"The London Fire Brigade (LFB) was called to wildfires across the capital, as 40C temperatures took hold.
In one day, the brigade took 2,670 calls and responded to more than 1,000 fire incidents.
The brigade said it was its busiest day since World War Two"
You may be forgiven for thinking this was a snippet from an Orwellian novel or perhaps a creative writing extract describing a futuristic dystopian landscape of a post-apocalyptic world in the year 3000. Unfortunately, you would be wrong on both accords. This is an actual article written by BBC News describing the London fires which spread across the capital in July 2022. We live in a era dubbed the 'new normal' - where shocking, catastrophic events are normalised and it seems, in large part, even expected by society today.
I live in London. I travel frequently but for the most part of the last two years I have been lucky to live in this vibrant metropolis. My background lies in urbanism and environmentalism which I suppose for the better part, allows me to critique the environmental governance strategy or albeit, lack of, that should and needs to be developed to confront climate change.
The hegemony of UK politics is dominated by two mainstream political discourses; labour to the left and the conservatives to the right - neither, it seems, to be too interested in the ever-growing threat of global warming. The London fires of 2022, you would think, be the wake up call to show that the barbarians were at the gate, that the biggest existential threat to the human survival had indeed poked it's ugly face and arrived on the streets of east London. It is indeed an acceptable level of trauma and fright that western nations have become immune to and from there, you would think, would kick-start major fundamental changes to how we think and deal with climate change.
Those changes have not happened yet. The reasons can be attributed to how climate change is perceived and portrayed by western media outlets and denigrated to being a political football between the left and right.
For context, 2025 is election year in the UK. With the conservatives projected to lose to Labour for the first time in 24 years. It seems that the Ultra Low Emissions Zone, the ULEZ, has been the unlikely target for political point scoring. It was summer of 2023 when I was walking in through Tooting underground station when I spotted a large demonstration of anti-ULEZ protesters objecting to its very implementation. This is surprising considering this is Sadiq Khan, the very person who implemented the ULEZ's, home turf and safe-seat in the labour stronghold. I questioned a man holding a placard stating "shame on you sadiq - isn't London pricey enough?" on what his reasons were for being there. "Just because I have an older car shouldn't mean i should pay more to live here" were his words. Anger around the ULEZ comes down to money. Residents reject its implementation because it will cost an extra £15 every day to drive their car around SW London. The so-called cost of living crises has made this borough of London to be a key battleground in next years election.
We live in a complex world and the global geo-political climate is hotter than ever. The Gaza genocide and Ukrainian war and the aggression towards Taiwan from China has dominated our news headlines. Climate Change rarely takes stage for only a brief moment. COP 28 received a few days coverage but not nearly enough to demonstrate the seriousness global warming. The reason for this could be attributed to what what is called a strategic ritual of objectivity whereby journalists often obscure the scientific consensus on climate change by reporting it as a debate. This is wrong as it suggests that it is a tale of two sides which inherently presents the denial of climate change existence as a plausible argument rather than a existential threat to our whole generation.
London's political class neglect the citizens they claim to serve and the media outlets are their very own spin doctors. It is not in the interests of those to direct fundamental policy change nor report the disastrous need for this change. When will Londoners begin to realise? Will it be when Londoners die from future wildfires induced purely from climate change? or when the Thames barrier breaks and floods most of central London? or when London is in drought and starts to resemble an image from a third world country? Maybe then people may realise that they should of did more.
The genocide in Gaza and the subsequent mass protests that erupted in London in November 2023 show that Londoners have the capability to mass campaign against social injustice. The sheer amount of people that adorned the city's Trafalgar Square made the issue impossible to ignore for the country's ruling elite. It is a strong example of how mass peaceful protests not only raise awareness for a particular social issue but also create a discourse within the media which forces those in power to respond. Responding in the general sense is a lot different to taking action but does create meaningful change in election years as parties realise that this is what our electorate care about and therefore our policies must reflect that.
It will be an interesting 12 months in the UK as polls suggest that Labour is on for a landslide victory against the conservatives. The situation in Gaza and labours stance against it has alienated many of its typical voter base. The summer months in London are when major environmental impacts of climate change usually play out. If summer 2022 if anything to go by then a devastatingly hot summer by Londons standards will make the subject impossible to ignore. Lets just home Londoners take heed to what policies either Labour or the Conservatives plan to implement should one of them come in to power next year.
Loved this so much Lewis
Thought-provoking read, Lewis!