Read on Twitter
Dear @RishiSunak,
PLEASE BAILOUT EDUCATION, NOT AVIATION.
The debate about when and how (not if) to get schools and universties re-opened for all *is* complicated.
That the next generation are suffering AND that re-opening can be sooner if resources are provided is not.
PLEASE BAILOUT EDUCATION, NOT AVIATION.
The debate about when and how (not if) to get schools and universties re-opened for all *is* complicated.
That the next generation are suffering AND that re-opening can be sooner if resources are provided is not.
The fact is, this pandemic, and ever-growing aviation contributing to climate breakdown are *both* screwing the next generation.
(HT: @ed_hawkins)
(HT: @ed_hawkins)
Our children face an uncertain future. We are currently on a trajectory towards climate breakdown leading to food insecurity, heat stress, frequent extreme weather events and increased risk of conflict and mass migration as global inequality is amplified https://www.carbonbrief.org/climate-change-could-have-a-profound-negative-impact-on-child-malnourishment?utm_content=bufferda4e5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
https://www.carbonbrief.org/climate-change-could-have-a-profound-negative-impact-on-child-malnourishment?utm_content=bufferda4e5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
At the same time, we are in midst of a pandemic which, despite the pathogen largely sparing children in its direct effects, nevertheless risks undermining the futures of a generation due to the side-effects of our, necessary, attempts to control the virus https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55863841
The harms - at least some of which do seem inevitable given the urgency of getting on top of this disease - range from pregnancy (undermined family planning and antenatal services), https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1471-0528.16547
to early childhood (restricted social interaction, disrupted home visiting, childcare and safeguarding services)
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10106430/8/Conti_Dow_The%20impacts%20of%20COVID-19%20on%20Health%20Visiting%20in%20England%20250920.pdf
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10106430/8/Conti_Dow_The%20impacts%20of%20COVID-19%20on%20Health%20Visiting%20in%20England%20250920.pdf
to the rest of childhood and the increasingly well-described impacts on schooling and the less-well understood impacts of depriving young people of play and normal social lives for over a year.
It is worth noting that, like those of climate breakdown, these harms arising from covid do not affect us all equally; children born in low income communities or countries suffer more. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2020/06/05/homeschooling-during-lockdown-will-deepen-inequality/
***In this context, it is vital that governments focus their limited resources to bail out education, not the aviation industry.***
I think it's about time that investing in aviation became more risky and expensive. The aviation industry has regularly and repeatedly shown that while it may âtalk the talkâ on climate, actions speak louder than their rhetoric.
For example, the indefensible practice of âtankeringâ jet fuel by air to save small amounts of money at the cost of tons of carbon, or their track record of lobbying hard against necessary climate policy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50365362 https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2020/04/30/easyjet-lobbied-green-aviation-taxes-covid-bailout/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50365362 https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2020/04/30/easyjet-lobbied-green-aviation-taxes-covid-bailout/
Any support for aviation be allocated only to workers in the industry, (for example income support and generous re-training grants to allow people to use their valuable skills in less planetary damaging ways), not to the shareholders. https://www.greennewdealuk.org/updates/a-green-new-deal-for-gatwick/
At the same time, I cannot see how it is justified to give aviation businesses themselves like airlines and airports taxpayer support, unless it comes with truly transformative carbon-reduction strings attached. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/governments-multimillion-pound-support-scheme-for-airports-opens-today
If this approach leads to some slowing in aviation growth, and the industry becoming more expensive to invest in, it will serve the next generation well.
At the same time, it's vital that government resources are urgently allocated to a bold, creative & ambitious bailout for âthe covid generationâ.
That most schools in the UK have received, to date, no additional resources to radically shift their model of education is a disgrace.
That most schools in the UK have received, to date, no additional resources to radically shift their model of education is a disgrace.
The lack of action to create safer learning environments for teachers and children is not due to a shortage of ideas, rather the constraints seem to be ambition, regulations and resources.
https://www.clth.co.uk/projects/research/pop-up-schools
https://www.clth.co.uk/projects/research/pop-up-schools
But fundamtally, I think it's becuase children don't - and can't - employ enough lobbyists.
https://www.desmog.co.uk/2020/02/13/mapped-boris-johnson-s-government-and-tufton-street-lobbying-network
(Honourable exceptions @annelongfield @ChildrensComm @russellviner @apsmunro @sunilbhop and others)
https://www.desmog.co.uk/2020/02/13/mapped-boris-johnson-s-government-and-tufton-street-lobbying-network
(Honourable exceptions @annelongfield @ChildrensComm @russellviner @apsmunro @sunilbhop and others)
I think, any govt around the world contemplating bailing out the aviation sector should first commit to:
1. Emergency resources to support vital early years services such home visiting and often fragmented, yet critical, childcare providers
https://www.womensequality.org.uk/nurseries_closing_letter (HT: @WEP_UK)
1. Emergency resources to support vital early years services such home visiting and often fragmented, yet critical, childcare providers
https://www.womensequality.org.uk/nurseries_closing_letter (HT: @WEP_UK)
2. Additional resources for schools. Bring forward the date that they can open safely - with a particular emphasis on creating safer spaces, creatively using community assets where needed, and focusing on adequate ventilation of classrooms.
[PS: - we need to (a) stop seeing school re-opening as binary - open vs closed, and (b) to recogise that *when* it is save *enough* to properly open is a function of how much things change BOTH inside AND outside the school gates - ACTION + RESOURCES matter!]
![[PS: - we need to (a) stop seeing school re-opening as binary - open vs closed, and (b) to recogise that *when* it is save *enough* to properly open is a function of how much things change BOTH inside AND outside the school gates - ACTION + RESOURCES matter!]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtIf7WaXMAIw6Xe.jpg "[PS: - we need to (a) stop seeing school re-opening as binary - open vs closed, and (b) to recogise that *when* it is save *enough* to properly open is a function of how much things change BOTH inside AND outside the school gates - ACTION + RESOURCES matter!]")
3. We need a well-funded national summer catch up programme, targeted at the most deprived communities for at least the next three years.
The current plans are massively insufficient. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55859597
The current plans are massively insufficient. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55859597
Bottom line:
We need a âwhatever it takesâ pledge to support the next generation through this pandemic. Without it, human capital will be undermined for a generation. Until and unless this is in place, please can we hold the discussions about bailing out the aviation industry?
We need a âwhatever it takesâ pledge to support the next generation through this pandemic. Without it, human capital will be undermined for a generation. Until and unless this is in place, please can we hold the discussions about bailing out the aviation industry?
PS: Some of this is UK focused, as it's where i've been following things most closely, but hopefully needless to say, both the climate crisis and the covid generation are global issues. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31481-1/fulltext
