Our Beliefs
Our Beliefs underlie everything that we do and are summarised as follows:
1. Climate Change is real.
Former adviser to the UK Government, Professor Nicholas Stern, said ‘the basic scientific conclusions on climate change are very robust and for good reason. The greenhouse effect is simple science: greenhouse gases trap heat, and humans are emitting ever more greenhouse gases.’ We belief Professor Stern!
2. Solving climate change is too important to be left to politicians.
Former US President Obama tweeted ‘we are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.’ The election of his successor, President Trump, causes us to believe that climate change is too important an issue to be left to the politicians that we elect and the vagaries of democracy.
3. Climate action is prudent and sensible, even for climate change sceptics / deniers.
We recognise that climate change sceptics / deniers occupy position of power and influence across politics, business and the media. Warren Buffet explains eloquently why, if there is only a 1% chance the planet is heading toward a truly major disaster and delay means passing a point of no return, inaction now is foolhardy.
Buffett does not deny the science showing that climate change will likely be a problem. He is just not 100% certain that it will be. Buffett writes ‘it seems highly likely to me that climate change poses a major problem for the planet. I say “highly likely” rather than “certain” because I have no scientific aptitude. It would be foolish, however, for me or anyone to demand 100% proof of huge forthcoming damage to the world if that outcome seemed at all possible and if prompt action had even a small chance of thwarting the danger. … Call this Noah’s Law: If an ark may be essential for survival, begin building it today, no matter how cloudless the skies appear.’
In Ireland, we can relate well to Warren Buffett’s wise words of advice and caution. In Gaelic language, we have the expression, ‘ar eagla na heagla’ which translates as ‘just in case’ or, literally, ‘for fear of the fear’. Given the catastrophic consequences of severe climate change, it makes absolute sense to invest in measures to mitigate and avert. This is true regardless how you assess the underlying science and ascribe probabilities to potential outcomes.
4. We already have the technology to solve climate change. What we most need is more widespread deployment.
Solar PV can be rolled out in many countries for less than $1 per installed wat. Energy storage technologies are experiencing similarly dramatic reductions in cost. Even without properly ascribing the environmental costs of fossil fuels, clean renewable energy sources continue to become ever more competitive. The imperative is to press ahead and implement at scale low carbon technologies that are proven and profitable.
5. There is no bigger economic opportunity than renewables and clean technology.
To quote the greatest investor in history, Warren Buffett, a second time, ‘we’ve poured billions and billions and billions of dollars (into renewable energy) … and we’re going to keep doing that as far as the eye can see.’ Companies and individuals should not wait for politicians and policy makers. We should forge ahead and implement low carbon technologies which are already demonstrated to be profitable and relatively low risk.
6. The time for action is now
Bill Gates explains how, by the time we see that climate change is really bad, our ability to fix it is extremely limited: ‘The carbon gets up there, but the heating effect is delayed. And then the effect of that heat on the species and ecosystem is delayed. That means that even when you turn virtuous, things are actually going to get worse for quite a while.’
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Molyneux House, 67/69 Bride Street,
Dublin D08 C8CN, Ireland
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