Let Paris be the spark for climate action

Organisers have already said that while Guernsey often says the right things about climate change, it is not always backed up with action, or the action is a little too slow to follow.

‘The problems are a lot bigger than just tote bags and reusable cups, it can’t just be about the individual, now is the time for our leaders to make substantial actionable change, it has to happen and we need commitment right at the top,’ said Helen Quin from the Clean Earth Trust.

That call has been followed by in-principle agreement for the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit global warming to be extended to the island.

Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, Guernsey’s external relations lead who led on the discussions with the UK over the Paris Agreement, thinks that it is a positive signal.

‘Guernsey is only small, but it too has its part to play in managing climate change, through its domestic actions and through the business we conduct internationally,’ he said.

Is that action enough? It sounds like action, but protesters today will be asking searching questions of both global and local leaders.

Were the CO2 emissions to fly Deputy Le Tocq and Deputy Lindsay De Sausmarez to Glasgow justified?

Some may wonder why Guernsey was even sending delegates to Glasgow at all. The island wasn’t represented in Paris in 2015, so that can be seen as a positive sign that our international influence is building, and is being recognised and facilitated by the UK.

It should also be a sign for Guernsey that the island can have influence beyond our size and it is an opportunity to believe it.

Guernsey has potential to do things, not least by virtue of size, rather than be dragged along, behind the curve. We have the skills in financial services to help the global push to tackle climate change. Now, however it comes, it feels we need one more push to make things happen.