Making sense of climate action
Do you want to know more about climate action?
I have worked on climate change for 2 decades. I know a lot about climate change. I'm going to try to share a bit of what I have learned. The useful bit, hopefully.
This website is for people who do not work in climate change but want to know more about the climate, and particularly about actions Governments, companies and individuals can take to fix, and respond to, climate change. "Climate action".
This site is not a climate science website. If you want to know about the science of climate change, many excellent websites already exist.
This website exists because people keep asking me "What can we do?" or "What are we doing?" or "Should I recycle more?" and the answers to those questions are often to long for a conversation, but too simple for an IPCC report.
So here you will find -- I hope -- some short articles that cover some of the key issues related to climate action.
Climate action topics
"Climate action", as I see it, encompasses two main types of action. Reducing emissions of Greenhouse Gases ('mitigation' in climate-speak) and building a world which is resilient to a hotter, more extreme climate ('adaptation' in climate-speak). Climate politics is a rather complex (and in my view somewhat tedious) topic of its own which I intend to write as little as possible about. 'Trusted voices' will signpost sources of information which you may find useful.
Reducing emissions of GHGs - Climate change mitigation
I haven't created any content yet. When I do, a series of articles on what humans can do to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions will live here.
Responding to a changing climate - Climate Change Adaptation
The global climate is changing. That change impacts our lives. Winters will be milder. Our cities and homes will be warmer in summer. Glaciers will melt. Farmers, all around the world, will have to adjust to different weather patterns.
Change is inevitable. But we can prepare for this change.
I haven't created any content yet. When I do, a series of articles on what humans can do to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions will live here.
Global Climate Politics - The UNFCCC and the IPCC
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the global UN forum where climate change has been debated since (before) Kyoto. The Paris Accord is part of the UNFCCC.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the global scientific body which produces regular updates on the science of climate change.
I don't intend to write too much about either of these bodies, as I don't think there is much useful to say. But I shall say something.
Trusted voices - Useful climate information of all kinds
I am not the world's foremost authority on climate change. I'm pretty sure there isn't a single person who is all knowing.
But there are a lot of very smart people out there, many of whom are also excellent communicators. By reading from a variety of sources, I hope you can build up a picture of climate science, and climate action, which makes sense, and can be trusted as reliable and non-partisan.
Dr James Davey
About me
I am a physical chemist, and - with over 2 decades experience in climate and environmental science - a climate change expert.
In 2006 I was fortunate enough to work for Dr Jim Penman, in the UK Environment Department (Defra). Since then I have provided scientific analysis on a wide range of climate and energy issues to clients in the public and private sector. Topics I have worked on include, but are not limited to, Climate Change Risk Assessments, Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Energy Modelling, Climate Modelling, Renewables, Buildings energy-use and energy efficiency, land-use change, clean technology innovation, and Carbon Dioxide removal technology. My understanding of climate change action is therefore extremely broad and I certainly know enough about a very wide range of topics to both cover the basics, and help you to spot misleading or inaccurate information. I trained as a Civil Service Scientist and briefed Ministers. That means I'm good at boiling things down to the key points, and seeking to steer my audience in the direction of robust and reliable information.
For those who care about that sort of thing, my MA in Chemistry is from the University of Oxford, and my PhD in Physical Chemistry is from the University of Exeter. I undertook PostDoctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Leeds.
Feel free to drop me a line...