The planet’s poor environmental wellness may not be our fault. This is according to Tim Yeo, the MP who, as chair of the Commons energy and climate change committee, scrutinises government policy on climate change. Last week, Yeo accepted that the earth’s temperature is rising, but said that global warming may not be caused by mankind.
According to Yeo, who was an environment minister under John Major, it is possible that the increase in global temperature could be down to ‘natural phases’ in the earth’s climate, and that human action is merely a ‘possible cause’. This comes as a surprise, as Yeo has previously spoken with great certainty about the impact of mankind on climate change and is one of the Conservative Party’s strongest advocates of cutting carbon emissions. Yet now he is saying that climate change poses ‘no threat’ to the survival of the planet and the causes are ‘not absolutely clear’.
‘The first thing to say is [climate change] does not represent any threat to the survival of the planet. None at all,’ Yeo asserted. ‘The planet has survived much bigger changes than any climate change that is happening now. Although I think the evidence that the climate is changing is now overwhelming, the causes are not absolutely clear. There could be natural causes, natural phases that are taking place.’
However, he added, ‘There is at least a risk that the increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is a possible cause,’ and so it would be ‘prudent’ to be ‘efficient in the use of energy’. This sceptical statement is at odds with the beliefs of the scientific community. When 12,000 academic papers on climate change were recently surveyed, it was found that 97% agree that human activities are causing the planet to warm.
Furthermore, Yeo said in 2009, ‘A significant number of core Conservative voters, mostly among older people, are reluctant to accept the evidence. I don’t think they will be a significant influence in the next parliament and will gradually diminish in the population … The dying gasps of the deniers will be put to bed. In five years’ time, no one will argue about a man-made contribution to climate change.’
So what’s does Yeo really think? When asked about his comments last week, Yeo seemed to have reverted back to his 2009 beliefs, noting ‘It is possible there are natural causes as well, but my view has always been that – for twenty years – I have thought the scientific evidence has been very convincing. The strong probability is that it is man-made causes contributing to greenhouse gas concentrations.’