Photo by Bob Thomas/Getty Images.
Sustainability professionals have largely paid tribute to the environmental legacy left by Baroness Margaret Thatcher in British politics following her death today at the age of 87.
BBC's environment & energy analyst Roger Harrabin wrote that Thatcher had "legitimised the environment as a matter of mainstream political concern".
Thatcher was the first to warn openly of the dangers of climate change in a speech to the UN in 1989, where she spoke of the "vast increase in the amount of carbon dioxide reaching the atmosphere... The result is that change in future is likely to be more fundamental and more widespread than anything we have known hitherto."
Thatcher went on to set up the Met Office Hadley Centre for climate prediction and research in 1990, one of the UK's leading specialists in this field. Much of its work now informs policy and legislation.
Jonathon Porritt, is quoted as saying "It wasn't until Mrs Thatcher went into her short-lived green period that things really took off (for the green movement).
"Before Mrs Thatcher started to talk about the ozone layer and climate change, lots of people said: 'These green issues are just for weirdos treehugging. But if Mrs Thatcher's saying something like that - there must be something in it'."
Her voice was arguably instrumental in taking the issues towards mainstream and motivating our understanding today. Echoing the views of Harrabin "Her intervention consolidated the issue in the media and provoked many organisations into formulating policies on the environment."
In later years, she appeared to backtrack on her earlier views and took a more sceptical approach by questioning some of the science behind global warming.
The pleasing aspect of the discussions is the level of interest, the pace setters in sustainability are already doing what we all already know is the right thing not only to do, but to aspire to achieve.
Never Give up on Transforming The Future. Climatic records are being broken daily, challenging times need challenging responses.
BBC's environment & energy analyst Roger Harrabin wrote that Thatcher had "legitimised the environment as a matter of mainstream political concern".
Thatcher was the first to warn openly of the dangers of climate change in a speech to the UN in 1989, where she spoke of the "vast increase in the amount of carbon dioxide reaching the atmosphere... The result is that change in future is likely to be more fundamental and more widespread than anything we have known hitherto."
Thatcher went on to set up the Met Office Hadley Centre for climate prediction and research in 1990, one of the UK's leading specialists in this field. Much of its work now informs policy and legislation.
Jonathon Porritt, is quoted as saying "It wasn't until Mrs Thatcher went into her short-lived green period that things really took off (for the green movement).
"Before Mrs Thatcher started to talk about the ozone layer and climate change, lots of people said: 'These green issues are just for weirdos treehugging. But if Mrs Thatcher's saying something like that - there must be something in it'."
Her voice was arguably instrumental in taking the issues towards mainstream and motivating our understanding today. Echoing the views of Harrabin "Her intervention consolidated the issue in the media and provoked many organisations into formulating policies on the environment."
In later years, she appeared to backtrack on her earlier views and took a more sceptical approach by questioning some of the science behind global warming.
The pleasing aspect of the discussions is the level of interest, the pace setters in sustainability are already doing what we all already know is the right thing not only to do, but to aspire to achieve.
Never Give up on Transforming The Future. Climatic records are being broken daily, challenging times need challenging responses.
from → Total Eco Management Ltd.
RSS Feed
