Of polar bears and princes

12:30pm Friday 21st November 2008

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I MET Jonathon Porritt, one of the country’s leading environmentalists, this week.

He was in Middlesbrough to see the carbonneutral development in Middlehaven and advise us how small organisations like ours can help tackle global challenges like climate change.

Porritt, like the man he has advised on environmental matters, The Prince of Wales, has had the satisfaction of seeing his ideas on the environment that were once regarded as extreme or eccentric, become part of mainstream thinking.

Talking to him, I realised we really have two environments. The first is the one we see on TV, stunning, fragile places like the rainforest and the Arctic – perhaps, like me, you’ve been watching ITN’s fascinating broadcasts on how global warming could kill off polar bears. These are places we know it’s important to preserve and about whose devastation we feel angry, guilty and pretty powerless.

The second environment is the one we live in every day. If we’re honest, we don’t think about it a great deal. It’s a bit boring, after all; no bears, no 200ft trees. We don’t go around trashing it, but we don’t do an awful lot to make it better either.

But how we treat these two environments all boils down to how we consume finite, natural resources.

Scientists estimate that we currently consume 30 per cent more of natural resources than the planet can replace. Put it another way, if everyone lived like the average European, we would need three planets to keep us in the manner to which we’re accustomed. It could be worse, of course. If we all lived like our friends in the US, we would need five planets.

That is an awful lot of Big Bangs I think when people look back on our society, they’ll see many positive things. But they will also see the damage done by the curse of over-consumption.

On an individual scale, it has led to a nearepidemic of obesity that means that many of our children will have poorer health than their parents. On a global scale, it has led to the devastation of natural habitats, pollution and an ever-increasing threat to our way of life. If we are consuming three or five times our fair share of things, that inevitably means someone is going short – very short indeed. They will not allow us to hog their share forever.

In Middlesbrough, we recently signed up to something called One Planet Living, ten principles committing us to sustainable forms of transport and development, preservation of natural resources and habitats, reduction of greenhouse gases and fair trade.

Signing up, like joining a gym or being sensible about what you eat and drink, is the easy part. The hard grind of sticking to your principles, or diet or exercise regime, is what counts. We have to be honest with ourselves and be prepared for permanent changes in our lifestyle and expectations. They’re changes that might not be palatable at first, but which are certainly better than the alternatives, illhealth for us, and catastrophe for the planet.

The amazing thing of course, is that our planet, a bit like our bodies, still functions as well as it does, despite all the unpleasant things we throw at it. It can’t do so forever of course, so, I suppose the question is what kind of world we want to leave behind for future generations.

If we go on as we do, it will be a world stripped of natural resources, riddled with injustice and want; a world for paupers. If we change, it will be a cleaner and fairer place; a planet that if not quite fit for a prince, will still be fit for a polar bear.