That Was The Week That Was 25-29 October 2021
All Roads, Rails and Air Routes Lead to Glasgow
Anyone who is anyone is en-route to Glasgow at the moment, and by the time you read this may well have already arrived. Anybody except Presidents Putin and Xi and the Queen, who is in a class of her own when it comes to trolling. Take that Boris Johnson.
Everybody else, apparently, is on their way, and feeling obliged to tweet about it. Given that according to the Willie Walsh point, the internet is responsible for 3.7% of the world’s carbon emissions, it makes you wonder… Still, given that you are reading this via the wonder that is the internet, who are we to make that point? Some of the other points he made in that interview are also worth thinking through; including that he admits that there remains a certain amount of scepticism abounding around the IATA Net 50 by 2050 pledge.
These sort of large important international meetings are a chance for what we politely call civil society and policy makers to meet. As long as you appreciate that ‘to meet’ means (for the protestors and those trying to make their point) screaming from a behind a ring of steel and police, and for the others (the policy makers) trying to ignore that noise and avoid being hit by paint, or flying objects or tear gas. You might read that life on the protesters side of the fence sometimes has a ‘carnival atmosphere’. That is just one use of euphemism you are likely to run up against for the next fortnight.
For the satirist, COP26 being held in Glasgow, the home of the deep-fried Mars Bar and sectarian violence sublimated as football is already making life difficult. But it gets worse for us humble scribes of irony. Getting from London to Glasgow costs about £25.00 on an aircraft and about £250 by train. Trying to find anywhere to stay in Glasgow once you get there is almost impossible, and Edinburgh, about 40 minutes away, is also becoming subject to serious market force price rises. Neither city is all that tempting for campers at this time of the year, who will be asking for just a touch more global warming after a couple of days under canvas.
But then, in what can only be described as the metaphor to end all metaphors, a train en-route to Glasgow from London on Sunday was held up by a tree falling on the line. The great American satirist Tom Lehrer retired the day they gave Henry Kissinger the Nobel Peace Prize. ‘What can a satirist say that is funnier than real life?’ he asked.
I know how he feels.