019t change it without failing in their duty to investors. You and I can\u2019t change it either – because a few rich people driving Teslas and fitting solar panels are outnumbered by millions who just want power and fuel to escape poverty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Juggernaut<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Only governments can turn this juggernaut around. What is required is a collective global change of heart on a scale comparable to the abolition of slavery.\u00a0 Policy-makers need to change the rules of the game to make high-carbon energy more expensive and low-carbon energy less expensive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, there is time \u2013 just about.\u00a0 In ballpark terms, based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates<\/a>, we need to stop emissions rising, halve them by 2050 and eliminate them by 2100. It isn\u2019t about throwing a single switch, but turning a set of dials. \u00a0We need to use energy more efficiently, use less coal, use more gas, use oil as sparingly as possible and ramp up renewables.<\/span><\/p>\n

For all the high-fiving at Paris last year, all that happened was a bunch of promises which were still not enough to\u00a0<\/span>keep the temperature rise to the goal of 2<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>degrees. And with Donald Trump\u2019s election, the US, one of the world\u2019s big emitters, may back off its pledges. The silver lining is that US emissions are already falling, partly because gas and renewables are so competitive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Groundswell<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

But worldwide, politicians will only act when there is a groundswell of public demand. Right now, that is the biggest ask. Apathy is the biggest enemy. Climate change was barely mentioned in the Presidential debates and the follow-up to Paris, in Marrakesh this month, is getting little attention.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leonardo \u2013 you are the UN\u2019s messenger for peace. You are taking a brave stand. Please use your position to spread peace among those who understand this issue and want to fix it. We are too few on the ground to fight among ourselves. We need to build a coalition for the climate and tell a different story. A story of hope. The story of how human beings can avert disaster by harnessing everything that is best in humanity. What better alternative narrative for progressive America \u2013 and the world? Let\u2019s inspire people and let\u2019s work together to shape a better future.<\/span><\/p>\n

David Vigar is former Editor-in-Chief\u00a0at BP, now a freelance writer, editor, coach and consultant for clients including BP. This post is written\u00a0in a personal capacity.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Leonardo I just watched your excellent film on climate change,\u00a0Before the Flood. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13568,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13567"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidvigar.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}