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Nana Akua questioned whether modern climate conclusions rely too heavily on just 150 years of data, arguing the Earth’s climate has always changed over billions of years. She said humanity has repeatedly shown its ability to adapt, pointing to historical climate shifts.Professor Mike Hulme acknowledged recent post-industrial changes but stressed global industrialisation has played a role.Nana Akua warned that the drive towards net zero risks imposing an “unbelievable” cost. WATCH THE CLIP ABOVE FOR MORE
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0:00
has always been changing, the climate will always change
0:02
and if you're taking your records over 150 years' worth of climate change, then you know absolutely nothing
0:07
because the Earth has been here for billions of years. Yeah, we clearly were able to adapt
0:12
I mean, there is something going on. I wouldn't dispute that... Yeah, but the climate has always changed
0:16
Yes, but the last 20 or 30 years in the post-industrialisation, and of course, again, it shows we're a small bit player
0:23
The mass industrialisation that's taken place in China and India has had an impact
0:27
So I think it would be wrong to say there's no impact. No, I didn't say that. I said the climate has always changed
0:31
I'm not suggesting you said that either. But it is changing. We have had ice ages at various times
0:36
But they were able to, at one point, have... Wine was grown in Greenland of all places, you know, 700, 800 years ago
0:42
But the truth of the matter is that we have also been able to adapt. And one of the great things about our species
0:48
is that we are very good at adapting, and in many ways a slight increase in temperature is good
0:53
in certain parts of the world, as well as obviously having potentially some negative effects. My biggest worry on this sort of messianic view towards net zero, as you say, is the sheer unbelievable cost
1:03
I don't know whether that headline figure of £4.5 trillion over the next two and a half decades is correct or not
1:10
But the truth of the matter is, I'm looking at a much shorter term
1:14
You know, our oil and gas industry up in Scotland is literally dying on its feet
1:19
And partly that is because there is a sense that we've allowed the net zero policy to be out of control
1:24
but also that no one can invest with any great certainty. And if you want to be an international investor
1:30
you've got other options about where you might invest in energy. We need a mix of energy
1:35
We obviously need nuclear. We need ideally nuclear at rather better value
1:39
than has been the case over the last 20 years. I'm all in favour of renewables
1:43
and that's never going to be the entire answer, whether solar or wind power But I do think for the foreseeable future we will need to continue to do stuff on the oil and gas side And the worry is you only need to go up to someone like Aberdeen
1:57
the worry is that essentially the number of jobs in the North Sea has halved in the last
2:01
five years and that can only continue. And that is not a good state of affairs
2:04
I think you are right, Mark, about the stability point. We said we were going to aim for net
2:08
zero and we encourage people to invest into renewables, into the green economy and then
2:13
would change our mind again and then why should they invest and and the amount of money we're
2:17
talking about is so huge people need to have some kind of certainty otherwise why would they why
2:22
would they take such a huge bunt so i think there is there are lots of reasons we should be committed
2:26
to net zero um and i i don't think we can just bury our heads in the sand and hope that the
2:31
climate change thing isn't a problem and we're just going to adapt i think we've got to take
2:35
it seriously nobody's saying that you know we shouldn't adapt i'd agree with that 100
2:39
I have no problem erecting solar panels on top of people's houses and where it is correct and necessary
2:45
I'd even be OK with maybe one or two wind farms. I'm quite happy with high electric power as well
2:51
I don't know why we haven't invested in that. Probably too expensive. I'm also happy with saline plants, salt plants, where you can, you know, create the water, clean the water
3:01
But I'm not basing it on 150 years' worth of records where people are saying, oh, it's speeded up the climate
3:08
They don't know. And a lot of them are taking money from funds, people who are investing in them, who have vested interests
3:15
So in my view, yes, I think we should continue to adapt. But I'm not believing in net zero that, you know, we need to get rid of all the carbon
3:23
There have been areas in history where we know there's been more carbon in the atmosphere than now
3:27
And, you know, the ceiling didn't fall down, the roof didn't fall in, the planet didn't explode or whatever they're saying is going to happen
3:34
And we adapted. So I find this will to get to this place, given all the expense that it's going to cost, I think it's a con
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