2020 is the year for climate change action

If President Trump is reelected in November 2020 which still seems the most likely outcome, any momentum for climate-change action will vanish. Even amongst the believers who are convinced the climate is changing dangerously for the planet there is division over how to tackle the challenges. As the former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has said today, the troulbe is no one except the real experts truly understands or wants to understand the implications of what mght happen to the planet in the next 20 years. We have all seen the Hollywood disaster movies when the world comes to an end and it's scary but fun. Now however the human race is unquestionably facing a truly scary future of increasingy dire weather conditions and sea rises and desperate heat and all the other things that come with abusing the planet. Even if Trump, a total non-believer in climate change, is ousted in November, I doubt any of his challengers have the real guts to make a difference and persuade the whole world to look on climate change as the single most deadly challenge facing us all. When you're in middle or old age it is too easy to think to yourself, well they're talking about 50-100 years, so that won't affect me. But there are two reasons why that is selfish, unforgiveable and totally unacceptable. First, the youngest generation and the next generation and so on will have to suffer the consequences of the inaction of today's so-called adults; and second, the 50-100 year timeframe is already looking far too optimistic. The changes have begun and over the next 10-20 years there are going to be some frightening weather patterns that could destroy the lives of millions of people. The Swedish teenager has tried her best to empower the younger generation to confront the politicians, but somehow, because of her age and piercing message, her seniors but not betters have partially dismissed her as a nuisance. Trump was positively rude to her when he brushed past her with his entourage earlier this year. I'm surprised he didn't pat her on the head. The trouble is too many leaders have other things on their mind, Boris with Brexit, Macron with national protests, Merkel with her legacy, Xi Zinping with his grandeur and hegemony ambitions, Putin with his malevolence and the EU with striving to stay relevant and afloat. The climate will change as political in-fighting and natonal rivalries continue apace. Is it too much to ask that 2020 be made the year of real climate-change action? I fear it may be.