COP26: In the fight against climate change, every little helps – Scotsman comment

Three days to COP26: The phrase “every little helps” has been used by a well-known supermarket for nearly 30 years.

Its longevity as a marketing tool testifies to the power of the idea that small benefits, when repeated for a long enough period, can add up to mean something significant.

The same could be said for the fight against climate change.

Now the UK government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance – speaking as colleagues from around the world urged the nations gathering for the United Nations’ COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to commit to restricting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius – has urged people to think about how many flights they take and how much meat they eat.

“Those little things that appear like they’re not very much are important when they are aggregated across many many millions of people,” he said.

It could also be said that, while reductions in our carbon footprint help, “every little hurts” if we increase it.

The solution to the climate crisis requires significant action on the part of governments and major global companies. In a little over two weeks’ time, we will find out if they are prepared to do so.

The UK's chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance has joined colleagues from around the world in urging leaders to prevent global warming from going above 1.5C (Picture: Alberto Pezzali/pool/AFP via Getty Images)

However, as individuals we can usually do something and, given the seriousness of the situation, it is an issue we should all be thinking about.

We shouldn’t make the mistake of trying to carry the world on our shoulders and feel under pressure to completely overturn our lives – there is only so much we can reasonably do alone.

But if we all do a little, it will add up to a lot.

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