Climate Change Agreement

Our lives can be as broad or as narrow as we chose them to be. Today we have our street party but it is raining so will it still go ahead ? Th rain however is welcome, for the garden and for the farmers in the Queensland hinterland who have been suffering the terrible drought that has decimated their farms over the last few years. A woman got bitten by a taipan snake, one of the most venomous snakes here, when she went to check if her Xmas lights were on. At 6 am we woke to the news of a Climate Change Agreement in Paris. 

So this must be where the small and the narrow turns into something massive and universal with 195 countries committed to even making that half degree change in global warming. "No country shall step back" were the words that stuck in my head and the message from Julie Bishop, Australia's foreign minister is that for the first time there is a general recognition that action must be taken. It will be a particularly interesting one for us living in Australia where they have been so dependent on mining coal. 

The first mark of change is an announcement already today that the Turnball government has lifted the ban on wind turbine investment. Perhaps there are more changes to come. So it is important to recognise the significance of this and the collective agreement of 195 countries after years of sometimes frustrated and difficult negotiations. 

Given the season, I am therefore celebrating the announcement with nature's answer to Xmas  colours and decorations. Candelabras on trees- only this time they are in situ and we can all enjoy them without turning on a socket and available at any time of day.