Renowned Exeter climate scientist Prof James Dyke to speak at community event

A community talk in Exeter will give people the chance to discuss the climate and nature emergency and hear about a major new campaign.

Award-winning writer, climate thinker, and Exeter University professor James Dyke will speak at the event at Exeter Community Centre, at 6pm on Friday March 31.

The event is for everyone, including a talk about the climate emergency, free vegan food, and information about a protest bringing 100,000 people together outside Parliament in London from April 21 to 24.

Exeter Community Alliance, a collective of 30 local community groups, is joining the peaceful gathering called The Big One, which will call on the Government to stop funding fossil fuels, and start a public conversation on a fair and sustainable transition to green energy.

Climate, nature and social justice groups attending the protest include Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Extinction Rebellion, Fuel Poverty Action, Earth Day, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, CAFOD, the Quakers, NHS Workers Say No, PCS Union, and many others.

Prof Dyke, Associate Professor in Earth Systems Science, and Assistant Director of Exeter University’s Global Systems Institute, said: “Until we stop burning coal, oil and gas, until we stop producing greenhouse gases, temperatures will rise. The more greenhouse gases we produce, the faster that rise will be.

“The good news is that most of the carbon dioxide emissions come from a relatively small fraction of the Earth’s population, and that’s essentially the richest people. The bad news is that those richest people tend to be the most powerful people, and they have proved to be the most resistant to change.”

The scientist, whose book ‘Fire Storm and Flood’ charts the effects of a violent climate from the earliest extinction events to the present day, believes we need more honesty in climate discussions as the world is on target to overshoot 1.5 degrees C of warming in the coming decades. 

In a talk at a TED event last year, Prof Dyke described how governments and vested interests like fossil fuel companies use carbon offsetting and unproven technologies as an excuse to keep emitting greenhouse gases. 

“It has licensed a burn now, pay later approach, which has seen emissions continue to soar,” said Prof Dyke, who writes for the i newspaper, The Guardian, The Ecologist and others.

“We can avoid climate catastrophe but we must be honest about where we are, and where we are heading.”

Exeter Community Alliance said: “The government is failing in its duty in not tackling the climate and environmental crises. Opening coal mines and licensing new oil fields having declared a climate emergency is incoherent.” 

Next Friday’s talk at Exeter Community Centre will include short testimonies by two local residents affected by the climate crisis. 

People can find out how to get involved with The Big One, from attending the protest, to helping with social media, lobbying, surveys, admin, playing music, creating art and more.