The end of the discussion turns into a plugging session.
Audience member Tom says in July there will be a conference held on energy in cities, how cities respond to the climate crisis
Lynn says get involved in local Greenpeace groups, get involved if you are interested in climate issues
And this concludes Wessex Scene's coverage. Thanks for tuning in!
The flag is up! Giles says it's time to tie the strands together, starting with audience member Lynn's comment that we've heard it all before. He says that he's sure people will judge BP by their actions, and says that he sensed from the audience a combined weariness and awareness of needing to change. He notes our initial pratical question (can we invent our way in net zero?), and notes how an audience member suggested that we need to change our consumer habits instead. He also notes how 'striken' he was by Rob's point that to interact with the US and China, we need to be innovative. He also praises Ian for describing the tremendous scope for marine technology for being more sustainable. He also notes how Fabio reframed everything in terms of energy vectors, but suggests that people will be watching BP very carefully. Giles also notes that there's been a considerable move to make offsetting 'real', and notes that he's interested to see how things develop. He encourages people to come to more of Tortoise's Think-Ins in the future – there will be 9 more climate-focussed ones this year.
Giles moves onto Deborah, Director of Supergen ORE Hub . She claims that all this technology is useless without anyone there to use it, so people need to begin by changing their habits to make this new technology a success.
She proposes that the Government introduce what she calls an 'innovation powerpurchase arrangement' – a mechanism for bringing forward new technologies that we might not need now, but may need in 2050. She says that, for example, innovations like tidal stream are good for oil and gas companies to invest in, as they already have a lot of the technology necessary.
Ian says that we need to focus on the decarbonisation of our atmosphere. An important part of this marine habitats and the protection of these. Right now we're in the middle of a sixth mass extinction. Some parts of the marine habitats, especially mangroves, are key to decarbonsation and are worth 7 trillion US dollars. He wants governments to focus on protecting these habitats that are so important to decarbonising our climate.
