Saturday 18 September 2021

Wobble on Wombles?

The litter-collecting Wombles were the creation of the late Elizabeth Beresford. The fictional furry ensemble have been 'recruited' for the UK government's OneStepGreener campaign, which is directed at young folk (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/18/will-wombling-free-get-us-to-net-zero-wombles-spark-debate-on-communicating-climate-crisis-aoe). The whole thrust of the Wombles is a focus on personal actions/ responsibilities. These include things like picking up litter and eating sensibly. These changes would be welcome and necessary. It can be argued, however, that the focus on individual actions is an attempt to get government off the hook. Combating climate change relies, to a much greater extent, on government actions (rather than just making easy pledges). Policies on electricity generation, house building, home heating/insulation, local transport, international travel, agriculture, dietary advice etc will have much bigger effects on the release of 'greenhouse gases'. The UK government have actually made it harder for people to campaign against/criticise their actions/failure to change. Children will eventually have to recognise that change is not just down to them.

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