[Coral-List] carbon offsetting AND the need for innovative problem solvers to halt climate change

[Franziska Elmer]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for your input. I totally agree with you that just flying less by a few people is not going to help at all to solve the climate change crisis. That is why I do not think our main goal should be sacrifice but using our time and energy to come up with innovative ways that we can keep the luxuries we like and do not want to live without, by switching to low carbon alternatives. Lots of technology is out there that just needs to be implemented. And yes of course the right price on carbon would likely lead to a fast implementation of them. You said that we have to get the governments to listen and start working on solutions. Totally! So we need to grab their attention and the attention of the public. That is why we need a strong statement coming out of ICRS Bremen and any other conferences. Holding a low carbon emissions conference is not about that conference making a huge dent into the worlds carbon budget. It is about sounding believable when we ask for action, it is about showing how much this is worth to us and it is about showing that alternatives exists. So us making a sacrifice at the next conference, either travelling there with low carbon alternatives or cancelling it and focussing a week on global climate action will (if coordinated and planned well) make a difference in how our voices are heard when we make that conference statement.  Then of course we have to make sure we put enough time and thought into that statement so that it is as powerful as possible. We have to find an innovative way of getting the attention of our governments and changing the main focus of our scientific meetings from talking about natural science discoveries to calling for climate action may be the way we can contribute to the solution.

Franziska