Now we know global warming is getting serious. The giveaway wasn’t the fact that we’ve just had the hottest July on record, but that, as he confided to Tony Blair at their two-man climate change summit last week, Arnold Schwarzenegger is converting one of his 13mpg Humvees to hydrogen.
Of course the media mocked, assessing whether a UK prime minister is more fuel-efficient than a Californian “governator”. But behind the glitz, the Blair-Schwarzenegger “greenathon” did actually highlight the seriousness of global warming, in as much as politicians are now taking it seriously. Whether we agree with the science, or think our leaders are just donning a vote-grabbing green fig leaf, makes no odds. They’re making the issue a central plank of their policies, so it’s going to have implications for every consumer and every business. Environmental issues are shaping legislation and taxation and, combined with media pressure, this is going increasingly to drive demand for “eco-friendly” products, from David Cameron-endorsed wind turbines, to Curry’s just-launched solar panels.
The consensus in the timber industry, purveyor of the most renewable of manufacturing and building materials, is that all this should play to its advantage. But, there’s also awareness that it will only reap the rewards of green consumption if it gets its message across.
Timber may have the arguments, but faced with rival material sectors plugging their own sustainability stories, it has to educate the market. Wood for Good is already doing great work in this area, as are individual companies. But it was suggested this week that the time is also ripe for the UK timber industry’s own eco-summit; an event that gathers everyone, from forest to factory, to highlight the environmental contribution the sector as a whole can make. There’s no doubt such an event could get media attention and pull the politicians. And apparently Mr Blair has invited Mr Schwarzenegger on a reciprocal visit to the UK. So, if the timing is right, Arnie might even swing by in his hydrogen-powered Hummer.
